<p>The urns are numbered.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.tourabsurd.com/fukuoka-japan-nanzoin-temple/" rel="nofollow">The Many Faces of Fukuoka’s Nanzoin Temple</a> says,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>There are 365 urns in front of the Buddha.  Visitors travel long distances to place messages to their dearly departed loved ones in the urn marked with the day they died.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-16T01:02:45.857Z
2016-08-16T01:02:45.857Z
ChrisW
<p>I recently visited Nanzō-in Temple, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, home of a very large bronze reclining Buddha. In front of the statue are many vertical metal cylinders. My initial thought was that they are prayer wheels - and you may tell me that this is the case - but I did not see any obvious means for them to rotate. What are these cylinders?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/xiYHN.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/xiYHN.jpg" alt="Picture showing what I described"></a>
(image from Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0. Original at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanzoin_temple#/media/File:Reclining_Buddha_statues_of_Nanzoin.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanzoin_temple#/media/File:Reclining_Buddha_statues_of_Nanzoin.jpg</a>)</p>

<temples>
What are the cylinders in front of the Buddha statue at Nanzō-in Temple, Japan?
# What are the cylinders in front of the Buddha statue at Nanzō-in Temple, Japan?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-08-15)

I recently visited Nanzō-in Temple, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, home of a very large bronze reclining Buddha. In front of the statue are many vertical metal cylinders. My initial thought was that they are prayer wheels - and you may tell me that this is the case - but I did not see any obvious means for them to rotate. What are these cylinders?

[![Picture showing what I described](https://i.sstatic.net/xiYHN.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/xiYHN.jpg)
(image from Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0. Original at <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanzoin_temple#/media/File:Reclining_Buddha_statues_of_Nanzoin.jpg>)

**Tags:** temples


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-08-16. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The urns are numbered.

[The Many Faces of Fukuoka’s Nanzoin Temple](http://www.tourabsurd.com/fukuoka-japan-nanzoin-temple/) says,

> There are 365 urns in front of the Buddha. Visitors travel long distances to place messages to their dearly departed loved ones in the urn marked with the day they died.


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