Kyushu
Japan
Throughout Japan, shrines and offerings to forest spirits are quite common. I would often see a stone pillar in the middle of a glade or along a wooded path. Here people have cloaked the gods and left offerings of coins and flowers. The colors are bright and baby-ish, as if these were children of the forest.
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kanako onishi writes:
They are small Jizos that are Buddhism object of veneration.
During journey, travelers left flowers, coins, and even Jizo's clotheses to let them avoid a cold. Jizos are watching affectionately travelers' safety.
Alexander writes:
This may also be a Shinto shrine, a place worshipped for its beauty or for the presence of a Shinto spirit. The Shinto relegion predates Budhism in Japan. Shintoists worship spirits that manifest themselves through nature.
Victoria writes:
Those statues are of Jizo. According to lore, he protects children and helps the souls of departed children and babies, saving them from having to toil in the underworld. Parents whose child is sick, or dead, especially women who have had abortions, leave offerings like those in the picture in order to thank Jizo for protecting their children either in life or death.