In traditional Japanese beliefs, dōsojin is a stele erected on the side of a major road or street as a symbol of some guardian divinity that protects the village, as well as travelers passing by. The deity is sometimes depicted as a pair of man and woman, or as a phallus, but most dōsojin stelae are simple blocks of stone with the inscription “dōsojin.” However, there are numerous regional variants known across Japan. In a town called Naruse in the Tokyo suburb of Machida, three rare examples of dōsojin can…
