Still more from along Nanakita River - Nanakita Park again

 At the official entrance to Nanakita Park, there are some very interesting statues sitting on the benches. There is a fat man playing a saxophone, a cat sitting next to a book, an a girl holding a dove. You can often see people having their picture taken while sitting next to the statues.

 After stopping to take pictures, I exited the park and started up the road to the Izumi Chuo station building. Immediately outside the gate there is a small Shinto shrine nestled between the large apartment buildings that spring up like weeds outside the park.

 The shrine building is actually quite small. It is only about waist high. The grounds are always well cared for, so I assume someone in the neighborhood takes care of it.

The objects on the altar are mostly Buddhist. The seated statue in the middle and the large statue on the left are clearly Buddhist. The two statues on the right are too badly damaged (aged?) to tell what they are, other than saying the are people. The two objects immediately to the left of the seated Buddha are kokeshi, wooden dolls. Kokeshi are made in this area and are popular gifts for travelers to being home. The article in Wikipedia suggest that these may be fetish symbols for aborted babies, which may explain why they are in this shrine.The pieces of white paper are attached to sticks are ritual objects that are used in Shinto ceremonies.