The Story of How My Wish Came True at Suzumushi-dera Temple

There is a temple in Kyoto called Suzumushi-dera.
It is a temple where, if you pray to the Jizo statue wearing straw sandals, the Jizo will walk to you and grant you one single wish.

I first visited this place when I was a university student.
My friend and I were planning to go to Gifu, but for some reason, on the morning of the trip, we decided to go to Kyoto instead, haha.
That was when my friend introduced me to Suzumushi-dera, saying it was a place where wishes come true.

Inside the temple, the sound of bell crickets rings out all year round; you listen to a sermon there and then buy an amulet.
Then, since there is a Jizo statue wearing straw sandals at the temple entrance, you hold your amulet there and pray for just one wish.

When I visited for the first time, I didn't have much money because I had gone to Kyoto so suddenly, so I didn't buy an amulet.
I put my hands together in front of the Jizo, greeted him, and went home.
But from that day on, good things happened one after another.
At the time, I felt a bit anxious, thinking, (This is bad for the Jizo... I didn't even buy an amulet...) haha.

The story of how my wish came true
Since then, I have visited Suzumushi-dera about twice.
I made sure to buy an amulet those two times! Haha.

The first time was before I married my husband.
The second time was after we were married and were hoping for a child.

I will now write about the second time, when I felt the amazing power of Suzumushi-dera.
About two years after I married my husband, I started feeling like I wanted a child.
I was 28 at the time and had started trying to conceive in a relaxed way.

That was when I went on a trip to Kyoto with my husband.
We stopped by Suzumushi-dera and made this wish to the Jizo.

“Please let me have a child by the time I am 30.”

After that, I spent a year trying to conceive using my own timing method, but I didn't get pregnant.
For the year after that, I started fertility treatment.
It was difficult with just the timing method, so I stepped up to artificial insemination, and this was the fourth time.
One of my fallopian tubes was somewhat blocked, so I only had a chance every two months, which made me a little anxious.

One day, the month before I turned 30, I was talking to my husband.
“Our wish at Suzumushi-dera didn't come true, did it?”
…I said.
But actually, my period was a week late at that time.
My period was often late, so I thought it would be a bust this time too, and I reached for a pregnancy test early in the morning.
Looking at the result while half-resigned, it was unexpectedlypositive.
My husband and I both screamed early in the morning, haha.

And the following month, on my 30th birthday.
The gestational sac was confirmed, and the pregnancy was official.
At that moment, I was moved by the power of Suzumushi-dera, or rather, by the fact that it really does grant your wishes.

Also, not limited to Suzumushi-dera, I realized that when you make a wish, you have to phrase it exactly how you want it to come true.
Because when I wished to have a child by 30, it really came true on my 30th birthday...


I have already finished my thank-you visit during my pregnancy, but I would like to visit Suzumushi-dera again once things settle down.
This time, as the three of us.