Dusky thrush with Shachihoko "鯱鉾 "

Early this month, I found a Dusky thrush  on the Japanese style tiled roof.  And what is more, the roof has Shachi-hoko "鯱鉾" on both sides.  I checked about the detail of the ornament. What a place to perch ♪

*About Shachi-hoko  " 鯱鉾* 

Shachihoko has the head of a tiger and the body of a carp. The two Chinese character has meanings of "killer whale･Halberd".  I checked about the reason of the use of these characters.  This animal was believed to cause the rain to fall, so temples and castles were often adorned with this roof ornaments in order to protect them from fire.  And for the "Halberd" part, it seems they were used for the shinto ritual as time goes by. The two pictures below are from picture page of the famous shachi-hoko of the Nagoya-castle in Aichi-pref.

The other day, we attended the service at the family temple; the service is performed in perpetuity by a Buddhist temple for the repose of a departed soul. Temples and the old houses also have them. (sorry, it was a cloudy day)