Tears of Compassion

This image may have a strong impact on the Buddhist faithful- the melting snow seems something like compassionate tears. I believe this represents Nichirin, a famous Japanese 'prophet-monk' who helped rescue the nation from a Mongol invasion by calling them back to faith and away from a merely formal or superstitious type of religion.

This was held to bring forth the divine winds or 'kamikaze', that suddenly rose up to push back the Mongol ships that were approaching. As such, though a seemingly divisive figure at the time, who at one point was actually banished to an island by the rulers, he is now widely loved and fondly remembered.