Hell in many religions is a place where sinners are condemned in the afterlife. In Christian mythology it is usually depicted as a fiery place: “raging fire” (Hebrews 10:27); “eternal fire” (Jude 7). The Book of Revelation describes Hell as a lake of “burning sulphur” where sinners will be “tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). The Japanese concept of Hell is only a little less unpleasant than that.
Sinners are roasted on an iron pot over a raging fire while the faithful is rescued by a Bodhisattva.
While Christian hell is eternal, in cyclical religions such as Buddhism, hell is but one phase in the endless cycle of life and death.
The Hell of Excrement, one of the lesser hells depicted on the Hell Scroll of the Nara National Museum. Neck-deep in unbearable stench, sinners are tormented by dreadful maggots. (This is also likely the fate of the Japanese of yore who refuse to fix their crumbling toilet floors.)
Sinners are speared, made to swallow molten copper and slowly roasted on an open fire; punishment for killing, thievery and vice. (Kyoto Kitano Tenmangu)
Burning rocks fall like rain and burn the bodies of sinners who fall into a boiling river of blood and copper; punishment for people who rob travelers. (Tokyo National Museum).
Demons throw sinners between two iron mountains which crush them into a pulp. Others are devoured by beasts and birds. (Kyoto Kyoto Tenmangu)
Sinners are emptied into an iron pot where they are grounded with sticks by demons. Others are crushed to a pulp under a cloth by other demons and their remains sorted out. (Shiga Shoshuraigoji)
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