Like many komainu sculptures, this pair of gatekeepers was constructed to ward off any evil spirits that may have ventured into the Sanja Jinja temple, a Shinto shrine located in the Osaka prefecture of Japan. The pair of sculptures guard the main building -- or the honden -- and are stylistically similar to other komainu from the Kansai region, spanning from Onomichi to Kyoto. In typical komainu fashion, one guardian’s mouth is open, and the other shut. However, the left-hand statue rests its foreleg on a cub, while the other paws at a decorated jewel, iconography that is unique to the shishi-yama style of komainu. 