14 June 2021 was lunar calendar 05 May, which was Dragon Boat festival. I was craving the rice dumplings so we went to Yokohama Chinatown. Since we were there, we dropped by Masobyo. The entrance fee was ¥100/person.
The website had a different version of what I remembered from childhood story.
Ma Zhu, or her civilian name "Mo-Niang Lin", was a little girl born and raised in a fishing village in Fujian Province, China. One day her father and brother went out fishing, and there was a typhoon (or thunderstorm). She was worried they couldn't find the way home; so she held a lantern by the harbor every night to wait for them.
I couldn't remember if her father and brother came home or not. I couldn't remember if she died waiting for them.
After she died, she was raised to the status of a deity, "Ma Zhu" (Holy Mother of Heaven), by fishermen because she cared about their safety and livelihood.
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| Masobyo |
Ma Zhu = Mandarin Chinese pronunciation
Ma So = Fujianese/Taiwanese pronunciation
They both mean the same thing, "Holy Mother of Heaven".