Tiny Statues on the Roof

On many of the traditional houses in Kyoto you find tiny statues. They are there to protect the house from evil spirits, the are a kind of amulet or in Japanese mayoke 魔除け. I believe they are depictions of Enmadaiou 閻魔大王、who is a judge in Meido 冥土,the kingdom of the awaiting dead. Those that he judges to be evil are sent to Jigoku 地獄, Hell.  Basically the statues are reflecting evil spirits away from the house.　But that can mean in Kyoto's traditional narrow streets, that you are sending the spirits to the house across the street. So it is not uncommon to see two of these statues facing each other.