Butsusen 02 Udohama 03 Yoshinoyama

April 10, 2018, 12:00 am

西村重長 Nishimura Shigenaga (1697 - 1758)

A dance performed by a heavenly maiden who arrived at Udohama, Suruga Province in the reign of Emperor Ankan is known.
安閑天皇の御世、駿河国の宇土浜に天女が降って舞ったものを模したという.

. Miho no matsubara 三保の松原 Miho pine grove .

Miho no Matsubara is known as the site of the legend of Hagoromo 羽衣 "the Feathered Robe",
which is based on the traditional swan maiden motif.
The story of Hagoromo concerns a celestial being flying over Miho no Matsubara who was overcome by the beauty of the white sands, green pines, and sparkling water. She removed her feathered robe and hung it over a pine tree before bathing in the beautiful waters.
A fisherman named Hakuryo was walking along the beach and saw the angel. He took her robe and refused to return it until she performed a heavenly dance for him. As the angel could not return to heaven without her robe, she complied with Hakuryo's request. She danced in the spring twilight and returned to heaven in the light of the full moon leaving Hakuryo looking longingly after her.
- quote wikipedia -

歌川国貞　Utagawa Kunisada (1786 - 1865)

Udohama and Yoshinoyama are stories of two tennyo天女 heavenly maidens.

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Yoshinoyama Nyosen 吉野山女仙 Female Sennin from Mount Yoshinoyama

She is Nr. 03 of the
. 日本の仏仙人16人 - The 16 Buddhist Immortals of Japan .

She lived during the time of 天武天皇 Emperor Tenmu (631 - 686)
吉野山二女仙 indicates that there were two of them.

. Tenmu, Tenbu 天武天皇 Emperor Tenmu Tenno .
Prince Ōama 大海人皇子 Oama no Oji
Prince Oama pretended to be a monk at the temple in Yoshino,

tennyo 天女 the Heavenly Maiden
Once Tenmu Tenno played the 琴 Koto near a waterfall in Yoshino. On the cliff opposite the river something strange like a colorful cloud appeared. Looking closer it had the form of 天女 two heavenly maiden, clad in traditional layered robes, performing a ritual dance.

This is the beginning of the ritual gosetchi no maihime五節の舞姫 Gosechi no Mai .
This imperial dance is performed to our day, even in Kabuki.

- more photos source : deep.wakuwaku-nara.com/kiyomi -

吉野川 - 天皇淵 Yoshinogawa Tenno-Buchi Tenno Riverpool at river Yoshinogawa
Nearby is the shrine 浄見原神社 Kiyomihara Jinja.

Tenmu Tenno was quite taken by the dance of the Heavenly Maiden. He composed a poem:
おとめ子が乙女さびしもからたまを袂にまきておとめさびしも
をとめども　をとめさひする　唐たまを　たもとにまきて　をとめさびすも

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. 04 Suzuka no okina 鈴鹿翁（すずかのおきな） Old Man Suzuka .
is also related to Tenmu, Tenbu 天武天皇 Emperor Tenmu Tenno
when he was still Prince Ōama 大海人皇子 Oama no Oji and lived in exile in Yoshino.

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. tennyo 天女, hiten 飛天　"heavenly maiden"
flying Apsara, divine nymph, celestial maiden .

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. sennin 天狗と仙人伝説 Legends about Tengu and Immortals .

. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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- - #senninudohama #udohamasennin #senninyoshinoyama #yoshinoyamasennin-
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Butsusen 04 Suzuka Okina

April 10, 2018, 10:04 pm

≫ Next: Tachidaruma statue Gifu Tounji

≪ Previous: Butsusen 02 Udohama 03 Yoshinoyama

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. - - - - - ABC-List of the Sennin Immortals Hermits - - - - - .
. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .
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Suzuka no okina 鈴鹿翁（すずかのおきな） Old Man Suzuka

He is Nr. 04 of the
. 日本の仏仙人16人 - The 16 Buddhist Immortals of Japan .

Like the
. Yoshinoyama Nyosen 吉野山女仙 Female Sennin from Mount Yoshinoyama .

he is also related to
. Tenmu, Tenbu 天武天皇 Emperor Tenmu Tenno .
when he was still Prince Ōama 大海人皇子 Oama no Oji and lived in exile in Yoshino.

Suzuka no Okina brought the Prince (who was also known as 清見原皇子 Prince Kiyomihara) to Yoshino to avoid fighting. From there the Prince kept fleeing to 鈴鹿山 Mount Suzukayama in Shiga.
The life story of the Prince continues, but the whereabouts of Suzuka no Okina are lost after that.
He was maybe the 鈴鹿山の神仙 Shinsen Immortal of the Mountain.

- - - - - Here is a PDF page with a photo of the Sennin:
Suzuka no Okina felt that the Prince would soon want to become Emperor (帝王の気).
Okina is shown with the Emperor, both riding a deer and crossing a river.
He has invited the Emperor to come with him to the realm of the Sennin (senkyo 仙郷) to introduce him to his daughter.
- reference source : nijl.ac.jp/pages/event/exhibition/images/kansou4.pdf -

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- quote -
Living quarters of Asuka Kiyomihara Palace
..... The building was one of the central facilities of Asuka Kiyomihara no Miya, or Asuka Kiyomihara Palace.
The building was used by Emperor Tenmu and Empress Regnant Jito from 672 to 694, during the Asuka period (593-710).

..... Other palaces built after the Nara period (710-794) have similar layouts to Asuka Kiyomihara Palace, leading experts to believe that the palace served as a model.
..... According to Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan), written in 720, there were three major buildings at Asuka Kiyomihara Palace. To the “uchi no andono” building, Emperor Tenmu invited princes and other relatives.
At the “o andono” building, parties and other entertainments were held, while the emperor’s followers gathered at the “to no andono” building.
- source : heritageofjapan.wordpress.com.... -

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Kiyomihara Jinja 清見原神社 / 清見原宮
大阪府大阪市生野区小路2-24-35 // 2 Chome-24-35 Shōji, Ikuno-ku, Ōsaka

- quote -
The Kiyomihara Shrine is dedicated to Emperor Tenmu (673 - 686), the 40th emperor.
The date of erection is unknown. It is said that Emperor Tenmu stayed for a while in Ootomo Village (old name of Shoji) during his visit to Naniwa (ancient Osaka) and that the shrine was built to commemorate the imperial visit.
In 1909, five other shrines in the neighborhood were consolidated into this shrine, which was renamed the Shoji Shrine after the village name.
In 1942, the shrine was rebuilt in commemoration of the 2,600th anniversary of the accession of the first Emperor Jinmu, and the old name of Kiyomihara was restored.
- source : city.osaka.lg.jp/contents -

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Suzuka Mountains (鈴鹿山脈 Suzuka Sanmyaku)

a mountain range running through Mie Prefecture and along the borders of Gifu and Shiga prefectures in central Japan.
The tallest peak in the range is Mount Oike at 1,247 m (4,091 ft). In spite of its height, Mount Oike is not the most visited mountain; that distinction belongs to Mount Gozaisho because of its Gozaisho Ropeway, making reaching the peak much easier.
There are seven peaks in this mountain range.
- source : wikipedia -

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Suzukayama Shinmai 鈴鹿山新舞 new Kagura Dance of Suzukayama
performed in Hiroshima

- CLICK for more photos !

- quote -
Suzukayama is another hero versus demon piece based on a Noh drama.
The hero is Sakanoue Tamuramaro who was given the title of shogun (barbarian defeating generalissimo) for his success in defeating the Emishi in eastern and northern Japan.
There are many variations on the story, but this version seems to be based on the version of the story that has the demon being a "dog demon". Other versions have the demon being invisible.
The demon lives in a cave on Suzukayama which is near Ise. Apparently it was quite a dangerous place for travelers.
What is interesting to note is how halfway through the dance the upper part of the costume is undone and drops to act like a flared skirt during the spinning.
- source : ojisanjake.blogspot.jp/2012/01/kanzui-matsuri... -

- further reference : suzukayama dance -

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. Yoshinoyama吉野山 a power spot in Nara .

. sennin 天狗と仙人伝説 Legends about Tengu and Immortals .

. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .

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Tachidaruma statue Gifu Tounji

April 17, 2018, 9:30 pm

≫ Next: Sennin 07 Yoro

≪ Previous: Butsusen 04 Suzuka Okina

This is the largest Daruma statue in Japan!
It is in Hida, Gifu 岐阜県飛騨市（旧吉城郡神岡町) and 16,5 m high.
It was made in 1973 in July.

The mountain belongs to the temple 曹洞宗補陀山洞雲寺 Toun-Ji of the Soto Zen Sect.
It was founded around 1400 and became the family temple of the 江馬氏 Ema clan around 1600.
The temple is better knows as だるま堂 Daruma-Do Hall.
There is a huge collection of Daruma artifacts in the hall, now attracting many visitors.

- quote
立ち達磨（たちだるま）は、岐阜県飛騨市（旧吉城郡神岡町）にある達磨像である。立ち達磨とは、達磨大師の立たれた姿である（一般には達磨は座禅した姿が多い）。観音山の中腹に鎮座しており、同山の麓にある曹洞宗補陀山洞雲寺の所有となる。発願主の筆頭は同寺の先々代住職大森雅道老師通称『日本一の立ち達磨』
「町のシンボルにしよう」と達磨像の話が持ち上がった。達磨大師は曹洞宗の原点の一つだが、別のきっかけもあった。浩潤球学（1877-1953）という高僧である。俗姓を丘といい、丘球学としても知られる。球学老師は明治27年に洞雲寺二十世住職となった大潤（丘）宗潭に随侍していた。宗潭老師は伊豆の修禅寺住職となり、のちに永平寺副貫首も務める。球学老師はよく洞雲寺にきて、町の住民に戒を授ける「授戒会」で「戒師」を務め、昭和28年に遷化されたが、住民たちは今も「球学さん」と、よくその名を覚えている。　その球学老師は、よく筆を執り、数多くの絵や書を神岡の人々に手渡したという。絵では観音様の次に達磨太子の絵が多く、そのことを町の人たちは思い出し、達磨像にしようという話になった。　またこの立ち達磨をきっかけに、昭和59年に全日本だるま研究会初代会長・今泉實平氏が三千点に及ぶ達磨コレクションの寄進を申し出た。すると建物は寄進を申し出る人もいた。これにより洞雲寺内に「達磨堂」が完成。展示を行っている。　昭和30年一月、江戸木遣りが神岡に伝授された記念に、町の人々が行列を組み、横２ｍ、縦１ｍの額を同寺の金毘羅堂に奉納。以降、「初金毘羅」は盛大になり、達磨市が出て達磨供養も行われるようになった。
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高さ8.9ｍの銅製の立達磨像。台座を含めると16.5ｍに及ぶ。
使用した銅約8tは、三井金属鉱業神岡鉱山から産出された銅鉱を使用。
1973年（昭和48年）6月3日建立。
「だるま」は禅宗の「初祖」として崇敬されている菩提達磨が壁に向かって九年の座禅を行ったことによって手足が腐ってしまったという伝説がある。ここから、手足のない形状で置物が作られるようになり、丸みを帯びた「だるま」が一般的となった。「立ち達磨」は菩提達磨が立位した銅像で、日本一の大きさを誇り、極めて珍しい。
- source : wikipedia

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There is another temple named Toun-Ji in Shirakawa, Gifu.

洞雲寺（とううんじ）は、岐阜県加茂郡白川町にある曹洞宗の寺院。山号は大龍山

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. Daruma Museum Japan - Darumapedia .

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- - #gifudaruma #tachidaruma #tounji -
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Sennin 07 Yoro

April 11, 2018, 6:08 pm

≫ Next: Yakushi legends 11 Toyama Yamaguchi Yamanashi

≪ Previous: Tachidaruma statue Gifu Tounji

- quote -
Yoro’s power is outlined in an old legend about a poor woodcutter who went into the woods to find firewood, and discovered the water of the spring had turned to rice wine. He filled a hyooten ひょうたん gourd with the spring water and brought it to his aged and ill father, who was returned to good health by the wine. The water-to-sake transformation was believed to be the gods rewarding the son for his dedication to his father.
.....
The Empress Genshō, visited the area, and renamed the period of her reign after it ...
- source : japaninfoswap.com/yoro-no-taki... -

元正天皇の霊亀三年、この樵夫の孝咸（こうかん）に因りて同郡多度山より醴泉（れいせん）出せり。故に改元ありて、霊亀の年号を改めて養老とせらる。これを以てこの樵夫の孝名、普（あまね）く世に知られたり。然れども、この樵夫が道を得て神仙となりたることは、未だこれを知る者無かりき。
- more
- reference source : nihonkogaku.com/content/report... -

Yōrō (養老) was a Japanese era name (年号 nengō, "year name") after Reiki and before Jinki.
This period spanned the years from November 717 through February 724. The reigning empress was Genshō-tennō (元正天皇).

The gourd, a most common water container for travelers in the Edo period, has become the symbol of Yoro town and there is a Gourd Festival.

ひょうたんと養老

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Yooro no Taki 養老の滝 Yoro no Taki Waterfall

The famous Yōrō Falls (養老の滝, Yōrō no Taki) is a waterfall in Yōrō Park located in the town of Yōrō.
There are a few other waterfalls in Japan with this name.

yooro no kooko 養老の孝子 filial piety at Yoro

about 26 cm high

. Yooro no Taki 養老の滝 Yoro no Taki Waterfall .
Once a pious son scooped some water from the waterfall pool and brought it home to his old parents.
When they took a sip - oh wonder - it had turned into sake and all their ailments were healed.

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Kooshi jinja 孝子神社（こうしじんじゃ）"Shrine of the Filial Piety"

岐阜県養老郡養老町 / Yoro Town Gifu
- reference source : sake.science/yoro... -

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松尾芭蕉　Matsuo Basho wrote:

盃の下ゆく菊や朽木盆
sakazuki no shita yuku kiku ya Kitsuki bon

below the sake cup
there is a chrysanthemum -
tray from Kitsuki

Written in 1675, 延宝3年, Basho age 32.
He took the inspriation from an old song, Yooroo 養老 Yoro.
The sake in the small cup is overflowing rapidly and becomes the famous waterfall of Yoro. Its flow looks like the chrysanthemums flowing in the river.

. Kitsuki bon 朽木盆 tray from Kitsuki .

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Nanigashi 草野某（なにがし）
was a Samurai who lived around 1580 in 美濃国本巣郡 Mino no Kuni, Motosu gun district.
His family was very poor and he lost his father at age 4. He was brought up by relatives and later went to Kyoto to the temple 西園寺 Saion-Ji.
There he got a letter from his mother, who was very ill and wanted him to come back soon. On his way he got involved in fights between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie, but managed to find his way home. His mother was very pleased to see him. He took some medicine from his luggage and gave it to his mother as an expression of his filial piety.
Since his family was so poor, they could only eat rice and wild vegetables, and he decided to practise ablutions and austerities at the waterfall.
His mother died shortly after, but he had obtained the power to fly and change places freely and eventually left the waterfall to become an Immortal.

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HŌJŌGAWA - a noh play by kanze motokiyo zeami
Hachiman River
I am Chikuba Nanigashi, priest at the Kashima Shrine.
- Read the full translation
- source : ross bender -

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

The story of the filial piety and healing water from the waterfall is also known in 千葉県 Chiba, 香川県 Kagawa, 兵庫県 Hyogo and 茨城県 Ibaraki.

................................................................................. Gifu 岐阜県　養老町 Yoro

The son had to care for his father, who loved to drink Sake . . . and then found the miraculous pond at the foot of the waterfall.

kogane take 黄金竹 golden bamboo
美濃の養老の滝にある神社の後方に、毎年二本ずつ生えるが、一年で枯れる竹があるといわれていた。

tengu 天狗
美濃国養老郡一の瀬村付近では、大きな天狗の面を作り、村人が鉦や太鼓で囃したてながら隣村へと順に送り、山奥深くまで送っていく天狗祭がある。天狗が村里に出現して人畜に該をなすのを封ずるためであるという。明治初年まで行われていたらしい。

ubakiri ishi 姥切石
昔、石の傍らで悶死した女の霊が石に乗り移った。夜中になると石は人肌ほどに暖かくなり、奇声を発した。京都の高僧が歌を詠み、喝を入れるとそうならなくなった。その石は姥切石と呼ばれた。

zengashi iwa 膳貸岩
養老塚という石がある。法要のあるときに必要な数の膳椀を頼めば、翌日には岩の上に希望の数だけ膳椀があった。ある時1つを破損して岩上に返したためにそれ以来借りられなくなった。

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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. sennin 天狗と仙人伝説 Legends about Tengu and Immortals .

. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .

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Yakushi legends 11 Toyama Yamaguchi Yamanashi

February 14, 2018, 9:36 pm

≫ Next: Sennin 08 Kan Shiwa Kanshiwa

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. Yakushipedia - ABC-Index薬師如来 .
. Yakushi Nyorai - Legends from the provinces .
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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and
legends from Toyama 富山県, Yamaguchi 山口県 and Yamanashi

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Toyama 富山県

. Yakushidake, Yakushi-Dake 薬師岳 Mount Yakushi .

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下新川郡 Shimo-Niikawa district朝日町 Asahi and 高岡市 Takaoka

On the 8th day of the 10th lunar month Yakushi goes off to 出雲 Izumo and comes back on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month.

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各願寺 Kakugan-Ji
本尊：薬師如来
富山市婦中町長沢5692

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Yamaguchi 山口県

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下関市 Shimonoseki

Yakushi Doo ato no ike 薬師堂跡の池 the pond a the remains of the Yakushi Do Hall
The water of this pond is said to heal eye diseases and warts.

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Yamanashi 山梨県

. Budō Yakushi, budoo Yakushi 葡萄薬師 Budo Yakushi, Grapes Yakushi .
行基菩薩 Saint Gyoki Bosatsu (668 - 749) at 勝沼町 Katsunuma

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富士吉田市 - Fuji Yoshida

Yakushi no tatari 薬師のたたり The curse of Yakushi
Once upon a time
there lived a person with bad eyes in the home of 加賀美イツケ Kagami Itsuke.
One day in a dream he saw a thrown-away statue of Yakushi Nyorai in the lake 明見湖 Asumiko in Fujiyoshida. He went there to get the statue and his eye disease was healed.
But since there was a curse to go with this statue, he then brought it to the temple 常在寺 Jozai-Ji in the village 小立村 Kodachi mura.

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南巨摩郡 Minamikoma gun富沢町 Tomizawa

At the temple 龍徳寺 Ryutoku-Ji at mount 蓧井山 there is a statue of Yakushi Nyorai which had come floating down the river 有東川 Utogawa, looking almost like a log. When someone got the ax and dried to chop it down for firewood, there was blood flowing out of the statue. So the villagers build a little temple and venerated the statue. Whichever way they placed it, next morning it stood there facing the mountain, 蓧井山.

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韮崎市 Nirasaki 大草町 Okusa cho

. kadomatsu 門松 gate decoration with pines for New Year .
The Zen temple 正福寺 Shofuku-Ji has a Yakushi Do Hall.
On the New Year's night, the Yakushi in this hall had to go out to take a pee. He stumbled in the dark and hit his eye on a branch of the pine decoration, thus becoming blind.
Now there is never a pine decoration for the New Year at this temple.

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上野原市 Uenohara秋山村 Akiyama

In the hamlet of 尾崎 Ozaki the statue of Yakushi Nyorai had been stolen and sold to a temple in Yokohama.
But the statue always went back to Ozaki, however many times they tried to put it up in Yokohama.

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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↧

Sennin 08 Kan Shiwa Kanshiwa

April 12, 2018, 4:00 am

≫ Next: Sennin 11 Sadazumi Shinno

≪ Previous: Yakushi legends 11 Toyama Yamaguchi Yamanashi

source : panoramahida.iza-yoi.net/hidatakumi...

Maybe he was a master carpenter of Hida Takayama. The statue shows him with a chisel and hammer.
. Hida no takumi 飛騨の匠 expert carpenter or craftsman from Hida .
They were already well known in the Heian period.

Later he was 飛龍隊の兵士 in the Imperial guard of "the flying dragons" in China.

- quote -
“…’Golden Butterflies’ is about a Japanese immigrant living in the T’ang dynasty China (619-905), probably one of the many Japanese students and pilgrims who went to China during the early T’ang to learn Chinese arts and sciences for their own newly developing nation of Yamato (Japan).
The name of this particular individual, Han Shih-ho (Han Shiho, or in Japanese, Kan Shiwa) would seem to indicate that he was in fact of fairly recent Chinese or Korean ancestry, as were many families among the upper classes of ancient Japan and in the craft guilds they patronized. Kan Shiwa was a master craftsman, one of the professional pursuits traditionally associated with Taoism.
Although stories about him mention no details on this point, he was evidently also a martial artist, another profession with traditional Taoist connections, for he served in the imperial guard of the ruling house of the T’ang. His story illustrates a number of Taoist ideas. His ability to make lifelike moving replicas of insects, animals, and birds represents what is sometimes called taking over creation, the power to infuse inert matter (the physical body) with vitality, energy, and spirit. The relationship between the color of his mechanical insects and the 'food' he gives them illustrates the way personality is formed by education and environmental influences.
The story of the golden butterflies represents the Taoist theory of 'equalizing things' in worldly terms, through redistribution of wealth by nonviolent means."
-from Vitality, Energy, Spirit: a Taoist Sourcebook // translated and edited by Thomas Cleary (p.37-38)

- quote -
GOLDEN BUTTERFLIES
"In the time of the emperor Mu-tsung (Muzong) of the T’ang dynasty, in the ninth century, among the members of the elite corps of the imperial guard was a Japanese man named Kan Shiwa.
Kan Shiwa
was a most extraordinary sculptor. He could fashion any sort of bird and make it so that it could drink water, hop around, stretch out its neck and call, and so on, all in the most beautiful and charming manner. He put machinery in the bellies of the birds he made, so that besides having beautiful plumage they could also fly one or two hundred feet in the air.
Also,
Shiwa sculpted cats that could do even more; they could run around and even catch small birds.
Now the captain of the guard thought this was truly marvelous, and wrote to the emperor about it. Emperor Mu-tsung summoned Kan Shiwa into his presence, and he too was captivated by Shiwa’s skill.
The emperor asked Shiwa
if he could carve something yet more marvelous. Shiwa told the emperor he would make a 'dais for seeing dragons.'
..... Not without misgivings, the emperor stepped up. The moment he did so, a gigantic dragon appeared in the sky. It was about twice the size of a man and had scales, a mane, claws, and horns; it flew into the clouds and rode on a mist, dancing in the sky. Its energy and appearance were such that one would never think it to have been made by human hands.
The emperor
was flabbergasted. Frantically he jumped off the little platform and said, 'Fine, fine, very good, now take it away with you!'
Strange to say, the moment he got off the dais the big dragon disappeared. All that remained was to put it back in its place.
Now Shiwa apologized to the emperor for startling him so, and offered to make good by doing something amusing. .....
- source : theparhelia.com/blog/2017... -

- quote -
..... Shiwa made some small things, "They are like spiders, they are flycatchers."
"Are they real?" the emperor asked, amazed by their lifelike quality.
"No, they are manmade," Shiwa answered. . . .
Catching the flies, one by one they returned to Shiwa's palm.
The emperor marveled at this. He gave Shiwa a big reward of silver, which Shiwa ungrudgingly gave away to poor people in the city. Now the rumor passed around among the people of the city was that Kan Shiwa was a spiritual immortal from the Isles of the Blest in the East Sea.
Just when this gossip reached its peak, Kan Shiwa disappeared from the imperial guard and no one ever saw him again.
- reference source : The Taoism Reader - Thomas Cleary -

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韓志和 Kara Shiwa（木鶴大明神）Kitsuru Daimyojin - Deity of the Wooden Crane
高山市川原町の中橋公園にある韓志和（から・しわ）の像。

木彫りやカラクリの技術に優れ、唐の皇帝・穆宗（ぼくそう）を驚嘆させたという。
この韓志和は飛騨の匠ではないかと考えられるようになった。
古くから飛騨の匠の高い技術が評価されていた事もあるのだろう。
飛騨国分寺にある木鶴大明神は、彼を描いた像といわれている。
自作の木鶴に乗って中国へ渡ったという韓志和。両手にはノミと槌が握られている。
- look at more photos
- reference source : gdn2425.jp/statue/s_takayama... -

- source : 飛騨高山まちの博物館

韓志和伝説 - Detailed study
- reference source : jiangnankejp03/book/jnihonzo... -

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. sennin 天狗と仙人伝説 Legends about Tengu and Immortals .

. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　. TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
- - #senninkanshiwa #kanshiwa #hidanotakumi -
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↧

Sennin 11 Sadazumi Shinno

April 12, 2018, 5:43 pm

≫ Next: Sennin 13 Ikoma

≪ Previous: Sennin 08 Kan Shiwa Kanshiwa

He was the sixth son of the emperor Seiwa.
His line has produced the three Shogun families of Minamoto, Ashikaga, and Tokugawa.
Descendants of the Minamoto clan worship Sadazumi Shinno as their tutelary deity.
He had ordered 13000 Buddha statues to be placed in the temples of Japan.

Legends tells of him one day when he turned 44 he went to 一条大宮の桃園池 the Peach Park Pond at Ichijo Omiya and became a huge dragon.
From then on he was also called 桃園親王 Prince from the Peach Park.

- quote -
The Seiwa Genji (清和源氏)
is a line of the Japanese Minamoto clan that is descended from Emperor Seiwa, which is the most successful and powerful line of the clan. Many of the most famous Minamoto warriors, including Minamoto no Yoshiie, Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate; and Ashikaga Takauji, the founder of the Ashikaga shogunate, belonged to this line. Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, also claimed descent from this lineage. The family is named after Emperor Seiwa, who was the grandfather of Minamoto no Tsunemoto who founded the Seiwa Genji.
Emperor Seiwa was father of Imperial Prince Sadazumi (貞純親王 Sadazumi Shinnō) (873–916),
who was in turn the father of Minamoto no Tsunemoto (源経基) (894–961), founder of the Seiwa Genji, from whom the Seiwa Genji descended.
Many samurai families belong to this line and used "Minamoto" clan name in official records, including the Ashikaga clan, Hatakeyama clan, Hosokawa clan, Imagawa clan, Mori, Nanbu clan, Nitta clan, Ogasawara clan, Ōta clan, Satake clan, Satomi clan, Shiba clan, Takeda clan, Toki clan, Tsuchiya clan, among others. The Shimazu clan served the Tsuchiya clan loyally for many years.
The Shimazu and Tokugawa clans also claimed to belong to this line.

- - - Sasarindo笹竜胆 family crest - - -
A group of Shinto shrines connected closely with the clan is known as
the Three Genji Shrines (源氏三神社 Genji San Jinja).
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

平安時代前期-中期,清和天皇の皇子。
母は棟貞王(むねさだおう)の娘。貞観(じょうがん)15年親王となる。中務(なかつかさ)卿,兵部(ひょうぶ)卿,上総(かずさ)・常陸(ひたち)・上野(こうずけ)の太守をつとめた。清和源氏の祖である源経基(つねもと)の父とされる。延喜(えんぎ)16年5月7日死去。
貞純親王（さだずみしんのう）は、日本の平安時代前期の皇族。清和天皇の第六皇子。母は棟貞王の娘。王子に経基王・経生王がある。桃園親王と号す。
親王任国とされる上総や常陸の太守や、中務卿・兵部卿を歴任したが、位階は四品に留まった。経基・経生の両王子が共に源姓を賜与され臣籍降下したことから、清和源氏の祖の一人となった。ただし、これについては異説があり、従来の貞純親王流とされる清和源氏は陽成天皇（親王の兄）からつながる血筋だとする説もある。また、出生年月日は貞観12年（870年）3月10日[1]、貞観16年（874年）3月23日[2]とも。
いわゆる清和源氏の出自について異説があるが、その一つに陽成源氏説がある。これは、清和源氏の祖とされた経基王が陽成天皇の皇子・元平親王の皇子ではないかとする説である。これは明治の歴史学者星野恒の唱えたもので、明治30年代に石清水八幡宮祠官田中家文書の中に源頼信が応神天皇陵に納めたとされる永承元年（1046年）告文に「先人新発其先経基其先元平親王其先陽成天皇其先清和天皇」と明記してある事を根拠としたもの。しかしこの文書は写本であり、告文の裏面に校正したと但書きがあることから信憑性が疑われている。また、告文の内容は河内石川庄の相続順序に過ぎないとする説や、12世紀はじめに書かれた「大鏡」が武家源氏を清和天皇の末としていることもあり、清和源氏が正しいとする学者が多くいる。
- reference source : wikipedia -

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Sadazumi Shinno, the fifth son of the Emperor Seiwa, passed the greater part of his life as a priest at the temple Amadera (Ama-dera) in Kyoto
- writes Lafcadio Hearn.

Daitsuuji 大通寺 Daitsu-Ji ; 【通称名称】: 尼寺（あまでら）Amadera Nunnery
Founded by the widow of Minamoto no Sanetomo in 1222.

- quote -
大通寺(尼寺) Daitsu-Ji Amadera
源実朝の夫人・本覚尼が夫の菩提を弔うために建立。北条政子も寺領を寄進し、足利氏も源氏ゆかりの寺として保護につとめ、豊臣、徳川氏もこれらにならったという。現在、本堂に本尊宝冠釈迦如来座像と、脇壇に源実朝像を安置する。門内右の五輪石塔は‘十六夜日記’の作者、阿仏尼の墓と伝える。（一般非公開）
建立：1222年頃（鎌倉時代）

南区大宮通九条下ル西九条比永城町1 / Nishikujo Hieijocho, Minami Ward, Kyoto
- reference source : kanko.city.kyoto.lg.jp/detail... -

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Genji San Jinja 源氏三神社 Three most important Genji Shrines

六孫王神社（京都府京都市南区）Rokusonno Jinja, Kyoto

多田神社（兵庫県川西市多田）Tada Jinja, Hyogo

壺井八幡宮（大阪府羽曳野市壺井）Tsuboi Hachimangu, Osaka

- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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. sennin 天狗と仙人伝説 Legends about Tengu and Immortals .

. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　. TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
- - #SadazumiShinno #sadazumi #minamoto #butsusen -
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↧

Sennin 13 Ikoma

April 13, 2018, 2:00 am

≫ Next: Sennin 14 Miyako no Yoshika

≪ Previous: Sennin 11 Sadazumi Shinno

- source 絵本故事談 (山本序周：作、橘有税［橘守国］)

- source 本朝列仙伝 (田中玄順) Priest Myotatsu and five gourds

- reference source : 国文学研究資料館 -

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He comes from Osaka, 摂津住吉 Settsu Sumiyoshi and practised religious austerities at 高安山 Mount Takayasuyama (488 m).
In 897 僧明達 the priest Myotatsu came to the mountain and in a cave saw a man sitting, wearing a white hat and white robes.
The man was alomost starving, so Myotatsu gave him five uri瓜 gourds.
Asked for his name he replied
我は是れ生馬の仙人 "I am the Sennin from Ikoma!"
After entering the mountain this Immortal had never come back down to the valley

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- quote -
Mount Ikoma (生駒山 Ikoma-yama)
is a mountain on the border of Nara Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture in Japan. It is the highest peak in the Ikoma Mountains with a height of 642 meters.
Mount Ikoma
is a part of Kongō-Ikoma-Kisen Quasi-National Park. It is one of the most famous picnic spots in the Kansai region. On the top of the mountain, there are many TV towers for broadcasting to the Kansai region and Ikoma Sanjo Amusement Park.
Mount Ikoma
was an important object of worship for ancient Japanese people. On the east foot of the mountain, Ikoma Jinja (literally 'Shrine for Mount Ikoma') has been extant since the 5th century. The mountain and the Hozan-ji temple near the summit were traditionally celebrated as national scenery and included in well-known woodblock series such as the "Sixty-eight National Views."
- source : wikipedia ... -

- Pilgrimage to 18 Shingon Temples in Kansai-
No. 13 . Hōzan-ji 宝山寺 / 寳山寺 Hozan-Ji .
奈良県生駒市門前町1-1 - 1-1 Monzenchō, Ikoma-shi, Nara
This temple is officially located in Nara, but many people from Osaka come here to pray and enjoy the vista too.

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. sennin 天狗と仙人伝説 Legends about Tengu and Immortals .

. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　. TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
- - #senninikoma #ikomasennin #myotatsu -
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↧

Sennin 14 Miyako no Yoshika

April 13, 2018, 9:06 pm

≫ Next: Sennin 16 Saga no In Kunshi

≪ Previous: Sennin 13 Ikoma

- source : wikimedia / painting by Kikuchi Yōsai 菊池容斎

Miyako no Yoshika (都良香) was a poet and scholar of the Heian Period and had an office at the court.
His speciality was kangaku漢学 Chinese learning.
Legends say that 100 years after he left office, he was spotted on a mountain as a hermit, his face unchanged.

When Miyako no Yoshika passed through the Rashomon Gate in Kyoto, he composed the beginning of a new poem:
氣霽風梳新柳髪
From the roof of the gate there was a voice continuing with the second part of the poem:
氷消波洗旧苔鬚
This must have been the voice of the Demon of Rashomon Gate.

. Rashomon Gate 羅生門 - Introduction .
羅城門の鬼、羅生門の鬼 // The Demon of Rashomon

. Sugawara no Michizane　菅原道真 (845 - 903).

A similar tale is known when he traveled to 竹生島 Chikubu Island in Lake Biwako.
There it was 弁才天 the Deity Benten who provided the second part to his poem.

Although their life dates are different, there are tales about Yoshika and Sugawara no Michizane.
They were shooting arrows at the estate of Miyako.

- source : 国文学研究資料館

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- quote -
Miyako no Yoshika was a scholar and statesman of the Heian court.
Today, he is most famous for having written up the earliest convincing account of Mt Fuji’s crater. This appears in an essay entitled A Record of Mt Fuji.
Unfortunately, history doesn’t relate whether he saw the crater for himself, or heard about it from somebody else.
- snip snip -
On the face of it, the ninth century would have been a bad time to make the attempt. Three huge eruptions wracked Mt Fuji between 800 and 865, the last one so extravagantly effusive that it created a new lake at the mountain’s foot. Yoshika’s own account of the volcano describes how a new parasite cone suddenly appeared in March 803.
Even if he wasn’t put off by these fulminations,
Yoshika had a lot of business to keep him in Kyoto. He was a lesser private secretary (shō-naiki) in the administration, and a professor of literature too. In 870, he set the civil service entrance examination for Sugawara no Michizane, who later became the greatest scholar-statesman of the age.
Intriguingly,
the exam’s second question required Sugawara to “Analyse earthquakes” – elucidating why the normally still earth moved, how the Chinese explained the phenomenon, and how the Buddhists in India explained it. Michizane first presented the Confucian view – that the earth heaved when the emperor’s virtue was inadequate and the government was in disarray – and then added a Taoist interpretation of earthquakes for good measure.
Reading this story, I was momentarily enthused. Perhaps Miyako no Yoshika was a would-be geophysicist, born a thousand years before his time. If so, he would naturally have wanted to climb Mt Fuji, taking samples of the ash and meticulously recording the still-steaming lava streams as he went…
Alas,
a re-reading of Yoshika’s Record of Mt Fuji disabused me. The essay doesn’t support the idea that Yoshika was a proto-scientist. Indeed, it’s clear that the author’s real concerns lay elsewhere than the crater; which is described more or less as an afterthought. What really fascinated Yoshika were the supernatural “Immortals” said to inhabit the upper slopes, or the angels who were seen dancing in the clouds over the summit.
For Yoshika,
it seems, there was no dividing line between the “natural” and “supernatural”. In Heian times, nature and super-nature were larger and more mysterious than humans could possibly imagine. A quaintly outmoded way of thinking, one might have thought – at least, until last year, when those waves crashed ashore that were higher than anybody could possibly have imagined.
So perhaps Yoshika didn’t climb Mt Fuji after all.
Yet there is still something appealing in the idea of him hanging up his court robes on the back of his office door – perhaps after a stressful day examining the impossibly precocious Sugawara – sneaking out of the Palace incognito, and then hopping aboard the evening Shinkansen to Shizuoka for a quick run up Mt Fuji...
- source : onehundredmountains.blogspot.jp... -

Fujisan ki 富士山記 A Record of Mt Fuji

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- quote -
都良香（みやこのよしか) (承和元年（834年） - 元慶3年2月25日（879年3月21日））
は、平安時代前期の貴族・文人。姓は宿禰のち朝臣。初名は言道。主計頭・都貞継の子。官位は従五位下・文章博士。
----- 経歴
----- 人物
----- 官歴
----- 説話
漢詩にまつわる説話が複数伝えられており、後世においても、漢詩人として評価されていたことが窺われる。
-- ある人が羅城門を通った時に、良香の詠んだ漢詩を誦したところ、門の鬼が詩句に感心したという（『江談抄』『本朝神仙伝』）。
-- 良香が晩夏に竹生島に遊んだ際に作ったという「三千世界は眼前に尽き。十二因縁は心裏に空し。」の下の句は竹生島の主である弁才天が良香に教えたものであるという（『江談抄』）。
また、
活躍時期がやや異なるにもかかわらず、良香と菅原道真が一緒に登場する説話・逸話が見られる。
-- 良香の家で門下生が弓遊びをしていた際、普段勉学に追われていることから、とうていうまく射ることはできないであろうと道真に弓を射させてみたところ、百発百中の勢いであった。良香はこれは対策及第の兆候であると予言し、実際に道真は及第したという（『北野天神縁起』）。
-- 菅原道真に昇進で先を越されたことから、良香は怒って官職を辞し、大峯山に入って消息を絶った。100年ほど後、ある人が山にある洞窟で良香に会ったところ、容貌は昔のままで、まるで壮年のようであったという（『本朝神仙伝』）。
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

- source - 太宰府天満宮・宝物館 - 『北野天神縁起』
Yoshika and Michizane shooting arrows

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Who was the first to climb Mount Fuji ?

- quote -
富士山・富士登山者昔むかし - Who was the first to climb Mount Fuji ?
富士山に最初に登ったのは木花開耶姫だという。２番は中国秦の徐福（前330年）。３番めはあの大和武尊（西暦110年？）と伝えます。
４、聖徳太子（598年頃）。５、役の行者（680年頃）。６、都良香が取材した人（898年以前）。７、僧末代（1149年頃）…私はいったい何千万人めにあたるのでしょうか。
・山梨県と静岡県との境

【本文】
いまではすっかり観光地化され、ゴミの山イメージになってしまった富士山。清掃登山も盛んに行われるようになってきましたが、「山ヤ」さんの間では、冬以外もはや登山の対象ではなくなています。

しかし遠く北アルプス白馬（しろうま）岳、北陸白山、和歌山県の山からも望めるその姿は、やはり気になります。富士山に最初に登ったのは誰でしょうか。

①：最初に登ったのは木花咲耶姫（このはなさくやひめ）。Konohahasakuya Hime
縄文時代、いまから3000年前の新富士山形成時から紀元前400年前後までの間に「永遠の命を天に求めるため登った」という。『古事記』や『日本書紀』などに記載されている伝説の中ながら、この神は神武天皇（紀元前711年生まれということになっている）の曽祖母にあたるというから古い話です。

②：中国の仙術士除福（じょふく）。The Chinese Sennin Jofuku
秦始皇帝の命令で不老長生回春の薬草を探しに登ったという。中国945～954年ころ、僧義楚が編纂した『義楚六帖』（きそろくじょう）という本には除福、富士山に漂着し、その子孫は「秦」と称していまに至るとあります。330年ころと伝えます。

③：弥生時代、西暦150年代？日本武尊（やまとたけるのみこと）Yamato Takeru
が東征のおり登頂したと伝えます。

④：あの聖徳太子。Shotoku Taishi
598年ころ（17歳の時）、甲斐の国より献上された黒駒に乗り、空を飛んで富士山に登ったと「聖徳太子伝暦」などに記載がある。

(5)：次は役ノ行者。En no Gyoja
奈良の葛城山で一言主神の讒言により伊豆の大島に流された行者は、昼間は勅命に従って島の内にいておとなしくしていたが、夜になると富士の山に登って修行したと『日本霊異記』（平安初期・僧景戒著）にあります。680年ころ。

⑥：桓武（かんむ）天皇 Kanmu Tenno （800年頃・平安時代初期）。

⑦：空海（807年ころ）。Kukai

⑧：平安初期の漢学者の都良香（みやこのよしか）Miyako no Yoshika
が会った登山者。良香は富士山に登った人から聞いて「富士山記」（879年）のなかで、噴火口の沸騰池、虎岩など見た者でしか分からない細かい描写をしています。
Yoshika heard the details from someone who had climbed Mount Fuji, when he wrote his report in 879. It seems he did not climb the mountain himself.

⑨：平安後期の末代（まつだい）法師。Matsudai Hoshi
久安年中（1145～1151）に山頂奥宮の位置に大日寺を建立。⑩：鎌倉時代に入ると、猪之頭の民が源頼朝の「巻狩り」の時に、山頂の雪を献上した記録があります。

続いて親鸞上人が、また日蓮上人が登り経ヶ岳に経を埋め、1518年には、暴風で13人の道者が遭難した記録もあります。江戸時代に入ろうとする1600年ころになると、128回登山の記録を持つ藤原角行が富士講を開き、以後、講を組んで「六根清浄」と唱えながらの富士登山が隆盛をむかえます。……私はいったい何千万人めの登山者にあたるのでしょうか。

- more
- reference source : toki.moo.jp/gaten...200... -

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

................................................................................. Kyoto 京都市　

kishi 鬼詞 the demon's poem
When Miyako no Yoshika passed through the Rashomon Gate in Kyoto, he composed the beginning of a new poem. From the roof of the gate there was a voice continuing with the second part of the poem.
When 菅原道真 Sugawara no Michizane heard this story, he said it must have been the Demon of Rashomon who composed this part of the poem.

..............................................................................................................................................

- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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. sennin 天狗と仙人伝説 Legends about Tengu and Immortals .

. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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Sennin 16 Saga no In Kunshi

April 14, 2018, 2:00 am

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. - - - - - ABC-List of the Sennin Immortals Hermits - - - - - .
. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .
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Saga no In Kunshi 嵯峨の隠君子 / 嵯峨隠君子

He is Nr. 16 of the
. 日本の仏仙人16人 - The 16 Buddhist Immortals of Japan .

He was 嵯峨天皇の隠君子 the son of Emperor Saga Tenno.
He entered priesthood as a child before becoming an adult. As he grew older, his hair grew white while he kept his childlike figure.

Not much is known about him.

He lived during the time of Sugawara no Michizane (845 - 903) - Butsusen Nr. 15.
He lived as a hermit in 西山 Nishiyama. (Or maybe in 南山 Nanzan).
He liked to play the 琴 Koto.
He also got along well with the local Onigami Kishin 鬼神 Demon Deity.

老君子 / 隠れ若子

. Emperor Saga 嵯峨天皇 (786 – 842) .
Saga was a scholar of the Chinese classics. He was also a renowned as a skillful calligrapher.
According to legend, he was the first Japanese emperor to drink tea.

..............................................................................................................................................

南山白頭翁 Nanzan Hakuto Okina
Old man with white hair from Mount Nanzan
He was 98 years old and still had full white hair, a face fresh like a peach.
Nanzan is another name for 吉野山 Yoshinoyama.
The old man lived in a small hut, he was not a farmer nor a merchant.
He only had a desk and a bamboo basket.
He had no money and no food provisions.

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. sennin 天狗と仙人伝説 Legends about Tengu and Immortals .

. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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↧

Keisokuji Temples

May 3, 2018, 6:53 pm

≫ Next: Kyoto San Kobo Daishi

≪ Previous: Sennin 16 Saga no In Kunshi

The temple was once located on mount 峰相山 Mineaiyama (244m) in the North-West of Himeji.
The temple was founded in 1348. Its history is written down in the records of Mineai-Ki 峯相記.
In 1348 a mendicant priest came here, heard the story from the old head priest of the temple and wrote it down.
It relates to Empress Jingu Kogo神功皇后 and a prince from 新羅 Shinra (Shiragi), Korea, who wanted to promote Buddhism in Japan and founded the temple.

同書によれば、神功皇后が三韓征伐の際に連れてきた新羅の王子が草庵を建立したのが当寺の始まりで、その王子は3世紀ほど後の敏達天皇10年（581年）に没したという。
伝承によれば、「皇后が新羅の王子を連れ帰ることにした。王子は皇后に渡海を無事に終えて日域（日本のこと）に着けば、伽藍を建てたいと願い出たが、仏法の是非のわからない皇后は明答しなかった。皇后は帰国後、西域の不安に備えて副将軍の男貴尊を播磨にとどめおき、王子を預けた。その後、王子は、峯相山に草庵をつくって、千手陀羅尼を唱えた」とある。
鶏足寺には空也や書写山圓教寺の開山・性空も来山したと伝わる。『峯相記』が書かれた1348年頃には寺勢はすでに往古にくらべて衰退していたという。
天正6年（1578年）、中国攻めの羽柴秀吉に抵抗したため、全山焼き討ちにあい滅亡し、廃寺となった。
- reference source : wikipedia -

. shinkei 神鶏 sacred rooster .
- Nagata Shrine Kobe 長田神社　神戸　and Empress Jingu Kogo神功皇后

According to the Nihon Shoki history, Nagata Shrine was founded by Empress Jingu Kogo神功皇后 at the beginning of the 3rd century, when she came back from her war with Korea and was on her way to Kyoto.
Her boat suddenly came to a halt near the estuary of Buko river, now near Kobe port 武庫の水門 (Buko no suimon). When she prayed for an answer to this event, the deity appeared to her and asked to be venerated in this region. This happened through the oracle of the rooster, which sounded like the voice of the deity

鶏鳴の聞こゆる里は、吾が有縁の地なり
The place where the voice of the rooster is heard
shall be my home.

................................................................................. Shiga 滋賀県　

Keisokuji 鶏足寺 Temple Keisoku-Ji"Temple dedicated to the legs of a chicken"
Chicken Foot Temple.
This temple dates back to the Nara period. It is located in the North of Lake Biwako, on Mount 己高山 Kodakamiyama (923 m).
Priest Gyoki Bosatsu had build the temple Todai-Ji in Nara.
And then came the priest Taicho and founded the temple 飯福寺 Hanpuku-Ji in the direction to protect Todai-Ji from evil influence (kimon 鬼門).

The main statue of this temple is 十一面観音 Juichimen Kannon with 11 heads. It was placed in a temple named 観音寺 Kannon-Ji, founded by Gyoki in 735).
Next there was priest Saicho, founder of Mount Hieizan. He traveled in the footsteps of Gyoki for a while and came to this temple.
On his way he heard the voice of a bird (rooster - kei) and saw footprints (soku) of the animal.
He followed the footprints and found a run-down temple with a statue of Kannon. Now the name of the temple was changed to
Keisoku-Ji.
It seems the original temple was on top of the mountain, but Keisoku-Ji is now at the food of Mount Kodakamiyama.
The old temple building was lost to fire in 1933.
In the area is also the Shinto shrine 与志漏神社 Yoshiro Jinja with a 薬師堂 Yakushi-Do Hall.

Now the temple is famous for the red autumn leaves.

- quote -
The temple was closed and abandoned after the end of Edo Period, however it’s been managed and maintained by local residents, and it’s now one of most important cultural properties and popular tourist attractions in the prefecture.
- source and photos : jw-webmagazine.com/keisoku-ji... -

滋賀県長浜市 Shiga Nagahama

. Taichoo, Taichō 泰澄上人　Saint Taicho Shonin .
and a legend from Shiga

. Gyooki Bosatsu 行基菩薩 Gyoki Bosatsu (668 - 749).

. Saicho, Dengyo Daishi 伝教大師最澄 (766 - 822) .

................................................................................. Tochigi 栃木県　

鶏足寺 Keisokuk-Ji"Temple dedicated to the legs of a hen"
本尊：七仏薬師 Shichibutsu Yakushi
足利市小俣町2748-1 // 2748 Omatachō, Ashikaga-shi, Tochigi

. Shichibutsu Yakushi　七仏薬師 / 七佛薬師 Seven Yakushi Statues .

source : .city.ashikaga.tochigi.jp/site/bunkazai...

The statue is 52 cm high. End of Heian or beginning of Kamakura period.
In the compound of Keisoku-Ji was a hall dedicated to the Buddha of Medicine, 医王堂本堂.

- quote -
Keisokuji Temple
Over 1,100 years ago, this temple was opened by Joe Shonin (a Buddhist priest of Todaiji Temple in Nara Pref.).
At first,
the name was Sesonji Temple (Shakyamuni Temple). During the Tengyo-no-Ran (Tengyo War) (939-940), Hidesato Fujiwara (the head of a powerful family of the Heian period) overthrew Masakado Taira (a general of the Heian period) using a curse and the emperor gave this temple the name Keisokuji.

- - - - - The legend of Keisokuji Temple
In 939, Masakado Taira( a general of the Heian period) started the war that betrayed the Imperial Court.
During the next year, Hidesato Fujiwara fought with Masakado, obeying the emperor's instructions.
At this time, the highest Buddhist priest of the Sesonji Temple prayed for Hidesato's victory. Using Buddha's teaching, he offered the neck of Masakado which was made of clay. He kept praying every day and every night.
Finally on the eighth day, he fell asleep.
In his dream, he found a hen who had three legs treading on Masakado's bloody neck.
When he awoke to the hen's laughing voice, he saw Masakado's clay neck had three footprints clearly stamped in it.
In the 17th day of the full moon, Hidesato beat Masakado.
The name of Sesonji Temple has thus changed to Keisokuji Temple.
- source : japanguides.net/tochigi...-

. Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 - Legends .

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. sennin　仙人と伝説 Legends about Immortals .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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↧

Kyoto San Kobo Daishi

May 6, 2018, 2:16 am

≫ Next: Jichi, Jitchi Juji Bosatsu

≪ Previous: Keisokuji Temples

- quote -
The three most important temples related to Kobo Daishi
Getting the stamp of all three brings extra go-riyaku virtues.

東寺 To-Ji
仁和寺 Ninna-Ji
神光院 Jinko-In
.
弘法大師空海ゆかりの３ヶ寺を巡拝する三弘法まいりの風習は、江戸時代中期にはじまったとされ、正月の３日間にお参りすれば一年中の厄を逃れられるとされています。また毎月２１日の弘法大師の縁日に巡礼する習わしもあります。
さらに、
四国八十八ヶ所霊場を巡るお遍路が、道中安全を祈願して３ヶ寺で菅笠・金剛杖・納札箱を授かり、それらを身につけて巡礼する風習もありました。
三弘法まいり
の風習は昭和３０年代頃にいったん廃れましたが、平成２４年(2012)に「京都三弘法霊場会」が結成され、半世紀ぶりに復活しました。
- source : kyonoreijo.sakura.ne.jp...

納め札箱 - 金剛杖 - 菅笠のミニチュア
Miniatures of the bag for fuda, the staff and a special Henro straw hat
弘法三

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. Pilgrimages to Fudo Temples 不動明王巡礼
Fudo Myo-O Junrei - Fudo Pilgrims - INTRODUCTION .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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Jichi, Jitchi Juji Bosatsu

May 7, 2018, 6:40 pm

≫ Next: priests speaking Chinese

≪ Previous: Kyoto San Kobo Daishi

- quote
十地（じっち、じゅうじ）は、
菩薩が修行して得られる菩薩五十二位の中、下位から数えて第41番目から第50番目の位をいう。十廻向の上位であり等覚より下位にあたる。上位から法雲・善想・不動・遠行・現前・難勝・焔光・発光・離垢・歓喜の10位がある。

仏智を生成し、よく住持して動かず、あらゆる衆生を荷負し教化利益する様子が、大地が万物を載せ、これを潤益（にょうやく）することに似ているから「地」と名づく。

法雲地（ほううんじ）
智慧波羅蜜を成就して修惑を断じ、無辺の功徳を具足して無辺の功徳水を出生して虚空を大雲で覆い清浄の衆水を出だすためにいう。平等の原理と差別の人間とが一体となった、平等即差別、差別即平等の真如の世界。

善想地（ぜんそうじ）
力波羅蜜を成就して修惑を断じ、十力を具足し一切処において可度不可度を知り、よく説法する位。一切の修行を完成した大慈大悲の菩薩が、真理の世界から具体的な事実の世界に働きかけ個々差別の衆生を救済する。

不動地（ふどうじ）
願波羅蜜を成就して修惑を断じ、無相観を作（な）し、任運無功用に相続する位。大慈大悲の心を起す。

遠行地（おんぎょうじ）
方便波羅蜜を成就して修惑を断じ、大慈悲心を発し二乗の自度を遠離する位。十十無尽の境地に入る。この位は第二阿僧祇劫の行を終えたとする。

現前地（げんぜんじ）
智慧波羅蜜を成就して修惑を断じ、最勝智慧を発し染浄の差別なきを現前せしめる位。不退転の位で決して後戻りせず、必ず仏になる確信を得る。

難勝地（なんしょうじ）
極難勝地ともいい、禅定波羅蜜を成就して修惑を断じ、真俗二智の行相互いに違異なるを和合せしめる位。四諦の法門の外に大乗の法門を学び、利他行に取り組む。

焔光地（えんこうじ）
焔慧地ともいい、精進波羅蜜を成就して修惑を断じ、智慧を熾盛に光らしめる位。個々の物に対する執着心を離れ、その功徳として四方を照らす。

発光地（はっこうじ）
忍辱波羅蜜を成就して修惑を断じ、諦察法忍を得て智慧を顕発する位。精進の結果、その功徳として光を放ち十種の法明門を行う。

離垢地（りくじ）
戒波羅蜜を成就して修惑を断じ、毀犯の垢を除き清浄ならしめる位。十の善を行い、心の垢を離れる。

歓喜地（かんぎじ）
菩薩が既に初阿僧祇劫の行を満足して、聖性を得て見惑を破し、二空の理を証し大いに歓喜する位。仏法を信じ、一切衆生を救済しようとの立願を起こし、ついには自らも仏になるという希望を持ち歓んで修行する。
- source : wikipedia

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- quote -
Juji - In Japanese, the ten stages are:
1) kangiji (the stage of joy in benefiting oneself and others)
2) rikuji (the stage of freedom from all defilement)
3) hakkoji (the stage of emmitting the light of wisdom)
4) enneji (the stage of radiating wisdom)
5) nanshoji (the stage at which one is difficult to conquer)
6) genzenji (the stage at which reality is manifested before one's eyes)
7) ongyoji (the stage of going far)
8) fudoji (the stage of being immovable)
9) zenneji (the stage of attaining expedient wisdom)
10 hounji (the stage when one can spread the Dharma, like a cloud)

- source : Helen Josephine Baroni -

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Zen Buddhism
Helen Josephine Baroni

Over 1,700 alphabetically-arranged entries cover the beliefs, practices, significant movements, organizations, and personalities associated with Zen Buddhism.

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. Roku Jizō 六地蔵 Roku Jizo, Six Jizo Statues .
Chiji Jizō 地持地蔵
and in a different naming:
Jizoo Bosatsu, Hooshuu Bosatsu, Hoosho Bosatsu, Hooinshu Bosatsu, Jichi Bosatsu und Kengoi Bosatsu.

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. O-Mamori お守り　Amulets and Talismans .

. Fudō Myō-ō, Fudoo Myoo-Oo 不動明王 Fudo Myo-O
Acala Vidyârâja - Vidyaraja - Fudo Myoo .

. 薬師如来 Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 Bhaisajyaguru - ABC .

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. Pilgrimages to Fudo Temples 不動明王巡礼
Fudo Myo-O Junrei - Fudo Pilgrims - INTRODUCTION .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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- - #jichibosatsu #jichi -
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priests speaking Chinese

May 9, 2018, 9:12 pm

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. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .
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Japanese priests speaking Chinese

- quote -
Does anyone know of any sources mentioning the use of spoken Chinese
in Kamakura Zen circles?

Tachi notes that in the late Heian period, there was no opportunity to study vernacular Chinese in Japan. But he lists up several monks who traveled to China, among them Kakua (who learned to speak Chinese while being in Japan), Eisai/Yōsai (who probably spoke Chinese, although there is no written proof to support this), and Shunjō, who again learned spoken Chinese while in China and apparently used it later for rituals that he instituted at Sennyūji. Since Eisai invited Shunjō to Kennin-ji, there is a certain possibility that he taught spoken Chinese to its monks. 260-261

Whether Dōgen was able to witness rituals conducted in Chinese at Kennin-ji is unclear, but there is a document showing that he studied with Shunjō. He may have used this opportunity to familiarize himself with spoken Chinese before traveling to China. 262

Rankei Dōryū did not speak Japanese, in his temples (Jufuku-ji, Jōraku-ji and Kenchō-ji), he apparently used Chinese for his lectures and in ritual life. It should be noted that Dōryū was accompanied by a couple of younger monks, and that there is evidence that a certain number of other Chinese monks were traveling to Japan at this time (1240s). 263

However, there is an episode from the recorded sayings of Dōryū showing that, while he taught in Chinese, he could not expect his disciples to understand, and pointed them to a Japanese monk for further explanation in their own language. Tachi emphasizes that this episode belongs to the early stage after the founding of Kenchōji, and that Dōryū, who lived in Japan for 33 years, subsequently learned the language. The use of sōrō in his recorded sayings bears testimony to his efforts in this regard, as does a passage from the record of Mugaku Sogen. In other words, in later stages of his Japanese career, Dōryū apparently taught in the Japanese language, but continued to use Chinese on occasions of formal teaching, such as in his jōdō and shōsan. 263-265

Later records show, however, that even after decades, the teaching delivered in Chinese was not understood by the monks, and added information in Japanese was necessary. 266-267 Even close attendants of the Chinese masters at Kenchō-ji were not able to follow conversations in Chinese and used written exchanges to communicate with the master. 268

The same holds for Mugaku Sogen: he used a Japanese monk conversant in Chinese to have him explain his teachings to the assembly. All in all, Tachi finds that the Chinese masters in Kenchō-ji up to the fifth generation used Chinese for their teaching, esp. on formal occasions, but had to have it translated to the assembly in order for their larger audience to understand it. 269-270.

What about the language capacities of the monks who went to China? Kakua had no oppotunity to learn spoken Chinese before his travels. Eisai may have acquired some basic capacities in his two months in Hakata before his first trip, and Dōgen at Kennin-ji and Sennyū-ji. Enni Ben'en again probably studied basic spoken Chinese with a merchant in Hakata. All of them achieved a certain degree of fluency while in China. There were others, however, who never learned spoken Chinese. 272-273

It is unclear whether Dōgen used Chinese in his formal, jōdō teachings. What is obvious is that he often quotes Chinese cases without kundoku transformation in the kana Shōbō genzō - which may be taken as evidence that he would have delivered them in Chinese in his verbal teaching. But there is no hard evidence to prove this. 274-275

A later source, dating 1382, however, shows that Japanese monks with knowledge of spoken Chinese from their travels to the Yuan empire used it in their formal lectures. Again, the source also shows that such teaching was not understood by the larger part of the assembly. 275

In general, it can be said that monasteries tried to emulate the Chinese model of ritual life as far as possible, even if this meant that many monks would not understand what was being said.

- source : pmjs listserve -

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Tamamura Kozaburo (1856-1923?) - 1883-1900.

. Japanese priests - Introduction .

. Famous Buddhist Priests - ABC-List .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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- - #speakingchinese -
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raigozu Amida coming at death

July 31, 2018, 8:58 pm

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- - - - - Paintings and Sculpture
- snip -

- - - - - Raigo and Sculpture
Buddhas are considered, like God, to be an Absolute existence and thus require no surrounding environment. Though Buddhas themselves need no enhancement, however, their followers, such as Buddhist angels or Bodhisattvas, sometimes are enriched with depictions of movement or surrounding atmosphere. Here too, however, we see the limitations of sculpture in depicting movement. On ancient Buddhist wall paintings, angels appear to be floating lightly through the heavens around the Buddha. But when these same kinds of angels were incorporated in sculpture and attached to the Buddha's halo, however, they lost their lightness and seemed to become more rigid. This is probably because of the innate differences between painting and sculpture.

The above may be one of the reasons that Japanese sculptors did not often try to incorporate surrounding environment into their sculptures. In the Heian Period, however, belief in the Pure Land spread, and people began to believe that after death they would be reborn in the Pure Land Paradise of Amida Buddha. As this belief spread, so too grew the desire to see expressions of the Pure Land in Buddhist sculpture. The result were images depicting Amida Buddha coming down from the far-off Pure Land Paradise to meet the souls of the dead and take them back with him to heaven. These images are called raigo, and usually had Amida in the center with an attendant on either side. This is the Amida Raigo Triad!

Scenes of this Amida Raigo Triad riding clouds, crossing mountains, and flying through the wind were easy to express through the medium of painting, but many difficulties arose when trying to express such scenes through sculpture, such as in the triad above. Why? Well, think about the nature of sculpture: it is impossible (or it was in those days) to create a sculpture that floats in mid-air. It is also difficult to express speed. To compensate, the sculptors of the Joshoko-ji triad tried to give the attendants a sense of tension and presence by depicting them leaning forward.

Towards the end of the Heian Period, perhaps reflecting changes in the society as a whole, artistic expression became more realistic, both in painting and sculpture. One area in which this can be seen is in the Raigo sculptures. The triad above from Joshoko-ji Temple is one of the earliest experiments in realism in a Raigo triad. Let's compare it with a painting of the same period.

- photo of Yushihachimanko Juhachika-in Temple
What are the differences in the way this Bodhisattva-attendant is portrayed in painting and in sculpture? In the painting, the central triad and their surrounding Bodhisattva ride upon clouds, and cross mountains rich with autumn color as they gradually make their descent. On the other hand, though the sculpture does not show the autumn mountains over which the triad is crossing, it does show all three figures on clouds, and the two attendants crouched on their knees are leaning forward, giving them the same sense of speed and presence within an environment that we see in the painting.
- source : Kyoto National Museum - Shiro Ito

. . . CLICK here for more Photos　 !

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source : sendai-c.ed.jp...

木造阿弥陀如来・二十五菩薩像及び地蔵菩薩立像 - Sendai
Amida, 25 Bosatsu and Jizo statue

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source : enpukuji.co/homotsu...
Temple 円福寺 Enpuku-Ji－Tokyo

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Temple 即成院 Sokujo-In - Kyoto

. . . CLICK here for more Photos of statues !

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raigoozuu 来迎図 Raigozu, illustrations of the way to paradise

- quote -
Amida (Amitabha) Coming over the Mountain
The popular, Kamakura Period painting theme of "Amida Coming over the Mountain," usually shows the central image of Amida facing forward with both hands held over his breast. This pattern can be seen in the Zenrinji and Konkaikomyoji "Amida Coming over the Mountain" scrolls. In this scroll, however, Amida comes not over a mountain but across a valley, accompanied by six Bodhisattva attendants. He faces not forwards but to the left, with his right hand raised and his left hand down. Though this posture is atypical of "Amida Coming over the Mountain" paintings, it is common in other raigozu ("Decent of Amida Buddha" paintings). Since it contains no other narrative elements, such as the pious Buddhist on his deathbed awaiting Amida's salvation in the Chionin raigozu scroll, it can be categorized as a variation on the "Amida Coming over the Mountain" theme.
The composition of this work is well-balanced and its portrayal of the figures is elaborate and reverential. It can be counted among the representative Buddhist paintings of the Kamakura Period.
- source : Kyoto National Museum -

- Seated Amida (Amitabha) with Raigo Mudra, hand position of welcoming spirits of the dead.
- source : Kyoto National Museum -

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阿弥陀二十五菩薩来迎図 Amida and 25 Bosatsu coming
Temple 知恩院 Chion-In

source : chion-in.or.jp...

- quote -
Raigo of Amida (Amitabha) and Twenty-five Attendants
This outstanding work depicts Amida (Amitabha) and twenty-five attendants as they descend on clouds over steep mountains down from Heaven. They are on their way to meet a dead person, depicted in the bottom-right, to accompany back to Heaven. This scene is known as "Rapid Descent," because of the especially swift appearance of the clouds. Flying clouds and the depiction of figures and garments in gold are characteristic of Buddhist paintings in the Late-Kamakura Period.
This scene depicts
jo-bon jo-sho (first class, upper birth), the highest state of death, evident from the dead person seated upright in front of a sutra scroll and the pagoda in the sky in the upper-right of the painting. The mountains in the background are high, but their smooth contour lines produce a gentle effect typical of the Yamato-e paintings. Though the scene depicted in this work is imaginary, its elements of landscape expression are impressive.
- source : Kyoto National Museum -

. Chion-In 知恩院 / 智恩院 .
Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto

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観経九品来迎と鳳凰堂来迎図　Byodo-In
平等院鳳凰堂

. 平等院 Byodo-In - The Phoenix Hall in Uji .

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. 高野山 Koyasan, Mount Koya, Wakayama .

高野山聖衆来迎図

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来迎図 by 濱田隆 Hamada Takashi
日本の美術 No273 - 1989年

. . . CLICK here for more Photos　 !

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- Further reference by Mark Schumacher, Buddhist Statuary
- 25 Bodhisattva (Nijūgo Bosatsu, Nijugo Bosatsu, 二十五菩薩) -
- Amida Buddha 阿弥陀如来 -
- Apsaras - 雲中供養菩薩 - serving Amida Buddha -

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- - - - - H A I K U - - - - -

. kiraigoo 鬼来迎 (きらいごう) "Welcoming the Demons" .
kigo for late summer
..... Oni Mai 鬼舞"Demon's Dance"
Bon-Kyogen dance performed on the 16th of July, at the temple 広済寺 Hozai-Ji in Chiba.

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

................................................................................. Aomori 青森県　
梵珠山 Mound Bonjusan (486 m)

go raigoo sama 御来迎様 / go toomyoo 御灯明 heavenly light
On the 26th day of the seventh lunar month, the moon in its last quarter looks almost like a boat and the local people see it like the 阿弥陀三尊 Triad of Amida, Seishi and Kannon.
To pray to the three, villagers climb to the temple on Mount Bonjusan and pray the whole night.

- Kannon temple at Mount Bonjusan

- - - - -
bakemono 化物 monster / raigoobashira 来迎柱
A young man once stayed over night at an old temple where monsters live. From below the Raigobashira pillar there came a monster, mumbling obosaru obosauオボサルオボサル, so he picked it up and carried it back home. Next morning he saw that it was a bag full of big and small gold coins.

- source : dannoh.or.jp/history... -
檀王法林寺 Dannō-hōrinji, Temple Danno-Horin-Ji, Kyoto 来迎柱

raigoubashira :
Two or four-circular pillars right and left at each corner of the Buddhist altar to define the most sacred place in a temple where Buddhist images are enshrined.
- JAANUS

................................................................................. Ibaraki 茨城県　
常総市 Joso city

. kitsune densetsu 狐　伝説 fox legends .
In the district of 飯沼郷 Iinuma at the temple 弘経寺 Gugyo-Ji there was a priest well versed in religious discussions, but in fact it was a fox. Another priest wanted to expose this and told the fox/priest he would give him anything he wanted.
The fox said he wanted to see Amida. The real priest told the fox that he could see Amida, but he should not pray to it, since he would then die.
But when the apparition of Amida Raigo came down from heaven, the fox was overwhelmed and begun to pray. And there - he fell down dead immediately.

................................................................................. Nagano 長野県　

Ajari-ike 阿闍梨池 pond of the Ajari
. Higo Ajari 肥後阿闍梨 / 備後阿闍 the Ajari of Higo, Acharya of Higo.
Kooen, Kōen 皇円 Saint Koen and his faith in 弥勒菩薩 Miroku Bosatsu.

................................................................................. Nara 奈良県　

. Temple Taimadera 当麻寺 / 當麻寺 and princess 中将姫 Chujo .
Princess Chujo was a nun at temple Taimadera. She prayed to Amida for her Raigo and six days later, she died and her Mandala was completed.

................................................................................. Tochigi 栃木県　

. tanuki 狸 - mujina 狢　－ racoon dog, badger legends .
An old Tanuki had lived at the temple 茂林寺 Morin-Ji, taking care of the tea kettles. Once he fell asleep and his tail begun to show, so the priest now knew he was not a human and threw him out of the temple. To show his gratitude for the many years of his stay, the Tanuki showed the others an apparition of
釈迦来迎 Shaka Raigo, Shakyamuni coming down and died.
The priest then made a grave for the Tanuki and put the lid of the tea kettle on top of it.

source : matsui-ikuo.jp/blog...
- 茶席　釈迦来迎図 -

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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. Oojoyooshuu, Ōjōyōshū 往生要集 Ojoyoshu, Ojo Yoshu .
by Genshin　源信　 (942-1017), Eshin Soozu 恵心僧都 Eshin Sozu
dai oojoo 大往生 daiojo - sudden death
pokkuri 　ぽっくり　sudden death

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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- - #raigozu #raigo #amidaraigo #amidatriad -
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Jigoku hell paintings

August 1, 2018, 9:19 pm

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. jigoku 地獄 the Buddhist Hell .
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. jigokue, jigoku-e 地獄絵 paintings of hell .
- Introduction -

- - - - - Paintings from a temple in Nagano

photos from a facebook friend

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. jigokue, jigoku-e 地獄絵 paintings of hell .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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- - #jigokuhell #jigokupainting #jigokue -
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bansho togarashi red pepper Jizo

August 3, 2018, 6:06 pm

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- Jizo Bosatsu 地蔵菩薩 - ABC-List -
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banshoo Jizoo 蕃椒地蔵 Bansho "Red Pepper Jizo"
tongarashi Jizoo　トンガラシ地蔵, とうがらし唐辛子地蔵 Togarashi Jizo 　
Tokyo, Akiruno, Haranomiya 東京都あきる野市原小宮101

People came here to pray for healing of a toothache or a swelling.
The small sanctuary has been removed to its present location in 1933.
On the 24th of October, the Special day of Jizo Bosatsu, there is a ritual held,
蕃椒地蔵尊祭.

The red pepper used comes from the nearby fields of 原小宮 Harakomiya.
They also bring red pepper from 内藤トウガラシ the fields of nearby Naito Shinjuku

蕃椒を一生食わねば長者になる

Red pepper was also used to ward off evil influence and even evil foxes bewitching people.
Burning red pepper as an offering will ward off the danger of fire.

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. toogarashi 唐辛子 Togarashi, Tongarashi, red pepper, hot pepper .
- Introduction - Capsicum annuum, roter Pfeffer, dried chili pepper -

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- Jizo Bosatsu 地蔵菩薩 - Introduction -

. Pilgrimages to Jizo Bosatsu 地蔵菩薩 - 地蔵霊場 Jizo Reijo .

. Legends about Jizo Bosatsu - 地蔵菩薩 .

. Join the Jizo Bosatsu Gallery - Facebook .

. O-Mamori お守り　Amulets and Talismans .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - ABC List .

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- - - #torarashijizo #redpepperjizo - - -
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Daikoku hashiri running walking

December 9, 2018, 9:02 pm

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. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .
. Daikoku and Ebisu 大黒と恵比寿 .
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. Daikokuten 大黒天 Daikoku / 大国 Okuninushi .

hashiri Daikoku 走り大黒 / 波之利大黒天
running Daikoku Ten / walking Daikoku

Nikko 日光　Tochigi 栃木

hashiri Daikoku 走り大黒 / 波之利大黒天 running Daikoku Ten / walking Daikoku

The statue of Daikoku is at the temple hall 大黒堂 Daikoku-Do, Furarasan Shrine / Chūzen-ji
Next to a statue of the founder of Nikko 日光開山, Saint Shodo Shonin勝道上人.
When Priest Shodo made the vow to climp mount Nantaisan, he saw Daikoku Ten walk over the waves of lake Chuzenjiko, telling him his vow will be granted.
This gave strenght to the priest to finish the steep and dangeroud climb.
. 勝道上人 Priest Saint Shodo Shonin .
There are various statues with this name in Nikko.

Daikoku Matsuri at 日光二荒山神社　Nikko Futarasan Shrine in June
At the Shrine Futarasan, as its deity Daikoku Ten may suggest, the legendary magic wishing hammer "Uchide no Kozuchi" is swung not only for good luck, but for safety in the household, prosperity in business and matchmaking. There is also a free market in the shrine grounds.

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Ashio no Daikoku Ten 足尾の大黒天

Every year 白ネズミ a white mouse came with an ear of rice. When Saint Shodo heard of this, he bound a white string around the leg of the mouse and let her go. He followed her to the hamlet of 足尾 Ashio, now using the spelling 足緒. The white mouse disappeared in a cave, which became a place of ascetic practises of Daikoku Ten and the Mouse.

The bridge 渡良瀬川橋梁 Narasegawa Kyoryo（大黒橋） Daikokubashi was also built there.

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- quote -
Standing Guardian Deity of Temple Precincts (Garanshin　伽藍神)

Many are familiar with the name Hashiri Daikoku for this statue, but in recent years it has come to be understood as a generic protective deity of temple precincts (garanshin).
Such deities are called kannōshisha or kansaishisha in Japanese, terms that refer to divine envoys dispatched as guards or overseers. The dynamic posture and vivid facial expression are representative of the physicality of late-Kamakura-period sculpture.
- source : narahaku.go.jp/english... -

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- quote -
大黒さま白ねずみ Daikoku Sama and the White Mouse

日光市足尾の地名の由来 The origin of the name Ashio in Nikko
昔々、
下野（しもつけ）の国のある所に、それは仲の良い爺さまと婆さまが住んでいた。2人はたいそう信心深く、朝な夕なに必ず畑の側の大黒さまに手を合わせていた。
ところが、
もうそろそろ稲が実を付けはじめる頃。ひどい嵐が吹いて、大黒さまの祠を吹き飛ばしてしまった。爺さまと婆さまは、畑の中に倒れた大黒さまをひとまず家に持ち帰り、大黒さまのために新しい祠を作ることにした。2人は嵐が吹いても吹き飛ばされない所がいいと考え、山の中腹の硬い岩盤をくり抜いて、その中に大黒さまを安置することにした。
爺さまは
ノミで硬い岩を削り、婆さまはモッコで石くずを運んだ。2人は昼も夜も休まず働き、その年の秋も終わろうという頃、とうとう祠は完成した。ところが、無理がたたったのか、爺さまと婆さまは腰を痛めてそれ以降寝込んでしまった。もう冬が近いというのに、2人の田んぼはまだ刈り入れを済ませておらず、村の中で1枚だけ稲穂をつけたままポツンと残っていた。
大黒様のお使いの白ねずみは、
この様子を見ると2人の田んぼから稲穂を1本くわえ、どこやら山の中へ走って行った。白ねずみが向かった先は、その頃日光の山々に道を開き、仏の道を広めていた1人の坊さまの所だった。坊さまは稲穂を持って来た白ねずみを不思議に思い、なにやら伝えたいことがあると見て、ねずみの足に目印の赤いひもを付けてその後をついていくことにした。
そして坊さまは、
白ねずみに導かれて爺さまと婆さまの家にやって来た。坊さまは、早速2人のために薬を作り、さらに茎が固くなった稲をガリガリと刈り、あっという間に刈り入れを済ませてしまった。
白ねずみの案内で
爺さまと婆さまを助けたこの坊さまは、日光開山の祖と言われる勝道上人（しょうどうしょうにん）だったそうな。そして、上人が白ねずみにひも（緒）をつけたことにちなんで、この地は足緒（足尾）と呼ばれるようになったという。
- source : manga nihon mukashibanashi -

. fuku nezumi 福鼠 lucky mouse / rat legends .

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

Legend knows this at Hashiri Daikoku in Nikko :
If someone is looking for a lost item and does not find it, he sticks a needle into the right leg of this running Daikoku and makes a vow.
Within a day he will find his lost item - or so they say.

................................................................................. Akita 秋田県　
仙北市 Senboku, Semboku city

. Shichi-Fukujin, Shichifukujin　七福神 Seven Gods of Good Luck .

hoo-oo 鳳凰 phoenix
While they performed the 大黒舞 Daikokumai dance and the seven gods of good luck had a party, a phoenix flew by.
He had an ear of rice in his beak and gave it to Daikokuten. Daikokuten planted this in the field and indeed, this year was hoosaku豊作 a rich harvest.

................................................................................. Kyoto 京都府　
右京区 Ukyo ward

. Shichi-Fukujin, Shichifukujin　七福神 Seven Gods of Good Luck .

天狗兵衛 Tengubei，大黒天 Daikokuten，えびす三郎 Ebisu Saburo and 布袋 Hotei
Once the leader of a group of thieves was Tengubei. They went into the home of 左近丞 Sakon.
When Daikokuten hit the head of Tengubei, it slipped back into the body.
Ebisu Saburo swung his fishing rod and hit the nose of the thief きつね兵衛 Kitsunebei.
Hotei was practising Zazen and did not make a move.
The thieves run away in awe.
The 福の神 Gods of Good Luck held a banquet with music and dance.
- - - - -
大黒天 Daikokuten，寿老人 Jurojin, 福禄寿 Fukurokuju and 布袋和尚 priest Hotei Osho
Daikokuten, Jurojin and 福禄寿 Fukurokuju came along and Ebisu Saburo wanted to entertain them. He caught a tai鯛 sea bream from a large plate.
When Daikokuten tapped on the ground with his kozuchi 小槌 auspicious hammer a lot of treasures appeared.
Finally priest Hotei came along. Daikokuten did 大黒舞 the Daikoku Dance and had a bout of 相撲 Sumo with Hotei.
Fukurokuji stamped his walking staff on the ground, grabed his uchiwa 団扇 handfan and did the dance 君が代 Kimigayo.
While they were thus busy dancing and enjoying themselves, the home of Sakon became very rich.

................................................................................. Miyagi 宮城県　

ishibiri 石びり someone stingy, stinginess
xx-biri (hiru ひる) means to loose excrements and dribble urine.
Once upon a time, someone asked Daikoku sama to HIRU some gold and silver for him. But Daikoku only dribbled stones to the man.
This is the origin of the proverb.

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黒川郡 Kurokawa district大和町 Taiwa town

hatsuyama 初山 "first mountain" ritual
This ritual is held on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month.
The 御神体 Deity is transfered to the Shrine.
Young men from the village put a rope around Daikokuten and parade him around.
They hug 恵比須 Ebisu, throw him into the river and shout:
"Tell us, will there be a good harvest this year or not?"
The performer of Ebisu calls back:
"There will be a good harvest, so please get me out of here fast!"

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -
05 大黒天 (OK)
86 大黒 collecting

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. Daikokuten 大黒天 / 大国 Okuninushi .

. Nikko 日光と伝説 Legends about Nikko .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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Kanimanji temple

December 11, 2018, 1:02 pm

≫ Next: Koyakushizo

≪ Previous: Daikoku hashiri running walking

京都府木津川市山城町綺田（かばた） / Hama-36 Yamashirocho Kabata, Kizugawa, Kyoto

The temple houses one of the four great seated bronze Buddha statues.

The statue is 2.403m high. It is made of 金銅 gilt bronze and weighs about 2 tons.
It was made maybe even before the 奈良時代 Nara period. It is one of the four bronze statues.
The other three statues from the same period are
丈六金銅仏は飛鳥大仏 Asuka Daibutsu
興福寺仏頭 Kofukuji
薬師如来坐像 Shaka Nyorai

The temple used to have a large compound in the Nara period, but now only the main hall with the statue is left, surrounded by the village.

Not related to the statue is the founding legend of the crabs killing a serpent.

- quote
Founded before the Nara period and located in the Yamashiro area of Kyoto prefecture, Kaniman-ji Temple is known for its magnificent 2.67 meter bronze sculpture of Shaka Nyorai.
The temple's founding legend tells of a broken promise and a snake that was killed by crabs.

Carving of a crab and snake on the side of the Kannon-do at Kanimanji Temple.
- source : taleofgenji.org...

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shuin 朱印　stamp

omamori お守り crab amulet

- Homepage of the temple
- source : ... temple/kanimanji ... xxx

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

................................................................................. Kyoto 京都府　

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木津川市 Kizugawa city山城町 Yamashiro town

Once upon a time
there was a very beautiful young girl. Once the villagers had captured a lot of crabs and wanted to eat them. The girl took pity on the animals and exchanged them for fish to save them.
The next day the father of the girl saw a snake trying to swallow a toad. The snake said it would let go of the toad if he gave his daughter in exchange. He agreed.
So the snake let go of the toad.
That night a young man came to the home, saying he wanted to keep the promise of the day. Father said he had not talked to his daughter about it and sent him away.
When the daughter learned of the promise, she sat in front of the Buddhist family altar and began reciting the Sutra scriptures.

A serpent came into the room and when the villagers opened the door next morning, the girl was safe.
The serpent had been bitten to death by hundreds of crabs.
The villagers built a temple to honor this event, the 蟹満寺 Kaniman-Ji.

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相楽郡 Soraku district棚倉村 Tanakura village

The same story as above is told about a seven-year old girl and the serpent trying to eat a frog.

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

. hebi 蛇と伝説 Legends about snakes and serpents .

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. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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- - #kanimanji #kaniman #crabtemple -

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Koyakushizo

December 19, 2018, 1:00 pm

≫ Next: Yakushizakura Cherry

≪ Previous: Kanimanji temple

香薬師像の右手失われたみほとけの行方
貴田正子 Kida Masako

Koyakushizo was a gilded wooden statue of the 白鳳 Hakuho period, and 国宝 a National Treasure.
It was so beautiful everyone thought it was of pure gold
So it was stolen twice in the Meiji period.
The first thief fell on his way out of the temple and the hand broke off. Then he realized it was only a wooden piece and left the hand behind.
The statue was found and brought back for repair.
Then it was stolen again . . . and brought back for repair.
Then it was stolen a third time in 1943, this time it was not found.
It was later removed from the list of National Treasures.

Kida Masako spent many years in search of the statue and has written a book about it.
It reads like a mystery novel, but it is all real.
Her story was even featured on TV.

- quote
奈良・新薬師寺の香薬師立像は、旧国宝に指定され、白鳳の最高傑作と言われていた美仏。あまりの美しさから「金無垢でできている」という噂がたち、明治時代に2度盗まれたが、手足を切られ、純金製でないことが分かると2度とも道端に捨てられているのが発見され、寺に戻った。そして昭和18年、3回目の盗難に遭う。
「国宝香薬師盗難事件」は、戦時中の新聞にも報じられ、仏像ファンたちに大きな衝撃を与えた。2度盗まれて戻ってきた像だったが、今回ばかりは発見されず、未だ行方が分からない。
この行方不明の香薬師を見つけ出そうと、元産経新聞の記者である著者が取材を開始。新薬師寺住職の全面的な協力を得た調査では、まるでミステリー小説を地で行くような展開に。その結果、衝撃の新事実が発覚。ついに、「本物の右手」の存在をつかむ……。
- source : amazon.co.jp...

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- quote -
Shakadoo 釈迦堂 Shaka Hall
The Shaka Hall was newly built in 1976 in order to enshrine the Buddhist statue of “Hakuho Shakanyorai Izo (Hakuhobutsu)” that is a National Important Cultural Property in Japan.
The statue of “Hakuho Shakanyorai Izo” is a Buddhist image that was created in the Hakuho period (673 – 686): the time classification of Japanese art history, such as in the late Asuka era (592 – 710).
It was the principal image of the Jindaiji temple when it was established.

... Also, it is a biggest as a gilt bronze statue of the Buddha in Japan: the sitting height is 60.6cm and the height is 83.5cm.
... The baby face and the line connected to the nose from the eyebrow represents the features of the Hakuho period.
Unfortunately, the gold leaf on the statue that was used to be was destroyed by fire.
We can see the similar expression in the statues of "Koyakushi-zo" at Shinyakushiji temple
and the statue of “Yumetagai Kannnon-zo” at Horyuji temple in Nara district.
These three Buddhist statues represent this era and are called “Three Hakuho Buddhist statues”.
- source : guidoor.jp/en/spot/chofu... -

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. O-Mamori お守り　Amulets and Talismans .

. Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 Bhaisajyaguru .

. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

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