Mitsumine Shrine

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Mitsumine Jinja 三峰神社 Mitsumine Shrine
Mitsumine, Chichibu, Saitama
Mitsumine sama 三峯様 - see below

Official HP of this shrine



http://www.mitsuminejinja.or.jp/

Spring at the Shrine, a photo tour
三峰の春

Great Japanese page with more photos
http://www.sight-seeing-japan.com/genr/gjj_mitsumine.html

Statue of Yamato Takeru 日本武尊の銅像

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The Japanese Wolf ニホンオオカミ
The Mitsumine Shrine Museum

The messenger of the Gods from Mitsumine Shrine is the Japanese Wolf, kami no tsukai, ookami, 「神使: 狼 おおかみ」.
The wolf
is often symbolically linked with mountain kami in Shinto (the most famous example being the wolf kami of Mitsumine Shrine in the town of Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture).

Interesting is a report by Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843) in one of his lectures on "the Superiority of the Ancients".
In the Ômine and Mitsumine mountains, he avers, "there are many wolves which are called the messengers of the gods of the mountains, and people from other parts of the country come and, applying through the guards of these mountains, choose and borrow one of these wolves as a defence against fire. That is to say they only arrange to borrow it and do not take a wolf to their place. And from the day of borrowing they offer daily food to the spirit of the wolf.

But if through neglect several days pass without food being offered then the wolf chosen becomes thin, emaciated, and weak. There is a case where a man I know borrowed a wolf and neglected to offer food for four or five days, and misfortune came to him from that source and he was fearfully surprised."
Wolves, Ookami, By ROWAN HOOPER

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Wolf Worship

Prior to the Meiji Restoration (1868),　Japanese worshiped this canine, whether wolf or mountain dog. The Shinto shrine Mitsumine Jinja was of particular importance in wolf worship and has　been associated with both Shugenoo, or traditions of mountain asceticism, and wolf iconography. Mitsumine Jinja stands near the village of Ootaki, in Saitama Prefecture.

The main gods worshiped at the shrine are Izanagi and Izanami, two powerful deities who feature in the Japanese creation myth. Tradition holds that the shrine was built by none other than Prince Yamatotakeru, the legendary unifier of Japan, who, during pacification campaigns in central Honshu, wandered astray of the Karisaka mountain-pass road.

The prince found himself lost until a white-wolf god led him out of the mountains, hence the shrine’s connection with wolves.

Later the prince’s father, the legendary twelfth emperor, Keikoo, retraced his son’s route through the mountains during an imperial tour. According to tradition, after climbing the mountains, the views of the three peaks of Kumotori-yama, Shiraiwa-yama, and Myoo-ga-take so stunned Keikoo that he bestowed on them the name Mitsumine-guu, the “shrine of the three peaks.”

Over time the three peaks became objects of worship. Spring thaws caused swift and pure rivers to flow from the mountains and, not surprisingly, local farmers revered the mountains in their agrarian traditions.
Today Mitsumine Jinja sits at about 1,080 meters, on the northwestern slope of Myoo-ga-take, having been moved there from Kumotori-yama after the Meiji Restoration.



http://www.kitanippon.co.jp/pub/hensyu/chinmoku/maboroshi/050112.html

Standard forms of o-fuda (talismans)
and other iconography, ranging from statues to hanging-style prints, were distributed at Mitsumine Jinja. The great majority of these images feature two wolves facing each other. The wolf on the right usually has its mouth open, symbolizing a, or the sound of an open mouth, and iconographically representing the first letter of the ancient Siddhamatrika script used to write Sanskrit.

The wolf on the left has its mouth closed, symbolizing un, or the sound of a closed mouth.
Although abstract, the three sounds contained in the sound on, or aun in Japanese, refer to the three states of consciousness: a being the first state, of waking consciousness; u being the second state, of dreaming consciousness; and n being the third state, of sleeping consciousness.
(More about Aum (阿吽) A-Un, Om).

When placed together, these two wolves strike poses similar to those of the Deva Kings, Nioo in Japanese, two fierce Buddhist guardian deities who protect temple precincts.
These o-fuda and other iconography were distributed by shrines; and some o-fuda, called shishiyoke (猪よけ　boar deterrents), were used by peasants to spare their crops from the ravages of deer and wild boar.

The Ainu, the indigenous inhabitants of Hokkaido, knew the Hokkaido wolf as the high-ranking god Horkew Kamuy. In Hokkaido’s Tokachi and Hidaka regions, there flourished versions of a myth about a white wolf that mated with a goddess, or sometimes a Japanese court lady, and the offspring from this union became the ancestors of the Ainu people.

Several regional versions of this origin myth exist, and some feature a white dog rather than a white wolf. The difference between wolves and dogs appears to have been less important to the Ainu, since both wolves and dogs inhabited much the same space in their classifying imagination.

One version of this myth from Shizunai, in the Hidaka region, explains that the god of the mountain Poroshiri-dake, Retaruseta Kamuy (the white-wolf god), could not find a auitable mate, even though he searched the entire island. So Retaruseta Kamuy summoned his divine powers, seeing all the way to lands across the seas, and in time spotted a mate in a distant country. Again drawing on his divine powers, he coerced the woman to get in a small boat, cross the seas, and once on the island become his wife. From this union, it is said, the Ainu people were born.

Read a lot more here on PDF file.www.jpf.go.jp/j/publish_j/jfn/pdf/jfn29_1.pdf
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You can see the two wolves at the gate, click photo for enlargement.

http://www.sight-seeing-japan.com/genr/gjj_mitsumine.html

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三峰様（ミツミネサマ） Mitsumine Sama 　

Mitsumine-sama, the farmer's name for the Deity worshipped at Mitsumine Shrine. They also call it Big Mouth God (大口 ooguchi kami) or わんわん様 WanWan Sama (barking like a dog).

関東三峰神社の神、狼（おおかみ）の神格、別名大口（おおぐち）神、わんわん様、農作物荒らしの害獣を防ぎ盗人を威怖させ、盗難を防除する神である。関東一円から北信にかけて、農山村に強い信仰圏をもっている。その神が関東から遠く離れた与川に二社祠られていることは何を物語っているのであろうか。（一社は、胡桃田・川合平・小川野平の三部落合同で、胡桃田沢の右岸の尾根の山中に昭和二十年代まで祠っていたという）。
その昔、
狼（山犬）が盛んに跳梁（ちょうりょう）して人畜に被害を及ぼしたので、狼の大王（神）に人畜を護って貰う目的があったのであろうか。幕末期には、この辺りにも信仰が浸透しいたと思われる。修験者によるものか、それとも関東と何か交流が持たれていたか。信仰の伝播（でんぱ）とその媒体はいかがなものであったか。管見ではあるが、大桑村の和村部落では、三峰講が現在も機能しており、神札が毎年新しく配布されている。与川村の三峰信仰については、今後の研究課題の一つであるが、加えて一区の阿弥陀信仰と四区・五区の十王信仰の対比。三区四区の三峰信仰と一区の三峰信仰の対比なども考究対象として挙げておきたい。
屋号・
下川合の家の上の方の山の尾根に祀られている。与川村では、三区の胡桃田沢の右岸の尾根の高い処と、一区の根の上峠の下の、脇沢の東の宇礼寄りの小山の頂、及びこの川合平の尾根の三箇所に祀られている。この三箇所は、上の原と大奈良の境にある地名・城山(山)との間の相互の見通しがよい。春の花見の宴は、この三峰様の広場で行われたという伝承が残っている。中世の外敵に対する物見の台の跡かもしれない。
享保五年(一七二〇)に
三峰山の神を「使わしめとしての狼（おおかみ）」と定めた。初めは、猪と鹿の防除に効顕（こうけん）ありと信仰されていたが、火防・盗賊除けの信仰が加わった。「狼」のお札はワンワン様と呼ばれ、関東・中部地方に配布された。村々では、三峰講を結成して代参をたてて祀った。川合平の山田家の『大福出入日記覚帳・文久元年』(一八六一)に「文久元年四月二十四日・三十九文三峰様むかえ入用」とある。この記録は、この時に初めてお札をお迎えしたのではないことが、三十九文の少ない費用から判る。
講の代参
旅費負担か若しくは、三峰神社の御師比（おし）(御札配り)が廻村してきて、簡単な神事を行ったのであろうか。それ以前から信仰があったであろう。地名論と関係があるが、深入りを避け後の研究に期待しておきたい。幕末頃、日本全国に狼による人畜の被害が増加したので、与川村の人たちは、日本の国の狼の王様の三峰様に狼の害を除くことをお願いしたのである。管見では、須原・和村から南の長野村と野尻村に信仰圏があり、三峰神社のお札が個人の家の神棚に祀ってあるのを見かける。
小林　俊彦
http://www.nagiso-town.ne.jp/kouhou/213/chimeikou62.htm
http://www.nagiso-town.ne.jp/kouhou/220/chimeikou69.htm


. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .
17 三峯様 legends to explore

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Read more about the Wolf as a kigo for haiku

Wolf (ookami)





. Kaneko Tohta and the Wolf Haiku of Chichibu 　


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The Wolf Cult in Kifune Shrine Kume 貴布弥（きふね）

. Oku Osaki Jinja 奥御前神社 Kume, Okayama .

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. ookami 狼 Okami, wolf legends
yama-inu, yamainu　山犬、豺 "mountain dog" .


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- #mitsumine #mitsuminesama #wolfcult #ookami -
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Doosojin, the Wayside Gods

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. Legends about Hidarugami .
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道祖神　Doosojin (Doososhin, Dosojin Dososhin)

kido no kami 岐戸大神 see below


© Photo Gabi Greve

The Wayside Gods, Crossroads Gods, Corner Gods, Road Gods

I even found a connection to my Daruma and to Haiku, see below.

The origin of these wayside deities might go back to old Japanese Shintoo beliefs.

Chimatagami 岐神, the Gods of the Crossroads, is said to represent the legendary gods of Old Japan, especially
Sarutahiko no Mikoto 猿田彦神 and his fair maiden,
Ame no Uzume no Mikoto 天鈿女.

They are usually two stone figures, man and woman (wagoozoo和合像, sootai doosojin 双体道祖神) holding hands or his arm around her shoulder. Some are shaking hands, (akushu doosojin 握手道祖神).
Other couples are exchanging a coup of sake (shuugizoo　祝儀像). Usually he holds the small cup and she poors for him. Or he holds a ladle and she holds a fan (杓扇).
Sometimes they even embrace (hooyoozoo 抱擁像, in form of the Kankiten Deity, Kankiten gata 歓喜天形). Very seldom there is a child with the figures of grown-ups.

Since these stone markers are usually unprotected at the roadsides, wind and rain take their toll and the figures are quite washed out sometimes, giving them a special charm to the passer-by.

The stone markers sometimes carry an inscription (meibun　銘文), using the following Chinese characters and their equivalents with similar pronunciation:
way, ancestor, six, cold, fork in the road
doo　道、so 祖, roku　六、陸、禄, sai 才、寒、幸 or chimata 岐, 衢.

Most of these stone deities are found along the roads of Central Japan, especially Nagano and Yamanashi, but of course also in other parts. They are called by many names, for example: 賽の神　sai no kami, 障の神, 祖神 sae no kami, see no kami せーの神, sakai no kami 境神> sai no kami; 障神 shooshin; 衢神 kushin, 八衢神 yachimata no kami, 道俣神 chimata no kami;
doorokujin　道六神, / 道碌神 / 道陸神 Doroku-Jin (in connection with the six Jizo statues on the crossroads and the six realms of existence (rokudoo　六道),
岐神 chimatagami, ya chimatagami, 船戸神 funado no kami; 道の神 michi no kami, ひだる神 hidarugami、アラハバキ神　and more.
SAI or SAE means keeping out, destructing the way for the evil spirits.

They protect the traveller and all living beings on the road, they protect the borders of the village, prevent evil from entering and also protect the children of the village. Since they usually show a couple, they are of course also the protector deities of the family, of man and wife united in marriage and fertility.

Festivals in their honour are the fire festivities on the old lunar New Year, Dondoyaki　どんど焼、sagichoo 左義長, saitoyaki 賽燈燒,　紫灯、寒灯. During these fire festivals around the 14 and 15 of January, the New Year decorations are burned, for example the ritual ropes, Shimenawa .

. dondon yaki どんどん焼き Dondo Fire Ritual .


Dooso 道祖 is also read as SAITO, therefore the burning of things during the New Year celebrations takes place in areas of reverence of the Wayside Gods. One of these famous rituals takes place in Ooiso, Kanagawa Pref. and is called Saitoyaki　さいと焼き　or Sankuroo Yaki 三九郎焼き. For more details see below.

Stone markers with only an inscription of 道祖神 are called "Doosojintoo" 道祖神塔。

http://kugenuma.sakura.ne.jp/sekizou.html

道祖神文字塔


. Sai no Kami 幸の神 God of Good Fortune .
- - - - - Sae no kami 障の神 - 塞の神


. shichinin misaki 七人ミサキ "Misaki of seven people" .
In Kochi, Tosa
Someone getting lost in the mountains is ユキアイ "meeting a deity", the malicious Doorokujin 道碌神 Doroku-Jin.. When they come back, they must stand at the entrance and be fanned by a willow and paste an amulet at the entrance.

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Hidarugami ヒダル神
. Legends about Hidarugami .



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What Does Hidarugami Mean?
Hidarugami is written with the katakanaヒダル (hidaru) + the kanji 神 (kami; god). Things written in katakana have no inherent meaning. However, the word “hidaru” is most likely connected with 饑い (hidarui), meaning hunger. Hidarui is a colloquial term, used mainly in Gifu prefecture. Hidarugami is also sometimes written ひだる神 using the hiragana for “hidaru,” also with no inherent meaning.

The fact that the kanji “kami” is used places the hidarugami on a higher level than most yokai, alongside such devastating deities like the Binbogami (貧乏神; God of Poverty) and Shinigami (死神; God of Death). This elevated status is due in part to arising from human spirits, from reikon.

There are other names for the Hidarutami. In Kitakyushu, it is known as the Darashi (ダラシ), in Mie and Wakayama prefectures it is sometimes called the Dari (ダリ), while in Nara and Tokushima prefectures it is called Daru (ダル). All of these use katakana for the names.
The Hunger Strike of the Hidarugami
Are the Hidarugami Yokai or Yurei?
Hidarugami defy simple classification, and show the complicated nature of Japanese folklore. Are they yurei? Are they yokai? Are they Gods? Yes to all three questions. (And yes, it is a trick question as all yurei are yokai. Smart catch there!)
Hidarugami Across Japan
- source : hyakumonogatari.com


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Hidarugami for example is the ghost of someone who died alone in the moors or mountains. This ghost possesses people making them so hungry they faint. To restore them a person must be given mochi.

More Folk Beliefs
Folk Religions are based on the idea of building a relationship with the spirit world, and are understood through folk tales and so often much stranger than more structured religions. With that in mind it's important to keep in mind that Shintoism and folk religion in Japan aren't always one and the same.

Folk Religions are based on the idea of building a relationship with the spirit world, and are understood through folk tales and so often much stranger than more structured religions. With that in mind it's important to keep in mind that Shintoism and folk religion in Japan aren't always one and the same.

A man in Tono had a beautiful daughter who married a horse, and she would sneak out to the stable to be with him. When the father learned of this he was furious and he had the horse killed and hung from a mulberry tree.
His daughter went out the tree and climbed onto the horses head. Disgusted the man cut off the horses head and the girl and the head flew off into the sky. She then became a kami named Oshira-sama who is now a kami of agriculture and silkworms. (Silk worm production was done in mulberry trees.)

Love has a certain amount of power to cause both good and bad. A young girl from a wealthy family fell in love with a temple page while out cherry blossom viewing. She sickened and pined for the young man, in order to comfort her, her mother bought a long-sleeved robe of the same pattern the page had worn; but though the daughter kept it by her and would not let it out of her sight, she grew no better and eventually died.
The family offered the clothing they’d given her to the temple, and ayoung girl bought it a few months later; soon after she pined away and died as well.
Again the dress was donated back to the temple and the priests sold it, again the girl who purchased it pined away and died. By this time the priests were very properly frightened, and they made up a bonfire and threw in the unlucky robe, when, to their horror, a gust of wind caught the thing and bore it, all flaming, against the side of the temple. The whole street caught, the fire leaped over the river and burned its way all across the city, going out only when there was nothing more to burn.
Two more fires, within a couple of days after, destroyed the palace and miles of houses; the prison gates were opened, but a warder closed one of the city gates against the prisoners and cut off not only these, but hundreds of citizens, who were caught by the fire or trampled to death. There were so many unclaimed bodies that a special burying ground was made for them on the far side of the river, and a memorial temple built, where masses were said for these unknown dead; hence its name, Ekoin, temple of mass-reading.

It's important to understand that in folk religion all things, whether they be people, animals or even objects have their own power, their own life/soul. Everything in Japanese folk religion is about building and maintaining relationships with everything else.
Everything in folk religion also has a power of its own, even if its not always aware of it. So before peeing a person should warn the worms of the ground to move out of the way. If a person pees on a worm than the worms anger and bad feelings will cause the persons penis to swell painfully.
Similarly when a fire killed a cow in one village the cows owner built a shrine made of clay tiles to the animals spirit. As people prayed to the cow kami they found that it had the power to cure skin diseases. Soon word got out about this and so people began to travel to pray to the cow kami, bringing with them offerings of grass tied in small bundles.

Because rice planting is long boring work and the kami had to be kept there to help, women would humor the kami by wearing only a loin cloth so that he could see their lower anatomy as they worked. The women would also tell dirty jokes and stories.
Rice planting songs were also often about sex as there is a relationship between human reproduction and the fertility of the land.

Kami lived not only in nature and shrines but also in statues of them. For the Rain and Wind Festival in the Tono district people will make straw figures with paper faces and male and female parts made from melons. They bring these figures in procession to the crossroads where they play music and have a feast for them.

Okunai-sama is the Kami of a household which is carved from mulberry wood with a simple face drawn on it. A piece of cloth with a hole in it is put over this to act as a piece of clothing. In one story the Okunai-sama comes into the fields as a short boy and helps to plant the rice fields before a storm comes. No one realizes the helpful boy is Okuanai-sama until they return home and find that the statue is covered in mud from the fields.

Another kami of the household is Kamadogami. This deity is often characterized within a mask of a distorted face which is hung near the heart. Kamadogami is a spirit not only of the household but he also contains elements relating to agriculture, children, and similar activities.

Chimata-no-kami is the Kami of the roads, paths, and crossroads. He is represented by a phallus. He also helps women gain fertility and men with erectile dysfunction problems.

There are many spirits which are helpful to humans. Zashikiwarashi for example appear as twelve or thirteen year olds and can be male or female, though they typically remain hidden. They bring good luck to a household and should they leave misfortune will fall. Once a man saw a pair of girls leaving the house of a wealthy man. The girls said they were going to another farm and soon afterwards nearly everyone in the house they’d left died without the luck they brought.

In another tale a fishermen took a boy across the shore who said he was moving out of a wealthy household because they were rebuilding it. The boy wanted to move to live in an old house. Soon after the wealthy house the boy was leaving ran into bad luck and the one he’d moved into prospered.

A new governor to a region went around to greet and pay respects to all the kami of the region when he came upon a ruined shrine in some woods. When he enquired about this he was told that a fight between the monks of the shrine had caused it to loose its government funding. Feeling bad for the kami within it the governor ordered the shrine to be restored, he also promised to pay his respects to the kami as people had once done.
The kami in gratitude helped the governor become the governor of Hitachi when his post was done in the region of the kami.

A lord wanted a good post in the court so he sent for a wonder worker to help him get it through the use of magic. The Monk assured the lord that he could help the lord get the post he desired through the use of Dakini rite which utilizes fox magic.
During the second rite a fox came and ate the offerings which was seen as a good sign. Later the lord had a dream in which a girl brushed her face with her long black hair as it trailed byhind her. He then awoke with a fox tail against his face. The lord got his desired post and learned the Dakini rite himself with which he performed many mircles. In addition he inshrined the fox’s tail and gave the kami the name Fukutenjin (Kami of good fortune).

The dead spirits of people which live in the mountain valleys and caverns, or which wonder the earth are helpful so long as they are given respect - acting as beneficial guardian spirits.

Spirits which people don’t worship, those with no decendants, aborted fetuses, etc will often become harmful and dangerous.

Hidarugami for example is the ghost of someone who died alone in the moors or mountains. This ghost possesses people making them so hungry they faint. To restore them a person must be given mochi.

There are also many other beings. In Yamaguchi village a man saw a women come out of the bamboo grass and walk towards him. She had long black hair which trailed behind her, and a baby strapped to her back with wisteria vines. Her kimono was of common striped cloth and was starting to ware away so was patched with leaves.
Her feet didn’t seem to touch the ground. She passed him by and soon he grew ill for a long time.

Girls are at times abducted by ordinary looking men with red eyes. The men then carry the girls off to live with them in the mountains often having children with the women.

A man who worked for a wealthy choja dove down into a deep pol and found a house in the shadows of the rocks. Inside was the daughter of his master who’d drowned weaving at a loom. She made him promise to tell no one he’d seen her. When he did she made him wealthy by granting him such luck that he almost never lost at gambling. However he eventually told the story and so his luck ended such that he soon lost everything.

Some people saw a woman crouching beside a river smiling repeatedly. Eventually a rumor spread that someone was visiting the woman at night. Eventually people realized that this was a kappa so her relatives gathered to protect her, but this failed. Soon the woman was pregnant, and in order for her to give birth they had to put her in a tub of water. The woman then gave birth to a part kappa. Some people said this had occurred in her family before and was the reason her family was wealthy and had an the surname of those who had been part of the warrior-class.

Sometimes mayoi-ga or a magical house appears to someone in the wilderness when they get lost in order to help the person. The person is then able to take anything from the house they wish. One woman not realizing what she’d found left the house alone and so a magical bowl with which she could scoop an unlimited amount of rice floated down the river too her.

Among the Ainu there is a female vampire named Kenash Unarabe, often takes the form of the deity of the hunt so that she can lure humans to her inorder to drain their blood. Despite this she is also invoked during rituals for those givng birth to come and remove the pollution in return for the blood flowing from the woman.
- source : morefolkbeliefs.html


. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .
41 to explore / Darashi だらし / ダラシ 9 to explore


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Other stone markers show a male organ or phallic symbol, sekiboo, dankonseki (石棒(男根石) or are simply a collection of naturally round stones, maru-ishi 丸石 . The combination of a male and female symbolic stone is also common, called Husband and Wife Stone, inyooseki 陰陽石 and relates to old fertility cults, maybe even the Chinese Taoistic lore. This kind of stone veneration is found in other countries too and is not special to Japan.

Look at the male symbol stone here too:
http://www.digi-ken.org/archives/dousojin/kuwado.html


And more are here:
http://kaboco.hp.infoseek.co.jp/photogarally/inyohphoto1.html
http://miyazaki.daa.jp/inyo/
http://www.city.kobayashi.miyazaki.jp/syoukoukankouka/inyoseki/inyouseki.html
http://dingodeg.hp.infoseek.co.jp/go/inyouseki.html

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Doosojin can also be made of wood and be placed in a small wayside shrine, but not many old ones survive. 木祠型道祖神. A famous one of about one meter is in Sangakuchoo at the Kanazakura Shrine. 甲府市御岳町金桜神社. It is made from the root of a tree, covered with a copper roof.

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Wayside Gods bound by a rope, hannawa doosojin 半縄道祖神
Here are two links:
http://www3.zero.ad.jp/futatsuya/home-page%20hananoujou/hannawaa.html



男女が抱擁する「歓喜天形」。安永８年(1779)
http://www3.zero.ad.jp/futatsuya/home-page%20hananoujou/hannawab.html

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Very good English introduction to the subject
by Mark Schumacher, with many photo tours around Japan
Dosojin 道祖神 and the related explanations of
Kooshin and Monkeys.


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. 道祖神 Dosojin - Legends about the Wayside Gods .
from many parts of Japan !


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Some famous places with many Doosojin in Japan
Doosojin Meguri 道祖神巡り

One area famous for its Wayside Gods is in Nagano Pref., Mochizuki-Choo along the road to Motai, where more than 140 can be found along the road to Motai.
望月宿・茂田井間: 野の仏は２０００基以上、道祖神は１４０体を数える。原始時代からの原始信仰でなんでも願い事がかなう。

http://www.icon.pref.nagano.jp/usr/e-shinano/mochidukimachigide.htm
http://www.icon.pref.nagano.jp/usr/motizuki.com/honbun7.htm
http://www.icon.pref.nagano.jp/usr/shokoren-nagano/n-boast/motizuki/motizuki.html

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Kurabuchi Gunma Pref. 倉渕村
美しい緑の山河に囲まれた安らぎのふるさと「倉渕村」は、ほほえましい愛の神、「道祖神」のふるさとでもあります。
倉渕村には、７７ヵ所、１１３体の道祖神がありますが、その特色と言えば、・・・、その信仰の源流の多さと古さ、また、愛の神々の形式の多様さと双体像の姿の変化のユニークさ、一村としてはその数の多さ、更には、道祖神祭りに伴う民俗の多彩さにあり、一口で特色を述べることは難しいです。
しかし、享保（１７１６年）をピークに、その前後に造立された道祖神には、人間臭さが漂い始め、男神像の伸びた手が、女神像の胸や股間に触れていたり、寛保（１７４１年）から宝暦（１７５１年）にかけてのものには、ほほえましい姿のものがあります。 このように、双体道祖神が多いのは、本村の特色の一つかもしれません。

http://www.vill.kurabuchi.gunma.jp/dousojin/

With all of them here on three pages
http://www.vill.kurabuchi.gunma.jp/dousojin/ichiran/index.html

http://www12.wind.ne.jp/nisikarasu/kurabuchi/bunkazai/syasinsyuu.htm

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Yamanashi, １）山梨市七日市場
A natural stone of about 1 meter length and 110 cm diameter.
Dosojin Project

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Niigata, Nagaoka Shi 新潟県長岡市

The one on the link is about 60 cm high. It represents the protective deity of the village.

太田洞門を出た道端にあり、高さは約６０cm。
道祖神は本来、十字路や村境に立って悪霊を防ぎ、村人を守護する神でしたが、やがて旅人の安全を守る道の神にもなりました。
他の地方では、男女の像が彫られているように縁結びの神、夫婦和合の神として信仰しているところもあります。

http://www.city.nagaoka.niigata.jp/dpage/kouhou/sai/sai/48.htm

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Azumino 安曇野, Nagano, on the border to Gifu Pref.
In the Northern Alps of Japan, close to the Hotaka Mountains.

Azumino is a mecca for Dosojin statues.


CLICK for more photos !

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. The Azumi clan 安曇族　Hakata -
- Azumi no Isora Maru 阿曇磯良丸　 .

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Wayside Deities Statues from the Genroku Period
高根カミの元禄８年双体像

高根の路傍に、美しい姿の双体道祖神があります。惜しいことに頭が少し欠けていますが、頭を丸め、手を合わせて、柔和な表情を浮かべています。お地蔵さんのような姿で二体が並んで立っています。二体とも同じ様な格好なので、どちらが男か女か判別できません。



http://www.city.hiratsuka.kanagawa.jp/zukan/sanpo/sanp0205.htm

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Stone Statues from Tsuchiya
A great page of photos.
土屋石仏道祖神

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～ 伊那谷の道祖神 ～ Statues from Inadani
http://park11.wakwak.com/~kuwa/dosojin.htm

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岐戸大神 / 岐戸の神 / 岐ノ尊 kido okami, Kido no Kami
a deity to show the way
岐戸大神は道案内の神

Funado no Kami , Kunado no Kami 岐の神（ふなどのかみ、くなどのかみ）
Chimata no Kami 巷の神（ちまたのかみ）または
Tsuji no Kami 辻の神（つじのかみ）"crossroad deity



- source : 　都辨志呂神社


- quote -
Funado / [Funado no kami](Nihongi)
Other names: Kunado sae no kami (Nihongi),
Tsukitatsu Funado no kami (Kojiki)
The first of the kami produced by Izanagi as he threw down his staff in preparation for ablutions at "Awakihara by the Strait of Tachibana in Hyūga of Tsukushi" following his visit to the underworld (Yomi).

According to an "alternate writing" transmitted by Nihongi, Izanagi blocked the road at the "even pass of Yomi" with a rock that would require 1,000 men to pull. Ordering Izanami not to come beyond that point, he flung down his staff, which became the kami Funado. Another alternate version transmitted by Nihongi relates that Funado was produced when Izanagi cast down his staff to the thunders, telling them, "Do not come beyond this." This alternate also notes that the original name of Funado was Kunadosae no kami (kunado means "come not" and sae means "border"), a name describing a border tutelary believed to prevent the ingress of evil.
In short, Funado is dōsojin. This role as kami of roads and borders is reflected in still another "alternate writing" in Nihongi, which states that "Futsunushi no kami made Kunado no kami his guide."
Likewise, the norito litany Michiae no matsuri (Feast of the Roads) found in Engishiki includes the name of the kami Kunado as well as Yachimatahiko and Yachimatahime (kami of the "eight byways").

- source : Nishioka Kazuhiko - Kokugakuin 2005


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Doosojin Festivals 道祖神祭り

Nozawa Doosojin Himatsuri
15 January , Nozawa Onsen, Nagano Prefecture

The Dôsojin Fire Festival is one of the three most famous fire festivals in Japan. It is held on January 15th every year to pray for a plentiful harvest, health and good fortune in the coming year. The festival dates back to 1863 and though the location has changed, the festivities remain the same.

During this festival the twenty-five and forty-two year old men from the village play a very important role. An old belief in Japan dictates that, for men, these years are unlucky ages. The twenty-five and the forty-two year old men in their unlucky ages construct the shaden (shrine) from beech wood that reaches a height of 18 meters.

Every year it takes 100 villagers to build the shrine. The trees are cut down in October and brought down from the mountain, through the village, on January 13th. After the shaden has been constructed, the priest from Kosuge shrine performs a ceremony to endow it with a God.
Along with the shaden there are an average of five tôrô (tooroo, dedicatory lantern poles) erected every year. These poles are made by a family in the village to celebrate the birth of the first son. The tôrô are offered to the Gods in a prayer for health and good fortune. The festivities begin with the lighting of the fire by the twenty-five and fourty-two year old men.

A small group of men carry a torch, which is lit by striking two stones together, from the Kôno residence to the festival grounds. The torch is used to start a bonfire from which the handmade torches, used to attack the shrine, are lit. The festival centers around the shaden, where the fourty-two year olds sit on top and the twenty-five year olds stand guard at the base.

Those who are 41 and 43 years old stand around the perimeter to protect the spectators. Torch bearing villagers of all ages attempt to break through the guards and light the shaden on fire. A dangerous and lively battle ensues. The defenders try to put out the fire by striking it with pine branches. The attack lasts for about one hour, after which the 42 year olds call an end to the ceremony and the shaden together with the tôrô are set on fire in an offering to the Gods. The entire festival can take up to four hours from the beginning to the end, but the main attraction is the battle between the guards and the torch bearing villagers.

Look at the accopmanying photos here:
http://www.vill.nozawaonsen.nagano.jp/info/english/dosojin.htm

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With a Daruma photo
１月１５日
篠ノ井塩崎越　公民館の庭
http://www.azumino.cnet.ne.jp/meditation/nagano/indexn-6.html

Dondoyaki, good photos
道祖神２へ　道祖神３へ
http://maru4834.hp.infoseek.co.jp/dondoyaki/dondoyaki1.htm

小正月の１月１４日、市内下小野で道祖神の飾り（塞の神）が立てられました。
http://www.bremen.or.jp/mnews/dousojin99.htm

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Page with many picutres, Text in Japanese.
http://www.dynax.co.jp/sinsen/gallery/nozawa/himatsuri/
http://www.dynax.co.jp/sinsen/gallery/nozawa/himatsuri/i_hatsutourou.html
Finally burning
http://www.dynax.co.jp/sinsen/gallery/nozawa/himatsuri/i_moeagaru.html

Another link with many pictures:
http://www.nhk.or.jp/nagano/wink/eizo100/wink82eizo100.html

http://www.soccerphile.com/japanvisitor/jc/jan_fest.html

Great picture of the burning of bad luck.
http://www.localinfo.nagano-idc.com/kanko/himaturi/image/himaturi.jpg
http://www.localinfo.nagano-idc.com/kanko/himaturi/

One more fire picture

http://www.shinmai.co.jp/kanko/saijiki/00002.html

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Fire Ceremonies at other times, not the New Year Season

9月28日　道祖神祭り(長野・美ヶ原温泉)
Doosojin Festival at Migahara Onsen, Nagano
http://www.sugikoto.com/dousosinfs.htm

Tagata Jinja
The Tagata-hohnen matsuri is held at March, 15th every year.
It's the festival praying for a rich harvest. It's famous for a sexual event. We thought that a Dengaku matsuri mixed with a Dosojin matsuri, ( "Dengaku matsuri" is originally the festival at sowing, and then it came to the one of shrines and temples.
"Dosojin" is the God of laying a road's ghost and guarding travellers. ) It's characterized by the portable shrine with the penis model.
http://www.jah.ne.jp/~rshingen/eng/cbat02.htm

WKD . Honen Matsuri (Hoonen Matsuri 豊年祭)
　Tagata Shrine


Kanayama Shrine 金山神社



This shrine in Kawasaki is especially popular with foreigners. During the annual Phallus Festival (Kanamara Matsuri) in the first week of April many replicas can be seen.
http://www.kt.rim.or.jp/~sokohaka/chin-man/kanamara_m.html
http://tomuraya.co.jp/wakamiya-10.html
..... Link in English
http://www2.biglobe.ne.jp/~zmy/data/e_kanam.htm
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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kigo for ealy winter

Tennooji doosojin matsuri 天王寺道祖神祭
Dosojin Festival at temple Tenno-Ji
hagi matsuri 剥祭（はぎまつり）"left-out festival"
dorojijiri matsuri 泥くじり祭（どろくじりまつり）

On November 16 at the temple Tenno-Ji in Osaka.
Also at the temple Shinkooin 真光院（しんこういん）Shinko-In.
During the Edo period, stone Buddha statues were offered raw herring and the face smeared with white rice flour. Mikan wrapped in sasa grass leaves and straw were also offered.
In the evening the straw and grass was burned until the face of the deity was all black and people danced around the stone.

Three days before this event, children hang a rope over the way and ask for money if people want to pass. If they do not pay, they are "left out".
This festival was said to have an evil influence on the education of children and was later abolished.

Most temples in other parts of Japan celebrate this festival on January 14 or February 8.

Shitennō-ji (四天王寺) is a Buddhist temple in Osaka, Japan.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Clay Bells with Doosojin 道祖神の土鈴


A great collection of more than 12
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~kobanawa/dorei.htm

The back side is like a sexual organ
群馬県、水沢観音の道祖神土鈴伊香保温泉に行く途中に寄った水沢観音で売っていた道祖神の土鈴。包み紙は、なぜか榛名湖畔の｢湖畔亭｣となっている。群馬県、水沢観音の道祖神土鈴
http://cardiac.exblog.jp/i4
There is also a Daruma dorei on this blog!!

Great link about the origin of DOREI, not so much on Doosojin
　
Ta no Kami
田の神とは、日本書記によると神代の頃より農神をまつり諸行事が行われたごとく書いてある。土俗信仰の為め、地蔵型の神を建立し、天災や稲虫の被害を免れる農作所としたわけである。　神象の背後を拝む女性があったのは、笠冠型の背後から見ると、男性のシンボルそのままの形をしているものが多く、女性はそのシンボルに向かって、一心に子授けの祈願をかけたのであり、表面は田の神、裏面は道祖神背中合わせではあるが、稲作か、子孫繁栄の増産の神か一体二神の象である。

Doosojin　
塞の神、幸の神、歳の神とも云われ、道路の辻、村境、峠などに奉祀され邪悪なものをさえぎる神とされて来た。この地方では男女二神が手を取り合ったり、肩に手を掛け合ったり、和　合の形を示したものが非常に多い。境界をかためるのに、この男女円満の姿を示すことは邪　悪者をしりごみさせるので有効だと考えられてきた。　このことがさらに縁結びの神とか性の神のように見られてきた。この素朴な土鈴の音色から男女の愛のささやきを、ききとりたいものである。　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
（信州日本民芸社　　信州庶民館）
http://www.eonet.ne.jp/~i-kimoto/hurusato/yuraisyo.htm


One photo from an Ooyama Clay Bell
[大山土鈴・道祖神土鈴]

http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/~whcc/79.html


. Ta no Kami 田の神 God of the Rice Fields .
and Yama no Kami 山の神 God of the Mountain


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O-Mamori Talisman with Doosojin
お守りに道祖神


From Takasai Shrine, 高道祖神社 Ibaragi Pref. With a male and female sex organ symbol.
http://chuchu.lolipop.jp/jinjya-ibaraki.htm

太古、北九州に栄えた海洋民族で、7世紀頃安曇野（あずみの）に移住し開拓したと伝えられる、安曇族の祖神（おやがみ）、穂高見命（ほたかみのみこと）を祀る神社。境内には、穂高見命の化身である泉小太郎の像があるが、南方系のサイに乗るというユニークなもの。手を取り合った男女の神様（双体道祖神）が描かれた「道祖神お守り」500円は、安曇野らしい人気の授与品。交通安全に御利益が大だとか。
安曇野を拓いた安曇族を祀る神社
穂高神社 (ホタカジンジャ) Hotaka Shrine
http://kanko.travel.rakuten.co.jp/kanko/go/resource$id=SHNN050020


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Doosojin Kooen Park 道祖神公園
Nagano Pref. Hotaka Village.



〒 399-8303 長野県南安曇郡穂高町穂高
昭和50年に放送されたNHKの連続テレビ小説『水色の時』。松本を舞台に、医大進学を目指す知子（大竹しのぶ）と母・房子（香川京子）の交流を描いたドラマで、そのロケに使われたのが、道祖神公園の双体道祖神。男女ふたつの神様が並んで彫られた双体道祖神は、穂高町に80体以上ある。ドラマのために造られた道祖神公園は、有明山、燕岳を借景にし、記念写真にもいちばんの絶景！
http://kanko.travel.rakuten.co.jp/resource/SHNN050021/

. . . CLICK here for Photos !

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More Japanese Links to the Wayside Gods

http://www.pref.gunma.jp/a/gyousei/nak/soumukeizaibu/dousojin.html
http://www.pandaemonium.net/menu/devil/douso.html
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/beansoikos/e/f499f5bcc61fcddb96bec02f5b2b82ec
http://www.u-arc.co.jp/dousojin.htm
http://www.city.fuji.shizuoka.jp/cityhall/kyoiku-b/hakubutukan/a6-1/a6-1-3-15.html

Jooshu Province
http://www.d3.dion.ne.jp/~arot/Film-24/03.jpg
http://www.d3.dion.ne.jp/~arot/Film-24/09.jpg
See more here:
http://www.d3.dion.ne.jp/~arot/Mind-6.htm


The Doosojin Project (in Japanese)

１）山梨市七日市場 Yamanashi Town
２）山梨市下井尻西上組 Yamanashi Town
３）塩山市上井尻能麦（のんばく） Enzan Town
４）東山梨郡春日居町桑戸 Kasugai Cho
５）甲府市横根町 Koofu Town
http://www.digi-ken.org/archives/dousojin/doso.html


路傍の道祖神や石仏について

石仏フォトギャラリー Photo Gallery

都筑の丘の道祖神めぐり

遍路道の道標と石仏(13) Pilgrims in Shikoku

関東甲信越の道祖神たち Around Tokyo

東京都町田市の道祖神たち Doosojin in Tokyo

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Books about Doosojin

道祖神信仰史の研究 Study about Wayside Deities
石田哲弥　著
http://www.meicho.co.jp/new/

道祖神文献

【参考文献】

・『諏訪大社』　三輪磐根　（學生出版）
・『御柱際と諏訪大社』　上田／大林／五来／宮坂光明／宮坂宥勝　（筑摩書房）
・『石神信仰』　大護八郎　（木耳社）
・『全国石仏石神大辞典』　中山慧照　（リッチマインド出版事業部）
・『菅江真澄全集　第一巻　すわのうみ、より』　内田武志／宮本常一編　（未來社）
・『日本書紀』　坂本／家永／井上／大野校注　（岩波書店）
・『古事記』　武田祐吉訳注　中村啓信補訂解説　（角川書店）
・『今昔物語集』　佐藤謙三校注　（角川文庫）
・『宇治拾遺物語』　中島悦次校注　（角川文庫）
・『御伽草子』　市古貞次校注　（岩波書店）
・『日本伝説集』　武田静澄　（現代教養文庫）
・『日本伝説集』　高木敏雄　山田野理夫編　（宝文館出版）
・『昔話・伝説必携』　野村純一編　（学燈社）
・『全国妖怪事典』　千葉　幹夫編　（小学館）
・『日本妖怪異聞録』　小松和彦　（小学館）
・『日本宗教の全て』　瓜生中／渋谷申博　（日本文芸社）
http://www.pandaemonium.net/menu/devil/douso.html

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Sankuroo and Daruma　三九郎とだるま

This is most famous in Matsumoto, where three large stakes of pine wood are piled up and the decorations for the New Year are burned. Many Daruma Papermachee Dolls also are hung on these piles and burned. Some look almost like Christmas trees with large red bells.


Sankuro in Shinano三九郎（さんくろう）
子供の行事。
どんど焼きともいう。
まず、１月７日にお正月の門松を集める。これを「外松集め」と言う。
その後、１月１５日に（祝日改正のおかげで、日程が定まらずに困っている）家の中の飾りや、だるまを集める。これを「内松集め」と言う。
集めた物は田んぼやかわらにピラミッド型に積み上げ、１５日の夕方に焼く。
火がつけられる前に前に、子供たちは町中をまわり♪「三九郎、三九郎。爺さと婆さと孫連れて、団子焼きに来ておくれ」と唄う。
焼く時には柳の木の枝にだんご（野菜の形にしたり、繭玉の形にしたり）を刺したものを持って行き、焼いた物を食べると１年間、風邪をひかないと言われている。
また、書き初めを燃やすと、字が上手くなるとも言われている。
http://www.shiojiri.ne.jp/~hideko/jiten22.htm

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... ... ... Haiku and Doosojin

observance kigo for the New Year

Doosojin matsuri 道祖神祭 (どうそじんまつり)
Dosojin Festival

Sai no kami matsuri 塞の神祭（さいのかみまつり）
..... 幸の神祭（さいのかみまつり）Sai no Kami festival
Doorokujin matsuri 道禄神祭（どうろくじんまつり）



They are usually held on January 15, the "small new year" (koshoogatsu 小正月).
They relate to the Sagicho festivals and are more popular in Northern Japan.


. WKD : New Year Ceremonies .

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Even in the famous “Narrow Road to the North”, Matsuo Basho writes about the stone wayside gods.

Quote:
Basho speaks paradoxically about how the gods have motivated his decision to travel. He refers to two types of gods. The first is Sozorogami. There is some uncertainty about this word which appears to be one Basho invented for appears nowhere else in Japanese literature. It seems to indicate a deity who bewitches one to aimless travel, a god who causes him to feel restless. On the other hand are the Dosojin, deities who protect travellers. Dosojin are customarily placed at the entrances to villages, at mountain passes, crossroads, or bridges to prevent evil influences or evil spirits from passing. They also guard the boundary between the land of the living and the land of the dead. Thus he presents one deity (Sozorogami) who infects people with the urge to travel despite the dangers involved, and another (Dosojin) who protects people who do travel.
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~kohl/basho/1-prologue/discussion.html

And at Kasashima
(1) Kasashima
We entered the province of Kasasima after passing by the Abumizuri and Shiroishi castles. We made inquiries concerning the whereabouts of the tomb of To-no-chujo Sanekata (General Sanekata of Fujiwara) and were told that the two hamlets off to the right seen in the distance near the hills were called Minowa and Kasasima. A shrine to Dosojin was located there, at which susuki (eulalia) grass could still be seen. I said “Unfortunately, the spring rains had made the roads all but impassable.

Read a great exposition about wandering priests
Fura-Bo(Wandering-priest): The Narrow Road to Tradition


A Japanese Link
奥の細道: ─道祖神の旅
http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~yukineko/okunohosomiti.html


Kigo in this connection
Sagichoo, dondoyaki…
http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/graphicversion/dbase/kigo/data/01/01130247.html


a loving couple
during all seasons
spring in the air

Gabi Greve
Haiku and Happiness : Stone Buddhas



. michikiri, michi-kiri 道切 / 道切り "Cutting off the Road" .
to prevent evil spirits and monsters from entering and drive them away.
sakaigami 境神 "boundary deities"


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. sojin, soshin, oyagami　祖神 spirits of ancestral deities .

. Ta no Kami 田の神 God of the Rice Fields .
Yama no Kami 山の神, God of the Mountain


. Tsujidoo 辻堂 roadside sanctuary
nobotoke 野仏, tsujibotoke 辻仏


. kideko, ki deko 木でこ head made from wood
Ootomo ningyoo 大友人形 Otomo dolls .
wayside dolls from Beppu, Oita

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***** . warauma hiki, wara-uma hiki 藁馬曳き
leading a straw horse 　
at Tozawa, Nagano, during a Dosojin Festival
kigo for early spring

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道陸神社 Dosojin Jinja
3758 Kotsumi, Kaizuka, Osaka Prefecture
a Shinto Shrine with Daruma





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- #dosojin #dososhin #tanokami #sainokami -
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Kuya Shonin

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KUYA- 'THE SAINT OF THE STREETS'
Kuuya Shoonin, Kuya Shonin, (903-72)　空也上人


http://www4.ocn.ne.jp/~mibu/mibu/kuya.html

Little Amida Buddhas coming out of his mouth.

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Quoted from
A Buddhist reflection by Robert Aitken

Recollection is essential in Pure Land schools in the practice of the Nien-fo (Japanese, Nembutsu--"Recalling Buddha"). The practitioner chants Na Mi-to Fo (Japanese, "Namu Amida Butsu,"-- "Venerationto Amitabha Buddha)."
At the temple Rokuharamitsu in Kyoto, you can see the image of Kuya Shonin, an early Pure Land teacher who went about the country calling out "Namu Amida Butsu." The sculptor renders him as a young pilgrim walking slightly bent over, with a row of little Amitabha Buddhas coming out of his mouth on a wire.

Kuya Shonin's every breath is Amitabha Buddha.
He is Amitabha Buddha recalling Amitabha Buddha.
http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ADM/aitken.htm

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Quote from JAANUS:

Kuuya Shounin 空也上人 or Saint Kuuya (903-72), the monk responsible for the spread of Pureland (Joudo 浄土) Buddhism among commoners in the Heian period. Born into the imperial family, but of a non-Fujiwara mother, he became a monk at Kokubunji 国分寺 in Owari 尾張 (Aichi prefecture). In 948 he received a Tendai 天台 ordination at Mt. Hiei 比叡. In the following year he began fourteen years of travel throughout Kyoto and the countryside doing good works and practicing a type of chanting using song and dance (odorinenbutsu 踊念仏). Popularly known as Ichi no Hijiri 市聖 ("Sage of the people") and Amida Hijiri 阿弥陀聖 ("Sage of Amida").

In 963 he finished copying the NINNOU HANNYAKYOU 仁王般若経 (Prajnaparamita Sutra) in gold ink, and held a dedication on the banks of the Kamo 鴨 River. With donations solicited from this event, he built Saikouji 西光寺 (also known as Rokuharamitsuji 六波羅密寺) in Kyoto. Kuuya's image is preserved there in an "imaginary portrait" sculpture made in the 13c by Koushou 康勝 (fl.1ate 12c-early 13c), the fourth son of Unkei 運慶 (1151-1223). The wood sculpture shows Kuuya chanting the nembutsu which is represented by the six miniature images of Amida 阿弥陀 coming out of his mouth. Kuuya holds a staff and gong, used to beat out the rhythm of the odorinenbutsu.
http://www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/k/kuuya.htm

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Quote:

The rise of Pure Land Buddhism was not merely an outgrowth of the new feudal society, translating into religious terms the profound social changes which then took place. Already in the late Heian period we find individual monks who sensed the need for bringing Buddhist faith within the reach of the ordinary man, and thus anticipated the mass religious movements of medieval times. Kuya (903-72), a monk on Mt. Hiei, was one of these.

The meditation on the Buddha Amida, which had long been accepted as an aid to the religious life, he promoted as a pedestrian devotion. Dancing through the city streets with a tinkling bell hanging from around his neck, Kuya called out the name of Amida and sang simple songs of his own composition, such as:

He never fails
To reach the Lotus Land of Bliss
Who calls,
If only once,
The name of Amida
.

A far, far distant land
Is Paradise,
I've heard them say;
But those who want to go
Can reach there in a day.

In the market places all kinds of people joined him in his dance and sang out the invocation to Amida, 'Namu Amida Butsu.' When a great epidemic struck the capital, he proposed that these same people join him in building an image of Amida in a public square, saying that common folk could equal the achievement of their rulers, who had built the Great Buddha of Nara, if they cared to try.

In country districts he built bridges and dug wells for the people where these were needed, and to show that no one was to be excluded from the blessings of Paradise, he travelled into regions inhabited by the Ainu and for the first time brought to many of them the evangel of Buddhism.

Wm. Theodore de Bary (ed.), Sources of Japanese Tradition
http://alexm.here.ru/mirrors/www.enteract.com/jwalz/Eliade/243.html

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903～972 （延喜3～天禄3） 平安中期の僧。
こうやとも読む。社会救済活動につとめ，とくに民間に浄土信仰を広めて，出家しながら沙弥の身分を通し，世に「市聖」とも「阿弥陀聖」とも呼ばれた。源為憲の『空也誄』には，生涯，出自を語らなかったが，知っていた者は「皇派」の出であるといったという。若くして五畿七道をめぐり，名山霊窟で修行してつとに社会奉仕を行い，後半，帰洛後は市井に念仏を広めたことを慶滋保胤は『日本往生極楽記』に〈天慶以往，道場・聚落，念仏三昧を修すること希有なり。

何ぞ況や小人・愚女，多くこれを忌むをや〉と記し，空也の勧化によって世に念仏が行われるようになったことを讃えている。その念仏は踊念仏といわれ，鉦などをたたいて拍子をとり，念仏を称えつつ踊ったもので，そこに狂躁的な陶酔を生み出す傾向があったとみられる。生前より伝説化されて世に知られたことは『空也誄』に散見される。空也の建てた西光寺が後の六波羅蜜寺である。
http://www.tabiken.com/history/doc/F/F117R100.HTM

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Hachiyoji Temple and Kuya Nenbutsu-Dance
八葉寺と空也念仏踊り

There is a historic temple known as Aizu Kooyasan in the Fuyukizawa area in the eastern part of Kawahigashi-town. This temple is the only one in Japan that has the custom where people put ashes of the dead into wooden "Nokotsu Gorinto" for their souls. During the Hachiyoji festival, Kuya Nenbutsu (the invocation Namu Amida Butsu)-dance starts at 10 o'clock on August 5th, in front of the Kaizandoo. Performers say a prayer to Buddha and dance. The dance expresses people's devout faith, and this tradition is passed down from generation to generation.

It is said that Hachiyoji Temple was built by Kuya in the mid 10th century. It was burned in a fire by war in the end of the Civil Age. However, it was rebuilt in the latter 16th century. Hachiyoji Temple contains the Amidado and the Okunoin. A lot of wooden "Nokotsu Gorinto" were driven into the walls and ceiling of the Oku-no-in, and some of them are from 400 years ago. Hachiyooji is the only temple that still carries out the custom of people putting ashes of the dead into "Gorinto" for their souls. Hachiyoji Temple was designated as an important national tangible cultural property in 1981.

In Aizu, when there is a death in a family, at the first "Bon" after the person's death we have "Aizu Koyasan-mairi" to dedicate "Gorinto" to the Amidado during the Hachiyoji festival, from August 1st to 7th. This custom still remains now, and it is a very valuable religious custom from the medieval period - to pray for a peaceful death for the dead.

Kuya, who is said to have begun the Kuya Nenbutsu-dance, diffused Buddhism among the common people in the Heian era. The Buddhism world was totally divorced from them in those days. Therefore Kuya decided to preach the idea of the Pure Land to people since he had faith that everyone needed salvation from Buddha.

It is said that the Nenbutsu-dance begun by Kuya was based on his own experience - he started to dance while reading a sutra because he was deeply moved with the sutra. He gathered people at every street corner and preached the idea of the land of Perfect Bliss by saying prayers to Buddha and dancing with beaten earthenware. This gave people peace of mind.

The Nenbutsu-dance disappeared in Kyoto, the original home of Nenbutsu-dance. In Kawahigashi-town, it was handed down to the Fuyukizawa area in 1921 by Kuya-Koshokai of Kanda, Tokyo. Now, Kuya-Koryookai has taken over the dance.

Performers wear a Buddhist priest's black robe, a stole, a Sadamori-cap 貞盛頭巾, white leggings, a pair of tabi socks and zoori (Japanese sandals). The leader slings a small gong 鰐口from his chest, has a small mallet in his right hand, and a long stick in his left hand. The other performers have small mallets in their right hands, 2 have gourds 瓢箪, 2-4 have small gongs 鉦（kane かね）, and 2 have drums 太鼓 in their left hands.

The Kuya Nenbutsu-dance is a prefectural important intangible cultural asset.

You can also see a video on this bilingual link.
http://yutteminet.town.kawahigashi.fukushima.jp/AS/yuttemi?A=Docs&PID=101

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Statue of Kuya Shonin in Nogata
植木の空也上人像 Ueki Statue

This statue is only 16 cm high. It was made in the Muromachi period. The figure is standing in a small shrine (zushi 厨子) .



像は室町時代を降らない時期の木彫立像であって、高さ48cm、最大幅16cmを測ります。本体はほぼ完全ですが、左手首を欠失しており、手にもっていた錫杖(しゃくじょう)、鈷鉦(こしょう)等の仏具が失われています。また厨子もほぼ完全に残っています。九品念仏(くほんねんぶつ)、歌舞伎の歴史をたどる貴重な資料で、植木地区の歌舞伎役者、傀儡師(くぐつし)達に信仰されてきました。中世の植木には、そうした信仰の母体として「寺中(じちゅう)」と呼ばれる組織がありましたが、この組織は、筑前においては博多・芦屋・植木の三箇所にしかみられず、中世においては植木地区が交通の結節点として特に重要な位置を占めていたことがわかります。

なお、植木の歌舞伎役者は明治中期頃まで西日本一帯を巡業して活躍していました。県指定民俗文化財である植木三申踊は植木役者が後世に伝えたものであり、現在に継承されています。「筑前国続風土記」によれば、聖人堂を中心に30軒程が歌舞伎を専業としていたといい、江戸時代前期における状況がわかります。この上人像は彼等の活動の盛時を伝える数少い遺品といえます。

© City of Nogata
http://www.city.nogata.fukuoka.jp/ife_bunkazai_bunkazaiichiran_kouya

Here is my story about Daruma from Nogata:
Nogata Daruma, Tsuyazaki Clay Dolls and Folkart of Fukuoka ...

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The Four Drums, Yotsu-Daiko 四つ大鼓
and the Rokusai Nenbutsu Odori

Yotsu-Daiko means a four-drum in Japanese. As literally implied, four small drums are set on a special stand with a little angle toward to the center. One player dominates the four drums while performing Rokusai Nenbutsu Odori.



Rokusai Nenbutsu Odori dates back to the Heian era. According to a local legend, Saint Kuya created the chanting and dancing to spread the faith in Buddhism among the people. It gradually developed to a popular entertainment from the middle of the Edo era, absorbing Noh, Kyo-gen, and Kabuki tastes.

The Rokusai Nenbutsu Odori had been performed often until the World War II broke out. After the war ended, it was revived owing to some groups and has been inherited till now in Kyoto. In 1983, the government authorized those Rokusai groups as an Important Intangible Cultural Asset.

http://www.taiko-center.co.jp/english/yotsudaiko.html

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つねに前進つねに一歩

すべてとどまると
くさる
このおそろしさを
知ろう
つねに前進
つねに一歩
空也は左足を出し
一遍は右足を出している
あの姿を
拝してゆこう


Ever Onward, Step by Step, Always Forward.

Any stuff decays,
if it remains still.
Let's recognize
this horrible fact.
Ever onward,
step by step,
always forward.

Saint Kuya poses
with his left foot
one step forward,
while Saint Ippen poses
with his right foot
one step forward.
Let's pay respect to and
follow the two saints
in their attitude.

http://www.xyj.jp/shonan/14shosho/266.html

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There is a small insect, the fruit cricket, also called
Prayer Gong Cricket (kanetataki) 鉦叩, because its sound resembles the hitting of the prayer gong.
This is a kigo for autumn.

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Daifuku-Cha, Oobukucha, 大福茶
Tea for good luck and good health, drunk at the New Year.
This tea is also related to Kuya Shonin and an epidemic in Kyoto.
Read more about it here.

正月のくせに成ったる福茶哉
shôgatsu no kuse ni nattaru fukucha kana

the first month
is as it should be now...
lucky tea

Issa
(Tr. David Lanoue)

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... ... ... Haiku, Kigo and Kuya Shonin

There are some winter kigo related to this saint.

Kuuya-Ki, Kuya ki 空也忌, Kuuya Nenbutsu, kuya nenbutsu 空也念仏
Memorial Day and Ceremonies for Saint Kuuya

November 11 (lately celebrated on the second sunday in November)

The death day of this saint is celebrated at the Kuya Hall (Kuuya-doo, Kuya-Do 空也堂 in Kyoto, with dance and hitting the gongs and drums.



空也堂にて六斎念仏奉納 （平成16年11月14日）
Look at many more photos from 2004.
http://rokusai.hp.infoseek.co.jp/gyoji/g3-index.html

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空也忌やちょっと踊って見たくなり
Kuuya ki ya chotto odotte mitakunari

Kuuya Memorial Day -
even I feel like
dancing tonight
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

三浦展子Miura Nobuko
http://www.nhk.or.jp/haiku/html/haiku17-1-15.htm

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曼陀羅の透けば宙あり空也の忌

seeing through the mandala
into space -
Kuuya Memorial Day
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

伸茶
http://www.geocities.co.jp/Bookend-Shikibu/6419/hbox.html

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霜月の 空也は骨に 生きにける

Kuuya is still now alive
Even though he was laid in ashes
November of the lunar calendar

Masaoka Shiki

This Haiku was in the magazine "Taiyo - Sun" published on Dec. 3rd of 1896 (Meiji 29) and appeared in the 5th volume of Shiki's Haiku poetry "Kanzan-Rakuboku" (The part of the winter season of 1896 (Meiji 29) ).
The characters on this Haiku monument was written by bishop, Hiroaki Mori, the former superintendent priest of "Kouya-san Temple".
It had been said that Kuuya called the saint of Amida Buddha and stayed at this temple for three years. He was kept standing in the city of Kyoto to encourage people to say a prayer to the Amida Buddha ringing a gong and danced hitting a gourd or a bowl.
This Haiku means that Kuuya's teachings have been survived still now, even though he already died.

Look at the stone with the haiku here:
http://www.lib.ehime-u.ac.jp/KUHI/ENG/kuhieng93.html

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kigo for the New Year

Hachi Tataki 鉢叩 鉢敲, 鉢扣　
First yearly Memorial Service for Kuuya Shoonin
Kuuya Doo Hachitataki Dezome 空也堂鉢叩出初 (くうやどうはちたたきでぞめ) at Kuya Hall
hachitataki dezome 鉢叩出初（はちたたきでぞめ）
zuda junki dezome 頭陀巡行出初（ずだじゅんぎょうでぞめ）
(zuda also means hachi tataki).

From the 13th of November until the 31 of December, the priests and lay people of the Kuya Hall walk the streets of Kyoto, hitting the gongs and dancing.

Legend knows that the samurai Taira Sadamori 平定盛 killed a deer that Kuya felt close to, since he had seen the deer every morning on his prayer rounds. Kuya felt very sad about this death and asked Sadamori to give him the dead body. He prepared a coat from the fur and used the antlers for his walking stick, thus praying for the deer every day. Sadamori was so moved that he became the pupil of Kuya, although he did not have his hair shaven and was married. He changed his name to Joosei 定盛, took a gourd, and started dancing and hitting the gourd with Kuya in the cold days of the end of the year.

The grandchildren of this Joosei (Josei) built the Kuya Hall where until today the memorial services for Kuya and Sadamori are held.

SAIJIKI – THE NEW YEAR


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Matsuo Basho

納豆切る音しばし待て鉢叩き
nattoo kiru oto shibashi matte hachi tataki / hachitataki

cutting beans for soup
waiting for the sound of
hitting the prayer gongs

During the Edo period, many people prepared fermented bean soup (nattojiru) in the early morning for a hot winter breakfast.

. WKD : Nattō, Nattoo, Nattoh, Nattou - fermented beans .



乾鮭も空也の痩も寒の中
karazake mo Kuuya no yase mo kan no uchi

Dried salmon
the gauntness of a Kuya pilgrim
in the cold season
Tr. Shirane

MORE translations
. salmon, sake 鮭　 .





長嘯の墓もめぐるか鉢叩き
Chooshoo no haka mo meguru ka hachitakaki

are they walking around
the grave of Choshoshi ?
Hachitataki ceremony
Tr. Gabi Greve



are they ranged around
Choshoshi’s grave?
bowl-slapping bretheren
Tr. Robin D. Gill



Have his rounds taken him
as far as Chooshoo's tomb?--
priest seeking alms.
Tr. Reidhhold

. Kinoshita Chooshooshi 木下長嘯子 / 長嘯 Kinoshita Choshoshi .
(1569 - 1649) Waka Poet



. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

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その古き瓢箪みせろ鉢ゝき
sono furuki hyootan misero hachitataki

let me see this
old gourd -
hitting the prayer gongs
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

去来 Kyorai
www.bbsplus.net/cgi-bin/m3/joy.cgi?id=karappo



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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .


子を寐せて出て行く闇や鉢たゝき
ko o nesete dete yuku yami ya hachitataki

he puts the child to sleep
and goes out into the dark -
hachitataki prayers
Tr. Gabi Greve


waga yado no hiru o karine ya hachitataki

during daytime
he sleeps in his home -
hachitataki prayers
Tr. Gabi Greve



西念はもう寝た里をはち敲　
sainen wa moo neta sato o hachi tataki

the local priest
is already asleep in the village
saying hachitataki prayers
Tr. Gabi Greve

lit. while the villagers go on with the hachitataki prayers, the local priest has gone to sleep.

sainen, sainenboo 西念坊 a very normal Buddhist priest.
Literally someone who constantly thinks (nen) about the Buddhist paradise in the West (sai).
saihoo nenbutsu 西方念仏 .

- - - - - also in this version

西念はもう寝た門を鉢たゝき - sainen wa moo neta mon o hachi tataki


墨染の夜のにしきや鉢たゝき　
sumizome no yoru no nishiki ya hachitataki

Their black clothes
Elegant at night
Chanting monks.
Tr. Saito & Nelson


鳴らし来て我友あはれめ鉢叩　

一瓢のいんで寝よやれ鉢たゝき　

木のはしの坊主のはしやはちたゝき　

終に夜を家路に帰る鉢たゝき　

花に表太雪に君あり鉢叩　


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source : www.proun.net


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***** Saijiki for Buddhist Events 仏教歳時記

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Gyoki Bosatsu

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
. Gyōki 行基菩薩 Gyoki Bosatsu Legends .
Some legends about Gyoki are in the comments.
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Gyooki Bosatsu 行基菩薩 Gyoki Bosatsu
(668 - 749) Gyōki, Gyōgi

Read his full biography below.
Find KIGO at the end.

The great priest Gyoki Bosatsu is well known for his activities at the construction of the Great Buddha of Nara, 奈良の大仏.

quote
The "Great Priest" Gyoki was born in Osaka with Korean background and took Buddhist vows at age 15, entering Asukadera in Nara, the oldest temple in Japan founded in 569. Though started as an official priest employed by the government, he was not satisfied with the Buddhism then prevailing in Japan. It was solely for the peace of the state and welfare of the court nobles, not for the masses.
He quit the job in 704 at age 36 to propagate Buddhism for salvation of the suffering people and to practice philanthropy, making a pilgrimage mostly in Osaka and Nara areas. Not only did he give a hand to the sick, the poor and many others in distress, he also contributed to social welfare building roads, bridges, irrigation reservoirs and other civil engineering, and helped construct a number of temples.

Gradually, he earned fame as a Buddhist and philanthropist. Back at the time, Emperor Shomu (701-756) was reigning Japan and he had a plan to construct a great Buddha statue in Nara. The project was so huge that state funds alone were not enough to cover the total cost. The emperor asked Priest Gyoki to help raise funds. Accepting the emperor's request, Priest Gyoki immediately began fund-raising campaigns. Thanks to his fame and philanthropic activities, enough alms were collected soon afterward, and in 752 casting the Great Buddha statue we see today at Todaiji was completed.

Unfortunately, he had passed away just before the consecrating ceremony for the statue took place. Without his self-sacrificing efforts, the colossal statue would not have probably been constructed. In praise of the priest's achievement, the emperor conferred on him the title of Dai-sojo, or the Great Priest, the highest rank given to priests.
In addition, people called him 'Gyoki Bodhisattva'. The priest had two honorable titles: the official Dai-sojo and unofficial Gyoki Bodhisattva. Priest Gyoki is also reported to have helped build Sugimoto-dera in Kamakura, although evidence suggests otherwise.
www.asahi-net.or.jp/~QM9T-KNDU/Hinatayakushi.htm
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/monju.shtml#gyoki

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- quote from Mark Schumacher-
Monju Bosatsu
(Sanskrit Manjusri Chinese Wenshu Tibetan Jam-dpal)
He who is noble and gentle. Monju is the embodiment of wisdom. Images of Monju were introduced into Japan by Chinese monks who, during a voyage to Wutaishan, learned that
Manjusri was reincarnated in the person of the Japanese monk Gyoki,
and so went to Nara in 736. One of these monks, Bodhisena (Japanese Bodaisenna), succeeded Gyoki as director of the Buddhist community of the Todai-ji (Nara) in 751 or 752. In turn, another monk named Ennin traveled to China to Mount Wutai in the year 840, during a journey that lasted nine years from 838 to 847, and brought back scriptures and images of this Bodhisattva.
- source - Mark Schumacher

Baramon Sojo 波羅門僧上 (Barahman from India) -- Bodaisenna
- quote
Bodhisena, Bodhisenna (Sanskrit बोधिसेन Chinese and Japanese 菩提僊那)
(704 – 760)
was an Indian Buddhist scholar and monk, known for traveling to Japan and establishing the Kegon school, the Japanese transmission of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism.
His stay has been noted in the official history records called the Shoku Nihongi, where he is referred to as Bodai-Senna.
.


Bodhisena got mystical inspiration from Manjusri Bodhisattva. He initially went to China, having heard that he could meet the incarnation of Manjusri at Mount Wutai. However, on reaching Mount Wutai, he was told the incarnation was in Japan. He also became acquainted with the tenth Japanese ambassador to China, Tajihi no Mabito Hironari. He also met the Japanese monk Rikyo.

Voyage to Japan
On the invitation of Emperor Shōmu, he visited Japan to spread the use of Sanskrit and establish Huayan Buddhism in the country. He traveled with the Japanese delegation of Tajihi no Hironari, via Cambodia and Champa in Vietnam.

On the same ship were other important historical figures.
They included the traveling companions Genbō and Kibi no Makibi. Genbo was a monk and was returning from China with the over 5,000 fascicles that made up the Chinese Buddhist Canon. Kibi brought with him the arts of embroidery, playing the lyre, and the game of Go. Kibi is also said to have invented katakana, whose Sanskrit influence is attributed to Bodhisena. The Man'yōshū contains a poem by Kibi about a crow that fed on rice grown by a Brahmin.
The famous Chinese Buddhist monk Dōsen (道璿, Chinese Daoxuan, 702–760) greeted him upon arrival.
Accompanying Bodhisena was a Cambodian priest and musician called Fo-t'ieh in Chinese (also known as Buttetsu and Fat-triet). He later resided at Daian-ji with Bodhisena, and wrote a work on the Sanskrit alphabet. He also composed religious dances representing subjects taken from Indian mythology, which came to be known as Rin'yu-gaku or Champa dances. These dances were still extant in the early 20th century.

Life in Japan
The party arrived at Naniwa (Osaka) in August 736 and was met by the monk Gyoki.
According to a number of sources, Gyoki and Bodhisena recognised each other from a past life.
... snip ...
Gyoki conducted Bodhisena to Nara and presented him to the emperor. He was treated with great honour and lodged in the temple called Daian-ji, where he founded Kogen Buddhism and also taught Sanskrit ...
... Bodhisena resided in Daian-ji (大安寺) in Heijō-kyō for the rest of his life. He died on February 25, 760 at Daian-ji temple, and was buried on the Ryoujusen (霊鷲山) mountain, following his wish when he died.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Enoki Shrine 榎神社 , Osaka
The temple's grounds contain a hackberry nettle tree more than 800 years old. The tree was said to be a manifestation of god, and a temple was built in its honor. The number of worshippers increased sharply every year, and the temple was officially established as a religious body in April 1952. The following year, a new hall of worship and shrine office was built.
Horaku-Ji 法樂寺 is situated within the grounds of the Kuwazu Cemetery, which originated with the sage Gyoki Bosatsu; the grounds are slightly elevated and are thought to be the remains of an ancient burial mound.

http://www.city.osaka.jp/higashisumiyoshi/english/attract/attrac05.html

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Miyamoto-Ji Sado 宮本寺、佐渡
The temple had been established in 1084, there are four principle statues in this temple. One of this, Jizo-Bosatsu, made by Gyoki-Bosatsu, is known to us as "Yakuyoke Jizo", the literally means, to avoid evil. It is allowed to disclosed only once in 33 years and the last opening year was April 1987. Now, approx. 1500 kinds of cactus are growing up in the site, therefore, this temple is sometimes called, "cactus temple".
http://sadotemple.jp/miyamotoji/miyamotoji_04.html

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Budō Yakushi 葡萄薬師 Grape Yakushi
Daizenji Temple 大善寺 in Yamanashi prefecture possesses a one-of-a-kind seated image of Yakushi holding grapes in his left hand. Yamanashi is a grape-growing, winemaking region, and Budō Yakushi ブドウ薬師 (Grape Yakushi) is befittingly the protective deity of local grape farmers. Daizenji’s Yakushi Hall is a designated national treasure (dated to 1286). The temple claims its Budō Yakushi icon dates from the Heian era. For reasons unknown (to me), Yui Suzuki does not mention this temple or this statue in her book, but she does make passing note (p. 42) of an intertwined grapevine motif on the mandorla of the ninth-century Yakushi statue at Shōjōji Temple (Fukushima) – a motif she says is also found on the eight-century pedestal of the famous bronze Yakushi statue at Yakushiji Temple in Nara.



Writes Gabi Greve:
This is a special statue of Yakushi Nyorai, the Buddha of Medicine and Healing, in the wine-growing prefecture of Yamanashi (Japan), Katsunuma City 勝沼. During the Nara period, the famous Monk Gyoki 行基 visited the area and had a special dream about this deity one night. Yakushi was holding a bunch of grapes in his right hand, and in the other his usual medicine bottle. When he woke up, Gyoki started to carve the statue he had envisioned in his dream, and went on to found Daizen-ji Temple 大善寺 (designated a National Treasure), were the statue is still installed. It is the only statue of Yakushi holding grapes in Japan. In olden times, wine was one of the precious medicines of the day. Yakushi has since become the protector deity of the grape-growing farmers in this area. This is also the oldest part of Japan where real grapes, not wild mountain grapes, are grown. They make a drink called Budō Shu 葡萄酒, a bit different from wine, made like Japanese sake. But latest research shows that the grapes of this area originate in the Caucasus area and might have reached Japan via the Silk Road and Buddhism.
Or maybe migratory birds dropped the seeds???
- source : Gabi Greve / Mark Schumacher -

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Myoorakuji 妙楽寺 Myoraku-Ji - 岩屋山 Iwayazan
Wakasa, Obama, Fukui 福井県小浜市



This statue by Gyoki is said to look like Gensho Tenno.
. Empress Gensho Tenno 元正天皇 .
and statues of Yakushi Nyorai　薬師如来 by Gyoki

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Hot Springs and Gyooki Bosatsu
Two of the most well known priests associated with hot spring bathing were Gyooki-Bosatsu and Kooboo-Daishi (Hotta, p.20). Gyooki (668-749), a Buddhist monk, was director of construction of the Great Buddha at Nara's Todai-ji temple. It is believed he brought out healing hot water from rocks throughout Japan (Grilli, p. 110). Todai-ji-Nigatsu-do (the February subtemple) is the religious building built over the main spring that supplied the temple with water.

The priests performed omizutori, a ceremony for cleansing the Buddhists with water. It also served as a bathhouse for monks. (Grilli, p. 52). Kooboo Daishi (774-835), it is said, was also able to bring forth water from rocks. Seeing sick and dying beggars, legend says he would strike a rock and healing water would rush out (Grilli, p. 110).

Read a great article about hot springs by Mendy Nitsch
http://www.k-i-a.or.jp/ts-report/m-report/m-report.htm

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As for Shibu onsen has been told to have discovered by the Gyoki-bosatsu at the Nara period. Sep 10,1561 The battle of Kawanakajima had occored and Shibu onsen were the grounds for medical treatment of many soldiers who've got damaged.
At that era, Ichizaemon, the first master of Kokuya, who had handled rice store,taking advantage of this opportunity, opened a travelers hotel,and it has resulted soon, obtaining a visitor's patronage since then. It is the 16th generation in this present Master.
KOKUYA Shibu Onsen,Nagano

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The Clear Water in Shichimi Village
Many years ago Gyoki Bosatsu (a Buddhist priest) was training himself around Japan.
One day he was walking in Muraoka town. There is a stream near old Kasanami pass in Muraoka. He took a rest there and drank it. He said,“It's tasty! This has seven flavors,it tastes like nectar.”
Since then this clear water is called“Shichimi Clear Water.”And people in town enjoy drinking through many years.
http://www2.nkansai.ne.jp/sch/muraoka-jh/ohaeng01.htm

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Read about a statue made by Gyoki at Nozaki.
Nozaki Pilgrims, Japan (05)

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Gyōki, Bodhisattva of Japan (668-749) A biography of the life and legacy of the Bodhisattva Gyōki .. by Ronald S. Green For more than a thousand years, the Japanese Buddhist priest Gyōki has been well known for his seventh-century charitable religious activities. His biographies and hagiographies tell that not long after the “official introduction” of Buddhism into Japan, Gyōki roamed the countryside propagating the teachings together with farming techniques to oppressed people hungry for both. His activities, in defiance of secular law, were carried out in a time when the government maintained strict control of Buddhists by confining them to temple grounds for academic study. With supporters outside the capital swelling to thousands, an imperial edit was issued against his actions and Gyōki was arrested. This tactic backfired as a government attempt to quail the growth of Gyōki's hero status among the non-aristocratic population. As a result the government reversed it's stance toward Gyōki and he was awarded the rank of High Priest (Daisōjō). Meanwhile, among the masses he became known as the Bodhisattva Gyōki (Gyōki Bosatsu). Subsequently, he became the first person in Japan to be awarded the title Bodhisattva by the government as an official rank. Throughout Japanese history, Gyōki reappears in literature as an archetype of both a man of the people and as a shaman-priest. The most famous of Haiku poets, Matsuo Bashō, wrote of Gyōki in his seminal work Narrow Road to the Deep North. The Chinese graph for chestnut consists of west and tree and is, therefore, linked up with the Western Paradise of Amitābha (J. Amida). This is why the Bodhisattva Gyōki all throughout his lifetime used the wood of this tree both for his walking stick and for the pillar supports of his house. Men of the world Fail to see its blossoms: Chestnut of the eaves. Bashō’s literary conception of Gyōki follows the often-portrayed image of his predecessor. Since at least four hundred years after Gyōki’s death, when he was further immortalized in the Miraculous Tales of Japan, typical features found characterizing his persona as seen in Bashō’s words include, 1) much walking and living among the people as opposed to being confined to temple study as the government of his day would have it, 2) fervent belief in Amida’s Paradise in the West, 3) the blend of shaman-like powers and Buddhism as with his ability to perceive the true nature of things, in contrast with the vision of “men of the world.” These qualities may explain his popularity and even the worship of him in the Kamakura period, over five hundred years after his death when such an image would be revered. Yet, from biographical and physical evidence dated earlier, researchers now question at least the latter two components of his popular image, if stopping short of the more radical suggestion that his entire biography could have been fabricated. Nevertheless, if Gyōki’s faith in the saving powers of Amida was grossly exaggerated and if his life was not a blend of shamanism and Buddhism, the emerging portrait of him as propagator of an earlier or 'more pure' form of Buddhism is even more appealing to a modern audience. The early national histories of Japan clearly indicate the government’s position on Buddhism at the time Gyōki lived was that it offered to their disposal a magical potential that could be harnessed for economic, political and healing powers. Writings such as the Nihon Shōgi and Shoku Nihongi leave little room for doubt that this accounts for the official interest in Buddhism and controlled support of its study and practice. Nevertheless, besides being perceived as an uncontrolled spiritual power, Gyōki may have been imagined to present, his arrest was likely related to reports of huge gatherings of rural people he was organizing. This was seen as an imminent political threat to the instable power of the capital. Gyōki’s reported behavior centers on building hostels, opening farm lands, constructing irrigation systems and other charitable activities aimed at improving life for a large number of people. This emphasis does not tell of a tendency to rely on magic or the saving power of another (tariki [1] ) as seen after Gyōki’s time in the esoteric Buddhist movements of the Heian period and the Pure Land traditions become immensely popular afterwards. For this and other reasons, researchers have suggested the possibility that the Buddhism Gyōki propagated may instead be seen to represent a tendency toward rejection of the notion of magic Buddhism embraced by the government, as well as their scholastic studies. In addition, Gyōki’s Buddhist master was master Dōkyō, who first propagated the Hossō (Sanskrit: Yogācāra) tradition in Japan. Many aspects of Gyōki’s charitable projects are easily understood in light of the content of Yogācāra texts that Dōkyō is known to have imported from China and taught in Japan. Viewed in this way, Gyōki’s was a mass movement against the government's insistence on magic and scholastic study by Buddhists. Instead, like the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, Gyōki emphasized Buddhist practice, stressing charity work. Saichō, the famous Heian period founder of the Japanese Tendai Buddhist tradition, praises Gyōki for these very qualities and seeks to emulate his lifestyle. Gyōki’s place in the history of Japanese Buddhism has been insured for centuries by hagiographies and literary works disseminating the image Bashō upholds. If, however, recent scholars are correct in assessing the nature of his form of Buddhism, Gyōki’s role in the history of Japanese Buddhism has not only been mistakenly categorized but also likely underestimated. Regardless, a fabricated image persisting in various usages a thousand years is no less influential. It is the task of the present study to familiarize the reader with portraits of Gyōki's life. Because of the importance of legions about Gyōki for both the history of Japanese Buddhism and that to Japan in general, while this study points to modern scholarship and sometimes interprets Gyōki’s actions for a Yogācāra perspective, it also introduces the most influential legends of Gyōki. In order to better explain the activities of his life these are framed within the context of Japanese history and the history of Japanese Buddhism. [1] To contrast Buddhist traditions, the historian Gyōnen used the classifications jiriki (salvation by means of one’s own efforts) and tariki (reliance on the powers of another for salvation). According to the argument above, Gyōki’s Buddhism should be classified as jiriki in contrast to the tariki of Pure Land Buddhism. http://bodhisattvamail.org/gyoki.htm

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..... ..... ..... Kigo about Gyoki

Gyoki Memorial Day, Gyoki Bosatsu Ki 行基菩薩忌
..... Gyooki-ki 行基忌

Visiting the Gyoki Memorial Temple,
..... Gyooki moode 行基詣, Gyooki mairi, 行基参
..... According to the modern calendar on April 2 - 3.
In the old lunar calendar, it was the second day of the second month, February.
observance kigo for late spring

The Gyooki Memorial Hall at Temple Koyadera
昆陽寺（兵摩県伊丹市）
Gyooki founded this tempel and made the statue of the healing Buddha, Yakushi Nyorai, by himself.

Gyooki-Doo 行基堂



http://hirotaku.web.infoseek.co.jp/temple/syakushi/syak19.shtml

行基忌　昆陽にはいまも　池多く

Gyoki Memorial Day -
At Koyadera even now
there are many ponds

Oohashi Oohashi
大橋櫻坡子（おおはし・おうはし）
Saijiki for Buddhist Events 仏教歳時記

In Memory of Gyooki Bosatsu, we also have the kigo of
. Nozaki Pilgrimage, Japan

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observance kigo for the New Year

Senbonzuki 千本搗 Ceremony of pounding rice with 1000 mallets
.....at the temple Mizumadera in Kaizuka, Osaka
（大阪府貝塚市水間寺）
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
水間千本搗餅つき Zenbon mochizuki, Sembon Zuki
at Kaizuka Town 貝塚市水間638水間寺内



This is an intangible cultural asset of Japan.
It dates back to about 730, when Gyoki with the help of the 16 Doji 十六童子 child attendants encountered an old man with white hair at the Kannon waterfall 観音出現の滝.
Gyoki and the 16 attendants pounded rice for mochi as an offering for the deity.
The festival takes place on the 2nd and 3rd day of the first lunar month, now sometimes on a sunday in February.
The mochi are pounded by the young menfolk of the nearby village. Two groups each of 8 men pound the rice, 8 men lift and lower the mallet and sing special prayer songs. They are arranged along the main hall to pound with 1000 long sticks and mallets.

The temple is also famous for the
"hand of a dragon mummy" 「龍の手」のミイラ

Homepage of the temple
source : www.mizumadera.or.jp

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The monk Gyoki founded and rebuilt the Arima Hot Springs.
Gyoki whom the Emperor Shomu (701 – 756) trusted deeply was a high monk who dedicated himself to building ponds and bridges, digging ditches and enshrined temples.

. Arima Tosen Shrine 有馬 湯泉神社 Toosen Jinja .
and legende relating to Gyoki in Arima.

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. 要仲山玉龍寺 Temple Gyokuryu-Ji .
岐阜県下呂市金山町中切１５４５
in Gifu. Founded by Gyoki Bosatsu.

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WASHOKU ... Japanese Food SAIJIKI

SAIJIKI – NEW YEAR OBSERVANCES

. Temple Todai-Ji 東大寺 - Nara .
. Gyōki 行基菩薩 Gyoki Bosatsu Legends .

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