Hori Folk Religion in Japan PDF

HASKELL FOLK
LECTURES RELIGION
ON IN
HISTORY
JAPAN
OF
Continuity md Clwnge
RELIGIONS
NEW SERIES ICHIRO HORI
No. 1
EDITED BY
Joseph M. Kitagawa and Alan L. Miller
z-a
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

JOSEPH M. KITAGAWA, General Editor
Chicago and London
The woodcuts in this book are from: Thomas W. Knox,
Adventures of Two Youths in a Iourney to lapan and China f4cEcEG S ome time ago, H. I. H. Prince Takahito Mi-
kasa characterized Japan as a “living laboratory and a liv-
(Harper and Brothers), 1880.
ing museum to those who are interested in the study of
history of religions.” Visitors to Japan will find the
countryside dotted with Shinto shrines and Buddhist
temples. In the big cities, too, one finds various kinds of
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 Shinto, Buddhist, and Christian establishments, as well
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
as those of the so-called new religions, which have mush-
0 1968 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved
Published 1968. Third Impression 1974 roomed since the end of World War II. Indeed, even in
Printed in the United States of America the modem industrialized Japan, colorful religious festi-
ISBN: O-226-35333-8 (clothbound) ; O-226-35334-6 (paperbound) vals and pilgrimages play important parts in the life of
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 67-30128 the people.
Historically, the Japanese archipelago, being situated
off the Asiatic continent, was destined to be influenced
by a number of religious and semi-religious traditions
from abroad, such as Confucianism, Taoism, Yin-yang
school, Neo-Confucianism, various forms of Buddhism
and Christianity, as well as all kinds of magical beliefs
and practices. This does not imply, however, that these
traditions have been preserved intact in juxtaposition. In
this respect, James B. Pratt once stated that the Japanese
people have accepted Buddhism “simply, humbly, in sin-
cere and almost childlike fashion, and they have laid the
stamp of their transforming genius upon it.” Similarly,
V
Foreword Foreword
they have interpreted and appropriated other religious talented Western scholars. Some of them-for example,
and semi-religious systems in terms of their particular Basil Hall Chamberlain, Karl Florenz, and Ernest FenoL
religious outlooks and experiences. losa-were academicians by profession, while others were
The complexity of the religious heritage of Japan is what George B. Sansom called “scholarly amateurs”-for
such that it can be viewed, as indeed it has been, from example, William G. Aston, Ernest M. Satow, Charles
different perspectives and with different assessments. Eliot, John Batchelor, and Sansom himself. These men,
Thus, some hold that Shinto is the Japanese religion par undaunted by linguistic jungles, worked out the chronol-
excellence, while others would argue that Buddhism is at ogy of Japanese history, translated texts, and analyzed
least the “half-creed of Japan.” Those who are impressed unfamiliar concepts, beliefs, and practices of the Japanese
by Zen would stress the decisive, though nebulous, influ- according to the canon of Western humanistic disci-
ence exerted by Zen on all aspects of Japanese culture. plines. Meanwhile, many able Japanese scholars studied
Still others would assert that Confucian tradition, despite abroad and were trained in modern scholarly disciplines
its reluctance to be classified as a religious system in the and methodologies. For instance, as early as 1873, Bunyii
usual sense of the term, has nevertheless provided the Nanjd studied Sanskrit under Friedrich Max Miiller at
most enduring framework for the Japanese world view. Oxford, and published in 1883 A Catalogue of the Chi-
These opinions have been advocated and affirmed by nese Translations of the Buddhist Tripitaka. Following
many both Western and Japanese scholars, and be it him, other Japanese scholars studied Indology, Buddhol-
noted that each one has a great deal of truth. On the ogy, Sinology, philology, philosophy, ethnology, and his-
other hand, few attempts have been made thus far by tory of religions in Europe, England, and America. In a
scholars, Japanese or Western, to delineate the nature of real sense, it was the combined effects of the dedicated
the total pattern of religious development in Japan. In labors of the Western Japanologists and of the Westem-
this sense, the present volume by Professor Hori is an im- trained Japanese scholars which establish.ed in Japan dur-
portant contribution to the study of Japanese religion being the first three decades of the present century the
cause of his serious endeavor to portray significant char- various scholarly disciplines dealing with Japanese reli-
acteristics which have been shared by different religious gion and culture, as exemplified by the works of Masa-
traditions on the folk level throughout the history of Ja- haru Anesaki in the science (history) of religions, Ka-
pan. For this task, the author is enviably equipped by his kuzii Okakura in Japanese art, Junjirii Takakusu in
training in Buddhology, history of religions, and folklore Buddhology, D. T. Suzuki in Zen study, Genchi Kat6
studies-all of which are essential for the understanding and Tsunetsugu Muraoka in Shinto study, and Kunio
of Japanese religion. Yanagita in folklore study, to name only the most obvi-
We may recall in this connection that scholarly in- ous. Thanks to the research of these men and their disci-
quiry into Japanese religion and culture was pioneered in ples, the study of Japanese art and culture, philosophy
the latter part of the nineteenth century by a number of and religion attained a high standard before World War
Vi Vii
Foreword Foreword
II. Owing largely to historic factors, however, Japanese sity, including J. J. M. DeGroot of Berlin, Franz Cumont
scholars of different disciplines tended to work more or of Brussels, Carl Bezold of Heidelberg, Christian Snouck
less independently of each other without much cross- Hurgronie of Leiden, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan of India,
fertilization. Also, most of their works were almost un- A. R. Gibb of Oxford, Louis Massignon and Mircea
available to Western scholars, except a small number of Eliade of Paris, and Friedrich Heiler of Marburg, as well
specialists, because of the barriers of language and as Masaharu Anesaki and Hideo Kishimoto of Tokyo.
thought pattern. Hori’s manuscript was gone over initially by H. Byron
Happily, the picture has changed considerably since Earhart, who was then engaged in research under Hori at
the end of World War II. Not only have scholars of vari- Sendai, and Robert S. Ellwood, who later spent a year in
ous disciplines in Japan begun to develop methods of Tokyo to work with Hori. After delivering the Haskell
cooperative inquiries, but also Western and Japanese Lectures, Hori entrusted his manuscript to me and to
scholars have begun to be engaged in meaningful dia- Alan L. Miller, and we took the responsibility of prepar-
logue and collaboration on various levels. In this atmos- ing it for publication. We are grateful to the Committee
phere, the culture and religion of Japan, for example, on Far Eastern Civilizations at the University of Chicago
have come to be reexamined and reassessed from broader for its financial assistance toward the preparation of the
perspectives. While experts in specialized areas continue manuscript. In our editorial work, we have shifted, with
their researches, they too are aware of the necessity of re- the consent of the author, some of the texts into the notes
lating their findings to those of others, including those of and changed some of the phrases and expressions. We
Western scholars. I might add that this sentiment is sincerely hope that our efforts did not unduly distort the
warmly reciprocated by many Western scholars who are original intent of the author.
concerned with the significance of Japanese culture and JOSEPH M. KITAGAWA
religion. For the Committee on Haskell Lectures
It is therefore most appropriate and timely that the
present volume be published by the University of Chi-
cago Press at this time. Hori was Visiting Professor of the
History of Religions at the University of Chicago, 1957-
58. At that time we explored the possibility of his retum-
ing to Chicago at a later date. In the fall of 1965, he was
invited to deliver the six lectures sponsored by the Has-
kell Lectureship on Comparative Religions. It is through
this lectureship, which was established in 1895, that many
distinguished scholars on the history of religions have
been invited from abroad to the campus of the Univer-
...
VZZZ
!4 f& 1’ lhe present book is based on the Haskell Lec-
tures given in 1965 at the University of Chicago. While
I have added notes, glossaries, and bibliographic refer-
ences, I have attempted to retain the oral style of the lec-
tures as much as possible. The aim of this book is to de-
lineate the main features and characteristics of Japanese
folk religion, which has been transmitted from the early
phase of Japanese history. Folk religion in Japan, like its
counterparts in other parts of the world, has many simi-
larities with archaic and primitive religions. It is signif-
icant to note, however, that Japanese folk religion has
greatly conditioned the political, economic, and cultural
developments historically. To be sure, we are aware of the
important roles played by more self-conscious religions
and semi-religious systems such as Shinto, Buddhism,
Confucianism, Taoism, and Christianity in the religious
history of Japan. But on the folk level, various features of
these religious and semi-religious systems were blended
to meet the spiritual needs of the common people, who
had to find religious meaning in the midst of their worka-
day life. Thus, throughout this book no attempt is made
to portray Shinto and Buddhism, for example. Rather,
they are viewed from the perspective of folk religion and
Xi
-
Preface Preface
are discussed only to the extent that they contributed to Professor of History of Religions during the autumn
the development of the folk religious tradition. quarter, 1965. I am greatly indebted to my colleagues at
It has been my intention to depict some of the impor- Chicago, especially Mircea Eliade and Joseph M. Kita-
tant facets of the phenomenon of Japanese folk religion. gawa, for their kindness and encouragement. The publi-
With this in mind, I have discussed the main characteris- cation of this book would not have been possible without
tics (Chapter I), the relation between social structure the assistance of a number of my friends who have made
and folk religion (Chapter II), the popular Pure Land stylistic corrections and suggestions, especially H. Byron
Buddhist practice, called Nembutsu in the context of folk Earhart of Western Michigan University, and Robert S.
religion (Chapter III), the importance of the mountains Ellwood, Jr., of the University of Southern California,
for the idea of the other world (Chapter IV), Japanese as well as Joseph M. Kitagawa and Alan L. Miller, who
Shamanism (Chapter V), and the survival of Shaman- have edited the manuscript and prepared it for publica-
istic tendencies in the contemporary new religions in Ja- tion.
pan (Chapter VI). Some of the materials used here have IC H I R O H O R I
been published previously; “Japanese Folk-beliefs,” TOKYO
American Anthropologist, 61: 3 (June, 1959)) which be-

came the basis of Chapter II; “On the Concept of Hijiri
(Holy-man) ,” Numen, V, Fast. 2-3 (April-September,
1958)) a portion of which is used in Chapter III; “Moun-
tains and Their Importance for the Idea of the Other
World in Japanese Folk Religion,” History of Religions,
6: 1 (August, 1966), which constitutes Chapter IV; and
“Penetration of Shamanic Elements into the History of
Japanese Folk Religion,‘” dedicated to the Festschrift,
Vol. 2 (Frankfurt am Main, 1965)) in honor of Adolf
Jensen’s sixty-fifth birthday, parts of which are used for
Chapters V and VI. I hereby thank these journals and
publishers for granting me permission to use these mate-
rials.
It is my pleasant duty to express my gratitude to the
President and the members of the Committee on the Has-
kell Lectures of the University of Chicago for the honor
of appointing me the 1965 Haskell Lecturer, and to the
Dean of the Divinity School for inviting me as Visiting
..,
Xii XEZE
c ontents
I. M AIN FEATURES OF F O L K R ELIGION IN JA P A N L
II. JA P A N E S E S O C I A L S T R U C T U R E AND FO L K
R ELIGION 49
III. NEMBUTSU AS FOLK R ELIGION 83
IV. MOUNTAINS AND T HEIR IMPORTANCE FOR THE
IDEA OF THE O THER W ORLD 141
V. JAPANESE SHAMANISM 181
V I . TH E N E W R ELIGIONS AND THE S URVIVAL OF
S HAMANIC T ENDENCIES 217

SELECTED B IBLIOGRAPHY 253
INDEX 265
xv
CHAPTER
7
# @ ~~ Japanese folk religion, unlike Buddhism or
Confucianism, is extremely diverse in character and dif-
ficult to define precisely. It is made up of vague magico-
religious beliefs, many of which are survivals or successors
of archaic and primitive elements; these beliefs or primi-
tive elements themselves remain unsystematized theoreti-
cally and ecclesiastically but in many ways have pene-
trated and become interrelated with institutionalized re-
1igions.l
In fact, this folk religion consists mainly of natural re-
ligion, and includes various magico-religious or even su-
perstitious elements. Therefore, from the standpoint of
organized religion or orthodoxy, some aspects of folk re-
1 Ichiro Hori, IMinkan-shinkd (lapanese Folk Beliefs) (Tokyo: Iwa-
nami-zensho No. 151, 1951), pp. 8-10.
Main Features of Folk Religion in Japan Main Features of Folk Religion in Japan
ligion are not necessarily legitimate religious practices. point of institutionalized religion in the history of Japa-
Moreover, sometimes they are harmful to society, and nese religion from ancient times to the present.
often hinder the process of modernization in Japan. The
significance of the phenomenon of Japanese folk religion
cannot, however, be limited to its religious content or ([ The Characteristics
quality. It should be pointed out that folk religion means of Iapanese Folk Religion
a group of rites and beliefs which has been deeply felt by
the common people, and supported and transmitted by In Japan, as elsewhere, there are several kinds of rites and
them from generation to generation. Therefore, folk re- magico-religious customs that are thought to have origi-
ligion not only has historical and traditional significance nated in antiquity, before human memory or records.
but, what is more important, it defines the social raison- According to the inferences of Japanese physical anthro-
d’&tre in contemporary Japan. Folk beliefs might be criti- pologists, the proto-Japanese were made up of nine dif-
cized as vulgar magico-religious phenomena, especially ferent racial stocks, or at least three major stocks-namely,
since they are not under the direct control of the institu- the Mongolian, Malayo-Polynesian, and the Ainu. It is
tionalized religions such as Buddhism, Shinto, Confu- still unclear which stock was predominant and when and
cianism, and Christianity. Nevertheless, it should not be where it originated. The famous physical anthropologist
forgotten that even today the majority of the Japanese Kenji Kiyono has designated as one distinct race the so-
people are dominated by folk religion in its social, family, called stone age man in Japan (Nihon sekki-jidai jin),
and individual life as well as in its productive activities. who inhabited nearly all districts of the Japanese islands.
Either consciously or unconsciously, the people feel that It is clear that since then various stocks have immigrated
their daily lives require several kinds of rites, festivals, from the South Sea islands or the Asian continent and
ceremonies, and their connected magic and taboo. mixed with each other.2
The old established religious bodies as well as the new The traces of such complicated racial mixture may be
religions are forced to regard the existence of folk reli- inferred from the formation of the Japanese language,
gion as important. Some of these religious groups have which has a distinctive structure absent in the cognate
originated out of folk or natural religion. This is true of languages.3 Obayashi, in a recently published work,4 ana-
Shrine Shinto, Sectarian Shinto, and religious Taoism.
On the other hand, Confucianism and Buddhism were 2 Kenji Kiyono, Kodai-jinkotsu no kenkyii ni motozuku Nihon-jinshu-
ran (A Study of the Japanese Race Based on the Researches of Human
established in opposition to folk religion or superstitions. Bones by Japanese Antiquarians) (Tokyo, 1949).
However, not one of them has failed to be intimately re- 3 Susumu Cno, Nihon-go no kigen (Origin of the Japanese Language)
lated to folk religion or to utilize folk religion in the (Tokyo: Iwanami-shinsho, 1957).
course of evangelizing the masses. In fact, the temptation 4 Tarye Obayashi, Nihon shinwa no kigen (Origins of Japanese My-
to accommodate folk religion has really been the weak thology) (Tokyo, 1961); see especially pp. 21-52. Cf. Takeo Matsumura,
2 3
Main Features of Folk Religion in Japan Main Features of Folk Religion in lapan
lyzed the structure of Japanese myths found in the Koiiki been recognized as the most difficult to interpret coher-
and Nihongi. His comparison of these myths with those ently, both for scholars of mythology and for scholars of
of the East Asian and the Oceanic peoples brought to the Japanese classics. Obayashi has offered an hypothesis
light the existence of several Altaic, Southeast Asian, and from the viewpoint of comparative mythology. He theo-
Polynesian motifs or types in Japanese mythology. Since rized that the first group of deities originated in the Altaic
the appearance in 1798 of Motoori’s Kojikiden (44 vol- nomadic culture, because of the idea of the creator and
umes of commentary on the Kojiki), the part of the crea- ruler who were born at the center of heaven. The bearers
tion myth known as the Seven Divine Generations” has of this part of the myth were probably the ancestors of
the imperial family and the accompanying shamanic
Nihon shinwa no kenkyu (Studies of Japanese Mythology) (Nagoya,
1956); ShBei Mishina, Shinwa to bunka-kybiki (Mythology and Cul-
priest clans. The second part of the myth Obayashi as-
tural Areas) (Tokyo, 1948); Takeshi Matsumae, Nihon shinwa no shin- sumed to have originated in Southeast Asia, as evidenced
kenkyti (A New Study of Iapanese Mythology) (Tokyo, 1962 ) ; Nobuhiro by the idea of a cosmic tree and the motif of the appear-
Matsumoto, Nihon no shinwa (lapanese Mythology) (Tokyo, 1956). ance of the first human being or deity from vegetation.
6 The creation myth at the beginning of the Kojiki is as follows: The bearers of this part of the myth were probably the
(1) The names of the deities that were born in the Plain of High
Heaven (Takama-no-hara) when the Heaven and Earth were formed,
wet-rice cultivators of the lowlands. The third group of
were the Deity Master-of-the-August-Center-of-Heaven (Ame-no-minaka- deities is characterized by the idea of an appearance of
nushi) , next the High-August-Producing-Wondrous Deity (Taka-mi. the cosmic giant between primordial heaven and earth
musubi), next the Divine-Producing-Wondrous Deity (Kami-musubi) . or a primordial chaos or vacuum and of the appearance
These three deities were all deities who were born alone, and hid them-
selves. (2) The names of the deities that were born next from a thing of the deities that manifest the several stages of cosmic
that sprouted up like a reed-shoot when the Earth, young and like evolution. This type of creation myth is similar to those
floating oil, drifted about medusa-like, were the Pleasant-Reed-Shoot- of Polynesian mythology, and the bearers were probably
Prince-Elder Deity ( Umashi-Ashikabi-hikoji), next the Heavenly-Eter-
nally-standing Deity (Ame-no-tokotachi) . These two deities likewise
the Ama tribes (seamen) in ancient Japan.
were born alone, and hid themselves. (The five deities in the above list For our purposes Obayashi’s hypothetical analysis of
are separate Heavenly Deities [Koto Amatsu-kami].) (8) The names of mythical elements in the Kojiki serves to show the com-
the deities that were born next were the Earthly-Eternally-Standing
plexity of the Japanese people and their culture and life
Deity (Kuni-tokotachi) , next the Luxuriant-Cloud-Moor Deity (Toyo-
kumonu). These two deities were likewise deities born alone and hid
themselves. The names of the deities that were born next were the (Izanagi), next his younger sister the Deity Female-Who-Is-Invited
Deity Mud-Earth-Lord (U-hiji-ni), next his younger sister the Deity (Izanami). (From the Earthly-Eternally-Standing Deity down to the
Mud-Earth-Lady (Su-hiji-ni) , next the Germ-Integrating Deity (Tsunu- Deity Female-Who-Is-Invited in the previous list are what are termed
gui), next his younger sister the Life-Integrating Deity (Iku-gui) , next the Seven Divine Generations.)
the Deity Elder-of-the-Great-Place (Oho-tonoji), next his younger sister Chamberlain’s translation of the Kojiki is quoted here, with several
the Deity Elder-Lady-of-the-Great-Place (Oho-tonobe), next the Deity adaptations by the writer. The English renderings of Toyo-kumonu and
Perfect-Exterior (Omo-daru), next his younger sister the Deity Oh- Izanami have been slightly changed. See B. H. Chamberlain, Translation
Awful-Lady ( Aya-kashiko-ne) , next the Deity Male-Who-Invites of “Kojiki” or “Records of Ancient Matters” (zd ed.; Kobe, 1932).
4 5
in prehistoric times. A similar inference could be made in first type live in Hokkaido as well as such small isolated
the area of Japanese folk religion. In fact, we can find islands as Hachijo-jima, Ryuku, and Amami. As we shall
many elements of folk religion which supposedly orig- see later, several founders of the newly arisen religious
inated from, or at least are similar to those of, other cul- bodies (Shinko-Shukyo), such as the Tenri or Omoto
tural areas. For example, certain practices originated in sects (which appeared in the nineteenth century), seem
or resemble those of ancient food-gathering or hunting, to have been typical shamanesses of the arctic hysteria
nomadic cultures in Northern and Central Asia, those of type. At the same time, many shamanesses in the ancient
the rice culture in Southeast Asia, and the customs and Shinanomiko were of the second type, as are the contem-
magical techniques in Melanesian and Polynesian cul- porary itako who live mainly in northeast Honshu. They
ture.6 do not display any physical illness or neurotic symptoms
As I shall discuss in detail later, Japanese popular re- before initiation, such as exist among the shamans of the
ligion has been greatly influenced by shamanic elements. arctic hysteria type of which the Ainu tsusu is an ex-
It is commonly known that the typical forms and func- ample. Because her ecstasy and possession are learned
tions of shamanism are seen now in Northern and Central techniques, inevitably they tend to be stereotyped and to
Asia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Korea, Saghalien, and Hok- follow the path of folk arts more than of pure shamanic
kaido as well as among Eskimos and North and South functions.’
American Indians. Among the ancient Japanese also, The style of architecture seen in the Ise and the Izumo
great shamanesses seemed frequently to play important shrines, thought to preserve vestiges of ancient residential
roles in political or social crises. In the course of history buildings, suggests some tropical area and may be a clue
the descendants of these shamanesses, in the process of to the problem of cultural diffusion. Likewise, we can see
mixing their religious forms with others, underwent var- similarities and connections between some folk customs
ious transformations, and thereby exerted diverse influ- and annual festivals in present-day Japan and the customs
ence, not only on folk religion and folk arts, but also on of so-called primitive neighboring peoples or of the ancient
the institutionalized religions. Moreover, we can find sev- Chinese.8 The seasonal rites featuring visits by masked
eral shamanic forms and functions in some new popular 7 Most of them are blind or partly blind women who become appren-
religious sects appearing from the beginning of the Meiji tices of their master shamaness in order to learn the rituals and techniques
of ecstasy. After several years’ training, an apprentice becomes an inde-
era to the present, as well as in magicians, seers, and heal- pendent professional shamaness, having undergone the ordeals and cere-
ers in the rural communities. mony of initiation. See M. Czaplicka, AboriginaI Siberia: A Study in
In Japan today there exist two different kinds of sha- Social Anthropology (Oxford, 1914); Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: The
Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (New York, 1964).
manesses: the “arctic hysteria” type, borrowing Cza-
* For an interesting attempt to discover similarities between two widely
plicka’s term; and the Polynesian type. Shamanesses of the separated peoples, see Alexander Slawik, “Kultische Geheimbiinde der
6 See, for example, Enkri Uno, Mareishiya ni okeru tdmai girei (Rice Japaner und Germanen,” Wiener Beitrage zur Kulturgeschichte und
Rituals in Malaysia) (Tokyo, 1944). Linguistik, Vol. IV (Salzburg-Leipzig, 1936).
6 7
Main Features of Folk Religion in Japan Main Features of Folk Religion in [apan
persons, the tsuina (demon-expulsion) festival at the end (Tumulus) age from about the fourth to sixth centuries
of the year, and the tanabata (star festival) at the seventh A.D.
night of the seventh month of the lunar year are only a After the first century A.D.‘O the current of Chinese
few Japanese examples of such customs, even though they civilization seems to have flowed mainly into northern
have been greatly transformed and reinterpreted in the Kyushu through the Korean peninsula, and on a rather
course of history.Q large scale. From then until the seventh century, and
It is clear, however, that the actual contents of Jap- especially in the sixth century under the leadership of the
anese folk religon are not exhausted only by these archaic Yamato dynasty, the exchange between Japan and Korea
elements. Japan has never been isolated from political, and North and South China resulted in a remarkable
economic, and cultural changes on the Asian Continent, number of immigrants from these areas. They settled not
but has reacted sensitively to these changes. Thus to the only in western Japan, but also in the eastern provinces,
northern, western, and southern routes of cultural diffu- until they made up more than one-fourth of all the clans
sion in prehistoric Japan must be added the introduction at the end of the eighth century. As a result of the new
of rice culture (Yayoi culture), which penetrated into civilization and technical skills which the immigrants
western Japan about the third century B.C. It is thought brought with them, Japan became the site of industrial
that at this time a revolutionary change took place in the and technological innovations, and their collective power
socio-cultural systems which eventually brought about and wealth have left extensive traces.
the formation of a unified empire, first in the form of It is still unclear precisely what beliefs, rituals, and
village-states, and then of federated village-states, These customs these immigrants brought with them from their
village-states were quite different from the former food- homelands. However, from the fragmentary materials
gathering or shell-mound (kai-zuka) culture complex handed down, we may infer that they introduced among
(Jomon culture). Corresponding to this social change the ruling classes the Confucian ethics and the philosophy
as well as to the technological changes caused by the in- and religion of Lao-tze and Chuang-tze. At the same time,
troduction of bronze and iron tools and arms, there they introduced among the lower classes some beliefs,
occurred a fundamental change in natural religion-a rituals, and techniques of Taoism and Yin-yang magic,
transformation from the small-scale magic and religion of as well as Korean shamanism, all of which still survive
isolated clans to large-scale state religion with agricultural
1eThe discovery of a buried golden seal in 1784 in Sbiga-no-shima
magico-religious forms. Perhaps protoShinto was formed near Fukuoka in northern Kyushu verified the record in the Hou-Han-shu
gradually during the period from the introduction of of A.n. 57 that a local ,king of Na state of Yamato (or Wo-jen) sent
agriculture to the early Yamato dynasty of the Kofun his messengers to the imperial court of the later Han dynasty, at which
time the first Emperor Kuang-wu gave the king of Na a golden seal. See
Q Hori, “Rites of Purification and Orgy in Japanese Folk Religion,” Seita Toma, Uzumoreta kin-in (Buried Golden Seal) (Tokyo, 1950);
an unpublished paper read before the XIth International Congress for Mitsusada Inouye, Nihon kokka no kigen (Origin of the Japanese State)
the History of Religions held in Claremont, California, in 1965. (Tokyo, 1965).
8 9
Main Features of Folk Religion in Japan
in the rural communities of China and Korea. Moreover,

Buddhism, having been transformed in various ways dur-
ing its long journey from India to Korea through Central
Asia and China, came to Japan in the middle of the sixth
century under the auspices of the imperial family, noble
families, and the naturalized clans.ll
These borrowed ethical, magical, and religious ele-
ments were blended, reinterpreted, and resystematized
into Japanese religion as one entity, through the processes
of cultural contact and interchange with the indigenous
beliefs, rituals, and customs of primitive Shinto. They
intermingled so completely that they lost their individual
identities, and they have actually played the traditional
roles of state religion and/or family religion. Confucian-
ism and Shinto have borrowed Buddhist metaphysics and
psychology; Buddhism and Shinto have borrowed many
aspects of Confucian theory and ethics; and Confucian-
ism and Buddhism have adapted themselves rather thor-
oughly to the indigenous religion of Japan instead of
maintaining their particularity, though of course their
manifestations are many and varied.12
In this context, we may point out that there is good
reason to speak of Japanese religion as an entity. Through-
out there are several significant common tendencies: em-
phasis on filial piety (k6) and ancestor worship connected
with the Japanese family system; emphasis on on (debts
or favors given by superiors) and h&on (the return of
11 See Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinktj-shi no kenkyii (A Study of
the History of Japanese Folk Religion) I (Tokyo, 1955), 79-143,
especially pp. 117-31; see also Akira Seki, Kika-jin (Ancient Immigrants)
(Tokyo, 1956).
12 Robert N. Bellah, Tokugawa Religion: The VaJues of Pre-industrial
Iapan (Glencoe, 1957), p. 59.
10
Main Features of FoIk Religion in Japan
on); mutual borrowing and mixing of different religious

traditions (or syncretistic tendency); belief in the con-
tinuity between man and deity, or easy deification of
human beings; coexistence of different religions in one
family or even in one person; strong belief in spirits of
the dead in connection with ancestor worship as well as
with more animistic conceptions of malevolent or benev-
olent soul activities.
([ InstitutionaIized Religion
and Folk Religion
As Ralph Linton has pointed out, borrowing is an in-

dispensable condition for the progress of culture. None
of the contemporary highly developed peoples has built
up its total culture by itself. They all reached a high level
of culture after passing through the two stages of borrow-
ing and reintegration. Needless to say, there is a significant
disparity between material culture and spiritual culture
in the case of borrowing and reintegration: material cul-
ture or technology can be transplanted just as it is, but it
is difficult to borrow spiritual culture, which is accom-
panied by complicated inner associations or emotional
responses. According to Linton,
Such things as religious or philosophical concepts can
be communicated after a fashion, although probably
never in their entirety, Patterns of social behavior can
also be transmitted in the same uncertain way, but the
associations which give them genuine potentiaIities for
function can not be transmitted. A borrowing group
Main Features of Folk Religion in Japan Main Features of FoIk Religion in Japan
may imitate their outward forms, but it will usually be and other aspects of Yin-yang were absorbed by folk re-
found that it has introduced new elements to replace ligion.
those which could not be genuinely communicated to -As I shall discuss in detail in Chapter VI, the so-called
it.13 Shinka-Shiikya (newly arisen religions) have originated
from these syncretistic strata of anciknt folk religion.
The magico-religious needs and emotional associations The newly arisen religions are especially characterized
of the Japanese people are important factors of recepti- by shamanistic leaders and the attempt to obtain divine
bility in the process of borrowing or selection of foreign favor in this world, based on primitive magical forms as
religions in Japan. Not only has folk religion played an well as on the syncretistic but simplified or popularized
important role with respect to the receptibility of foreign theology of various religions. It is not exaggerating to say
religions, but folk religion has also borrowed from foreign that we can find here the historical remains of ancient
religions for its own uses and devices. Actually, folk reli- Japanese religions which have penetrated to the level of
gion has swallowed up foreign religions with an insatiable the common people.
appetite. The hidden Christians (Kakure-Kirishitan) in the iso-
For example, philosophical and religious Taoism is lated seashore areas and small islands in northern Kyushu
thought to have been introduced before the Nara period are another example of acculturation. They have formed
(seventh and eighth centuries). On the other hand, reli- a kind of secret society since the Tokugawa shogunate
gious Taoism had flourished at its peak in T’ang China strictly prohibited Christian missions and converts in
and acquired the ardent support of successive emperors, 1614. They are descendants of Christians converted
which led to the severe anti-Buddhist persecution of Em- through the missionary activities of the Jesuits led by St.
peror Wu-tsung in .4.n. 845. Though there was intimate Francis Xavier between 1549 and 1614. They have con-
intercourse between T’ang China and Japan during this tinued to maintain their ardent faith from generation to
period, religious Taoism could not succeed in establishing generation for more than three hundred years without
an independent religious order, in building any temple, priests or any communication from Rome and in snite
or in converting any priest. The Yin-yang magic and _ _
ot frequent martyrdoms and severe oppression by ‘the
techniques (Japanese, On-my&d6) had been controlled shogunate and the feudal lords. Nevertheless, the con-
and monopolized by the Kamo and Abe families since tents of their faith have been radically transformed and
the Heian period (A.D. 782-1185). However, the same reshaped by folk religion and indigenous elements, so that
Yin-yang techniques were adopted in the Shinto rituals at it has lost almost all its Catholic characteristics. As Kiyoto
the imperial court by Shugen-dti and other religious sects, Funmo has pointed out, l4 their present faith should no
13 Ralph Linton, The Study of Man: An Introduction (New York, l4 Kiyoto Furuno, Kakure-Kirishitan (Hidden Christians) (Tokyo,
1936), pp. 337-40; Hor1,’ “Sho-shfikyh no uketorare-kata” (“Japanese 1960); see also Kaya Tagita, Shdwa-jidai no senpuku kirishitan (Hidden
ways of acceptance of foreign religions”), Nihon shtikyd-shi kenkyii
Christians in the Shawa Era-1926 to the Present) (Tokyo, 1954).
(Studies on the History of Iapanese Religions), II (Tokyo, 1963), 31-48.
15
(hotoke-sama). . . . This bold language is, so far as I
longer be called Catholicism. Instead, the movement
know, peculiar to Japan and is an imitation of Shinto.
should be called Kirishitan-ism, according to the common
The Shinto dead become (it is not explained how)
Japanese term Kirishitan for “Christian” in the Toku-
Kami or superhuman beings, for the translation “gods”
gawa period (16o3-1868), even though they still believe
is an exaggeration: it could hardly be allowed that the
that they transmit the authentic Catholicism of Xavier.
Buddhist dead had an inferior status and they were
This makes us feel all the more keenly the regulating
therefore termed Buddhas, Buddhas and Kami being,
power and ability of folk religion to permeate all areas of
according to popular ideas, much the same.15
folk life.
Even though this acculturation phenomenon of the To put it in the extreme, it seems to me that what gave
hidden Christians (Kakure-Kirishitan) represents the Japanese Buddhism a form and character so markedly
most extreme example, the same tendency can be seen different from that of Indian or Theravada Buddhism is
among Japanese Buddhists. Of course, Buddhism, unlike Japanese folk religion or popular Shinto. This latter was
Christianity, is characterized by weakness of authoritarian based on the cultural and value systems of Japan, and
structure in both theology and organization. The so-called originated from the religious consciousness, magico-
eighty-four thousand varieties of the Buddha’s teachings religious needs, and social system of the people. Gener-
contrast sharply with the authority of the Old and New ally speaking, the universal religions, such as Buddhism
Testaments; also, Buddhism has nothing to compare with or Christianity, insisted on attitudes of negation, separa-
the strong centralized authority of the papal see. There- tion, and transcendence in opposition to secularism. They
fore, Japanese Buddhism has naturally tended to com- usually tried to actualize an ideal community either in
mingle with the folk religious elements, reinterpreting this world or in the other world, based on the principle
and systematizing them in various ways. The best ex- of communion or union with the sacred or the absolute
ample of this tendency is the fact that the most signifi- reality. However, once an ecclesiastical order was estab-
cant social function of presentday Japanese Buddhism, lished on earth, it was not able to stand aloof from the
regardless of sect, is the funeral ceremony and memorial mundane world. It pursued a course of secularization
services for the spirits of the dead. Sir Charles Eliot under the application of social, political, and economic
wrote: rules. As Talcott Parsons has pointed out, no institutional-
ized or systematized religion can escape this kind of di-
Until the Meiji era ali funerals were performed by Bud-
lemma.16 The so-called universal religions started without
dhist priests, and even now many Japanese who have
little to do with Buddhism during their lives are buried l6 Sir Charles Eliot, Japanese Buddhism (London, 1959), p. 185.
according to its rites. . . . In Buddhist families the mor- l6 Talcott Parsons, Religious Perspectives of College Teaching
in
tuary tablets are placed before the household shrine Sociology and Social Psychology (New Haven, 1952); see also Hori,
“Shakai-henkaku to Bukkyo” (“Social Innovation and Buddhism”),
which occupies a shelf in one of the inner apartments Nihn sh%o-shi kenkyii, II (196~)~ 7 - 3 0 .
and the dead are commonly spoken of as buddhas
16 17
exception as minorities that were suppressed by the only historically, that is, for understanding its own origi-
worldly authorities. Thus they began with anti-social, nal meaning or the historical processes of its transforma-
anti-secular, and anti-authoritarian tendencies. However, tion; folk religion is also important for understanding the
their worldly authority and power tended to grow apace spiritual life of the people, as well as their social psychol-
with their ecclesiastical power. This meant that religion ogy from the viewpoint of its contemporary social func-
could not escape from the direct influences of political tions.
and economic fluctuations of the ruling classes of society.
Moreover, it was easily overcome by temptations to
([ Folk Religion as Natural Religion
worldly power, wealth, or extravagance. On the one hand,
there was frequently an opposition between ecclesiastical
authority and worldly authority, or between ecclesiastical In folk religion, as I have already described, there survive
wealth and worldly wealth; on the other hand, they fre- several elements firmly based on ancient natural religion
quently intertwined on the historical stage. Many of the which take root in the beliefs and rituals common to all
religious elite and scholars established vast systems of human beings.
theology or metaphysics, and much effort was given over The appearance of religious behavior is thought to be
to the study of mythology, ethics, and philosophy, but as old as human society. There are several archeological re-
this religious scholarship was dominated by the humani- mains which suggest the existence of rites for the dead
ties. even in the Paleolithic age. The discovery of death by
Folk religion has never faced the kind of dilemma of human beings gradually gave rise to the ideas of life and
secularization which has been experienced by Buddhism existence. There is an essential anxiety unique to the hu-
or Christianity. Folk religion always preserves the strong man being, so that he lives in the consciousness of self-
enduring power which perseveres in the lower structure existence. Various activities are created in order to re-
of society and religious institutions. In spite of bewilder- move this kind of anxiety.‘? These seem to be the most
ing changes in the superstructure, the substructure is direct factors in the appearance and the development of
comparatively stable and follows a course of rather slow magic and religion, though such motivations function
changes. It has a strong digestive power that enables it to strongly at the basis of all human culture.
hold together the homogeneous and heterogeneous ele- The basic themes of beliefs, rituals, and customs which
ments. These elements, mutually linked and fused to- have controlled the life of the Japanese people for a long
gether, form all possible phenomena of syncretism, which time are thought to have emerged gradually with the ap
continue to function among the people to satisfy their Pearance of agriculture. If the various hereditary elements
emotional and religious needs. For this reason folk reli- lr Hori, “Fuan ni okeru Kakujitsu-sei no tankyfi” (“Inquiry into Cer-
gion has great social significance, in spite of its vulgarity. tai
nty within Anxiety”), Nihon shrikgo-shi kenkyu, I (Tokyo, 1962))
The analysis of folk religion, then, is important not 115-40.
18 19
from the pre-Jomon (Paleolithic) and Jomon (neolithic) There are, therefore, significant coincidences between
cultures have been preserved, they seem to have been re- the beliefs, rituals, and customs centering in the agricul-
organized and reinterpreted by the elements of the agri tural productions of all agrarian peoples. However, there
cultural culture complex. As I have discussed elsewhere,13 exist great differences of race, social structure, modes of
the fundamental form of agricultural life is stationary. life, ways of thinking, linguistic representations, and so
Stationary life, which implies that man occupies space as on. In both wheat culture and rice culture, the staple
well as lives in time-a fact which inevitably brought farm products are regarded as sacred in themselves or as
about the self-consciousness of limitation or finitude- the gift of a superhuman being. Therefore, farm work is
made possible the man-plant homology in which varia- also regarded as a sacred action or rite and not merely
tion or change is felt in one’s own life. Agriculture in- productive labor. At the end of each agricultural task,
volves the dynamic cyclical course from sowing to the various magico-religious rituals are performed in order to
harvest, through germination, growth, and maturity. The ensure the favorable course of the ripening of wheat or
cyclical idea of life and cosmology was based on this un- rice plants.IQ For example, in Japanese agrarian commu-
derstanding of agriculture, although an additional ele- nities, before the seeding, several praying services for
ment was the discovery of meaning in the waxing and good crops are performed which are usually rich in magi-
waning of the moon, which is generally held to have cal elements; then come the rites for seeding; ceremonies
originated in the more ancient nomadic or hunting cul- for transplanting; praying for rain, for stopping storms or
ture complex. At the same time, the discovery of the seed long rains, for frightening or driving away injurious birds
as the source of the continuity of plant life strengthened and noxious insects; the offering of the new harvest and
the consciousness of tradition and increased the impor- various customs accompanying it; and, finally, various
tance of the ancestor in human life. Furthermore, im- harvest festivals for each family and community as well
mobility and deterministic control of both plants and as official ceremonies at the imperial court.
farmers by nature seem to have led to the consciousness We can find some marvelous coincidences of ideas and
of solidarity of destiny between plants and human beings, ritual performances between Japanese folk religion and
and to have given rise to the fatalism and feeling of de- those of other peoples. For instance, both in Japan and
pendence peculiar to an agrarian community. The primi- other countries, there are magico-artistic and orgiastic
tive or naive self-consciousness of depending upon the elements including sexual excesses, especially in the fes-
other and of helplessness and limitedness should be seen tivals of early spring, to celebrate the coming of spring
as forming the basis of magic and rituals among the and to pray for a good harvest in the coming autumn.20
agrarian peoples. lQ Mircea Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion (London-New
York, 1958), Chapter IX, “Agriculture and Fertility Cults,” pp. 331-66.
18 Ibid.; originally this paper was published in Nihonjin (The Iapa-
nese) (Tokyo, 1954) under the title of “Anxiety and Hope” (“Fuan *‘Since it is presumed that no astrological calendar system existed
to kiba”) . in Japan before the third century A.D., the people must have employed
20 21
Other examples are: the memorial services for the dead To delineate the religious attitude common to agrarian
or ancestors at the first crop offering; the death and res- societies in Japan, I shall consider several particular ex-
urrection of the rice soul manifested as the rice child to- amples. For instance, it is significant that there, are few
gether with the idea of the Great Rice Mother; and the real local heroes in Japan. On rare occasions, we can find
ceremonial divine marriage of the Great Rice Mother some legends concerning local heroes, but even then they
and a human emperor to reproduce the sacred child of are linked almost without exception with the political
the rice.21 (I shall leave more detailed discussion to the center of that time. In all cases, the local chiefs or braves
following section.) 22 were overthrown by the heavenly deities, princes, or mili-
There are of course many variations from the common tary commanders from the mikado’s capital. The local
primitive ideas according to the ethos, social structure, people invite and greet these strange deities or heroes
and value system of any particular race or tribe. That is to from outside their village and enshrine them as village
say, although the motifs and ideas may be universal, the guardians or transmit their legends from generation to
actual details have their particular nuances based on the generation in place names and monuments. Prince Yama-
particular folk mentality. Moreover, these variations are totakeru in the mythical age, the generalissimo for the
all the more colorful according to the individuality of the subjugation of eastern barbarians, Tamuramaro of the
religious specialists who engage in these ceremonies and Sakanouye in the tenth century, Yoshiiye and Yoshitsune
rituals. The myths and legends, rites and customs found of the Minamoto family in the twelfth century-all were
in agrarian societies concerning particular deities, spirits, cordially invited to be village guardians or revered heroes
and heroes function within this general world view as the by the local people who are supposed to have been the
particular types which have emerged from the character- descendants of the defeated eastern barbarians called Ezo.
istic system of each society. Another interesting example is the large-scale distribu-
tion of legends concerning the tombs of such emperors
a natura1 year, which means that the year was reckoned from seeding in as Antoku (reigned 1180-83)) who was reported missing
spring to harvest in autumn. The period from harvest to seeding was in the battle between the Taira family and the Minamoto
regarded as the season of rigid abstinence for assuring the rest of the
rice seed or rice soul and praying for vigorous germination in the coming
family in 1185, and Chokei (reigned 1368-83) of the
spring. Gishi Wajin den (Wo-jen Chuan in the History of the Wei Southern dynasty. Even today, local people identify many
Dynasty), translation with annotations by Kiyoshi Wada and Michihiro sites as the imperial tomb of either Antoku or Chokei,
Ishihara (Tokyo: Iwanami-Bunko, 1951). It relates that the Japanese fervently believing in the authenticity of their claims.23
(Wo-jen) do not know the calendar and reckon the year by seeding in
spring and harvest in autumn. 23 The so-called tombs of Emperor Antoku are widespread throughout
western Japan as far as the islands of Iwo-jima and Tsu-shima. The
a1 Cf. James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough (London, 1924).
supposed tombs of Chokei are widespread, mainly in eastern Japan as
a3 See Hori, “Mysterious Visitors from the Harvest to the New Year,” far as Aomori prefecture at the northern tip of Honshu. In the latter
Studies in Japanese Folklore, edited by Richard M. Dorson (Blooming- case, the tomb of Emperor Chokei was formally decided by the present
ton, 1963), pp. 76-103. emPeror iu order to perform memorial services, because Ch6kei was
22 23
We can infer several factors which made possible the ambivalence of attitude toward them: awe, fear, respect,
widespread distribution of this type of legend and belief. and contempt. We can clearly observe here the Japanese
First, there is the socio-psychological situation of the in- people’s respect for authority based on their social value
terpreters or bearers of such legends. Second, there is the systems as well as on the exclusiveness of their agrarian
socio-psychological situation of the local inhabitants who life and personality.
have voluntarily accepted them. Third, we realize that In this connection I shall discuss puberty rites as an
there exists a strong political value system which pene- example which seems to symbolize more clearly such an
trated deeply into the hierarchy of Japanese society, in- authoritarian attitude. As is well known, there are three
fluencing the family system as well as the religious psy- general kinds of these rites: periodic or seasonal, such as
chology of the people. This exclusive society manifests the annual festivals based mainly on the annually re-
belief in authority from without, based on the idea of peated phenomena of nature or agriculture; temporal or
hospitality. Religiously speaking, this kind of motif is extraordinary, for protection and opposition against the
thought to have originated in the ancient Japanese belief threats of unforeseeable natural disasters, epidemics,
symbolized by the myth of the descent from heaven of wars, fires, and so on; the group generally called rites of
the august grandchild (Tenson-k&in), which relates the passage after Van Gennep,26 and which seek to resolve
origin of the imperial family in the Kojiki and Nihongi. the anxiety accompanying predictable or unpredictable
According to Shinobu Orikuchi,24 this motif is wide- changes in individuals or in the interpersonal relation-
spread in Japanese folklore. For example, it can be seen ships in the community-including individual physical
in the myths of combat between the visiting or descend- changes such as birth, puberty, marriage, pregnancy, de-
ing god or spirit and the local god or spirit, with the final livery, and death.
victory of the former. This motif is seen also in the fact As one of the most important junctures of human life,
that magico-religious or magico-technical strangers are usu- the puberty ceremony has been celebrated by almost all
ally welcomed by villagers, even though there is some races. This rite separates boys from their mothers’ pro-
tection and initiates them as adult members of the men’s
first officially added to the imperial line in 1926. The Department of society. Among the primitives as well as the ancient civi-
the Imperial Household was under great pressure by many ardent peti- lized peoples, the initiation ceremony was a serious and
tioners who insisted that the real tomb was in their village. In 1926, the
Department of the Imperial Household received 123 petitions concern-
solemn rite with both social and educational functions
ing the site of Emperor Chbkei’s tomb, and in the 1940’s there were which decided the course of the candidate’s future life.
more than two hundred petitions from northeast Honshu to northern Even in highly developed societies and higher religions,
Kyushu. See Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyc I, 500-565. the initiation ceremony has still survived in various ways,
24 Shinobu Orikuchi, “Tokoyo oyobi Marebito” (“The Eternal Land after having been transformed and reinterpreted.2s
and the Sacred Guests”), Kodai kenkyti (Studies in Japanese Antiquity)
(Tokyo, 1929). Originally this paper was published in Minzoku, IV, 25 See \‘an Gennep, Les rites de passage (Paris, 1909).
No. 1, 1-62. 26 Cf. Eliade, Birth and Rebirth (Chicago, 1958).
24 25
According to Van Gennep, initiation rites are to be di- rite, It also includes the change to the adult name pecul-
vided into three stages: separation, marge or transition, iar to the candidate’s own family or family group, cere-
and integration. The most important is the second, in monial cohabitation with his fiancCe (hada-awase), sev-
which the candidates are initiated into socio-religious eral ordeals such as austerities in the sacred mountain led
mysteries concerning the tribe’s myths, traditions, special by village yamabushi (mountain ascetics), or a feat of
knowledge, and techniques peculiar to adult society. Can- strength witnessed by the leaders of the men’s or youths’
didates also underwent such surgical operations as cir- society. For girls, dyeing the teeth or tattooing either on
cumcision, subincision, and extraction of teeth or severe the face or on the back of the hand was a symbol of
ordeals. These ordeals tested the competence of each adulthood.2’
candidate to fulfill the tasks of married life, labor, hunt- As I shall discuss in detail in the next section, where
ing, fishing, and fighting which the given society re- the dtizoku or a particular kinship system is firmly organ-
quired of him as an adult member. This rite seems com- ized, the head of the main family is responsible for the
pletely to separate childhood from adulthood by such puberty rites of the boys and girls of the branch families.
means as the revelation of the tribal deities or ancestors, 27 In the middle ages, the samurai (warrior) class youths underwent
the granting of a new adult name, and the learning of a puberty rites together with ordeals and austerities under the name .of
gen-buku (assuming the toga virilis) , in which a special type of headgear
new language. peculiar to the samurai class named eboshi was used instead of the
The fundamental principles of the initiation rite are crown. In both cases, the man who ceremonially put the crown or
common to almost every primitive or ancient society. headgear on the youth’s head is called the ushiro-mi (ward) or eboshi-oya
However, the actual contents of the rite are different in (headgear parent). Especially in the samurai class, which took a serious
view of human bonds, it was a widespread custom to ask the powerful
each society. Even in the same society, there is some var- and prosperous senior samurai or lord to become the headgear parent.
iation according to the candidate’s social class or rank. In Also in the middle ages, among the lower classes, dyeing the teeth took
Japan, puberty rites have been widely performed among place ceremonially immediately after the first menstruation. However,
both the upper and lower classes from ancient to modern in more recent times it came to be a symbol of the married woman,
and it was performed immediately before the wedding ceremony. The
times. Since the Nara period, youths of the noble class tattooing on the face or the back of the hand can still be seen on women
have been ceremonially initiated in a rite definitely in- more than seventy years old among the Ainu as well as among the
fluenced by Chinese customs called ui-kdburi or kakan Okinawans and Amami Islanders. Cf. Kunio Yanagita, Kon’in no hanashi
(first wearing of a crown). This rite included the giving (Lectures on Marriage Customs) (Tokyo, 1948), Yanagita Kunio shti
(Complete Works of Kunio Yanagita), XV (Tokyo, 1963); Yanagita,
of a new name, the conferring of a court rank, and the “Shakai to kodomo” (“Society and Children”), Iye kandan (Lectures
first ceremonial cohabitation with the betrothed (soi- on the Iapanese Family) (Tokyo, 1946), in Yanagita Kunio shfi, XV
bushi). The puberty rite among the lower classes is (1963); Tara Nakayama, Nihon wakamono-shi (History of Japanese
Youth) (Tokyo, 1930); Dai Nippon-rengd-seinen-kai (compiled),
sometimes called gen-buku, eboshi-gi (wearing the ebo- Wakamono-seido no kenkyti (A Study of the Japanese Youth’s Organi-
shi), or eboshi-iwai (celebration for the wearing of the z
ation) (Tokyo, 1936); ‘Kazuo Obara, Irezumi no kenkya (A Study of
eboshi) under the influence of the samurai-class puberty the Customs of Tattooing) (Tokyo, 1962).
26 27
The dtizoku consists of the main family and its consan- This system, together with the drjzoku system in the
guineally related branch families. On the other hand, rural communities, seems to make clear that the social
where the youths’ lodge (wakamono-yado) or maidens’ structure of the exclusive agrarian society puts more em-
lodge (musume-yado), based on the youths’ association phasis on the family group or community than on each
(wakamono-gumi) or maidens’ association (musume- individual family; the individual is recognized as a com-
gumi), is firmly organized, the head of the association munity member rather than as an independent personal-
and senior members have the responsibility for the ini- ity. As many scholars have pointed out, the hierarchical
tiation rite of the village boys and girls, at the age of ap- principle permeates Japanese society, from political life
proximately fifteen, to become association members to family and individual life. This political and particu-
(wakamono-iri) . In the third case, where the two systems laristic social structure requires the use of the social par-
above mentioned are not institutionalized, the village ent. Since all folk religion is strongly influenced by this
chief or seniors have the responsibility for the puberty social requirement, it is noticeable that Japanese folk re-
ceremony of their village boys or girls. Of course there ligion in particular has played an important role in main-
are variations in puberty rites among various village tradi- taining this system. The complicated social-parent and
tions and family systems as well as among magico-reli- child relationships came to be the basis for the recogni-
gious priests or village seniors. One of the most important
sonal activities as a member of the society, in striking contrast to the
and widespread of these customs is that of the pseudo, blood parent. In public life, the social oya has more power of compulsion
or social parent (kari-oya), who is formally asked to be a and protection than does the blood parent. In other words, the person
social father of the candidate at the puberty rite, similar who has such power is usually asked to be the social oya and enters into
contract with the candidates. The social children or ko-kata have to bear
to the eboshi-oya of the old samurai class. This custom is the responsibility of submission and service to their social oya in return
not necessarily peculiar to the puberty rite, but there ex- for their protection and help. The relationship between social oya-kata
ist several kinds of social parents, usually connected with and ko-kata is very similar to that between the head of the main family
and the members of the branch families in the dhzoku system. Among
the rites of passage. The toriage-oya (midwife-mother) the special societies of technicians, artisans, and even of merchants in
at the rite of birth and the nakddo-oya (go-between par- cities or castle towns, the social parent-children system formed the basis
ent) at the wedding ceremony are only a few examples. of their social structure in pre-industrial Japan. And, we can find several
survivals of this system even in the highly developed industrial cities
However, the social father or parent called oya-kafa or
of Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and others. See Yanagita, “Oya-kata, ko-kata”
oya-bun (literally, “boss”) who enters into the contract (“Social Parent and Social Children”), Kazoku seido zenshti (Complete
with the candidate at the puberty ceremony has a strong Lectures on the Japanese Family System), Vol. III (Tokyo, 1937);
regulating power on the future life of the candidate.28 Tokuz6 Omachi, “Jujutsu-teki oya-ko” (“Magical Parent and Children
System”), K6zu-shima no hana-shdgatsu (Flowering New Year in K6zu
28 The Japanese word ova does not necessarily mean only a parent Island) (Tokyo, 1943); Yanagita (ea.), Minzoku-gaku jiten (Dictionary
by blood (which is called specifically umi-no-oya) but also may mean the of Japanese Folklore) (Tokyo, 1951), pp. 86-89; Taku Nakano, Sh&
ancestors as well as their social or pseudo parent. The social oya has a ddzoku-dan no kenkyii (A Study of the Dazoku System among Mer-
responsibility to the social children (ko-kata or ko-bun) for their per- chants) (Tokyo, 1964).
28 29
Main Features of Folk Religion in Japan Main Features of Folk Religion in /apan
tion of society as one family, and then led to the idea of mate destiny of individuals was conceived in terms of
the total society, or the state as one family.% their loss of individual identity and merger with a vague
community of ancestral spirits after death, although there
existed distinctions according to their social, political, and
([ The Foundation of Japanese magico-religious status.
Folk Religion The second system may be called the hito-gami type
(man-god system), which was based on the close rela-
tionship of an individual kami with a religious specialist
Japanese folk religion (or primitive Shinto) has its roots
such as a shaman or a medicine man. More highly feder-
in the long tradition of an exclusive agrarian society. Yet,
ated state systems, such as the village-states or small-scale
within that society are discernible two different systems
united kingdoms which appeared in ancient Japan, were
of belief. The first of these may be called the uji-gami
supposedly ruled by charismatic or shamanic leaders, such
type (tutelary or guardian shrine system), which was
as Pi-mi-ko of the Yamatai kingdom in the third century
based on the particular family or clan system. Each fam-
A.D. This type of belief is characterized by the strong in-
ily had its own shrine as a central symbol of its solidarity,
dividuality both of the kami and of its transmitter, who
dedicated to the ancestral spirit who had been enshrined
lived on for a long time in the memory of the believers.
and worshipped by its ancestors. This type of belief sys-
With this type of kami, sincere reverence and obedience
tem is characterized by particularism and exclusiveness
were the only means by which one might gain the kami’s
from other families, so that its main function is to inte-
favor, which was not dependent on the believer’s origin.
grate all the members of the family into a patriarchal
Charismatic personages and their descendants entered
hierarchy. The maintenance of the good name of the
into a special relationship with their hito-gami and made
hereditary family and the continuation of its ancestor’s
a kind of uji-gami system independently, thus playing an
glorious work from generation to generation were the
important role in the politics of ancient theocratic ages
most important responsibilities, not only for the patri-
by utilizing the divine power of these personages for
arch, but also for all the family members. Heavy empha-
blessings or curses. However, this belief in hito-gami
sis on ancestor worship and filial piety (ka) in almost all
seems not to have provided for any salvation or afterlife
Japanese groups has been closely connected with the an-
for individuals, even though the charismatic personages
cient family system and uji-gami system. Indeed, the ulti-
could be easily deified by their relationship with the hito-
29 Even in a religious society-for example, in the Tenri sect-the gami.30
founder is called oya-sama (My Lady Mother) and the headquarters the
oya-sato (Mother’s Home). It is also noticeable that the ethics of filial Under the rigidity of the ancient Japanese social struc-
piety (kc) in Japan becomes a channel for loyalty (chii) through this ture and value system, which were characterized by the
particular social and value system, different from the Chinese ethics of primacy of political values, the emphasis on on and on
filial piety and loyalty. Cf. R. N. Bellah, Tokugawa Religion, Chapter IV
and Conclusion. See especially pp. 179-92. 3o See Hori, Minkan-shinkd.
30 31
Main Features of Folk Religion in Iapan Main Features of FoIk Religion in lapan
h&on increased. The term on means blessings or favors territorial society. Second, a strong exclusiveness of be-
handed down, not only by invisible beings, but also by liefs as well as of the quality of the kami is accordingly
social and political superiors; the term h&on means ob- reflected by the exclusiveness of the community, of
ligation of the recipient to return something for these which the proverbial phrase “the jealousy of uji-gami” is
blessings. As Tetsurc Watsuji has pointed out, the en- a symbolic expression. Third, the divine functions of the
tire system of Japanese social relationships and values re- u ji-gami are undifferentiated, although they assume rather
flects family relationships, which are strictly controlled stereotyped forms in spite of the vagueness of the con-
and regulated by the patriarch, according to the status of cept. Fourth, there is the concept of a contractual rela-
each member of the family. The emperor himself is re- tionship between the uji-gami and its own clan, family,
sponsible to his ancestors for his behavior. There was no or kinship group members. Fifth, adherents of the uji-
room within such a value system to develop the concept gami are strictly limited to the members of these groups
of an almighty God, as in the traditions of Judaism, or associated groups. Sixth, the authority or power of the
Christianity, and Islam. On the contrary, Japanese kami uji-gami is directly reflected in the political, economic,
are not considered personalities that are any more inde- social, and cultural circumstances of its adherents.
pendent than men but lowly figures dependent on their The characteristics of the hito-gami type are as follows.
superiors in either the divine or the social hierarchy and First, it establishes a super-family, super-clan, or wide cir-
in need of salvation and help. In this context, the supe- cle of believers. Therefore, originally it played some sym-
riors, including human beings and ancestors, were be- bolic roles of disintegration and reintegration rather than
lieved to be half kami or even low-ranking kami or bud- of simple integration. Second, the hito-gami type has an
dhas. The beliefs in spirits of the dead and in the intimate overt character in contrast to the covert quality of uji-
connection between men and kami, being linked with gami-or comprehensive rather than exclusive. Third, the
ancestor worship and dependence on superiors, are, even hito-gami has a strong personality and particular function
today, widespread and important. In other words, the be- or functions. Fourth, the focus of the relation between
lief is that human beings can easily become deified as the kami and men is on faith rather than on genealogy or
kami. The fact that the dead are commonly called hotoke- geography. Fifth, believers in the hito-gami are, there-
sama (buddha) among Buddhist families, and reijin fore, not restricted to the fixed social family as its trans-
(soul god) or mikoto (another name of kami) among mitter or attendants. The selected person or family is be-
Shinto families, is a typical example of this tendency. lieved to be a divine descendant or divine servant-which
To summarize, then, the characteristics of the uji-gami leads to the uji-gami type religion. Sixth, the authority
type in contrast to those of the hito-gami type are as fol- and power of the hito-gami are directly reflected in the
lows. First, the uji-gami play symbolic roles of maintain- magico-religious power of its transmitter, his techniques
ing and integrating the political and economic autonomy of ecstasy, his socio-political and economic situation, as
of a particular family, clan, kinship group (dijzoku), or well as contemporary opinion.
32 33
However, these two sharply contrasting types of beliefs Hachiman, Sumiyoshi, Gion, Tsushima, Inari, and Kitano
-uji-gami and hito-gami-which form the basis of Japa- (Tenjin)-all of which are typical deities of the hito-
nese folk religion, do not survive in their pure forms, but gami type which throughout the history of Japanese re-
have deeply interacted with each other. I shall leave more ligion since the time of the ancient records Kojiki and
detailed discussions of this problem to the next chapter. Nihongi have been commonly called ara-hito-gami (fierce
There we shall see that the uji-gami type of beliefs is man-god). At the same time, the rites and festivals have
based exclusively on the consciousness of the in-group been strongly influenced by elements originating specif-
and its symbolical ancestor worship, while the hito-gami ically in the festivals of the hito-gami. Such hito-gami
type of beliefs is based explicitly on shamanistic or charis- elements are seen in the practice of carrying a portable
matic personages and their activities, although both types shrine through the streets in a colorful parade with danc-
are deeply rooted in the ancient animistic religion. Kunio ing and singing and various kinds of magico-religious en-
Yanagita31 and Genchi KatG32 have studied the belief in tertainment which attract many spectators at the shrine
the hito-gami type. precincts or on the streets. Again, the hereditary system
of Shinto priests may have developed from the hito-gami
type of religion. This may be contrasted with the taya
([ Formation of Japanese Folk Religion system, in which the heads of individual families draw
lots for a one-year term of responsibility for the Shinto
services at the village tutelary shrine. The tdya system is
At what point were these two contrasting types of beliefs
based on the genealogical or historical traditions which
brought together? The so-called village Shinto shrines
may have originally emerged from the uji-gami type of
were not necessarily established only on the basis of the
religion.
uji-gami type of beliefs. Actually, the hito-gami type is
In northeastern Honshu, one finds erected at the en-
the more obvious in almost all village Shinto shrines,
trance of every village a row of large stones carved with
while the uji-gami type stays in the background. This is
the names of the deities and buddhas of the sacred moun-
illustrated by the fact that more than 80 per cent of pres-
tains or great shrines and temples. At every farmer’s
ent Shinto shrines are dedicated to the deities of the hito-
house, several kinds of charms or talismans which are
gami type. For example, many Shinto shrines are dedi-
distributed by the great shrines and temples are attached
cated to the deities of Miwa, Kamo, Hitokotonushi, to the gate, front door, well, stable, and barn. In the pre-
31 Yanagita, “Hito wo Kami ni matsuru ftishfi” (“The Customs of cincts of the village shrine, several subordinate shrines
Enrolling a Particular Human Being among the Kami”), Imo no chikara are dedicated to the powerful and miraculous deities from
(Magical Power of the Female) (Tokyo, 1940)~ and Yanagita Kunio
shu, Vol. IX.
outside the village. The psychological basis for invoking
a2 Genchi Kate, Honpd seishi no kenkyii (A Study of the Custom of
kami from outside the village in order to ensure the pro-
Dedicating a Shrine to a Living Person) (Tokyo, 193 1) . tection of the village and security of the family seems to
34 35
me to be in attitudes originating in the exclusive societal attitude toward superhuman beings or ultimate reality is
structure. In the exclusive agrarian community, there is a mixed with awe and fear, or mysterium tremendum and
feeling of solidarity between human beings and plants, fascinosum (das Numinose or numinous). From the
which is accompanied by feelings of being limited and phenomenological viewpoint, in the course of develop-
interdependent in a cyclical universe. A form of hospital- ment from the archaic small-scale community to the uni-
ity peculiar to agrarian peoples has emerged from this fied empire system, through the formation of village-
fundamental religious view, so that supernatural powers states brought about by the introduction of agriculture,
must usually come to the people from the outside, be- there may have been penetration of strong political, eco-
cause the latter, like plants, are immobile, having settled nomic, and technical influences from without. However,
permanently in a specific area. this strong external power was never able to destroy the
These supernatural powers may work for either good exclusive type of uji-gami; rather, the uji-gami type of be-
or ill, which ambivalence has led to two contrasting atti- lief was subsumed under the powerful functional belief
tudes. On the one hand, it led to a belief in benevolent of the hito-gami type. This commingling formed the
deities, spirits, or ancestors who visit the community or basis for the diverse religious attitudes of the Japanese
the family periodically or on special occasions. On the people-in other words, for Japanese syncretism.
other hand, it has led to a belief in malevolent deities, The process whereby Buddhism and religious Taoism
spirits, demons, or devils which come from outside the or Yin-yang magic and techniques filtered down to the
village to attack the community or family. In this am- masses seems to have been made possible by a connection
biguous situation, the villagers depend upon power from with beliefs of the hito-gami type. In Buddhism, this
without to oppose the threats which also enter the village process is called the mixture of Shinto and Buddhism
from without. This ambiguity is manifested in various ( Shin-Butsu konk6) , twofold Shinto (Ryiibu Shintii)
contradictory magico-religious rituals and customs. For and the manifestation of the prime numenon (Honji-
example, on the one hand, there are festivals dedicated to suijaku). When Buddhism penetrated into local com-
the god of the plague, evil spirits, or haunt spirits of the munities, the priests had to compromise with local peo-
dead. On the other hand, there is the enshrinement of ple and their community gods. As a result of these
various functional hito-gami from outside the village, in compromises, a special Buddhist temple, called a lingti-ji,
order to strengthen the productive power and protective was built within the precincts of almost every Shinto
strength of the community. shrine and dedicated to the Shinto kami of that shrine.
Several scholars have pointed out that this ambivalence The ]ingii-ji were built so that Buddhist priests could
should be considered a manifestation of the irrationality serve the kami with Buddhist rituals by special permis-
of religion itself. Rudolf Otto referred to this ambivalence sion of the kami. In reverse, the local or tutelary kami
in his book The Idea of the Holy. The universal human was enshrined in the precincts of each Buddhist temple
36 37
and served by Buddhist priests and Buddhist formulas.33 religious k& the uji-gami, and the hito-gami. Some kb are
Under these circumstances, the Japanese kami of Shinto organized by an in-group or sub in-group such as ddzoku
shrines have gradually tended to become functional and or maki (a small-scale territorial society). This is similar
personal, which is clearly seen in the custom of offering to the uji-gami type of belief which is not led by any pro-
the title of buddha or bodhisattva to the Shinto kami, fessional religious leader. We might classify in the first
especially and at first to the hito-gami. I might repeat that category: Ta-no-kami-kb (ka for the kami of the rice-
the religious forms of the hito-gami type had already pre- field), Yama-no-kami-ko (ko for the kami of the moun-
ceded it. Therefore, not only was Buddhism successful in tain) , Hi-machi-ko (ka for awaiting and worshipping the
the modification of hito-gami into a functional and per- rising sun), Nijiisanya-kd (k6 for awaiting and worship-
sonal kami, but in turn buddhas and bodhisattvas seem ping the rising moon on the twenty-third night of the
to have been transformed into hito-gami. lunar month), Koyasu-ko (k6 for praying to Koyasu Kan-
In order to verify this hypothesis of hito-gami and uji- non for easy delivery and protection of children), KGshi
gami, I should like to discuss here the ka system (frater- or Kinoene-kb (ko for Daikoku deity, a guardian of the
nity or religious association),34 the basic form of which household and good fortune on the day of the elder rat),
consists of the religious leader and the believers, or the KG&n-k6 (kc? for Koshin deity on the day of the mon-
organizer and the followers. Here is a good opportunity key, a complex worship having various functions).
for magico-religious leaders of the hito-gami type to be- The hito-gami type of ko may be seen either in the
come active. I might say that there are also two types of form of the ko association for enabling representatives to
33 Zennosuke Tsuji, “Ho+ Suijaku setsu no kigen ni tsuite” (“Or. visit some famous distant shrine or temple (Dai-San-ko),
the Origin and the Historical Processes of the Establishment of the Mani- or in the form of the ka association connected with the
festation of the Prime Numenon”), Nihon Bukkye-shi no kenkyli (Stud- institutionalized religious bodies and large Shinto shrines,
ies on the History of Japanese Buddhism) (Tokyo, 1931), pp. 49-194.
or in the form of the ko association for the purpose of
a4 The term kd originated in the Buddhist term for “lecture meeting.”
However, in the course of Japanese history, kb has gradually changed in
climbing sacred mountains in order to practice austerities
meaning to indicate those present at a Buddhist lecture meeting and led by the village or local yamabushi or shugen-ja.35
the members of a religious fraternity. Finally, in the Tokugawa period
(1603-1868) the term kd lost its express religious significance and was a5 The ka for representative visits to the Ise shrine by members
sometimes used to mean a group organized for a common cause such as (Ise-kB), k6 to the Akiba shrine in Aichi prefecture (Akiba-kd), or
economic cooperation (tanomoshi-kd) , mutual aid (moyai-kd) , or even kc to the Kotohira shrine in Shikoku (Kompira-kZ,) , and others are
amusement (yusan-k8). Cf. Hajime Shuzui, “Buraku to kb” (“Commu- some examples of the first form. The Hbon-kd (k6 for memorial serv-
nity and the Religious Associations”), Sanson seikatsu no kenkyti (Re- ices for the founder of the Shin sect, Shinran Shdnin, found among the
ports from the Field Researches on Japanese Mountain Villages), edited Shin sect’s believers), Daimoku-kd (kd for memorial services for the
by K. Yanagita (Tokyo, 1937)~ pp. 82-100; Tokutard Sakurai, Nihon founder of the Nichiren sect, Nichiren Sh6nin, among the believers of
minkan-shinkb ron (Studies of Japanese Folk Beliefs) (Tokyo, 1958)) the Nichiren sect), Taisha-kb (association of believers in the Izumo
pp. 127-80; Sakurai, Kd-shiidan seiritsu-katei no kenkyii (A Study of Grand Shrine in Shimane prefecture) are some examples of the second
the Process of Establishment of Religious Associations) (Tokyo, 1962). form. The Ontake-k6 (kc for climbing and practicing austerities in
38 39
If we examine these ka systems carefully, we can de-

rive from them the historical types of religious figures
which transmitted these forms of folk religion. These
migrated from village to village and together they seem
to hold the key to the formation of Japanese folk religion.
They were all hijiri (originally, “holy man”), and, al-
though they came from different religious traditions, were
finally received by the villagers as identical in function.36
As I shall discuss in the next chapter, one of the major
clues for resolving the problem of the formation of Japa-
nese folk religion, from the viewpoint of the hito-gami
Mount Ontake in Nagano prefecture), Fuji-k6 (k6 for climbing and

practicing austerities in Mount Fuji), Dewa-sanzan-kb (kb for climbing
and practicing austerities in the three sacred mountains named Haguro,
Gassan, and Yudono in Yamagata prefecture) are of the third form.
This form of k6 has become the present Sectarian Shinto. For example,
the Fusd-kyb, Maruyama-kyb, and JikkB-ky6 originated in the Fuji-kb
in the Tokugawa period, which was distributed throughout most of middle
and eastern Honshu; Mitake-ky6 came from the Ontake-kd in the Toku-
gawa period; and the Taisha-ky6 was organized on the basis of the Taisha-
ka. It is interesting to note here that even in the H&m-k6 of the Shin
Buddhist believers there exist elements of the uji-gami type. At the Haon-
k6 in each village a professional Shin priest necessarily attends to preach,
but the Hbon-kb is never connected with neighboring H&m-k6 associa-
tions, maintaining exclusive independence based on the community or
the parishioners’ group of a particular village Shin temple.
36 Shamanesses (miko), Shinto priests (onshi or oshi), mountain
ascetics (yamabushi or gyaja) , Yin-yang magicians (onmya-ji and
shdmon-ii), lower-class Nembutsu priests (Nembutsu-hijiri), semi-pro-
fessional pilgrims (kaikoku-hijiri) , migrating magicians and medicine-
men (jussha or kit&ja), as well as magico-religious artisans and tech-
nicians such as blacksmiths (imo-ji) ,woodworkers (kiji-ya) , or reciters
named sekkyd (literally, “preacher”), or sai-mon (literally, “address to
the deities”), or uta-bikuni (literally, “singing nuns”), and so on. See
Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shink&shi no kenkyti, II, and also, “On the
Concept of Hijiri (Holy-man),” Numen, V, Fast. 2-3 (Leiden, 1958),
128-60; 199-232.
40
- _--_-.---_-_ ~I
complex, may be the widespread and highly active belief

in gory6 which appeared at the end of the Nara and the
beginning of the Heian period. Originally, the gory0 were
the malevolent spirits of noble persons who died in po-
litical intrigues. They were associated with disasters, epi-
demics, and wars through divination or necromancy by
magicians or shamanesses. Finally, malevolent spirits of
the dead have been enshrined as kami, as is seen in the
shrines GoryBjinja and Kitano-jinja (or Kitano Tenjin-
sha) in Kyoto and other places. Originally, the belief in
gory6 was also influenced by the Chinese idea that if the
spirits of the dead did not have memorial services per-
formed by their descendants, they would become evil
spirits or demons (kuei in Chinese) or be transformed
into locusts or other noxious insects. The belief in gory6
was also influenced by the Buddhist idea that every hu-
man being has Buddha nature within him and thus has
the possibility of becoming a buddha. Later, the idea of
gory6 was gradually expanded through the reinterpreta-
tion that even an ordinary person could become a gory6
or gory&shin (gory6 deity) by his own will power, ardent
wish on the verge of death, or accidental death under
unusual circumstances.
Although this belief should rightly be considered a
kind of lowly superstition, it was successful in transform-
ing Japanese Buddhism in two ways. In the first place, it
stimulated popular Nembutsu practices and the moun-
tain ascetics, which were later organized as the JGdo
school and the Shugen-d6 respectively. In the second
place, it caused OnmyG-d6 to flourish among the nobility
and the common people. I must leave for the following
chapters the detailed explanation of belief in gory6 and
43
__I
Main Features of Folk Religion in lapan Main Features of Folk Religion in Japan
its important roles as well as of the diverse phenomena Japanese) become a social problem by the activities of
based on the belief in gory& common diviners, seers, healers, magicians or priests, who
In short, I might conclude that the belief in gory6 utilize them for their own interests. They are frequently
forms the meeting point where various religions were called superstitious worship or heresy (mei-shin in Japa-
handed down to the popular level and became mixed with nese), constituting actual evils for society.
folk religion. Belief in gory6 was not merely a brief super- From the viewpoint of the history of religion, it is dif-
stitious fad, but has also survived in folk beliefs, rituals, ficult to define superstition as opposed to true faith. It has
and customs as well as in folk arts, dancing, and music. been a long time since one religion called another super-
Even the most refined classical dramas or plays are stition or heresy. Among the various fragmental beliefs,
thought to have originated from the belief in gory6 or the there might exist the cultural experience or Volkskunde
hito-gami complex. accumulated within the long history of the common peo-
ple. Therefore, common beliefs or even superstitions
must not be treated as non-scientific or irrational. The
([ Fragmentary Beliefs and Superstitions most important consideration is not necessarily that reli-
gious phenomena are scientific but that they consist of
emotional associations which go beyond rationality. Thus
In concluding these preliminary remarks on Japanese
irrationality is a special quality of any religion and does
folk religion, I must glance at some fragmentary beliefs
not belong solely to superstitions.
as well as some superstitious phenomena in present-day
From this point of view, we historians of religion, to-
Japan, because they have persisted at the very core of folk
gether with cultural anthropologists, tend to avoid or
religion.
hesitate to use the term “superstition” in order to pre-
Generally speaking, these may be classified into five
clude misunderstanding. We reserve the term “supersti-
groups: beliefs and magic concerning omens; beliefs in
tion” only for those beliefs and practices which are con-
divination; fragmentary customs concerning taboo; black
sidered unreasonable by present scientific knowledge and
magic; prayers or formulas with magical elements.37 There
at the same time actually inflict injury upon society.
are also some beliefs or rituals connected with legends
The most significant superstitious phenomena in
and the beliefs in ghosts and goblins, some of which seem
presentday Japan are probably the idea of possession by
to have survived as transformed myths, fairy tales, or folk
the spirits of foxes or dogs (kitsune-tsuki or inu-gami-
legends. These fragmentary popular beliefs (zoku-shin in
tsuki) and related taboos as well as the tragic social alien-
37 Yanagita and Keigo Seki, Nihon minzoku-gaku nyfimon (Hand- ation of the possessed person and his family members.
book of Japanese Folklore Studies) (Tokyo, 1947); Tokihiko &o, These phenomena are seen in almost all Japanese rural
“Zoku-shin” (“Common Beliefs”), Sanson seikatsu no kenkyii, edited
by Yanagita (Tokyo, 1937).
communities, but the most cruel and injurious cases are
44 45
Main Features of Folk Religion in lapan Main Features of Folk Religion in lapan
seen in western Honshu and Kyushu.38 A superstition field research throughout Japan based on questionnaires.3Q
concerning the year of birth such as hinoe-uma (year of Gendai no meishin (Superstitions in Contemporary \a-
the elder horse) is another example of dangerous super- pan), by Ensuke Konno,4O a member of the Research
stition. According to this superstition, a woman who is Committee of Japanese Superstitions in the Department
born in the year of the elder horse will be so powerful of Education (Monbu-shii meishin chdsa-kai) , describes
that her husband will die young. Many persons who dis- actual circumstances.
approve of these extremely dangerous beliefs often be- Superstitions or popular beliefs are like weeds in a wil-
lieve in milder forms of superstition. For example, they derness. If the old superstitions are destroyed, new ones
may subscribe to the belief in lucky or unlucky years emerge after them. In the present scientific age, super-
(toshi-mawari), the belief in compatibility of tempera- stitions connected with science may come into existence.
ment (ai-shd), the divination of good or ill luck concem- By the relationship between supply and demand, super-
ing the day or the direction, the divination concerning a stition would survive as a whole insofar as man cannot
house or tomb, or the written oracles published by vari- completely resolve the self-consciousness of human weak-
ous Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, either con- ness, the difficulties of life in human society, the ultimate
sciously or unconsciously, positively or negatively. frustration of human life, and the vague but acute anxi-
These unsystematized popular beliefs play various roles ety caused by international or economic-political crises.
in the lives of the people, such as enabling decision of Therefore, all religious leaders who have a sense of
behavior or temporal resolution of daily anxiety. From vocation to enlighten the common people, regardless of
the viewpoint that no human creation or human enter- their religious affiliation, share an urgent responsibility.
prise is absolutely meaningless, the social meanings of They should lead people from folk beliefs into a high
such superstitious or popular beliefs should be reexam- level of religious experience, or from popular supersti-
ined because they regulate the conduct of a great num- tions into right faith, as well as from magic to meta-
ber of persons. This does of course not imply the redis- physic, if we may borrow Max Weber’s term.
covery of the value of popular beliefs. The problem is
([ Editors’ Note
their socio-psychological significance for those who need
such beliefs. [In addition to Obayashi’s hypothesis (footnote 4), read-
The regulating power of popular beliefs on the peo- ers might consult J. M. Kitagawa, “The Prehistoric Back-
ground of Japanese Religion,” History of Religions, II
ple’s daily life in Japan was clearly described in the three
(No. 2, Winter 1963), which discusses the culture-com-
volumes of Nihon no zoku-shin (Japanese Superstitions)
plex hypothesis of Masao Oka.]
compiled by the Department of Education. These vol-
a9 Meishin Chbsa-kai (ed.) , Nihon no zoku-shin (Superstitions and
umes include many statistical tables from the results of Common Beliefs in Japan) (Tokyo: I [1949], II [1952], III [1955]).
38 See Takatoshi Ishizuka, Nihon no tsukimono (The Phenomena 40 Ensuke Konno, Gendai no meishin (Superstitions in Contempo-
of Possession
in Japan) (Tokyo, 1959). rav Japan) (Tokyo, 1961).
46 47
CHAPTER
II
fd f4 !d lhe purposes of this chapter are twofold: to

discuss the relationship between the basic social structure
and the religious organization in Japanese rural culture,
and to explain the historical circumstances and processes
which have led to present Japanese folk religion.
I believe that the essence of Japanese folk religion lies
in the interaction of two belief systems: a little tradition,
which is based on blood or close community ties; and a
great tradition, introduced from without, which is adopted
by individual or group choice. The belief patterns found
everywhere in Japanese rural society are complex, multi-
layered, and syncretistic. These patterns are based both
on the existence of native religion centering in the wor-
ship of ancestors and on the various kinds of religion
brought from outside by missionaries or believers who
49
Social Structure and Folk Religion Social Structure and Folk Religion
belong to the great traditions or to the more advanced of folk religion in rural society and illustrate with a typical
little traditions. farming village in central Honshu to show that folk reli-
Little tradition here refers to the native or folk religion consists of many separate elements deriving from
gions, including the advanced Shinto, which was shaped the little tradition, the advanced little tradition, the great
by ancient Japanese geographic and cultural circum- traditions, and a mixture of the little and the great tradi-
stances; great tradition refers to Confucianism, religious tions. The third part of the chapter will discuss the pos-
Taoism, and Buddhism-highly developed religious and sibility of cohesion between the little tradition and the
philosophical importations. These two systems became great traditions combined into newly integrated folk re-
intertwined after centuries, and Japanese folk religion de- ligion. Religious “hospitality” seems to have developed
veloped as an integral whole out of the interaction of around such beliefs and concepts as ancestral spirits, the
many separate e1ements.l spirits of the dead, and the other world, which have been
I shall first discuss the so-called ddzoku group and da- at the center of in-group beliefs in Japanese rural society.
zoku beliefs. D&-oku, as it is called by Japanese sociolo- When the two clearly unrelated belief systems-the for-
gists, is thought to be the basic kinship system of Japa- mer ancestral and particular, and the latter expansive and
nese rural society.2 Next, I shall describe actual instances universal-are accepted and supported by the villagers,
internal change in village community structure and vil-
1 Robert Redfield, The Primitive WorId and Its Transformations lage life can occur. The activities of a wandering preacher
(Ithaca, 1953); see also the same author’s The Folk Culture of Yucatan
(Chicago, 1941), and Peasant Society and Culture (Chicago, 1956). may open up a new religious world to the villagers through
2 Kizaemon Aruga, Nihon kazoku-seido to kosaku-seido (A Study of his miraculous demonstrations or his preaching to the
the Japanese Family System and Tenant System) (Tokyo, 1943); Yana- rural audience of hitherto unknown messages while he is
gita, Zoku-sei goi (Folk Vocabulary of the Family System and Kinship divinely possessed. A grasp of the role played by such
in Japan) (Tokyo, 1943); Ken’ichi Sugiura, “Ddzoku-shin” and Taka- wandering preachers in forming folk religion in Japan is
yoshi Mogami, “DBzoku no ketsug,” (“The Tie of the.D8zoku”), both
in Sanson seikatsu no kenkyfi (Report of Field Researches in Japanese profoundly important for our understanding of the cul-
Mountain Villages), edited by Yanagita (Tokyo, 1937); Tsuneichi ture and ethos of the Japanese people. The final section
Miyamoto, “Kazoku oyobi shinzoku” (“Family and Kin”), Kaison of the chapter pursues this role in relationship to the be-
seikatsu no kenkyii (Report of FieJd Researches in Japanese Fishing Vil-
lief in gory&shin (unfriendly spirits of the dead), Nem-
lages), edited by Yanagita (Tokyo, 1949); Seiichi Kitano, “Kd-shti
sanson no dbzoku-soshiki to oya-kata ko-kata kankd” (“D8zoku System University, 1953); R. K. Beardsley, J. W. Hall, and R. E. Ward, Village
and Pseudo-Parent-and-Son System in Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan”) Japan (Chicago, 1959); Harumi Befu, “Patrilineal Descent and Per-
and Hiroshi Oikawa, “Ddzoku-soshiki to kon’in oyobi scid no girei” sonal Kindred in Japan,” American Anthropologist, LXV (1963),
(“The Dazoku System and Marriage and Funeral Rites and Cere- 1328 ff.; Teigo Yoshida, ‘Cultural Integration and Change in a Japanese
monies”), both in Minzoku-gaku nenpd, Vol. II (Tokyo, 1939); Michio Village,” American Anthropologist, LXV, 102 ff.; David W. Plath,
Nagai, “Dbzoku: A Preliminary Study of the Japanese ‘Extended Family’ “Where the Family of Gods Is the Family: Tbe Role of the Dead in
Group and Its Social and Economic Functions,” Interim Technical Re- Japanese Households,” American Anthropologist, LXVI, No. 2 (1964))
port 7, Research in Japanese Social Relations (Columbus: Ohio State 300 ff.
50
II_
__~.___l_
I
_.-__A
butsu magic, OnmyG-da (religious Taoism mixed with tural unit in the village. The religious unity of any given
primitive shamanism), and Shugen-d6 (Buddhist asceti- dGzoku group is shown by the fact that in principle each
cism mixed with Shinto, Buddhism, Taoism, and popular has its own particular shrine and its own cemetery. The
shamanism). These last three came into conflict with the members of the ddzoku group must take part in the an-
belief in gory&shin and then penetrated into Japanese nual festivals and the memorial services for ancestors un-
rural society to establish the dualistic structure of Japa-
nese belief and society. (Main Family)
(Fictive Branch Family)

([ Odzoku and Its Belief System L_-s_$
I-
I
I
- sa- s * (Fictive Branch Family)
’ --s,- s, (Fictive Branch Family)
Ddzoku is the smallest family unit in contemporary rural
Japan and is, so far as we know, the smallest unit in which i
collective beliefs lie. The term dazoku denotes a family -B-B-B-B-B-B-B (First Branch Family)
grouping of a main family (hon-ke) and branch families 1 I I
L - s, -s,-s,-s,-s,-s, (Fictive Branch Family)
(bun-ke) which are linked by patrilineal kinship.3 The
dGzoku group which one may find exemplified in several
II
Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba (Sub-branch Family)
districts at the present time seems to have a historical I
L s,‘-S,‘S, (Sub-fictive Branch Family)
connection with the clan system of antiquity and the
kinship system of the medieval period. The dGzoku is
thought to have been the basic unit of Japanese rural so-
I
c-c-c-c-c (Second Branch Family)
ciety. One of the oldest and most common Japanese
terms for the dGzoku group is the word maki (literally
L’t I Ca-Ca-Ca (Sub-Branch Family)
“an enclosure”), which is a group having the same sur- (Fictive Branch Family)
name. Even today, the main family is called maki-gashira,
which means “head of the maki.“”
The dc?zoku is the smallest economic, social, and cul- D -D (Third Branch Family)
3 While the d6zoku group consists of the main family and its patri- Key:
lineally related branch families, occasionally some branch families are Solid line = patrilineal descent.
not actually related but have been elevated from the status of servant
Dotted line = non-consanguineally related branch family.
family to that of a branch family by its head. See Aruga, Nihon kazoku-
seido to kosaku-seido, pp. 98-100. * Ancestor of the main family.
4 Yanagita, Zoku-sei goi, pp. 14-15. FIG. I .-Dcjzoku group descent pattern
5.2 53
der the leadership of the head of the main family. The thirty-four families: a main family, five patrilineal branch
main family, or its head, possesses political, economic, families, two patrilineal sub-branch families, and twenty-
and spiritual authority, and has the responsibility of over- six non-consanguineally related (“fictive”) branch fami-
seeing the daily life of all the branch families. In turn, lies and their sub-branch families promoted from servant
members of the branch families are obliged to serve the status. Its structure is shown in Figure 2.
main family spiritually and materially. The principle on The relationship between the main family and the
which a patrilineal dtizoku group is based is illustrated in branch families in the SaitG dGzoku group is reflected in
Figure 1. mutual aid in daily life. This cooperation is especially ap-
The SaitG dcTzoku group in Iwate prefectures offers a parent on such occasions as the building or thatching of a
typical example of an actual dGzoku system. It consists of
house, well sinking, and at the times of births, marriages,
5 Ariga, Nihon kazoku-seido to kosaku-seido, pp. 118-20, 636-39. and deaths. There is also a custom that the members of
[ain Family. has 18 ‘(fictive” branch families which consist of branch families must periodically greet, or in some way
(Hocke) three upper-class families (Bekke-kaku Nugo), help, the main family as the following calendar shows:
nine middle-class families (Bun-ke Nugo), four
lower-class families (Yushikz’ Nugo), and two Thirtieth day of the twelfth month of the lunar year.
lowest-class families (S&t Nugo).
-One person from each branch family goes to the
L
-First Patrilineal Branch Family. . has five “fictive” branch main family to help make rice cakes (mochi) , the most
(Suka-ya) families, two middle-
class, and three lower- important and sacred food at the New Year and other
class. festival days and ceremonies in Japan. About this time,
Patrilineal Sub-branch Family the main family gives gifts to the branch families, who
Second Patrilineal Branch Family. . has two “fictive” branch in turn offer their small, hand-made goods to the main
(Nuku-yu) families, one middle- family (seibo-rei) .
class, and one lower-
class.
First day of the first month.-The men of the branch
families usually visit the main family to give greetings
Third Patrilineal Branch Family. has one lower-class
on the New Year; the host and hostess of the main
(Tuhei)
L “fictive” branch family.
Patrilineal Sub-branch Family
family give them special food and sake in return. On
the next day, the same greetings are performed by the
Fourth Patrilineal Branch Family women of the branch families.
(Himeguri)
Fifteenth of the first month.-Members of the
IFifth Patrilineal Branch Family
(Shin-yu)
branch families gather at the house of the main fam-
* S&a-ya, Naka-ya, etc., are the names of the houses. ily to make rice cakes for the Little New Year (ko-
shGgatsu) , After dinner, there is a mock celebration of
Frc. z.Ptructure of an actual ddzoku system: the saitb ddzoku group
(Arasawamura, Ninoe-gun, Iwate prefecture). rice planting in the garden of the main family’s house.
54 55
__ ,. -. .“._“. ..” . ^ I
._a
der the leadership of the head of the main family. Th thirty-four families: a main family, five patrilineal branch
main family, or its head, possesses political, economic families, two patrilineal sub-branch families, and twenty-
and spiritual authority, and has the responsibility of ovel six non-consanguineally related (“fictive”) branch fami-
seeing the daily life of all the branch families. In turn lies and their sub-branch families promoted from servant
members of the branch families are obliged to serve thr status. Its structure is shown in Figure 2.
main family spiritually and materially. The principle OI The relationship between the main family and the
which a patrilineal dGzoku group is based is illustrated ir
branch families in the Saitb dGzoku group is reflected in
Figure 1.
mutual aid in daily life. This cooperation is especially ap-
The Saitii dGzoku group in Iwate prefecture6 offers ;
parent on such occasions as the building or thatching of a
typical example of an actual dazoku system. It consists oj
house, well sinking, and at the times of births, marriages,
5 Ariga, Nihon kazoku-seido to kosaku-seido, pp. 118-20, 636-39.
and deaths. There is also a custom that the members of
Main Family.. has 18 “fictive” branch families which consist of branch families must periodically greet, or in some way
(Hon-ke) three upper-class families (Bekke-kakzc Nugo), help, the main family as the following calendar shows:
nine middle-class families (Bun-ke ATago), four
lower-class families (Yushiki Nugo), and two Thirtieth day of the twelfth month of the lunar year.
lowest-class families (Suku Nugo).
-One person from each branch family goes to the
L
First Patrilineal Branch Family. . . . . has five “fictive” branch main family to help make rice cakes (mochi) , the most
(Seka-ya) families, two middle-
class, and three lower- important and sacred food at the New Year and other
class. festival days and ceremonies in Japan. About this time,
i
Patrilineal Sub-branch Family the main family gives gifts to the branch families, who
-Second Patrilineal Branch Family. . has two “fictive” branch in turn offer their small, hand-made goods to the main
(Naka-yu) families, one middle- family (seibo-rei) .
class, and one lower-
class. First day of the first month.-The men of the branch
families usually visit the main family to give greetings
-Third Patrilineal Branch Family. . has one lower-class
(Tuhei) on the New Year; the host and hostess of the main
L “fictive” branch family.
Patrilineal Sub-branch Family family give them special food and sake in return. On
the next day, the same greetings are performed by the
Fourth Patrilineal Branch Family
(Himeguri) women of the branch families.
Fifteenth of the first month.-Members of the
t Fifth Patrilineal Branch Family
(Shin-ya) branch families gather at the house of the main fam-
* Saka-ya, Naka-ya, etc., are the names of the houses. ily to make rice cakes for the Little New Year (ko-
Fro. z.-Structure of an actual d6zoku system: the saitd d6zoku group
shGgatsu). After dinner, there is a mock celebration of
(Arasawamura, Ninoe-gun, Iwate prefecture). rice planting in the garden of the main family’s house.
54 55
Nineteenth of the first month.-Sacred rice cakes for These customs are not unique to this ddzoku group,
the New Year are ceremonially distributed. The mem- but are universal in ddzoku groups in Japanese rural soci-
bers of the branch families take pieces of sacred cakes ety. The ancestral tablets are often in the Buddhist altar
and dine together at the main family’s house. of the main family’s house, and therefore members of
Thirteenth to sixteenth of the seventh month.-This branch families usually gather with the main family to
is the time of the Bon festival (memorial services for take part in the services. I suppose that underlying these
the spirits of ancestors and all souls of the dead). Mem- customs are deep-rooted and ancient feelings of ancestor
bers of branch families clean the ancestors’ tombs (usu- worship which are reflected in the New Year festival, in
ally stone monuments) in the main family’s graveyard the ancestor worship at the equinoctial week in spring
on the thirteenth day. Early in the morning of the and autumn, and in the Bon festival.
fourteenth day, members of branch families gather at The spiritual and religious center of the dGzoku group
the main family’s house in order to celebrate the Bon is symbolized by the kabu-ko or senzo-k& Kabu is a syno-
festival; they clean the house and prepare the orna- nym for maki and essentially means dozoku. Thus, the
ments and new altars for the coming spirits or souls kabu-ka is the religious association of the ddzoku group,
from the other world. After this, all members of the and the senzo-kb is the association governing the ritual
dazoku group go to the graveyard with offerings and meeting for common ancestor worship. One of the sig-
worship at their ancestors’ tombs. Breakfast and lunch nificances of these kti is that the privilege of joining them
are served by the host of the main family. On the after- is limited to members of the dczoku group and never ex-
noon of the sixteenth day, members of the branch fam- tended to members of families which are related only by
ilies again gather with the main family to honor the marriage. Presumably it reflects the prototype of ancestor
ancestors’ spirits as well as all the souls enshrined in worship, basic to the social structure in Japan.’
the special altars and to say good-bye to those who are Ancestor worship in senzo-kd or kabu-ka gradually de-
returning to the other world. teriorated with the rise of the tutelary kami’ or deities of
Centering in the New Year and the Bon festival, these ddzoku which attained social prominence, and these
ceremonial gatherings or visitings at the main family’s newly emergent kami ultimately became the ordinary
house take place on the third day of the third month village kami (mura-uji-gami) of today.* The beliefs which
(so-called Hina-matsuri or Doll festival), on the third
day of the fourth month, on the fifth day of the fifth 6 Hori, Minkan shinkd, pp. 139-43.
month (so-called Tango-no-Sekku or Boys’ festival), 7 The Japanese kami is a very complicated concept. It should not be
translated merely by the term “god” or “deity.” For an explanation of
on the fifteenth day of the eighth month (the Harvest
kami, see D. C. Holtom, “The Meaning of Kami,” Monumenta Nip-
Moon), on the twenty-ninth day of the ninth month ponica, III (Tokyo, 1940), 1-27; III, No. 2, 32-53; and IV, No. 2,
(Twenty-ninth Day festival) and on the twentieth day 2 5-68.
of the tqnth month (Twentieth Day festival). 8 Hori, Minkan shinkd, pp. 143-68.
5G 57
evolved from the dGzoku groups are of basic importance This process is seen in the relation between the circles
in the structure of contemporary Japanese village society. of believers and the social units: the village shrine and
These beliefs center in the idea that the spirit becomes temple serve all the villagers, and the subdivided village
deified thirty-three years after death, and becomes subject shrines and temples serve only the villagers of the sub-
to ancestor worship along with the kami who have some division. The beliefs concerning these two have similar
connection with the ancestor of the dozoku group. characteristics and functions; only the scope of each is
There are a number of increasingly complex steps pro- different. The existence of such a manifold belief system
ceeding from the undifferentiated, vague concept of spir- is the universal form in Japanese rural society, and the
its to the gradual articulation and clarification of such beliefs of members of the village usually coincide with
deification and the divinity of spirits. In each Japanese their particular position in the social, economic, and po-
farming community the growth and development of be- litical structure.
liefs originally made for a self-sufficiency in spirits, a self- This concept is seen most clearly in a small island
sufficiency that was found in economic and social as well village and isolated community. Hime-shima, for exam-
as in religious aspects of life. In brief, a differentiation ple, is an island in the Inland Sea near Kyushu (belong-
took place among dozoku groups which were originally in ing to the Higashi-Kunisaki-gun in Oita prefecture)
a state of autonomy; the rise of a particular dozoku group where I did field research in 1947. This one administra-
to economic preeminence was accompanied by the spread tive village, covering an area of about thirteen square
and gradual dominance of its own original beliefs, which
kilometers, consists of nine subdivided village units (aza)
in turn may have been modified by or infused with new
with a total population of 4,090 in 839 families. The cen-
elements but which never lost their essential identity
ter of Hime-shima-mura, the western sector (hon-son),
with their particular dozoku group. Moreover, the state
has five aza and contains 90 per cent of the population.
of autonomy among the dGzoku groups was also disturbed
from without; new religions such as Buddhist sects, Con- In the eastern part of the island there are three small aza:
fucianism, religious Taoism, and advanced Shrine Shinto Omi buraku, with fifty-three families; Kane buraku, with
penetrated it. This external influence came in various sixteen families; and Inazumi buraku, with twelve fami-
forms: invasion and domination, an influx of new settlers, lies.
or missionaries. Thus, the original vague, local, spiritual The village Shinto shrine is Hachiman-jinja, situated in
concept became differentiated and individualized. The the middle of hon-son, the main village of the western
family kami or tutelary kami became the village kami or part, and all the villagers of the island are obliged to serve
district kami and thus the kami of those of different sur- it. This shrine was established under the influence of the
name and families. In this fashion it is believed that the Great Shrine of Usa-hachiman-jinja in northern Kyushu,
multi-layered religious pattern characteristic of Japan was just across the sea from Hime-shima. The parishioners are
evolved. divided into six units (ku) consisting of the five aza of
58 59
hon-son and the combined three buraku of the eastern The Omi families in Omi buraku are divided into two
part (Kane, Omi, and Inazumi) . spiritually and materially cooperative groups and then
These three eastern buraku have their particular sub- into fifteen subfamily groups, each with a main family
village shrine, Himekoso-jinja on the seashore in the east- and some branch families. The main family usually has a
ern part of the island, which is attended primarily by the Shinto altar as well as a Buddhist altar which enshrines
villagers of these three buraku. At the annual festival (on the ancestral monumental tablets. This buraku has a par-
the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar), ticular shrine, called Kajin, which is attended by the
four youths from Omi buraku and two youths each from whole buraku. The first initiatory rites on the thirty-third
Kane and Inazumi buraku are chosen to carry the port- day after birth take place at this shrine, suggesting that
able shrine (mikoshi) from the main shrine to the top of this was once a tutelary shrine. In addition, there is an
the nearby hill. This festival is held under the leadership Inari shrine (enshrining a kami of agriculture), an Ura-
of the heads of the Nagao families in Kane and the Omi ebisu shrine (dedicated to a kami of fishery), and a
families in Omi buraku. Daishi-dii temple (enshrining Kabo Daishi, the founder
TVTELARY SHRINE OF of the Buddhist Shingon sect).
On the eastern part of the island in Inazumi buraku,
nine Nakabori families form one ddzoku group which
consists of a main family, two sub-main families, and six
branch families. The main family has an Izushima-
mybjin shrine (enshrining a kami of water or of the sea) ;
one of the sub-main families has an Inari shrine, the
other, a Kiijin shrine. All members of this dGzoku group
participate in the annual festivals in the second and
eighth months of the lunar calendar and serve these
kami. Thus, for example, Matasaku Nakabori, who is a
WTEIARY S H R I N E O f
member of the branch family, must join in the festivals
TUTELARY SHRINE OF
of the Kejin shrine (sub-main family’s shrine), and
OHMI- EURAKU
Izushima-myejin shrine (main family’s shrine), the
LEGEND Himekoso-jin ja (sub-village shrine), and the Hachiman-
%-SHINTO SHRINE
,.“.-CIRCLE OF PROTEGE OF
..
jinja (main village shrine) .Q
N - GUOOHIST TEMPLE THE TUTELARY OIETY
0 -VILLAGE OFFICE & - MOUNTAIN This structure may be understood as being intimately
@-PRIMARY 6 MIDDLE SCHOOL \ -RIVER
#-POWER STATION @ -POST OFFICE related to the political, economic, and cultural conditions
0 1000 2000 Mdarr of the islands; the power and influence of the western vil-
Hime-shima Q Ibid., pp. 107-18.
60 61
lage gradually expanded and spread over the isolated east- ti.on. Kumi, kaito, and kd apparently assumed some of
ern buraku. In other words, the present religious stmc- the functions of the primitive d6zoku group.ll
ture can be viewed as a symbol of the enlargement of the
consciousness of the villagers, whose economic, political,
and cultural environment expanded, creating an associa- ([ Folk Beliefs in lapanese Rural Society:
The Case of Satoyamabe-mura
tion of buraku and the consciousness of an organized is-
land community without a corresponding decrease of in-
group feeling and cooperation. The relationship between folk beliefs and everyday life
It is interesting to note survivals of the dtizoku and its in an average rural community can be illustrated from my
belief system in the miya-za system in the festivals of vil- field research in Satoyamabe-mura, Nagano prefecture.
lage shrines, the religious union of regional kumi, kaito, This village consists of 682 families divided into thirteen
and k6. The miya-za (also called the tti-ya) system is a ii-aza (large sub-village units) and thirty-three ko-aza
group of families having the privilege of caring for the (sub-village sections). The central Shinto shrine of this
kami in the village shrine. There are three systems for village, which all villagers have the duty and right to
serving the village shrine: service permitted only to a serve, is called Susuki-no-miya (literally, “Pampas-grass
single family which was a main family of a former ddzoku shrine”), in reference to the tradition of the origin of the
group; service permitted to several special families of the local kami, who is supposed to have journeyed down the
combined dezoku groups; and service permitted to all nearby river from a neighboring mountain on a pampas-
residents of the village.I0 The kumi is the regional group grass leaf. The Susuki-no-miya now enshrines two kami:
of families based on economic and religious union. Kaito Takeminakata-no-kami, the ancestral kami of famous an-
means “enclosure within a fence,” and each buraku is a cient feudal lords and the religiously powerful Suwa fam-
block separated by a hedge or moat. One kaito usually has ily who had presided over the neighboring district of
Suwagun, and who were known as the Jin-shi (kami’s
one or two Buddhist temples, a Shinto shrine, and one
family) until the end of the Ashikaga shogunate (A.D.
common burial ground. There are many cooperative as-
1338-1573); and Gozu-tennB, who was originally believed
sociations for harmonious teamwork, religious practices,
to be a kami of epidemics but later became known as a
annual festivals, funeral ceremonies, mutual aid, and so
guardian against epidemics. The latter is a type of gorya-
on. KG is the village religious association based on such
shin, the character and function of which will be de-
criteria as age, sex, situation of the family, and occupa-
scribed below.
10 Kazuo Higo, Miyaza no kenkya (A Study of the Duty House at In addition, there is a Buddhist-style miniature shrine
the Village Shrine) (Tokyo, 1941); Tare Wakamori, Chdsei kyddd-tai and a Buddhist bodhisattva’s statue (Bat&kannon, in
no kenkyti (A Study of the Community System in Medieval lapan)
(Tokyo, 1950); I. Hori, Minkan shinkd, pp. 169-86. 11 Hori, Minkan shinkd, pp. 187-202.
62 63
Japanese; HayagrPva, in Sanskrit) in the inner shrine. This list of the families, shrines, and festival days of Fujii bu-
is a remnant of the commingling of Shinto and Bud- raku, and illustrates the village members’ relationship to
dhism in the medieval period, and indicates that this the iwaiden:
shrine has been influenced by beliefs from the Zenk&ji NAME OP FAMILY NAME OF SHRIN’E PESTNAL DAYS
temple in Nagano, one of the most flourishing Buddhist Yamato and two other
temples, belonging to both the Tendai and Jodo sects. families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inari . . . . . . . . .Beginning of the second
month
There is also a small branch shrine which enshrines
Futatsugi (A) * . . . . . . . . . . . . Kompira . . . . . 10th of the fourth month
Prince Shatoku, a crown prince of the sixth century who Akagi and seven other
played a decisive role in the introduction of Buddhism families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inari . . . . . . . . .BeffiF of the second
into Japan. He is especially honored by the Buddhist Shin
Futatsugi (B) and
sect as well as by carpenters and other craftsmen. 13 other families. . . . . . . . .Genk&Inari. . .25th of the fifth month,
Thus, at least four religious elements are found in this and 16th of the eighth
shrine: belief in an ancestral kami of a politically power- month
ful and religious family (a developed little tradition); Yamazaki . . . . . . . . . . . Shinmei. . . . . . .Obscure
Fujii (A) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Shinmei.. . . . . .qth of the ninth month
belief in goryii-shin (super-community, but belonging to Kawakami and two other
a little tradition) ; belief in Zenke-ji temple (great tradi- families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Taga. . . . . . . . .6th of the fourth month
tion); and belief in Prince Shtitoku (great and little tra- Futatsugi (C) and two
other families . . . . . . . . . . .Hachiman. . . . , 1st of the third month
ditions).
Futatsugi (D) . . . . . . . . . . . .Hachiman. . . . . 1st of the third month
The main Buddhist temple in Satoyamabe-mura is Fujii (B) and four other
Tosen-ji. It belongs to the Shingon sect and was origi- families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inari . . . . . . . . .Beffgiz of the second
nally built to serve the main Shinto shrine (Susuki-no-
l A, B, C, D refer to Figure I.
miya). A large number of families have religious celebra-
tions at this temple during the annual Bon festival, at the These relationships are based upon the old social struc-
anniversary rites for ancestors, and during funeral rites. ture of Japan and are still maintained by a consciousness
Beyond these two central religious affiliations, each of the relationships within the dGzoku kinship system
family and each person in the village has relationships (the same surname grouping system), and by the small,
with many other religious belief systems, the most im- local, cultural-economic community. At festivals, repre-
portant of which center in the iwai-den or iwai-jin, which sentatives of the members gather in the shrine owner’s
house the tutelary kami of the extended family. Twenty- house (usually the traditional hon-ke, main family) and
eight kinds of Shinto and Buddhist deities are enshrined worship at the shrine under the leadership of the head of
in ninety-one of these iwaiden. Among them the Inari the main family or of the owner.
shrine contains the largest number, comprising 46 per Attention should also be given to the other religious
cent of the total. The following tabulation gives a partial phenomena in this village, such as the many stone
64 65
shrines, stupas, phalli, monuments, memorial statues,
the village. They feast together and, following the old
charms, and taboo symbols. There are now about 144
customary Kdshin belief, sit up throughout the night.
small shrines and stone symbols, among which are forty-
Nembutsu-k&-This is composed of the believers in
two Nembutsu stupas and Amida figures, twenty Kdshin
Amida Butsu (Amitlbha Buddha). Their main function
stupas, a number of offering stupas for the Lotus Sutra in the community is to serve the spirits of the dead and
(formally, Saddharmapundarika-stitra in Sanskrit), me- sometimes to help during funeral rites. This association
morial stupas for pilgrimages, Bat6-kannon statues (Bud- often combines with the Kijshin-k6 and is sometimes
dhist guardian deity of horses), Nijiisan-ya stupas (for called Koshin-nembutsu-k8.
worship on the twenty-third night’s moon after the new Ise-k&-Members are believers in the mythical an-
moon), statues of D&o-jin (kami of the road and travel cestral goddess of the imperial family which has been
and of sex), statues of Kodama-gami (kami of silk and enshrined at Ise shrine. Each member of this associa-
the silkworm), and others. Moreover, there are many tion must pay monthly dues. One or two delegates, who
religious associations (ko) in this village. are decided upon by lot, worship at the Ise Shrine in
Mie prefecture once a year. They distribute the charms
Koshin-kij.-KGshin belief is an amalgamation. of
and the calendars published by this shrine to each mem-
Shinto, religious Taoism, and Buddhism. KcSshin is be-
ber. This association includes almost all members of the
lieved to have many and various functions in the vil-
village. Almost the same function is performed by
lage. He is, for instance, the agricultural kami, the pro-
Akiba-kij.
tector against misfortune, the kami of soil, the kami of
Akiba-k&-This is the association of believers in
craftsmanship and so forth, and one buraku has two or
Akiba-sama, the protector against fire.
three associations for service to this kami. In Fujii bu-
Nijtisan-ya-k&-This association for the worship of
raku there are four such KGshin-kd, one association
the 23rd night’s moon after the new moon is a vol-
each being organized by the eight Hanaoka families,
unteer group of women who meet once a lunar month
the fourteen Futatsugi families, the four Fujii families,
at the village shrine or the duty house. They remain to-
and the fourteen consisting of Akagi, Nehagi, Saka-
shita, and Yamoto families. These associations often gether throughout the night in order to worship the
overlap with the iwai-den system or combine two or moon which appears at the next dawn. Nijiisanya-sama
three iwai-den. The members of each association must is believed to be the guardian of easy childbirth and
meet six times yearly at the duty house (taya) and, good fortune.
after a small festival, discuss the economic and coop Kannon-k&-This is an association of believers in
erative matters of the community and the common Bat&kannon, the Buddhist deity of the horse. The
problems of daily public life. Often the old persons members are primarily horse drivers and owners of
talk about the folk traditions, legends, and history of horses and cattle.
Other kb associations are Yama-no-kami-k6 (an asso-
66 67
ciation of believers in the mountain deity) and religion had a dualistic system which evidently originated
Kinoene-k6 (an association of believers in Daikoku, a in the coalescence of aboriginal and later immigrant cul-
kami of good luck and good harvest, the festival of tures. This coalescence is directly symbolized in Japanese
which is held each Kinoene Day (Elder Rat Day). mythology as the coordinate concept of the kami which
In addition to these complicated religious observances, were named the ama-tsu-krimi (kami of heaven) and the
each family has its own Shinto and Buddhist altars in the kuni-tsu-kami (kami of the earth or territory). The former
living room which serve the spirits of the family ancestors were usually believed to be the ancestors of the rulers; the
and where the kami are prayed to for good health and latter, of the ruled.
good harvest. In the kitchen there are usually altars of The mythology in the Kojiki and the Nihongi, both of
Daikoku-sama and Ebisu-sama, both of which are gener- which were compiled by the oral transmitters of the im-
ally believed to be kami of good harvest and good luck. perial family’s myths in the seventh century, abound in
Moreover, there are many Shinto, Onmy&da (way of stories of the activities of the heavenly kami and the
Yin-yang), and Buddhist charms and amulets on the pil- culture heroes who came from the other land (Tokoyo or
lars and walls, distributed by wandering preachers from eternal land) and from beyond the sea to establish and
some of the larger shrines and temples. The villagers also transmit new political and social orders, techniques, cul-
believe there are many kami-of the well, the fireplace, tures, and beliefs. The existence of these myths seems to
the privy, the gate, and so forth-in each house.12 indicate that supernatural powers and superior culture
usually came from the outside to the exclusive in-group
society, and it reflects some of the contacts between the
([ Hito-gami (man-gods) and the aborigines and immigrants in prehistoric times.
Religious Beliefs and Traditions The idea of a supernatural power and superior culture
of Wandering Preachers coming from outside was probably related to general feel-
ings of inferiority among the ancient villagers, who were
Japanese rural society has both a little tradition (based on aware of community exclusiveness and isolation. At the
the dGzoku type of ancestral spirit worship) and a great same time, they may have been conscious of cultural and
tradition (based on the subdivision of the buddhas’ or religious distinctions between their own group and the
bodhisattvas’ spirits). The little tradition in Japanese folk out-groups, and felt a certain longing for the outsiders’
cultures. Moreover, as we have already seen, in Japanese
lQZbid., pp. 94-107. This type of myth is sometimes related to the
belief in Mother-and-Sacred-Son, and to family myths in which an rural communities there are many indications of the
ancestor was believed to have been an attendant of a kami who de- existence of guardian spirits, ancestor spirits, kami of the
scended and settled in a particular local territory. In such a case an rice field, and spirits of the dead who usually come and go
individual may be under contract to become a priest, and his descendants between two worlds periodically or seasonally. This may
will become a sacred family by this covenant.
account in part for the fact that the heavenly kami, mani-
68 69
fested and worshipped by the ruling and shamanistic strong influence of Buddhism beginning in the sixth cen-
families, were peacefully accepted in aboriginal society. tury, graphic representations of divine beings were not
Heavenly kami and culture heroes usually appeared in produced; rather, people believed in hito-gami (man-
the oracles of shamans or shamanesses, and were en- gods) and those who were disguised as deities. Sometimes
shrined by the descendants of such shamans or sha- a kami possessed persons, especially women, or even things
manesses. Great shamanistic families became the ruling in nature. In ancient times there were two kinds of per-
classes in the ancient theocratic period, and many national sonalities, spirits, or souls-one pertaining to the nobles
political decisions were controlled by shamans or sha- and priests, the other to the common people. The possi-
manesses who belonged to the imperial or other powerful bility of deification after death was permitted only to the
families. In Japanese mythology there are famous stories former. In addition, Confucianism, religious Taoism, and
in which marriage occurs between a powerful kami and a Buddhism infiltrated from China and Korea from the
great shamaness, and in which great shamanesses are pos- third to the middle of the sixth century. Confucianism
sessed by the spirits of powerful hito-gami. For example, brought a new family code and social ethic based on the
the kami of Mount Miwa, near Nara, one of the most ancient Chinese feudal system; religious Taoism intro-
powerful in ancient political history, became the ancestor duced new magic and techniques, such as astrology, the
of the famous shamanic Miwa and Kamo families through calendar, and geomancy; and Buddhism proclaimed hu-
the conception of the noble virgin Tama-yori-hime. Her man equality and the equal possibility for all to become
name literally means a “shamaness possessed by a spirit of buddhas (saints of enlightenment). Consequently, the
a kami (tama, “spirit”; yori, “possessing”; and hime, an ancient religious forms were not only differentiated by
ancient honorific title for a noble woman). In another internal political, economic, and cultural changes, but also
tradition, this kami was said to be the husband of Princess fused with these great traditions.
Yamato-totohi-momoso-hime, who was an aunt of the The hito-gami system was transformed into the belief
Emperor Sujin and a great royal shamaness, though her in gory&shin, which first appeared in the documentary
marriage with the kami was dissolved by her breaking of record at the end of the Nara period (latter part of the
a taboo. This kind of myth is called the Miwa type, of eighth century). Originally, it consisted of a belief in
which there are many varieties in Japanese classic litera- malevolent spirits of noble persons who had died in
ture as well as in folk tales and legends of many rural political intrigues. These spirits were enshrined in Shinto
communities. This sort of tradition is also found among shrines as kami, and to them were devoted special festivals
some of the local historic families and in some Shinto and memorial services which were mixtures of Shinto,
priests’ families who are proud of their sacred lineages.13 religious Taoism (Onmy&do), and Buddhism, for the
Proto-Shinto is neither idolatrous religion nor nature purpose of soothing their angry spirits. The first official
worship, as it has often been characterized. In spite of the services on record took place in Kyoto in A.D. 863 under
13 Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyii, I, 308-65. the auspices of the emperor. During their gradual spread
70 71
to the rural society, these beliefs stimulated an awareness vengeful or malevolent and bring misfortune to an enemy
in the common people of the extent of human possibili- or to the community.l’
ties. The theories of the great traditions exerted revolu- Three kinds of magic sprang up to oppose the gory6 at
tionary influences upon Japanese spiritual life, including the end of the ninth and the middle of the tenth cen-
funeral customs and the belief in spirits of the dead. Each turies: the Nembutsu, the Shugen-de, and the Onmyb-d&
person, regardless of social status, began to be conscious Nembutsu belief and practices originated in the Pure
of the possibility of his own deification. This awareness Land school of Chinese Buddhism (Ching-t’u, founded
was furthered by the activities of the village shamans or in China by Hui-yiian, A.D. 334-416), but in the middle
shamanesses, who communicated by trance with various of the Heian period it was only a negative magic against
spirits, including those of commoners, in order to ex- gory& aimed at sending the angry or dangerous spirit into
plain disasters in the land. Amida’s Pure Land. ShugendG is a mixed school or sect
The period from the middle of the eighth century to of Shinto, religious Taoism, and Buddhism. The priest of
the twelfth century might be termed the gory&shin age. this school practiced a positive magic which was opposed
There are many examples of the prevalence of gory&shin to that of the Nembutsu priests. Onmybdb is a mixture
in the literature of the Heian period (A.D. 784-1185), of Shinto and Taoist magic and art.
such as the Genii-monogatari (The Tale of Genii) written The literal meaning of Nembutsu is “prayer for Buddha
by Lady Murasaki in about A .D . 1000, and Makura-no- or Buddhas,” but in the history of Japanese religions
soshi (Pillow Book), written by Lady Sei-shGnagon, a Nembutsu refers to a prayer offered only to Amida-butsu
famous essayist of the same period, as well as in the ( AmitAbha Buddha), who presides over the Western Pure
diaries of nobles and in official documents of the times. Land (Saiha jsdo) as the savior of human souls and spirits
These documents indicate that the people were afraid of of the dead. The practice of Nembutsu and the belief in
spirits of the dead, who preyed upon them. All social Amida-butsu appeared in about the ninth century and
and personal crises-such as political changes, civil wars, flourished in the tenth and eleventh centuries; they were
epidemics, famines, droughts, earthquakes, thunder- connected with the rising belief in gory& Many magical
storms, typhoons, difficult childbirths, diseases, and Nembutsu dances and dramas still exist in rural villages.
deaths-were believed to be the result of the vengeance of They have the function of driving off evil spirits of the
angry spirits of the dead. Sometimes, too, they were be- dead which may become transformed into epidemic
lieved to be caused by the angry or jealous souls of living spirits, noxious insects, and so on. As popular Nembutsu
men and women. The angry spirits were revealed by beliefs and practices degenerated into magico-artistic en-
shamanesses. These beliefs continue to survive in Japanese tertainments and lost their religious character, there ap
rural society today. For example, there must be speciaI peared in the twelfth century many Buddhist saints who
memorial services for a person who has met an untimely purified and restored the orthodox Buddhist sects. Among
death, because it is believed that his spirit may become 14 Ibid., II, 76-78; Hori, Minkan shink8, pp. 176-280.
72 73
Social Structure and Folk Religion
them, Htinen ( 1133-1212) founded the JGdo sect, in-

troduced the theology of Chinese Pure Land Buddhism,
and resystematized the belief in Amida-butsu and the
practice of Nembutsu. Succeeding him, his disciple Shin-
ran (1173-1262) founded the Shin sect, the largest and
most flourishing Buddhist sect in contemporary Japan.
Chishin (known as Ippen Sh5nin-1239-1289) founded
the Ji sect. Nembutsu, as a system of counter-magic
against the belief in gory& is a kind of animistic super-
stition and an obstacle to intellectual progress, but the
fact that it proclaimed the value of humanity and of the
human will should not be overlooked.
Despite these restorative movements, popular Nem-
butsu still survives in rural communities and has con-
tinued its social functions until recent times. Descendants
of popular Nembutsu priests of the lower class usually
survive as outcast minorities. For example, there are Kane-
uchi-buraku, Hachiya-buraku, and Hachitataki-mura (“vil-
lages of those who say prayers to Amida-butsu” [Namu-
Amida-butsu]) . The founder of the Kabuki play is said to
have been a famous Nembutsu magic dancer at the be-
ginning of the Tokugawa period ( 1615-1867) .15
If we can say that Nembutsu magic is a negative magic

against the gory& the magic of Shugen-dd is positive; the
former attempts to ward off the gory@ whereas the latter
aims at exorcism. Shugen-dc was formerly a kind of Bud-
dhist asceticism. It consists of magical practices and
spiritual and physical training, the object of which is to
attain magical power against evil spirits. Since this is prac-
ticed in mountain areas, the ascetics are called yamabushi
(literally, “the priests who lie down on the mountain”).
It is said that Shugen-do was founded by En-no-gyiija
16 Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinka-shi no kenkyti, II, 249-470.
74
I
-
Social Structure and Folk Religion
or En-no-ShGkaku (priest of the En family), who is said

to have lived in the middle of the seventh century A.D.
Although this is not an established fact, there is some
reliable evidence to show that many shamans or magicians
practiced and trained in the mountains in that period.
Many students of Japanese religious history have
pointed out that Shugen-d6 consisted of a variety of ele-
ments such as popular or primitive beliefs in mountains,
the dhfita practices (zuda-gy6 in Japanese) of Indian Bud-
dhist asceticism, Chinese mythology and Taoistic beliefs,
the theology and practices of the Japanese Tendai (T’ien-
t’ai in Chinese) and Shingon (Cheng-yen in Chinese)
Buddhist sects, and the magic and ritual of Shinto. After
a period of decline, the Shugendb sect was apparently
restored and reorganized by a Shingon monk, ShGbs
(A.n. 832-909) 7 who lived in the gory&shin age and
whose magicians were actively engaged in subduing the
malevolent spirits of the dead. Shamanesses were usually
employed as assistants. Subjected to suggestion by the
yamabushi’s magical spells and techniques, they fell into
trances, became possessed by a spirit, and announced the
will or grievances of the malevolent spirit.
Later, ShugendG became a sub-sect of both the Tendai
and Shingon sects and practiced the mysteries of Esoteric
Buddhism which came from the Indian Tantrism or
Mantra$na. Among the many sacred mountains which
they occupied, Mount Kumano in Wakayama prefecture,
Mount Haguro and Mount Yudono in Yamagata prefec-
ture, and Mount Hiko in Fukuoka prefecture became the
centers of these sects. In principle, Shugen-d6 priests were
trained to travel from mountain to mountain and from
village to village. Especially, the Shugen-ja (Shungendii
priests, the same as yamabushi) of Mount Kumano
77
traveled and preached their religion from Hokkaido to the Onmy&dii was a popular belief which came to Japan
Ryukyus, thus significantly influencing the magic and be- from China through Korea in the seventh century A.D. It
lief systems of villagers in the medieval and modern included some philosophical, astrological, animistic, and
periods. Sometimes the yamabushi, who had special uni- magical theories and practices. At a later date, the scholars
forms and magical instruments, became not only village and magicians of the Onmy&d6 sect became techno-
magicians but also Shinto priests. Most of the village religious officials at the imperial court. Astrology and the
Shinto shrines in the TGhoku district (northeast Honshu) preparation of the official calendar came within their
and Hokuriku district (mid-north Honshu) before the jurisdiction. They also practiced magical invocations for
Meiji restoration (1868) had yamabushi as their pro- good harvests, good weather, purification, and good for-
fessional priests. Although they belong officially to the tune: in addition, they engaged in such matters as divina-
Tendai and Shingon sects, the priests do not cut their hair tion, astrology, and fortune telling. Onmybd6 became
and they marry according to the permissive theory; some- intermingled with Shinto and thus merged imperceptibly
times they marry female shamans. If a priest marries a into the popular beliefs which spread over all of Japan.
shamaness they work together, a case of possession being The most famous Onmyd-d6 priests’ families-Abe and
diagnosed through the shamaness’s trance and then given Kamo-also grew in prosperity from the ninth to eleventh
relief by the priest’s exorcism. centuries, the gory&shin age. The magic of Onmyb-d6
In recent times, the yamabushi have governed several was rather negative, since the priest offered many kinds of
sacred mountains in northeast and southwest Japan and food at crossroads or entrances to villages or cities in order
have continued to perform some social functions, such as to soothe the evil spirits or demons of plague or requested
conducting initiation ceremonies for village youths, pray- the villagers to purify themselves by bathing in the
ing for good harvests, exorcising evil spirits from a house streams or sea or by abstaining from certain kinds of foods
or a village, and offering prayers for newly built houses or and by remaining at home on unlucky days. Sometimes,
for sick persons. The magical techniques of the yamabushi too, they employed shamanesses as assistants to com-
and the mediumistic techniques of shamanesses were also municate with the spirits of the dead or to hear the will
transformed into various kinds of public entertainment, of angry deities.
and some of the priests and shamanesses became the Descendants of the Onmybdb priests or magicians of
predecessors of professional reciters, ballad singers, c the lower class also traveled from village to village to
popular narrators, as did the popular Nembutsu priests propagate their beliefs and to give relief to villagers. Some
and priestesses.le who belonged to large Shinto shrines and Buddhist tem-
IsThe yamabushi always carry and blow shell trumpets; in Japanese ples periodically visited the villages or cities within their
colloquial speech, “to blow a shell trumpet” means “to boast” or “to jurisdiction to distribute their shrine’s or temple’s charms,
talk tall.” This reveals a critical attitude on the part of the villagers,
since the shell trumpet symbolizes the yamabushi, who often abused the talismans, amulets, phylacteries, and professional agri-
hospitality accorded them. See ibid., pp. 57-205. cultural calendars. Some of them settled in villages and
78 79
survived as members of outcast minority groups. Rem- strangers, outsiders, wandering preachers-that is, hito-
nants of this sect may be found today in the Onmy+- gami (man-gods).
mura (village of OnmytidG priests), or Shomo(n)ji-mura, On the other hand, the hito-gami type is traceable to
Innai-mura, and Sanjo-mura (villages of the lower-class the worship of the dead or the spirits of the dead, accom-
Onmy&do priests). Inhabitants of these communities panied by the idea of the other world which was imagined
still preserve some of their original social and religious to be in heaven or beyond the sea. This dual organization,
functions. For example, they make seasonal visits to which already existed in original Shinto, underwent a
purify each house and oven by reciting magical words and complicated process of socio-religious change with the
songs, and to dance for a happy New Year, a good future acceptance of the great traditions from the Asian con-
harvest, and good luck at the beginning of the year. Some- tinent. The cohesion and mixture of the little tradition
times these people became actors. In the medieval period, and the great traditions took place during the gory&shin
actors in the NB and puppet plays usually belonged to this age, when the hito-gami complex and the great traditions
group. It is significant that there are many surviving reciprocally influenced each other, underwent varying
elements of the worship of the spirits of the dead in the changes, and were ultimately amalgamated.‘*
Na plays, Jdruri recitals, narrative stories, and in other 18 Ibid., pp. 751-66; see also Hori, Minkan shink8, pp. 248-97.
literature and art. Recalling the voice of spirits of the dead
by local shamanesses is still considered an important
memorial service for the dead in northeast Honshu and in
other districts of Japan.l’
From this brief sketch of the ethno-history of Japanese
religious beliefs, some hypotheses may be set forth. The
concept of hito-gami (man-god) and its practices are
deeply imbedded in ancient Japanese folk religion, and,
furthermore, the man-god groups have formed separate
religious and political estates or classes in isolated and
settled farming communities. Thus, there is a sharp dis-
tinction between the two complexes: the traditional
rural Japanese in-group, and the man-god. The coexistence
of these two religious and cultural patterns in the rural
village was complicated by the historical social circum-
stances and by the passive and non-individualized men-
tality of the villagers, which centered in acceptance of
17 Ibid., pp. 471-596.
80 81
CHAPTER
III
is the purpose of this chapter to discuss

Nembutsu belief and practices among the Japanese people
from ancient times to the present day. We find in Nem-
butsu some of the main characteristics of popular Bud-
dhism mixed with Japanese folk religion. Japanese Bud-
dhism must be seen first of all as an integral part of the
total dynamic movement which spread from India across
Southeast Asia to the Far Eastern countries. There is a
definite continuity in Buddhism which can be demon-
strated not only historically but also phenomenologically.
To be sure, the special social and cultural circumstances
which it encountered on Japanese soil worked some
remarkable transformations. Some scholars go so far as to
say that Japanese Buddhism is not real Buddhism at all or
is at best a deformed version.’
1 Cf. Sh6ke Watanabe, Nihon no Bukkyd (Japanese Buddhism)
(Tokyo, 1958), especially pp. 64, 66-67. See also Eliot, Japanese Bud-
dhism, pp. 179-96.
83
Nembutsu as Folk Religion Nembutsu as Folk Religion
We shall speak here of the direction which Buddhism ing down under the new forces that were assailing the
has taken in Japan and of the conditions which have nation, and the people were ready to look to an alien
made it unique among the many forms of Buddhism in religion for their spiritual foundations.
the world. Two key phenomena serve to focus our dis- Prince Shstoku ( 574-621), statesman and religious
cussion. They are the samgha (monastic order) and the thinker, played a significant role in shaping Japanese
vinaya (disciplinary system). These traditional Buddhist Buddhism. In fact, his influence extended far beyond the
forms were transmitted by missionary efforts from India span of his own life. Under him Buddhism developed into
through China and Korea. They are important here be- a religion of the aristocracy with strong lay leadership. At
cause of their necessary relation to historical and socio- the same time, Shiitoku’s emphasis on the Lotus Sutra
logical patterns. When these forms were first introduced promoted a social consciousness that encompassed all
into Japan, they were in conflict with the existing social classes. The Lotus Sutra’s promise of salvation for all
patterns. The history of the inevitable modification which mankind was in sharp contrast with the pre-Buddhistic
took place in Japanese Buddhism in the samgha and the and shamanistic folk religion. The latter had two classes
vinaya may also be seen as a movement toward the of deities, corresponding to the two social classes of
popularization of the Buddhist religion. ancient Japanese society, and offered life in the hereafter
The character of Japanese Buddhism may be traced to only to the ruling and shamanic families, which consii-
certain decisive events in the reign of Empress Suiko and tuted the imperial, noble, and magico-religious class. The
Prince Regent Shatoku. At the time of the official recog- new Buddhist social concern was expressed in the building
nition of Buddhism in Japan in A.D. 593, the nation had of temples which served as centers of philanthropic and
been undergoing a great spiritual and cultural upheaval. cultural activities.3
China was rising to political and cultural eminence in the Twenty-four years after Sh6toku’s death, the Taika
Far East under the Sui dynasty. Great numbers of immi- reformation (A.D. 645) put into effect some of his prin-
grants were pouring into Japan from China and Korea, ciples. The establishment of a unified empire meant that
bringing scholarship, skills, and religion from the Asian for the first time in the history of Japan one emperor
mainland.2 The ancient theocratic clan system was break- completely ruled the whole nation. The political prin-
z The great extent of this influence is indicated by an official record 3 One example was the building of Shiten’&ji Temple. This temple
named Shinsen-shGji roku (Newly Selected Records of Family Titles and has had four centers of social services: a charity hospital, a charity dis-
Names) which was compiled in A.D. 815 by imperial edict. Among pensary, an orphanage, and an old people’s home. These were the first
1,065 families around the capita1 and its neighboring areas, there were public social services of a Buddhist temple in Japan. See J6gB Shdtoku-
326 powerful families of banbetsu class who were naturalized foreigners. hdd teisetsu (Biography of Prince Shbtoku) , supposedly compiled in the
All families were divided into three groups: kdbetsu (335 families), who seventh century immediately after the Taika reformation, published by
were the cadet families of princely lines; shinbetsu (404 families), who Iwanami Bunko with annotations of Shinshb Hanayama and Sabura
were believed to be descended from the mythical gods or goddesses who Iyenaga (Tokyo, 1941). Also see Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no
founded the country; and the banbetsu. kenkyti, I, 157-61, 165-70.
84 85
.” j
ciples of the empire were modeled after those of the laymen centering in such charismatic figures as Gytigi’
T’ang dynasty. This reformation was prepared secretly, and En-no-Shekaku.’ The aim of these movements was
and was executed by several Buddhist monks together to distribute the Buddha’s gospel and his salvation among
with some government scholars. Both these groups had the common people, or to save people by superhuman
been previously dispatched by Prince Shatoku to Sui and power acquired through unusual religious austerities.
T’ang China for study. This they did wholly outside the orthodox Buddhist
The principles of the Taika reformation included the priesthood. They opposed the ecclesiastical systems of
prohibition of private ownership of land, the foundation state and clan Buddhism, which were already beginning
of the ancient clan system, and the distribution of farm-
land to the peasants. At the beginning of this reformation 6 Gy~gi (a.~. 6701~749) was an outstanding leader of popular Bud-
dhism in the Nara period. He endeavored to popularize Buddhism for
a messenger was sent to the large temples near the capital the common people through easily understandable teachings and public
to summon together Buddhist priests and nuns and to services done in the Buddhist spirit. The last included the founding of
address them on behalf of the emperor. Thus Buddhism charity hospitals, orphanages, and old people’s homes; excavation of canals
gained official recognition as a state religion.4 The reli- for navigation and irrigation; the building of irrigation ponds; bridge
construction; harbor construction in the Inland Sea near Osaka and Kobe;
gious policy of the Taika government was to guard and free clinics; free lodging houses. All of these projects were managed by
promote Buddhism, and also to place under the sover- disciples who lived in small seminaries named dsja near the projects.
eign’s supervision a Buddhism completely subservient to According to the authentic biography in Shoku-nihongi (The Second
state control.5 Otlicial Historical Records, succeeding the Nihongi and edited from
A.D. 697 to 791), he was called a bosatsu (Buddhist saint, bodhisattva)
Thus, at the beginning, Japanese Buddhism was made by the masses even while he lived. He was up9saka (ubasoku in Japanese,
a spiritual principle of the empire system, and also the profane believer) for a long time. Then in 745 Emperor Shamu, applaud-
spiritual foundation of the great family system of that ing his virtue and religious personality as well as his enterprises, elevated
time. Ancestor worship became one of its most signif- him to the rank of Dai&j6 (Archbishop). His death in 749 at the age
of eighty was greatly lamented by the nation as well as by the emperor.
icant functions. Buddhist magic, commingled with It is said that he built forty-nine d6ja (seminaries) around the metro-
Shinto and Yin-yang magic, also flourished. politan areas for the purposes mentioned above. See Sboku nihongi, XXII,
In the early days almost all Buddhist temples belonged in Kokushi taikei (Tokyo, 1935), II, 196. Also see Hori, Wagakuni
either to the state or to some powerful family or clan. minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyti, I, 256-93.
Formal Buddhism was maintained on the official and 7 En-no-Sh&aku was a famous magician who lived in the middle of
the seventh century. His family was believed to have had the priestly
aristocratic level. Side by side with institutionalized forms function of serving the god of Mount Katsuragi in Nara prefecture,
of Buddhism, however, as early as the middle of the Nara whose name was Hitokoto-nushi (Deity of Divination by One Word).
period (eighth century) there arose movements among It is said that Shugen-d6 in Japan was founded by him, but this is not
yet an established historical fact. However, there is some reliable evidence
4 Nihongi, Vol. XXV; W. G. Aston, Nihongi, Chronicles of Japan to show that many shamans and magicians practiced and trained in the
from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 (London, 1896), II, 202. mountains, accepting the new-styled form of Buddhist Mantrayina in
5 Nihongi, Vol. XXV; Aston, Nihongi, II, 202-3. that period.
86 87
Nembutsu as Folk Religion
to turn toward secularism, and concentrated instead on

individual personal piety, and discipline in the common
life. Thus the lay movement denied not only the samgha
in its orthodox form but also the vinaya. Those who be-
came priests were encouraged to marry and have families.
This so-called household religion has persisted to the
present over almost all Japan.
It should be evident from this discussion that Japanese
Buddhism never had its own independent ecclesiastical
, order, as such other Buddhist countries as Ceylon, Bur-
ma, or the Indo-Chinese states, but has always flourished
under the existing sociological and political structures.
Japanese Buddhism developed in three stages: the first
was the Asuka and Nara periods (A.D. 593-793); the sec-
ond was the Heian period (794-1185) ; and the third was
the Kamakura period ( I 186-133 3).
Roughly speaking, the Buddhism of the first stage was
represented by the Hossb (Fahsien in Chinese), Kegon
(Avatansaka in Sanskrit), and Ritsu (Li.i in Chinese;
Vinaya in Sanskrit) sects, and was characterized by di-
rect transplantations from Chinese and Korean Buddhist
sects. At the same time, it was actually influenced by the
state religion, though these sects were mainly scholarly
and philosophic, not essentially religious. The next stage,
Heian Buddhism, shows a remarkable contrast to the
Buddhist sects of Nara. Politically, the transfer of the
capital from Nara to Kyoto brought about a new mood,
one motive for the transfer having been to separate
church and state. Religiously, two sects of Buddhism
were predominant throughout the period-Tendai
T’ien-t’ai in Chinese) and Shingon (Chtn-yen in Chi-
nese). Heian Buddhism was shaped by the transmission
of the Chinese T’ien-t’ai and ChCn-yen sects, though in
88
-
actual practice these sects became highly aristocratic and

emphasized magical functions.
Kamakura Buddhism was represented by the Pure
Land (Jiido), Zen, and Nichiren sects, and was charac-
terized by the indigenization and resystematization of
former Buddhist sects and popular beliefs on the one
hand, and on the other by the transplantation of Chinese
Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism which had been mixed with the
Taoistic philosophy and way of thinking.
The Pure Land (Jodo) and the Nichiren sects became
widespread among the common people, while Zen Bud-
dhism became the spiritual foundation of the warriors
(samurai) who had come into political power in the
feudal age.*
8 Monbu-shi, (camp.); Shfikya nen-kan (Religious Year Book) for
the year 1956 (Tokyo), shows us as follows:
Shin-&U (JGdo) . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,573 38,821 8,838,179

Si%bShil (Zen). . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,021 15,224 1,574,311
Shmgon-ShU. : . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,381 2;) 7;; 7,720,236
Jade-shit (Jade). ........... 3,233 8.303,735
Rinzai-shll (Zen). .......... 5,854 $951 3,007,405
Nichiren-shU. .............. 5,516 14,141 8,308,291
Tend&ha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,942 17,;;; 2,695,163
Ohaku-shii (Zen). .......... 523 148,861
Ji-sha (Jade) .............. 426 398 40 ) 099
Ynzit-Nembutsu-shti (Jade). 357 312 101,099
Hoss&.hB ................. 676 165,104
Kegon-shll. ................ :: so3 S7,620
Ritsu-shn ................. 24 56 10,300
Some independent temples are omitted.

Taking an average for each sect of the total number of temples, priests,
and adherents, we find that the Pure Land sects occupy the foremost
position of all Buddhist influence with more than 30 per cent; second
place is occupied by the Zen sects; third place by the Shingon sects;
fourth place by the Nichiren sects; and fifth place by the Tendai sects.
The Nara Buddhist sects barely maintain their existence, as shown by
their figure of about 1 per cent of the total average.
These statistics do not necessarily indicate the real infiuence of
Buddhism on the Japanese people, because some sects are conservative
91
the street accepted all kinds of beliefs derived not only

([ Emergence of Nembutsu Belief from Buddhism and Shinto but also from religious Tao-
and Practices ism, Confucian ethics, and the more primitive, native
Japanese animistic folk religion. This syncretism gradu-
ally penetrated upward, even to the imperitil court. Such
The Heian period of Japanese religious history was char- events as political change, civil war, epidemic, famine,
acterized by five factors: (1) the introduction of Man- drought, earthquakes, thun!erstorms, typhoons, as well
traysna or Esoteric Buddhism from China by Saiche and as difficult delivery, diseases, and death were believed to
Kiikai in ~-n. 805 and 806 and its ready reception by the be the working of the spirits or deities.
people; (2) the hijiri (holy men), who established com- The first commingling of primitive shamanism with
mon or folk Buddhism outside ‘the orthodox ecclesiasti- Yin-yang magic and Mantrayina Buddhism appeared in
cal system, became pioneers of Kamakura Buddhism, and the latter part of the Nara period and developed rapidly
took over the movements of Gytigi and En-no-Shiikaku in the Heian. Three major streams emerged in the reli-
of the Nara period; (3) the appearance of the belief in gious world as a result of the historical cohesion of these
gory@ which, as I have described in Chapter II, originally five factors :
consisted of a belief in the malevolent or angry spirits of
Nembutsu.-the Buddhist Pure Land school (Jade-
noble or charismatic persons who died in political trage-
kyd) mixed with animistic and shamanistic elements.
dies or intrigues; (4) the emergence of a consciousness
Shugen-d&-the Buddhist MantrayAna school (Mik-
of the Latter Law age (Mappa), which I shall discuss
ky6) mixed with Shinto animism and shamanism.
later in detail; and (5) the commingling of various reli-
Onmyijd&-religious Taoism or the Yin-yang school
gious elements such as primitive shamanism, Shinto,
mixed with Shinto animism and shamanism.
Yin-yang magic, and MantrayAna Buddhism. If the aris-
tocrats and intelligentsia had an articulate notion of the The term Nembutsu has philosophical and religious
relationship of Shinto and Buddhism, the masses had lit- connotations in Buddhism. It is believed that the recita-
tle sense of discrimination in such matters. The man in tion of the sacred name Amitdbha or Amitiyus (Amida
in Japanese: Namu-Amida-Butsu) enables human beings
and retrogressive, while others are progressive and aggressive; some sects’ to reach the Western Paradise or Pure Land. This belief
adherents and believers are pious, positive, or fanatic, while others are
indifferent, negative, or passive. However, even though they are the
was originally founded by Hui-yiian in China about the
results of long-established conventions and feudalistic politics, these fourth century, and the Amitibha s&as9 were intro-
statistics show some historical reality. In other words, the major stream of
Japanese Buddhism has been represented by the Kamakura sects of
Q There are three sutras concerning the Amitibha Buddha: the first
is Sukh;lvatyamritavyBha-sdtra (Fo-shwo&mi-tho-kin in Chinese) trans-
Buddhism, which account for 70 per cent of ali Japanese Buddhist tem-
ples, priests, adherents, and believers. lated into Chinese by KumQrajtva in A . D . 402; the second is the
Buddbabhitshitbmitdyurbuddha-dhyina (I)-sfitra (Fo-shwo-kwfin-wu-lian-
92 93
Nem butsu as Folk Religion Nem bu tsu as Folk Religion
duced into Japan by several Buddhist priests early in the jbza-zammai. l3 I t w a s b a s e d u p o n t h e Prafyufpanna-
Nara period. As early as A.D . 652, lectures about them buddhasammukh$vashita-samridhi,14 which teaches medi-
were given at the imperial court. According to the his- tation by means of repeated chantings of the sacred name
torical documents,1° there were then several priests who of Amida ( N a m u - A m i d a - B u t s u ) a n d n i n e t y d a y s o f a t -
believed in Amida and practiced Nembutsu prayers for t e n t i v e a n d c e a s e l e s s c o n t e m p l a t i o n o f Amida a n d h i s
the purpose of their rebirth in Sukht?vati (the Western Pure Land. This method of meditation had been intro-
Pure Land: SaihO JGdo in Japanese) of Amidbha Buddha. duced into the T’ien-t’ai sect by Chih-kai from the Chi-
The first Japanese sect to accept this belief officially n e s e P u r e L a n d s c h o o l f o u n d e d b y Hui-yugn ( A . D . 3 3 4 -
was the Tendai. At first Saichs (DengyZi Daishi, A.D. 767- 416) at Mount Lu-shan.
822), the Japanese founder of the Tendai sect, intro- Later, Ennin (Jikaku Daishi: A.D . 793-864)) the succes-
duced practices of four kinds of samddhi (sammai in sor of Saichii, brought back this method of samldhi f r o m
Japanese: “meditation”)ll based on the teachings of the the Mount Wu-tai-shan seminary in China and built his
Mo-hij-ki-l&n (Maka-shikan in Japanese) written by o w n s e m i n a r y a t M o u n t Hiei.15 The J@yb-jdza-zammai
C h i h - k a i , t h e f o u n d e r o f t h e C h i n e s e T ’ i e n - t ’ a i sect.12
and its Nembutsu practices gradually influenced the tem-
One of these four methods of samldhi was called J@ya-
ples and priests of the Tendai sect.le In the middle of the
sheu-fo-kin in Chinese) which was translated into Chinese by Kllayasas 13 Jdgyd means a practice done while incessantly moving around, and
in A .D . 424; and the third is the so-calIed “Larger Sukhlvati-vyiiha-sfitra” j6za means practice done while sitting immobile.
or “Buddhabhishita-mahrly&lmit8yur+yfiha-stitra.” The original of this 14 This should be translated “Sutra on the sam;?dhi called pratyutpanna
book was lost in A.D. 730. Nos. 200,198, and 863 in Bunyii Nan@, camp., (etc.) 1)’ Pdn -keu_ s1n - m& i-k in in Chinese. Nanje Catalogue: No. 73, trans-
A Catalogue of the Chinese Translation of the Buddhist Tripitaka (Ox- lated into Chinese by K’leu-kid-khan of the Eastern Han dynasty.
ford, 1883), hereinafter cited as Nanja Catalogue.
15 This samadhi method was also called in-zei Nembutsu after the
10 See, for example, Nihon ry&-ki, the first Buddhist legendary litera- repetition of Nembutsu in a singsong tone; or fudan Nembutsu after
ture, compiled in the early ninth century (Tokyo, 1950)~ annotations by the incessant chanting of Nembutsu; or yama-no-Nembutsu (Nembutsu
Ytikichi Takeda; Nihon dj&gokuraku ki (Biographies of Persons Who of the mountain) because this Nembutsu had originated at one of the
Went to the Amida’s Pure Land after Death), written by Jakushin in seminaries of Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, near Kyoto. See Ennin, Nitt6
A . D . 985-986; see Dai Nippon Bukky6 zensho, Vol. CVII (Tokyo, guhd junrei-kit ki (Ennin’s Diary: The Record of a Pilgrimage to China
1912-22). in Search of the Law). An English translation has been published with
11The other two kinds of meditation besides jegy~ and j&a-zammai annotations by Edwin 0. Reischauer (New York, 1955). See also
are called hangy6-hanza-zammai and higy&hiza-zammai. In the former, Reischauer, Ennin’s Travels in T’ang China (New York, 1955); Hori,
the devotee alternately recites some sacred text, for example, the Lotus, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyfi, II, 253-54.
and sits down to meditate on it; in the latter, he concentrates all his 16 It is said that in A .D . 865 this Nembutsu practice became one of
mental efforts on realizing the truth, but follows his inclination as to the annual rites of the Tendai sect and was observed unceasingly from
sitting or walking. Cf. Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, pp. 330-31; Hori, the dawn of the eleventh to midnight of the seventeenth of the eighth
“On the Concept of Hijiri (Holy-man),” 214-15. month of the lunar calendar, thus centering on the harvest moon. See
l2 Taishd daizb kyd, Vol. 46-1, No. 1911; Nanjd Catalogue: No. 1538. Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyti, II, Part II, “Shoji J6gy&d6
94 95
Nembufsu as Folk Religion Nembutsu as Folk Religion
Heian period, the most popular daily practices of Tendai buddhas or bodhisattvas, dating from as early as A.D.
temples and priests were samddhi based on the Lotus 606, with inscriptions for spirits of the dead. There are
Sutra (Hokke-zammai) in the morning and the Nem- also buddha halls and handwritten copies of Buddhist
butsu-zammai in the evening-that is, chanting the sa- sutras dedicated to the spirits of the dead and offered as
cred title of the Lotus Sutra in the morning (Asa- prayers for the salvation of the dead in the afterlife?O
Daimoku) and repeating the sacred name of Amida in From the seventh century to the end of the Nara period
the evening (Yii-Nembutsu) .I7 several Pure Lands are mentioned.21 However, under the
Although originally Nembutsu-sam4dhi had as its ob- influence of the Tendai sect, in the mid-Heian period
ject salvation in the future life, it gradually expanded its Amida’s Western Pure Land occupied the predominant
function to become a memorial service for spirits of the position among both the nobility and the masses, even
dead, with the expectation that Amida’s helping hands though belief in the other Buddhas’ Pure Lands also
would be extended to them. Thus, professional Nem- survived.
butsu priests and Nembutsu prayers became connected There are many examples from the sources of that
with the funeral ceremony as well as with memorial time. 22 At the funeral procession for Emperor Daigo in
services.l*
l-I&y&ji Temple, we find an inscription (presumably engraved in A.D.
As I have already pointed out in Chapter I, from the
621) stating that the survivors prayed that the spirit of Prince Shatoku
very beginning, one of the main social functions of Japa- might go to the Buddha’s Pure Land. See Jaga-Shatoku-ha6 teisetsu.
nese Buddhism on the common level has been religious Takurei Hirako interpreted Ten@-koku as being identical to the Amida’s
Pure Land-that is, Murybju-koku (Land of Everlasting Life), cited
services for spirits of the dead as well as for divine favors
by Hanayama and Iyenaga in their commentary of Jydgti-Shdtoku-
in this world.lQ Even today there remain many statues of haa teisetsu, p. 82.
WArnida’s Western Pure Land, Kannon or AvalokiteSvara’s Southern
no konryfi to fudan-Nembutsu no seika (“The Buildings of the Jegya- Pure Land, Potalaka (Fudaraku in Japanese); Ashuku or Aksobhya’s
di, Seminaries at Buddhist Temples and the Popularizing of Continuous Eastern Pure Land, Abhirati, Yakushi; Bhaisajyaguru’s Eastern Pure
Nembutsu”), 255-56. Land, Vaidaryaprabha (Ruri-kB in Japanese) ; as well as the future Buddha
1’ Rozan-ji Engi in Dai Nippon Bukkyb zensho, Vol. CXVII (Tokyo, Maitreya or Miroku’s Tusita Heaven (Tosotsu-ten in Japanese) and the
1912-22) ; Henen Sh&in gyejo ezu (The Diagram of the Biography of Vairocana’s Padma-garbha-loka-dhiltu (Renge-zci-sekai in Japanese)411
Htinen Shdnin) in Jddo-shti zensho, Vol. XVI (Tokyo, 1911-14). See of which were believed to be abodes of pious spirits of the dead. Before
also Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkb-shi no kenkyii, II, p. 256. H6ry&ji Temple was destroyed by fire in 1951, the famous wall paintings
of the main hall showed the so-called Ten Pure Lands of the ten direc-
18 Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shink&shi no kenkyfi, II, pp. 255-56. tions, presided over by the Ten Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. See Jdgti
19 Immediately after Prince Shotoku’s death, his survivors made two Sh6toku-hdd teisetsu, p. 82.
mandala called Tenju-koku mandara (Mandala of the land of heavenly 21 Shinkd Mochizuki, Bukkya daijiten (Large Dictionary of Bud-
life), where they believed that Prince Shbtoku had been reborn. On the dhism) (Tokyo, 1933)~ III, 2699-702.
back of the halo of the bronze statue of the Sakya-muni Buddha dedi-
2a Ibid. In A .D . 952 at the funeral services for the Emperor Sujaku
cated to Prince Shlitoku, which is now standing in the main hall of
(20th Day of the Eighth Month); in I 101 for the minister Fujiwara-
96 97
A .D . 930, professional Nembutsu priests, selected from
among the Tendai priests, lined both sides of the street
at eighty-six places where the funeral procession passed, ([ Awareness of the Arrival
repeating Nembutsu prayers for the deceased emperor’s of the Latter Age
spirit and ringing special bells and gongs.23 of Buddha’s Law (Mappb-terai)
When a sick person was near death, Nembutsu priests and a Pessimistic View
entered the sick room in place of the shugen-ja magicians of This Impure World (Onri-Edo)
or medicine men and offered their prayers to make his
last moments easier. Then after death they prayed for the
In the Nara Period there was a sharp distinction between
protection of the corpse, which might be in danger of
state Buddhism, which developed under the patronage
disturbance by evil spirits, and for early rebirth of the
and control of the government, and private or popular
s p i r i t i n t o Amida’s P u r e L a n d . D u r i n g t h e p e r i o d o f
Buddhism. The attitude of the government toward pri-
mourning, which lasted for seven weeks, there was inces-
vate beliefs and practices was negative and suppressive.
sant repeating of the name of Amida as a memorial serv-
The popularization of Buddhism initiated by GyGgi was
ice. From the tenth and eleventh centuries there remain
frequently prohibited and suppressed, while En-no-Shb-
many written supplications for these memorial services
kaku was said to have been exiled. Both these men, as I
on the forty-ninth day after death24 offering up prayers to
have pointed out, endeavored to distribute Buddha’s gos-
the Lotus Sutra and Amida for the salvation of the spirits
pel and Buddhistic mystical power to the common peo-
of the dead.25
ple. Many tried to become government priests by taking
the state examination for licensure or to broaden their
no-Morozane (described in Demyaku [Diary of Fujiwara-no-Tadazane
education by studying abroad. The biku (bhiksu in San-
(1078-1162)], twenty-two volumes of copies in Y6mei Bunko, presum-
ably copied 1246-1268); in 1096 for Imperial Concubine Ikuhbmon-in skrit), or othodox Buddhist priest, was treated as a gov-
(Chfiyti-ki [Diary of Fujiwara-no-Munetada: 1062--11411, edited by ernment official. Many state temples established by the
Shirya taisei [Tokyo, 1934-441); in 1107 for the retired Emperor Hori-
government or by the imperial family included lands and
kawa. See Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyfi, II, pp. 450-5 1.
peasants as an economic endowment. The bureau for re-
23 Rihdd-ki, the diary of Prince Shigeaki (906-954), Daigo-ji z6ji-ki
(Tokyo, 1931)) in the article of the Eleventh Day of the Ninth Month
in A.D. 930. asked why it is necessary for the descendants to insure the rebirth of
one’s deceased father in Amida’s Pure Land, even to the extent of in-
24 Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyfi, II, pp. 451-54.
curring debts or of becoming bankrupt. We can realize from this how
26 According to the famous Written Opinion (Zken-ftiji) presented to memorial services based on the worship of Amida and the Lotus Sutra
Emperor Daigo by the Confucian scholar Kiyotsura Miyoshi in the tenth flourished widely and presumably brought wealth to the Nembutsu practi-
century, the memorial services on the forty-ninth day and on the first tioners. See Miyoshi-no-Kiyotsura ( A.D. 847-9 18), Iken jfinikajd (Writ-
anniversary day were overvalued by the nobles and government officials ten Opinion Consisting of Twelve Articles) written in 914, published in
as well as by the common people, leading to several bad results. Kiyotsura Gunsho ruij8, Vol. XXVII (Tokyo, 1930).
98 99
Nem butsu as Folk Religion Nembutsu as Folk Religion
ligious affairs in the government was called Sc%g~.26 The gious functions of the gaku-sd were limited largely to
headquarters for the state and large temples was called scholarly discussions of the mysterious world of phan-
San-g& 27 The government Buddhist priests acquired the toms and to the performance of magic for rain, defeat of
religious and social status of their temple.28 the enemy, recovery from illness, or easy childbirth.30
Many state and clan temples were built for the sole The gaku-sb were honored by awards, donations, and
benefit of their own supporting group, and gained politi- promotions in ecclesiastical status extended to them by
cal and economic independence. Their religious functions the emperor, nobles, or supporters.
were never opened to the public. The interests of the Institutional Buddhism nominally opened its doors to
priests in the state or clan temples, as well as those of the the common people. Nevertheless, with the lapse of time,
gaku-sd and dai-shii groups, likewise became more and the princes, princesses, and children of noble families
more political and secularistic and less religious. The no- who went into the religious world generally occupied the
bles of the Heian period were strongly superstitious. They higher ranks in the sects as well as in the temples. As a
feared revenge of the spirit of a dead enemy; they be- result, the state and the larger temples inevitably became
lieved in necromancy and telepathy performed by female more and more aristocratic, formalistic, and secularistic.
shamans and in divination based on astrology and the Consequently, a person awakening to a real, religious
calendar as taught by professors of Yin-yang philosophy need, who wanted to live a life in pursuit of Buddhist
and magic (Onmy&hakase) .2Q Consequently, the reli- truth and enlightenment as well as to distribute the Bud-
dha’s gospel to the common people, rejected the official
26 The S&g6 consists of a S&ii, (bishop), a Sdzu (sub-bishop) and
a Risshi (head controller of disciplinary affairs). Afterward, these titles Buddhist order. In other words, one had to retire again
became only honorary ones given by the government to scholarly and from the religious world. Consequently, and because of
outstanding Buddhist priests. a widespread awareness of the arrival of the Latter Age of
27 The San-g6 consists of three classes. The head of San-gd was called the Buddha’s Law (MappG), as well as because of the
Ji-shu (head of the temple). social disturbances and anxiety cropping up simultane-
28 Status could be improved by length of service after ordination as ously with this consciousness, new religious movements
well as by study and merits. Among the government Buddhist priests,
and groups of hijiri (holy men) appeared.
the so-called gakn-sd (literally, scholar monks) were many lower-class
unordained priests who engaged in the practical affairs of managing the The idea of Mappd, according to Anesaki,3’ was based
temples and buddha halls and serving the higher priests. One class, on a group of predictions offering a pessimistic view of
called the dai-shti or shti-to (literally, masses), sprang up in rivalry to fate long fashionable among Buddhists. There were to be
the gaku-sb group. Afterward, this dai-shti or shn-to group seized power
in certain temples and formed a great political and economic bloc 30 Ibid., 84-88.
against other politically powerful families. See Hori, “Wagakuni no gaku-
a1 Masaham Anesaki, History of Japanese Religion (London, 1930,
~6 kydiku ni tsuite” (“On the Training of Scholarly Buddhist Monks in
and Tokyo, 1963), pp. 131-33; See also Mitsusada Inouye, Nihon JGdo-
Japan”), Nihon shiikyci-shi kenkyti (Tokyo, 1963), II, 141-64.
kya seiritsu-shi no kenkyti (A Study of the History of the Formation of
29 See Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenky6, II, 7678. Japanese Pure Land Sects) (Tokyo, 1956).
100 101
Nem bu tsu as Folk Religion Nembutsu as Folk Religion
three periods of deterioration in Buddhism after Sakya- ter Law in the near future and insisted on the necessity
muni’s death. The first thousand years (or five hundred of accommodating the truths revealed in the Lotus Sutra
years, according to another tradition) constituted the to the character and needs of this degenerate age.
period of the Perfect Law (in Japanese Sh&&), in which Thus the new hijiri movement stressed the essential
monastic discipline would be perfectly observed. The importance of individual faith and unworldliness. This
second thousand years constituted the age of the Copied movement was from magico-religious and secular restric-
Law (in Japanese Zc?-bo), in which true faith would de-
tion to the spiritual freedom of individuals. It suddenly
cline but piety would be evidenced in the founding of
appeared in the latter part of the tenth and the early part
numerous temples. Finally, the third period, that of the
of the eleventh centuries. Kaya, Jakushin, Genshin
Latter Law (in Japanese, Mappo), to last another ten
(known as Eshin-sdzu), and Ryanin may be pointed out
thousand years, would be an age of complete degenera-
as representative hijiri among the Amidists. Z6ga,34 ShG-
tion, full of vice and strife. This apocalyptic legend was
almost universal in Buddhist countries. Since Chinese 34 Zbga-hijiri was a famous scholar of the Tendai sect. However, he
and Japanese Buddhists usually dated the Buddha’s death hated the secularism of the Tendai monasteries and escaped from Mount
Hiei under pretense of madness, and at last settled in seclusion on
as 949 B.C., they believed, either in apprehension or in Mount Tcno-mine. He never went down the mountain to Kyoto even
hope, that the last period was. to start in the.year A.D. 1052. when the emperor invited him. One day a concubine invited him S O
It was Saicha who first awakened to the critical situa- that she might receive the Buddhist initiation from him. He declined
tion of Buddhism and society. He is credited with the several times with thanks. Tbe concubine, however, never gave up,
having great respect for him. At last he made an exception and reluctantly
book Mappa tomy ki (Light in the Latter Law Age) ,32 consented. He went to her palace in Kyoto. However, he did not give
though it is somewhat doubtful that it is really his work. her the commandments of Buddhism, but was eccentric in his conduct,
The message of this book deeply influenced thoughtful indulged in remarks to induce her to leave him alone, and hurried home.
persons, not only among the ecclesiastical monks,33 but Having completely abandoned all interest in this world, he died sitting
in Buddhist contemplation and praying the Lotus Sutra. Many priests
also among the intelligentsia and even the masses. The and laymen admired him for his personality and behavior, and contracted
author gave warning of the arrival of the Age of the Lat- warm friendships with him. Among them were Shakfi, Genshin, and
Jakushin. See Hokke gen ki (Mysterious Legends Concerning Belief
32 Saich8, Mappb tbmy5 ki (Light in the Latter Law Age), in Nihon in the Lotus Sutra), in Zoku gunsho ruijd (Tokyo, 1930), Vol. VIII,
daizd-kyd (Tokyo, 1919-21)~ Vol. XL, Tendai Section No. 12. Upper Part, Chapter III; Zoku 6ja den (Biographies of Persons Who
a3 For example, see Genku, Wago t6roku, a collection of Genkti’s Went to Amida’s Pure Land after Death [succeeding the Nihon dj6 goku-
preachings, in Taishd daizd ky8 (Tokyo, 1931), LXXXIII, No. 2611, raku ki]), in Gunsho ruijfi (Tokyo, 1930), Vol. V; Konjaku monogatari
171-238; YBsai (Eisai), Kdzen gokoku ron (The Rise of Zen Buddhism (Legends OJd and New), in Kokushi taikei (Tokyo, 1931), Vol. XVII,
as Guardian of the State), in Taisha daizd kyci, LXXX, No. 2543, 6; Chaps. XII-XxX111; Uji shiii monogatari, a collection of Japanese
Nichiren, Shishin gohon sh6 (Four Kinds of Faith and Five Classes of legends, in Kokushi taikei, Vol. XVIII, Chap. XII; Washa Tbnomine-
Practitioners), in Taishd daizd kyd, LXXXIV, No. 2696, 287; Shinran, dera Zdga Shanin gyaja ki (Biography of Zcga ShBnin in Mount T&o-
Kydgydshinshd (Doctrine, Practice, Faith, and Realization), in Taishd mine Temple), in Zoku gunsho ruijii, Vol. VIII, Lower Part; see also
daizd kya, LXXXIII, No. 2646, 633. Hori, “On the Concept of Hijiri (Holy-man) ,” pp. 205-6.
102 103
Nembutsu as Folk Religion Nem butsu as Folk Religion
kfit6 and others were hijiri from the Lotus Sutra school, were characterized by strict seclusion from both the secu-
though some different attitudes should be recognized lar and the ecclesiastical worlds, while the Amida-hijiri
between the two groups. Those of the Lotus Sutra school were characterized by a desire to proclaim Amida’s gos-
35 According to the biographies and legends concerning Sh6kkB, he pel among the masses. The Lotus school hijiri was indi-
acquired faith in Buddhism in his early days. However, it was not until vidualistic or self-perfectionistic; the Amida-hijiri, evan-
he was thirty-six years of age that he joined the Buddhist priesthood. gelistic.
Then he stayed on Mount Kirishima and Mount Seburi in Kyushu,
where he assiduously practiced the austerities of the Lotus Sutra, received There were two important reactions to the conscious-
mysterious power, and attained enlightenment. He finally came to Mount ness of crisis induced by the Mappa teaching. Helpless
Shosha in present Hyego prefecture and built a Buddhist temple on anxiety and despair largely overwhelmed orthodox Bud-
the top of the mountain. His personality and deeds were extremely
unusual, and there are many anecdotes about him. He composed a poem dhist priests and the sophisticated upper classFs The
entitled “Kantei go” (“Words about the Secluded Retreat”) : forerunners of the new movements endeavored to find
I, a hermit at a secluded retreat, am ways of self-enlightenment to cope with this hopeless and
Poor and also humble;
depraved age as a given reality, and strove for the salva-
I am not ambitious for wealth and distinction,
But love my own life; tion of the common people in their everyday life?’
Though the four walls are crude,
The Eight Winds cannot trespass on them; ten by the retired Emperor Kazan, in Kokushi taikei, Vol. XXIX, Upper
Though one gourd for wine is empty, Part; Hokke gen ki, Chap. II, 45; Konjaku monogatari, Chaps. XII-
Tbe samedhi is full to the brim spontaneously; XXIV. See also Hori, “On the Concept of Hijiri (Holy-man),” pp.
I do not know anyone, 206-7.
There is neither slander nor praise; 36 For example, Jichin ( 1155-1225)) Gukanshb, a historical view of
No one knows me, Japan, VoI. VII, in Kokushi taikei, Vol. XIV, pp. 609-16; Kben (d.
There is neither hatred nor affection; 1169)) Fusd ryakki (Chronicles of Japanese History), Vol. XXIX, in
When I lie down with my head resting on my arm, Kokushi taikei, Vol. XII, p. 796; Fujiwara-no-Sanesuke (957-1046),
Delight and happiness exist in it; Shayfiki (1023)~ in Shirye taisei (Tokyo, 1934-35), 3 ~01s.; Fujiwara-
For what purpose should I wish again for noSukefusa (1007-1057)~ Shun-ki (1052), in Shirya taisei.
Unstable lwury which is like a floating cloud!
a7 These leaders included Genkfi (known as Hbnen Shbnin; “33-
Many priests and laymen loved him for his virtues and visited him in
1212) and Shinran (1173-‘262)) both followers of the Amidist group
order to receive his teaching and salvation. Among them were the retired
and its organizers; Eisai (1141-1215) and Dbgen (IZOO-1253), the
Emperor Kazan, Fujiwara-no-Michinaga, Genshin, Jakushin, and others.
transmitters of Zen Buddhism from China; and Nichiren (1221--128x),
A famous poem composed by Izumi-shikibu dedicated to ShBkti is:
the successor of the Lotus school hijiri and the founder of the Nichiren
I who might pass from darkness to darkness
sect. These all appeared in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries under
T O the Moon which is now coming out from behind the mountain,
the direct influence of the new movement and a consciousness of the
Oh! my Moon, please throw your light on me from afar! arrival of the Latter Age. (See note 33, above.)
See Shekfi Sh6nin den (Biography of Sh6kka) written in A.D. 1010, in
Gunsho ruijd, Vol. V; Shosha-zan Sh6nin den (Biography of the Stint
of Mount Shosha), in Chdya-gun& which was said to have been writ-
104 105
Nem butsu as Folk Religion Nembutsu as Folk Religion
to Amida; thus he was also called Amida-no-hijiri. One

of Kdya’s biographers wrote that before he appeared there
([ Emergence of the Nembutsu-hijiri were few who had specifically practiced the Nembutsu-
or Amida-hijiri zammai in any of the temples or communities; further-
more, the common people had avoided it. However, once
The character of the hijiri was originally private and arbi- Keya appeared, praying the Nembutsu himself and
trary, and always exhibited a negative attitude toward so- strongly urging the people to pray to Amida, the whole
ciety, especially toward authority or social status. How- nation was soon worshipping Amida. He also traveled
ever, because the religious needs of the common people through several provinces to distribute Amida’s merciful
were not necessarily confined within the limits of the gospel as well as to perform social welfare work. He died
present world, the hijiri, with an anti-secularistic charac- at the present Rokuhara-mitsu-ji temple in Kyoto in A.D.
ter and supra-mundane behavior and attitude, gained 972.38
high esteem among those who were dissatisfied with offi- In 984, twelve years after Kaya’s death, Genshin was
cial Buddhism. The personalities and conduct of a small devoting himself to writing the famous work Oj&y&hii
group of early hijiri infused a fresh spirit into the religious (A Selection of Sacred Words Concerning Going to
world. Though their behavior seems somewhat eccentric Amida’s Western Pure Land.)3Q Following the Nem-
at first glance, they never departed in the least from their butsu-zammai founded by Ennin in the Tendai sect,
unshakable faith in strict practices. Genshin lived in seclusion at Yogawa on the inner Mount
The pioneer of the Nembutsu-hijiri or Amida-hijiri Hiei-he despised honor and reputation in this world;
was Kaya (popularly known as Kiiya) . Kijya had been an there he made up his mind to practice the life of a hijiri.
upssaka, aad belonged to the Tendai sect. According to His work, his personality, and his scholarship exerted as
the biographies written by his friends and followers, far-reaching an influence on the nobles and intelligentsia
Yoshishige-no-Yasutane (Jakushin) and Minamoto-no- as Koya had on the common people. He started the
Tamenori, KGya hid himself among the citizens of Kyoto, Mukae-ko service, in which was performed a drama of the
urging them to practice the Nembutsu. It is said that he coming down of Amida, accompanied by many Buddhist
was a son of the emperor, but he never revealed his iden- 38 Minamoto-no-Tamenori, Kdya rui (A Tribute to the Memory of
tity. One day he descended from Mount Hiei, the loca- Saint Kaya [written immediately after Kaya’s death]), in Gunsho ruijg,
Vol. VIII, Lower Part; Yoshishige-no-Yasutane (Jakushin, d. 997))
tion of the central headquarters of the Tendai sect where Nihon tija gokuraku ki, in Gunsho ruijti, Vol. V.
he had studied. He had found the mountain annoying 39 ojij ydshii consists of ten chapters, the first two being most famous
and noisy but Kyoto quiet and peaceful and more condu- because of the description of hell and paradise and which has been com-
cive to his work. He was therefore called Ichi-no-hijiri pared to Dante’s Divine Comedy by some Japanese religious thinkers. It
was published by Shinshb Hanayama with annotations (Tokyo, 1942).
(“hijiri in the city”). He continued to pray unceasingly See also Taishd daizd kyd, Vol. LXXXIV, No. 2682.
106 107
Nem bu tsu as Folk Religion Nembutsu as Folk Religion
saints and angels, to welcome the spirits of believers. It Yoshishige-no-Yasutane, who called himself Jakushin
was enacted in the Pure Land Hall (Gokuraku-dcj or after he took holy orders in Buddhism, lived at the same
Amida-dd), which is itself a symbolic model of Amida’s time as Kaya and Genshin. He was also known as Naiki-
paradise. Genshin also founded a religious association no-hijiri because he had formerly been a court official in
named Nijiigo-zammai-kesshii, the aim of which was to the department of the secretariat (Naiki) . After his con-
enable members to be reborn without fail into Amida’s version he began Kangaku-e meetings. Their aim was to
Pure Land as a result of the concentrated merit of Nem- allow students and professors of the state university in
butsu said by like-minded persons.4O In the preface to Kyoto and awakened scholarly Tendai priests to assemble
Oj&ytishti, he wrote that teachings and practices aimed at once a month to discuss the theories of the Lotus Sutra
rebirth in Amida’s paradise were best for the corrupt in the daytime, to pray the Nembutsu in the evening, and
world of the Latter Age. Everyone-priest and layman, to express their religious feelings in Chinese and Japanese
high and low-must be converted to faith in Amida’s poetry. In A.D. 985-986 he wrote Nihon Oj&gokuraku-ki
paradise; however, the Buddha’s teachings were divided (Compiled Biographies of Persons Who Went to Ami-
into apparent doctrines (in Japanese, kengyd) and secret
doctrines (in Japanese, mikkya), consisting of various influence on Nembutsu practitioners in later ages. Kyashin supported
theories and austerities. Although for the wise and dili- his wife and son by manual labor in a small farming village in present
Hyego prefecture. He was converted to the Nembutsu belief and re-
gent man it would not be difficult to understand and peated the name of Amida incessantly day and night. Villagers nick-
practice these several doctrines, the stupid and obstinate named him Amida-maru (man of Amida). He died in a small hut repeat-
man, like Genshin, could be saved in the Latter Age only ing “Namu_Amida-Butsu.” After he died, his corpse was fed to dogs,
by invoking the name of Amida Buddha.41 as he had willed. Several priests learned through dreams that the soul
of Kyhhin had been welcomed into Amida’s Pure Land. It was said
These efforts of Genshin, together with KGya’s en- that Shinran usually talked about the personality and behavior of KyBshin
deavors and Jakushin’s movement to promote the virtues as his model. Chishin visited the place of Kyoshin’s death several times
of Nembutsu among the common people as well as and wanted to die there. Afterward, the Noguchi Dai Nembutsu (Great
Nembutsu Service at Noguchi) was dedicated to the memory of Ky&hin
among the scholars and intelligentsia, had a deep influ- by Tan-amidabutsu, one of the Chishin’s disciples, and it is practiced
ence on the Japanese people. As a result, there was an even today. See Nihon ejia gokuraku ki; aja j&n (Ten Causes for Rebirth
increase in the number of hijiri who practiced Nembutsu in Amida’s Land) by Y&an (1103), in Taishd daizd kye, LXXXIV, No.
in the mountains around Mount Hiei as well as of lay 2683; Goshiii sja den, one of the biographies of persons who went to
Amida’s Land after death, by Miyoshi-no-Tameyasu (1049-1139), in
hijiri (zoku-hijiri) in cities and rural communities.“2 Gunsho ruijii, Vol. VIII, Upper Part. GenkG shaku sho, biographies of
40Nijtlgo zammai kishd, written by Genshin in 986 and 988. See Buddhist monks and the history of Japanese Buddhism, by Shiren
Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shink&shi no kenkyii, II, 284-88. (1287-1346) [1322], in Kokushi taikei, Vol. XXXI, Chap. IX, Ippen
hijiri e (Diagram of the Biography of Ippen Hijiri), Chaps. IX and XI,
41 Preface to oj(i ydshfi, Iwanami Bunko edition, p. 19.
in Zoku gunsho ruijfi, Vol. IX, and in Dai Nippon bukky6 zensho, Vol.
QThe legend of Ky&hin-hijiri or Ky&hin-shami was one of the LXIX; Gaija-sh6, a book of a convert to the true teachings of Shinran,
models of such zoku-hijiri of the Nembutsu which had a far-reaching by Kakunyo (1270-1351)~ in Shinshfi seiten zensho (Tokyo, 1907).
108 109
Nembutsu as Folk Religion Nembutsu as Folk ReIigion
da’s Pure Land after Death). He recorded his intention

in the preface:
([ The Belief in Goryo
I had already prayed to Amida in my youth; how-
ever, after I was forty years old, my belief in the Nem-
b&u became more and more ardent. Therefore I The belief in spirits of the dead which flourished in the
chant the name of Amida with my mouth, and medi- Heian period seems to have had some connection with
tate on Amida and his Pure Land in my mind. These the ancient hito-gami type of belief already discussed in
practices I have never forgotten in any moment of my some detail in the previous chapters. Perhaps in the an-
daily life, not even for an instant. Wherever there are cient theocratic ages it was permitted only for the spirits
temples and halls in which the statues of Amida are of persons of special political or magico-religious families
enshrined, or where there are mandala of the Pure to reappear in this world as powerful hito-gami (man
Land, I have worshipped without exception. I have gods). However, the ancient social order collapsed under
formed a pious connection with all those who have an the strong influence of Chinese and Korean immigrants
intention to be reborn in Amida’s Pure Land-whether and the Chinese civilization brought by them. Individual
laymen or priests, men or women, without exception.43 self-consciousness emerged under the influence of Bud-
Jakushin’s legendary life was full of eccentricities. For dhism, which taught both the equality of human beings
example, he wandered about the country strongly urging regardless of social status and the innate existence of
people to embrace Nembutsu as well as to attend Bud- Buddha-ness (Bussho in Japanese) in every individual.
dhist masses. He always loved animals-even fat horses As a result, the primitive concept of the human soul as
and bulls. When he saw temples, Buddha halls, pagodas, well as the belief in hito-gami were gradually transformed
or stupas on his route, he never failed to get off his horse in content and character. It may also be presumed that
and worship at them piously. One day, the biographer the consciousness of the shamans and priests who first
says, he was invited to visit the home of one of his discid revealed the hito-gami and served them was transformed
ples, but he did not come until sunset. The host, wonder- in various ways.
ing why he did not arrive, went to search for him. The By the end of the Nara period and throughout the
disciple found him in a graveyard along the road. He was Heian period superstitious and animistic beliefs were
worshipping at each tomb, shedding tears and offering prevalent among the nobility as well as among the masses,
Nembutsu for the spirit of each of the dead.44 and the magico-religious needs of the times made wel-
43 Preface to Nihon ojo gokuraku ki, in Gunsho ruijd, V, 394. come the Mantraysna magic brought by Saichb and Kri-
44 Zoku honchd ojo den (Succeeding Biographies of Persons Who kai in a new and powerful form. As a result, the Tendai
Went to Amida’s Land after Death), by Oe-no-Masafusa (1041-111 I), and the other sects were gradually “mantrayanized” by
in Gunsho ruiju, Vol. V; Konjaku monogatari, Vol. XIX; see Hori, “On
the Concept of Hijiri,” p. 204.
Saicho’s successors, such as Ennin and Enchin (Chiso
110 111
Nem butsu as Folk Religion
Daishi: A.D. 814-891). The most significant of these sue

perstitious and animistic beliefs was the belief in gory@.
Found at the basis of popular beliefs in the early Heian
period, this belief possibly originated in the ancient be-
lief in hito-gami of the shamanic and charismatic folk
religion, and under the influence of Buddhism and Yin-
yang or religious Taoism was transformed into belief in
individual evil spirits of the dead.
Though this belief may be only a survival or transfor-
mation of old folk religion, it seems to me that the flour-
ishing belief in gory6 at that time should be considered
important in the history of Japanese religion, because
many heterogeneous elements of foreign religions com-
mingled around this belief, each taking a share in reli-
gious activities against the malevolent spirits of the dead.
Usually the Tendai or Shingon Mantraylna ascetics
(shugen-ja) and shamanesses or their substitutes played
the main roles. Shamanesses would announce the names
and declare the will of the spirits of the dead in time of
famine, epidemic, drought, flood, the falling of a thun-
derbolt, personal illness, evil dreams, and difficult child-
birth. In order to soothe such revengeful and angry evil
spirits, there was a reburial of their remains, a posthu-
mous award of honorific name and court rank, and
Shinto, Yin-yang, and Buddhist services. We must note
that this belief provoked serious reflection on the part of
those who achieved victory as well as consolation for the
defeated, whose future vindication was assured.
By A.D. 863 there had already come into existence five
major gory&shin deities: the spirits of two disenthroned
crown princes, the real mother of one of these princes,
and two ministers who had suffered martyrdom. At this
time epidemics were frequent, and many people died.
112
-- -.
Public opinion attributed this to the anger of the gory&

Consequently, the Gory&e festival was held under the
auspices of the emperor at the imperial garden. This fes-
tival included music and dances, sumd wrestling, horse
racing, archery, as well as Shinto, Buddhist, and Yin-yang
services to soothe these angry spirits.45 Afterward, two
Shinto shrines-Upper and Lower Gory&jinja-dedicated
to the eight gory&shin deities were erected in Kyoto. \
After Sugawara-no-Michizane (845-903) 46 had died at
his place of exile in Kyushu, a rumor arose to the effect
that his angry spirit might retaliate against his enemies.
The ‘crown prince died suddenly in 923; in 930, the im-
perial palace was struck by lightning, and several of the
court officials who had overthrown Sugawara died of
shock; the emperor was indisposed, and soon died. Then
in 942 a shamaness possessed by the deceased Sugawara’s
spirit announced that these disasters had been willed by
him. In 955 an inspired young child of a Shinto priest
also announced the same divine message and proclaimed
that the spirit of Sugawara had become the deity of dis-
asters and a chief deity of the thunder demons. The im-
perial court, surprised by these divine messages and the
public rumor, enrolled his angry spirit among the deities
and dedicated to him a shrine, named the Kitano-jinja, in
Kyoto.4’
45 Sandai jitsu-roku (Official record of the reigns of three emperors
[Seiwa, Yozei and Koko, from A.D. 858 to 8873)) Chap. VII, in Kokushi
taikei, Vol. IV.
46 Sugawara-no-Michizane was a famous scholar and politician of that
time. Emperor Uda promoted him to a responsible post in order to
set him against the powerful Fujiwara family. After the emperor retired,
his rivals slandered him before the new young Emperor Daigo and con-
demned him to exile in Kyushu.
47 See Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkb-shi no kenkyii, I, 414-18.
115
The appearance of Sugawara’s gory0 marked the climax of the dead announced by shamans and Yin-yang diviners
of this belief, and ushered in the so-called Gory6 age. We could not only be exorcised and driven away but also
can realize from the diaries, essays, and novels written by saved and sent off to Amida’s Pure Land.
the nobles and intellectuals at that time how the people As the belief in gory6 became more and more wide-
were in constant fear and anxiety over rampages of goryd. spread, the possibility of becoming a gory6 or a deified
As Lady Seishbnagon, the author of the famous essay spirit was gradually extended to even the common peo-
Makura no s&hi, had wisely pointed out, these trends in ple. The will of an individual, especially in the last mo-
the religious world were the result of abuses in an age ments of life, was believed to be most effective toward his
which never manifested sound-minded belief. The magi- becoming a goryii and taking revenge on his enemies. The
cal Buddhist priests and updsaka-magicians, as well as the belief in a future life gave a sense of freedom from danger
shamans and Yin-yang priests, actively promoted this and of calm resignation to fate. It was through the attrac-
trend in collusion with each other and also possessed the tiveness of this hope that shugen-ja and Nembutsu prac-
confidence of the troubled persons by means of their titioners achieved great prominence.4e
magic. They threatened the nobles’ minds freely, leading
them by the nose, for they could also give them relief
from their troubles. ([ The Rise of the Nembutsu Practices
The appearance of the Way of Yin-yang (Onmyd-do) , against the Gory6
under the leadership of the Kamo and Abe families, is
surely explained by this milieu. Old forms of magic still On the popular level, belief in gory6 seemed to effect a
remained, but in an extremely passive state. The Kamo sudden rise in Nembutsu practices and prayers at the
and Abe professors divined the causes of disasters and same time as the rise of the shugen-ja in the mountains.
interpreted portents by astrology and the sacred book Yi- The cohesion of Nembutsu practice with practices based
king (The Book of Changes). At their suggestion, nobles on the Lotus Sutra centering in the Tendai sect necessar-
practiced purification ceremonies, abstinence, confine- ily brought about the cohesion of Nembutsu practition-
ment to their houses on unlucky days, movement in lucky ers with shugen-ja ascetics. Both together revolutionized
directions, and so on.48 Nevertheless, after everything is the popular Japanese concept of the soul. It was then
considered, it may be said that the magic of the Mantra- that the Nembutsu came to be one of the most powerful
y&-ia priests and ascetics was more up-to-date and mysteri- forms of protection against gory@ being able to send the
ous, more positive and aggressive, than either folk Shinto spirits of the dead and evil spirits into Amida’s merciful
or Yin-yang magic. The Buddhist magicians held the pub- hands. The professional Nembutsu practitioners also
lic confidence, for by their magic and prayers the evil spirits gradually came to embrace some of the shugen-ja asceti-
48 See Bernard Frank, Kata-imi et kata-tagae, Etude sur Zes interdits
de direction a I’epoque Heian (Tokyo, 1958). 49 Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyli, II, 457-70.
1lG 117
Nem butsu as Folk Religion Nem butsu as Folk ReIigion
cism. The fact that Nembutsu practitioners and monn- The Nembutsu ascetics engaged in fasting, flaying the
tain ascetics were both called hijiri (holy men) by the skin of the palm of the hand or the side of the feet, touch-
common people. should, I believe, be attributed to this ing a flame directly to the palm, writing the Buddhist
common characteristic. scriptures with one’s own blood as ink, and self-amputa-
As the movement of the early Nembutsu-hijiri group tion of fingers and toes in order to offer austerity to
led by Kiiya, Genshin, and Jakushin became more and Amida as well as to testify to firm belief. Sometimes they
more popular and widespread, esoteric characteristics sought death at their own hands by drowning, burning,
such as mystery, symbolism, asceticism, and the IT, rit of or hanging, so that they might go directly to Amida’s
numerous repeated prayers were introduced into Nem- Pure Land by virtue of unusually strong will power. Some
butsu practice.6o These devotions, all based on the Amida announced their intention in advance. Many persons
sutras,sl have as their object firm faith in salvation in the gathered at the appointed place to witness the event,
future life by means of such religious sentiments as were weeping and worshipping with adoration. They often ex-
evoked by the masked procession of angels and bodhisatt- perienced the illusion of seeing the five-colored clouds
vas of the Pure Land, sweet music and dances, and the which came down from the Western Heaven or heard
mimic play of the coming down of Amida to welcome the the melodious music which announced the descent of
spirits of his believers. The Amida-do halls dedicated to Amida to welcome the suicide Nembutsu ascetic.63
Amida Butsu inspired people by creating an image of The chanting of Nembutsu in extended repetitions
Amida’s Paradise.52 was also typical. For instance, Yokan (or Eikan) was said
to have practiced repeating the name of Amida ten
60 For example, we can find such mysterious and symbolic elements thousand times a day in his youth. In the prime of life,
in the Mukae-kd or Geisetsu-e service of Genshin, as well as in the Shiju-
hachi-kd for the repetition of “Namu-Amida-Butsu” and the recitation he said it sixty thousand times a day without missing a
of the Forty-eight Vows of Amida described in the Larger Sukhlvati single day.54 One nun named Anraku repeated the Namu-
Sbtra, the ojja-ko for rebirth in the Pure Land after death, the Amida-kd Amida-Butsu prayer fifty thousand times on each ordi-
for praying to Amida;see Larger Sukhlvati Siitra or Buddhabhlshita-mahl- nary day and one hundred thousand times on each festi-
y;?nrlmitayur-vybha-siltra, Nanjd Catalogue: No. 863. (See note 9, above.)
51 Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyii, II, 304-7. condition, the Nembutsu priest let him take hold of the five colored
52 For this purpose they were constructed and decorated in accordance strings attached to the hands of a golden statue of Amida in order to
with the descriptions in the sutras concerning Amida Butsu. They were assure him directly of the welcome and salvation of the Buddha. This
usually called “Halls for the Coming Down of Amida” (Geisetsu-do), custom, called ito-hiki, flourished in the Heian period. Fujiwara-no-Michi-
“Illuminated Halls” (Hikari,-dbl) , “Golden-colored Halls” (Konjiki- naga died holding the five colored strings tightly and repeating the name
do), or “Paradise Halls” (Gokuraku-do) . Many paintings and scrolls of Amida. See ibid., II, 304-17.
represented the circumstances of the Pure Land and the figure of Amida 53 Ibid., II, 307-10.
and his accompanying angels and bodhisattvas appearing from the West-
ern Heaven to welcome believers. The former were called Jodo-mandara 64 Shtii 6j6 den; Genkd shakusho; Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinko-shi
or Jodo-hens&m; the latter, Raigb-zu. When a person fell into a critical no kenkyg, II, p. 309.
118 119
- .” _ ___ ._ 2 I
val day.55 Choi of Kuramadera temple counted the some professional Nembutsu priests who strived for nu-
number of recitations of the Nembutsu with red beans merous repetitions of the Buddha’s name fell into evil
from March, 1127, to August, 1141. His total number of after death because their attention had strayed just at the
repetitions during these thirteen years and five months moment of death.s0 This idea, I am sure, indicates that
reached 1,427.33 bushels (287 koku 6 to). He also the state of one’s mind at the moment of death is para-
strongly urged the repeating of Nembutsu by worshippers mount in determining one’s destiny in the future life,
and pilgrims, and counted their numbers by the fruits of just as the possibility of deification or of becoming a
the linden tree (Bodhendrum, the Tree of Enlighten- gory6 was believed to have depended primarily upon a
ment, which is sacred to Buddhists). The total count was determined mind in the last moment of life. The com-
said to be 17,653.053 bushels (3,557 koku).66 Gznsai, mon belief, and the foundation of the belief in gory& was
that nothing was impossible to a determined mind at the
who lived near Asuka-dera temple in Nara prefecture,
moment of death.
also counted the number of Nembutsu for fifteen years or
Even though the merit of quantity as over quality in
more, and his total was 3,474 bushels (700 koku) .”
Nembutsu practices has been discussed for a long time
Again, Kyoshin repeated the Nembutsu prayer one hun-
by scholars of the Pure Land sects,” this was not only a
dred thousand times a day, and a million times a fort-
theological problem among professional priests but also a
night.58
On the other hand, it should be mentioned that there Chomei (1154-1~16)~ in Dai Nippon Bukkyd zensho, Vol. CXLVIC
are several examples of brutal or impious persons who Nihon ojia gokuraku ki; Konjaku monogatari; and other legendary litera-
went to Amida’s Western Paradise by virtue of only one ture. Cf. Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyu, II, pp. 310-11;
saying of the name of the Buddha with a faithful mind at 316-37 notes.
the moment of death.5e Many legends tell us that even 60 Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyii, II, pp. 310-11.
a1 The doctrine of “Once Calling” (ichinen-gi) and the doctrine of
55 Shui ojo den; Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyfi, II, “Many Calling” (tanen-gi) were points of dispute among Genku’s
P* 309. disciples. Kosai was a representative of the “Once Calling” school, while
za Genkd shakusho, Chap. XII; Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkb-shi Ryrikan was of the “Many Calling” school. The former doctrine was
no kenkyu, II, p. 309. based on the metaphysical concept of the identity of our soul with
Buddha’s as taught in Tendai and Avatansaka philosophies. Being adapted
67 Genko shakusho, Chap. XVII; Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkb-shi
to the inclination of easygoing believers, it found a number of advocates
no kenkyii, II, p. 309.
and grew in influence but led to neglect of moral discipline. Others
58 Sange ojo den, one of the biographies of persons who went to brought scrupulous formalism into the religion of piety and insisted on
Amida’s Land after death, by Zenren (about 1139), in Gunsho ruiju, the necessity of “many” (i.e., constant) thoughts of Buddha. This doc-
Vol. VIII; Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyu, II, p. 309. trine also found some followers and was identified with the prevalent
69 Even brutal robbers or murderers could go to Amida’s Paradise mechanical repetition of Buddha’s name, especially in company with
through only one utterance of “Namu-Amida-B&u.” See Hosshin-shu, many fellow believers. See Anesaki, History of Japanese Religion, pp.
a collection of legends of converts to the faith of Amida, by Kamo-no- 179-80.
120 121
common problem among people of the workaday world. ing to documents and diaries63 from the middle to the
Especially the emphasis on the possibility of salvation in end of the Heian period, when famine and plague at-
the afterlife for even a dissolute, uneducated, or pagan tacked Kyoto, the streets and river banks were covered
person by only one chant of Nembutsu, if he had a firm with bodies of victims and there was no room to walk. As
and pious belief at the very moment of his death, opened belief in gory6 became more and more popular, disaster
the door of the Pure Land to all human beings. On the demons or deities, such as the god of plague, the demon
other hand, this doctrine was attended by many evils. of colds, the demon of thunderstorms, as well as the nox-
The Pure Land school and Nembutsu practices origi- ious insects causing famine, were gradually considered to
nated in the Tendai sect, but were promoted and devel- be variations of the gory& There were frequent demon-
oped by early hijiri groups. They were later gradually strations by popular Nembutsu practitioners or hijiri.
transmitted through various sects such as Hossii, Sanron, They performed Nembutsu rituals as preventives against
Kegon, Ritsu, and Shingon. However, until Genkti gory6 who had become gods of plague or noxious insects
founded the Jodo sect after the teachings of Shan-tao in on the one hand, and on the other they offered Nem-
butsu prayers for innocent victims who were believed to
T’ang China, this movement was confined to an affiliated
have a fair chance to become new gory&64
branch or to individual belief and practice within each
sect.sz 63 Shoku Nihon koki, official records of the reign of Emperor Ninmyo
Concurrently with this movement, Nembutsu practices from A.D. 833 to 850, in “The Article of A.D. 842,” Kokushi taikei, Vol.
III; Entry for A.D. 994 in Honcho se& (Uncompleted historical records
against the gorya were spreading among the masses. Fam- from A.D. 935 to 1153) compiled by Fujiwara-no-Michinori, in Kokushi
ines, epidemics, civil wars, and fires were widely feared taikei, Vol. IX; Entry for A.D. 1001 in Nihon Kiryaku, a historical record
disasters among the people of the capital, Kyoto. Accord- from Emperor Jimmu to Emperor Goichijo (compiled by an unknown
author), in Kokushi taikei, Vols. X and XI, and Gon-ki, Fujiwara-no-
62 The Nembutsu branch in the Tendai sect was founded by Rydnin Yukinari’s diary: present written copies preserve the diaries from 991 to
(1072-1132) in 1124 and afterward became the independent Yuzu- 1011 in complete form, in Shiryo taisei series; Entry for A.D. 1105 in
Nembutsu-shti sect. Integrating the Tendai and Kegon theologies with Chiiyii-ki, the diary of Fujiwara-no-Munetada; 1062-1141, in 7 vols., in
the teachings of the Chinese Pure Land school, Ryonin systematized his Shiryij taisei; see Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyri, II, pp.
own doctrine. He said that one person’s faith and repetition of Amida’s 459-61.
name included all other persons’ merits, and all other persons’ merits 64 Sometimes Nembutsu-hijiri advanced in the midst of battlefields to
were transferable to one’s own merits, so that all human beings could offer Nembutsu to the spirits of those who had fallen as well as to give
gain the benefit of rebirth into the Western Pure Land after death. dying soldiers assurance of salvation by Amida Butsu, urging them to
This doctrine was based on the teachings of the Pure Land school, the pray the Nembutsu. According to a letter sent by Ta-a, who lived in Kama-
“One-and-All” idea of the Avatansaka-sutra and the “Salvation-for-All” mura, at the defeat of the Hdjd forces at Kamakura in 1333, the battle-
idea of the Lotus Sutra. See Goshui oji) den, Chap. II; Genko shakusho, field resounded with repeated Nembutsu cries and prayers uttered by
Chap. XI; Ydzti enmon-shd (Outlines of the Ydzu-Nembutsu Theology) the soldiers of both sides under the influence of Nembutsu-hijiri of the
by Y&an (1703), in Dai Nippon Bukkyd zensho, LXIV, see also Hori, Ji sect. Ta-a was a chief abbot of Yugyo-ji Temple in Fujisawa near Kama_
Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyu, II, pp. 291-94. kura, which is still one of the headquarters of the Ji sect in the Jodo school
122 123
Fear of spirits of the dead brought many ancient sha- dancing at the teachings of Buddha, saluted him and
manistic ritual forms and customs into the popular Nern- went away.” However, the form of dancing accompanied
butsu practices. For example, dancing was reintroduced by music and songs sung in a circle around the central
as a particular Nembutsu ritual form as a preventive altar or symbol is thought to be a particular form of the
against gods of plague. Musical instruments also appeared ritual of ancient Shintoistic Chin-ka-sai or Hana-shizume-
in the rituals. This became one of the most significant no-matsuri in such shrines as Omiwa, Sai, and Ima-miya
characteristics of popular Nembutsu practice, though -all of which were dedicated to deities of plague or great
some Buddhist scholars have explained that this custom hito-gami. 65 It was believed that this ritual kept the blos-
might have come from a conventional phrase at the end soms from falling, and that the gods of plague would
roam about and spread the epidemic with the falling of
of many Buddhist sutras: “All attendants, rejoicing and
the blossoms. Hence, this ritual form originated in many
founded by Chishin. This curious name-Ta-a-is an abbreviation of of the shrines’ own magic festivals connected with the
Ta-amidabutsu. The custom of this kind of ordained name-that is, gods of plague. Further, the Michiae-no-matsuri took
“so-and-so-amidabutsu” was called Amigo or A-gd and was originated by place under the leadership of Shinto and Yin-yang priests,
Chogen, one of the disciples of Genku. He traveled about provinces
soliciting contributions for the reconstruction of the Todai-ji Temple,
who entertained the gods of plague with dancing, singing,
which had been destroyed in the war. He also urged and favored Nem- and music. They also offered several kinds of food on the
butsu practices among the masses. He struck on this idea which would public highways in order to check the advance of the gods
force his followers to repeat Nembutsu: he called himself Namuamida- of plague from the outside.66
butsu. Then he began to give his disciples and followers the religious
name of Amidabutsu, prefixing one word to it, such as Ta-amidabutsu, These ancient and primitive ritual forms should not be
Kan-amidabutsu, Jo-amidabutsu. Later, these names were shortened to thought unrelated to the customs surrounding ancient
Ta-ami, Kan-ami, Jo-ami, or Ta-a Kan-a, Jo-a. Thereafter, these were funeral rites.s7 Subsequently, these ritual forms were
called Ami-gd or A-go, which were their title names as Amidabutsu. This
idea rapidly came into fashion. There were already several priests named 65 Ryd no gige (Interpretation of Codes of Laws J, Chap. VI: “Ki-
“so-and-so-amidabutsu,” such as Ben-a and Nan-a, among the leading shun” (“Later Spring”) in the chapter, “Jingi Rye,” which describes
disciples of Genkti. Afterward, Chishin also accepted this idea and gave the annual Shinto festivals held in the imperial court or under the
the name of Amidabutsu to his disciples. According to historical and auspices of the Department of Shinto Affairs (Jingi-rye), which was
ethnographical documents, we can find many such A-g@ not only among published in the Kokushi taikei, Vol. XXII. See Hori, Wagakuni minkan-
the Jodo school’s professional priests and popular Nembutsu-hijiri in vil- shinkd-shi no kenkyd, I, 696-99.
lages, but also among retired village laymen, out-caste peoples, public eaRyo no gige, Chap. II; Engishiki (Code of the Engi Era [a code
entertainers, artists, and actors, as well as Yin-yang magicians and medi- of laws and minute legal regulations of 927]), Chap. III: “Rinji-sai”
cal doctors. Even today there are several families whose names originated (“Occasional Shinto Festivals Held under the Auspices of the Imperial
from this custom, such as Hon’ami, Tan’ami, K6ami. The name of Court and Government”), in Kokushi taikei, Vol. XXVI; see also
Kanze, one of the master families of the Kanze school of the No play, Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinko-shi no kenkyfi, I, 696-99.
also came from the names of their two great ancestors, Kan-ami and 67 In the ancient Chinese ethnograpical documents such as Wei-chih,
Ze-ami. The ancestor of the Tokugawas was said to be Toku-ami, who written in the third century A.D., the funeral customs in ancient Japan
had been a priest of the Ji sect. were described as follows: “When someone died, all family members
124 125
probably associated with the Buddhist ritual of walking in bolic pantomimes and dramatic plays. According to the
a circle around a central altar, sprinkling paper flowers, and Genkd-shaku-sho (Biographies of Buddhist Priests and
chanting the sutras in order to exalt the Buddha’s virtue History of Japanese Buddhism) written by Shiren in
(sange-gyodo in Japanese). The new form of Nembutsu 1321, many Nembutsu priests and priestesses of the lower
dancing (Nembutsu-odori or odori-Nembutsu) 68 came to class attended banquets to perform their Nembutsu sing-
flourish among the masses. Odori-Nembutsu was believed ing and dancing, and thereby, together with the blind
to have been created by Koya, though there is no docu- musicians and dancing girls, entertained the guests.‘O
mentary evidence for this. However, Chishin, the founder
of the Ji sect, introduced the popular odori-Nembutsu
forms into his sect for the purpose of attaining religious (1 Religious Reformation-
ecstasy, bringing all his attention and energy to bear on Establishment of Pure Land Sects
the odori-Nembutsu prayer. He believed in the legend
that odori-Nembutsu had been created by Koya-hijiri.6g
The founders of the orthodox Pure Land sects rejected
In the early Kamakura period such magical Nembutsu
the animistic and magical Nembutsu which was flourish-
arts became differentiated and transformed into various
ing among the masses, and insisted on a return to original
polite forms of music, singing, dancing, as well as sym-
forms, according to the teachings of the sutras and the
theologies systematized by Chinese priests of these sects.
observe mourning for about two weeks. During this period, the chief
mourner cries and weeps, while the others sing and dance, eat and drink Genkii, known as Hdnen Shonin, after having searched
in the house of mourning. After this, the body is buried.” According to in the Tripitaka to find the best way to salvation in the
the Kojiki, when Ama-no-Wakahito died suddenly by the Heavenly latter age, discovered and was converted to the works of
Arrow, the survivors and relatives gathered at the mortuary and held the Shan-tao of the Chinese Pure Land school as well as to
eragi (crying, weeping, singing, and dancing). Moreover, in the Nihongi,
when the creative goddess Izanami gave birth to the Fire kami, she was the works of Genshin and Yogan (10327-l 111) .‘l Genkti
burned and died. She was, therefore, buried at the village of Arima in abandoned and criticized the way for the wise (Shod&
Kumano, in the province of Ki (Wakayama prefecture). The inhabitants mon) of severe training, intricate ritualism, methodic
worship this goddess by offerings of flowers. They also worship her with
drums, ffutes, Bags, singing, and dancing. See Hori, Minkan shinkfi,
contemplation, and belief in salvation by one’s own
pp. 216-17. 70 “Dancing girls” is used for convenience. At that time they were
as At first, Nembutsu-odori and odori-Nembutsu may have had the called shirabycshi or keisei, which means professional female dancers in
same meaning. Later, however, odori-Nembutsu meant professional white robes or medieval courtesans.
dancing originally under the leadership of Nembutsu-hijiri. Nembutsu- 71 Yogan (or Eikan; 1032-1111) was abbot of the Zenrin-ji monastery
odori meant dancing, dramas, music and so on, derived from odori- of Kyoto and wrote a work called Ojo-juin (The Ten Conditions for
Nembutsu, but which had lost religious elements. Attaining Rebirth in Paradise). Among the conditions he emphasized
aa
Ippen-hijiri-e, Vol. IV; see Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no not only the protection of Amida but also meditation and good works.
kenkyii, II, 350-52. See Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, p. 253.
126 127
Nembutsu as Folk Religion Nem butsu as Folk ReIigion
power (jiriki) and in the Buddhist and Shinto pantheons the repetition of the words Namu-Amida-Butsu with
(zogyo) . He taught that the way to the Pure Land is perfect faith. Had I any other profound doctrine besides
necessarily through simple faith in Amida’s grace, called this, I should miss the mercy of the two Holy OnesT6
the easy way of salvation. This is in contrast to the diffi- and have no share in the vow of Amida. But those who
cult way of perfection. The easy way is also called salva- believe in the power of calling on the Buddha’s name,
tion by another’s power (tariki) . Genkii inevitably alien- though they may have thoroughly studied all the doc-
ated himself from the complicated teachings and prac- trines which Shaka taught in the course of his whole
tices of the prevailing forms of Buddhism, and finally life, should behave like a simple man of the people who
came to declare his independence and to achieve thereby cannot read a word or like an ignorant nun, and with-
a religious reformation.72 out giving themselves airs of wisdom should simply fer-
His major work establishing the independence of his vently call on the name of the Buddha.
Jodo-shn sect is the Senjaku-hongan-Nembutsu-shii (On Here we can see clearly Genku’s intentions: rationaliza-
the Nembutsu of the Original VOW),‘~ written in 1198 tion and simplification of religious theory and form; con-
(or 1204). But the most intense statement of his belief centration of religious piety in pure and simple faith; the
and teaching is to be seen in his last handwritten essay, rejection of overspeculation and ritualism; emphasis on
Ichimai kishd-mon (One Sheet of Paper Expressing Gen- salvation for the lowest level of the people.
kit’s Final Enlightenment) :74 He organized his sect along lines quite different from
What I teach is neither a sort of meditation such as the other Buddhist sects. This was due to the religious
has been spoken of by many priests both in China and heritage of the early hijiri groups, which had been anti-
in our own country nor is it an invocation such as is secular and upisaka-istic. Genku never built one temple
possible only to those who have grasped by thought its of his own. He believed and declared that any place where
real meaning. No, alI that is needed to secure birth in people practiced Nembutsu-any small farmer’s or fish-
the Paradise of perfect bliss is merely to repeat the
words Namu-Amida-Butsu without a doubt that one of attaining paradise any merits it may have acquired. The point is that
ojo or birth in paradise can be obtained merely by personal merit and
will certainly be saved. Such details as the three states without faith in Amida, but that any merit one may have obtained
of mind and the fourfold practice7B are all incIuded in should not be devoted to any other object. The four-fold practice, as
prescribed by Zendd, is (1) to treat images and other sacred objects with
72 See Anesaki, History of Japanese Religion, pp. 170-71. profound reverence; (2 ) to practice the repetition of the Nembutsu only;
ra See in Taishd daizd kyd, Vol. LXXXIII, No. 2608. (3) to practice it continuously and, if any sin has been committed, at
once to purify the heart by uttering it; and (4) to observe the above
74 See in Jddo-shd zensho, Vol. X (Tokyo, 1911-14). Translation in
three rules continuously throughout one’s life. See Eliot, Japanese Bud-
Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, p. 267.
dhism, p. 267, and note 2.
75 The three states of mind are: (1) a most sincere heart; (2) a
76 TWO Holy Ones are Sakyamuni and Amida Buddha.
deep-believing heart; and (3) a longing heart which offers in the hope
128 129
erman’s hut where a few persons gathered to pray and there is no value whatsoever in theorizing about the ac-
repeat the name of Amida-was his temple or seminary. tual process of invocation.
Genkii’s principle had strong influence on reformative Shinran carried the idea of Genkii to the extreme of
movements of Buddhism, as well as on Shinto, in the simplicity in his doctrine of once calling (ichinen-gi),
Kamakura period. Among his followers, Shinran ad- though Kosai and others among Genku’s disciples also
vanced Genku’s theory several steps, though he had been advocated it.7g Shinran was far from rejecting repetition
a pious pupil of Genku and intended sincerely to succeed of the Nembutsu, but he held that the essential thing
him and distribute his gospel. Shinran said that his sole was to say the prayer with full faith and confidence in
reason for repeating the Nembutsu lay in the teaching of the Buddha, and that one such believing utterance is
the good man (Genkii) who made him understand that sufficient to secure birth in Amida’s land. All subsequent
it is the only condition of salvation.” repetitions are to be regarded simply as expressions of
According to Shinran, human nature is originally so joy and gratitude. Shinran strictly denied the formal
sinful and hopeless and the situation of time and society temple-and-priest system of his time, following his teacher
so absolutely confused that no one could attain spiritual Genkii’s principle as well as the tradition of the Amidist
enlightenment and peace by his own power, but must movement. He never lived in a temple but in huts or
throw himself on the Other’s mysterious power. There- small hermitages, mainly in the East Province far from
fore, the original vow of Amida, expressing the desire to Kyoto, and preached his doctrine among the country
save without exception even the lowest and most wicked people. He married, reared a family, and in every way
person, should be the one and only foundation for salva- lived like a normal citizen or farmer. He wrote many
tion of individuals in the latter age. His famous ironical books, of which his major work, Kyogyoshinsho (Teach-
expression-“Even a good man will be received in Bud- ing, Practice, Faith, and AttainmenQso became the foun-
dha’s Land; how much more a bad man!“-played upon a dation of the Jbdo-shin sect. He also composed the
saying of the regular Amidists-“Even a bad man will Wasan (Colloquial Hymns) in the Japanese alphabet
be received in Buddha’s Land; how much more a good (kana). He seems to have favored the use of kana script
man!” Neither virtue nor wisdom, but faith was his fun- and the national language as being more intelligible to
damental tenet, and faith itself has nothing to do with the uneducated. Shinran severely criticized ritualism,
our own intention or attainment but is solely the Buddha’s magic, divination, and the worship of the old pantheon.
free gift.” Calling Buddha’s name in pious devotion and The worship offered to Amida did not consist of prayers
absolute trust in Amida are the way to salvation, but for health or temporal welfare or any petitions. After a
77 Tannishd, written by a disciple of Shinran, Yui-en (around I 288), ‘9 See note 61, above.
Section II, following the translation in Eliot, Japanese Buddhism, p. 270. so Kyogydshinshd was the major work of Shinran on which the
r* Tannishd, following the translation in Anesaki, History of Japa- Jodo-shin sect was founded. The formal title is Ken-jddo-shinjitsu-kyd-
nese Religion, pp. 182-83. g@shbmon-rui, in Taisho daizd kyo, Vol. LXXXIII, No. 2646.
130 131
man has once obtained faith in Amida, he commits all

to his power, and his worship consists of nothing but
([ Differentiation and Survival
thanksgiving.81 of Popular Nembutsu
Chishin later organized the Ji sect, which advocated
pilgrimages for itinerant priests from village to village and
from temple to shrine in order to disseminate Amida’s As has been pointed out, the three founders of the Jap
gospel to the masses as well as to offer Nembutsu prac- anese Pure Land sects strongly denied animistic and magi-
tices to the deities and the buddhas or bodhisattvas. Like- cal Nembutsu beliefs and practices. However, in spite
wise, he never built his own temples, declaring that the of the efforts of these outstanding religious leaders, the
edifices of Buddhist priests should be nothing but their feelings of the masses concerning the Nembutsu seem
bodily remains. Chishin’s own religious activities were not to have changed greatly. The Nembutsu was still
considered a religious practice for going to Amida’s Pure
carried out by means of such pilgrimages, and he himself
Land after death on the one hand, and on the other was
died as an itinerant. His principal headquarters was
requested as magic for celebrating or sending evil spirits
named Yugy&ji (literally, “temple for itinerant priests”).
into Amida’s merciful hands. Nembutsu practitioners
By an unwritten law of this temple, the abbot was to go
were sometimes treated on the same level as magicians
on a pilgrimage throughout Japan and die during the
performing against malevolent spirits of the dead.
course of his pilgrimage. If he died in a temple, he must Even Genkti himself, who is now considered the pio-
breathe his last breath in the garden wearing his pilgrim’s neering reformer of Japanese Buddhism, was welcomed
costume.82 as a magical Nembutsu practitioner by contemporary
81 Shinran composed many wasan among which were Sanjb-wasan nobles. His most powerful patron, Fujiwara-no-Kanezane,
consisting of three parts: JBdo-wasan, composed of 118 wasan; K&s- the chief adviser of the emperor and a person who well
wasan, a collection of hymns of the seven great masters of the Pure Land understood his intentions, frequently invited Genkti for
school: N%garjuna, Vasubandhu in India; Tan-Luan, Tao-&o, Shan-tao
in China; Genshin and Genkii in Japan, composed of 117 wasan; finally prayer and exorcism on behalf of sick persons. Kanezane
Shbzcimatsu-wasan (Wasan of Perfect, Copied, and Latter Law Ages) also sometimes discussed the Amidist way of salvation
describing the changes which will come upon the Perfect Law in the with Genkfi. Genkti is said to have dedicated to Kane-
lapse of centuries, which included 108 wasan. See in Taishc? daiza kyd, zane his life work, Senjaku-shti.83
LXXXIII, No. 2650-52. See also E. J. Jurji (camp.), The Great Religions
of the Modern World (Princeton, 1946), p. 134; Zennosuke Tsuji, The later Nembutsu-hijiri became minority groups,
Nihon Bukkyd-shi (The History of Japanese Buddhism), Medieval Pe-
83 Gyokuyd, a diary of Fujiwara-no-Kanezane; 1149-1207, in 1189,
riod, No. I (Tokyo, 1948), pp. 368-69, 396-98, 401; Hori, Wagakuni
1191, “97 and 1200; ShinkB Mochizuki, lc?do-kya no kenkyfi (A Study
minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyfi, II, 327-36.
of the Pure Land School) (Tokyo, 1944), pp. 628-31; Tsuji, Nihon
s2 Ippen-hijiri-e; cf. Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyti, Bukk@hj, Medieval Period, I, 303-5; see also Hori, Wagakuni minkan-
II, 337-52. shin&hi no kenkyc, II, 322-23,457-58.
132 133
such as: Sammai-hijiri (hijiri who serve the graveyard),

Ji-shii (Roku-ji-Nembutsu-shfi: Nembutsu practitioners of
six times a day), Kane-uchi-hijiri (hijiri who beat a gong
or bell), Hachi-ya or Hachi-tataki (hijiri who beat a bowl
or gong), Chasen (hijiri who make tea whisks), Sasara
(hijiri who make bamboo whisks as musical instru-
ments), Nebutcho (originally perhaps Nembutsu-shfi) ,
Nama-dango (originally from Namu-Amida-Butsu ) , Jan-
bon (originally from the sound of the gong). These
groups settled down in or around farming and fishing
villages and near cemeteries as well as in large temples
and shrines. Until recent times, they performed the same
magical and religious functions as the lower-class priests
or beggars-funeral services, memorial services, and magi-
cal techniques-exemplifying a change from sacrC pur to
sacrC impur, following Durkheim’s terms.84 Some of them,
having dropped their Nembutsu functions, were degraded
to the status of the lowest-class people who engaged in
home manufacture of the chasen (tea whisk), sasara
(bamboo whisk), or other bamboo wares such as bas-
kets, spatulas, ladles, or sandals-techniques believed to
have been transmitted from the KGya-hijiri. Some served
as sentries on festival days, as detectives, or in miscel-
laneous capacities at funeral rites. Others made visitations
from door to door to give blessings, recited traditional
songs or sentences, and danced at the end and beginning
of the New Year and the Bon festivals.85 Some groups,
composing and transmitting Nembutsu-odori (Nembutsu
84 l?,mile Durkheim, Les formes .%mentaires de la vie religieuse
(Paris, 1912).
85 See Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyd, II, 380-84
(Hachi-ya); pp. 385-87 (Chasen); pp. 398-90 (Sasara); pp. 390-95
(KaneLuchi) ; pp. 432-40 (Hachi-tataki) .
134
dancing) and dramas, became professional actors or pup

pet performers.86
Odori-Nembutsu still survives throughout Japan clus-
tered around several centers,87 and many annual festivals
86 For example, in the northern Kyushu villages there were several
famous semi-professional folk Nembutsu players and actors. The Nem-
butsu dramas played by them were called Ashiya-Nembutsu, Ueki-Nem-
butsu, JichC-Nembutsu, Jika-Nembutsu, and so on, depending on the
name of their place of origin. (See ibid., II, 382, 423.) The Kabuki play
is said to have been founded by a famous female Nembutsu dancer named
Okuni in the present Shimane prefecture (Izumo) and a male actor
named Fuwa Sanza. See Tatsuyuki Takano, Nihon engeki-shi (History of
Japanese Drama), 2 ~01s. (Tokyo, 1947 and 1948); Kiyonori Konaka-
mura, Nihon kabu ongaku ryaku-shi (Short History of Japanese Drama
and Music) (Tokyo, rev. ed., 1899).
Uta-Nembutsu (literally, singing Nembutsu) was supposed to have
originated in the Inzei-Nembutsu mentioned above, together with the
Odori-Nembutsu prayer, This was performed by special Nembutsu
priestesses or, originally, Nembutsu shamanesses called uta-bikuni (sing
ing nuns), who distributed Amida’s gospel to the masses in the form
of melodious religious songs and hymns. Afterward, some of them became
secular ballad singers, while others gradually were degraded to the status
of itinerant beggars or prostitutes. Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no
kenkyc, II, 698-703.
87 For example, in Kyoto there are the Jika-Nembutsu-odori, the Tbr&
odori, the Hanazono-odori, the Daimoku-odori, and the Nembutsu-odori,
all of which were performed at the Bon festival in the seventh month
of the lunar calendar and in the wake of the ancient Odori-Nembutsu.
In Nara there is the Kydki-Nembutsu-odori (literally, the fanatic Nem-
butsu-odori ) ; in Shikoku Island, the Namoude-odori (originally Namu-
Amida-odori) ; in Ibaraki and Chiba prefecture, the Tendb-Nembutsu-
odori; in Tokyo and Saitama prefecture, the Kasai-Nembutsu-odori
(Nembutsu-odori originated from Kasai) , or Hdsai-Nembutsu-odori
(Nembutsu-odori created by Hosai-bb); in Fukushima prefecture, the
Jingara-Nembutsu-odori (jingara, from the sound of a gong or bell) or
Yuten-Nembutsu-odori (Nembutsu-odori created by Yuten Shonin); and
in Kyoto prefecture the Rokusai-Nembutsu-odori (literally, the Nem-
butsu-odori on the six festive days of the month). It is said that the
Kashima-odori, widespread in southern Kant6 and eastern Shizuoka
137
have developed from it. Among them, the most popular for those whose death was untimely. This is done under
is the Mushi-okuri-Nembutsu (“Nembutsu for sending the leadership of the Nembutsu-hijiri or the temple
off noxious insects”). The villagers usually perform the priests. Thus, we can see the many survivals of ancient
million Nembutsu prayers (Hyakuman-ben Nembutsu) primitive belief in govo which lie behind the rites of the
to the accompaniment of drums, gongs, and flutes under Bon festival.8s
the leadership of a Nembutsu-hijiri or of pious village
elders. This practice was sometimes held in order to pray Among the most predominant schools of Buddhism,
for rain or to ward off the demons of plague and colds.“8 Tendai, Shingon, and Zen have been accepted by the
The Bon festival is held especially for the seasonal return upper classes and intelligentsia, while the Shugen-do,
of the ancestral spirits and of all spirits of the dead. Nembutsu (Pure Land schools), and Nichiren sects have
Among the many spirits are believed to be souls of those flourished among the common people. The Shugen-do
who died leaving no relative behind as well as hungry or sect and the Pure Land schools, especially, had deep
angry souls. Following this belief, two special altars are roots among farmers and fishermen as well as among the
prepared in the Bon festival: one for ancestors, and the out-castes. Thus, the hijiri, differentiating and degenerat-
other for souls with none to provide spiritual benefits. ing in various directions, became the most popular re-
It is called Gaki-dana (“altar for hungry spirits”). Farm- ligious leaders in the rural communities from the Heian
ers in ancient times thought of this, not only as a crisis period to modern times. Of course, their merits and their
period in which the agricultural processes were sus- shortcomings may be balanced against each other in Jap
pended, but also as a time of crisis for the farmers them- anese spiritual and cultural history. Nevertheless, their
selves, who had a consciousness of and belief in their own influence on the Japanese common people is so strong
coexistence with rice plants, The odori-Nembutsu was and so deep that we cannot discuss Japanese folk beliefs
specifically requested and performed during this season. and popular religion without considering the activities of
Bon-odori (Bon festival dances), one of the most popu- hijiri in the long history of Japanese religion.
lar and widespread annual functions in Japan, may have 89 Ibid., II, 457-70.
been transmitted from the odori-Nembutsu, which ori-
ginally were learned from the Nembutsu-hijiri. Even to-
day in some areas the Bon-odori is performed for the
spirits of those who had died in the past year as well as
provinces, also originated from the Odori-Nembutsu intended to ward off

the gory6 or gods of plague. (See Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no
kenkyii, II, 422-40.)
*s Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyu, II, pp. 410-21;
422-31.
138 139
CHAPTER
IV
!&W#J apan has a highly complicated mountain wor-

ship which has developed along diverse lines and become
widespread. Edward Morse, a pioneer of Japanese arche-
ology and natural history, wrote that he was much im-
pressed upon observing that almost every high mountain
has its own shrine and that some of them are piously
worshipped by thousands of people who climb there in
summer after many miles of arduous travel.’
Mountain worship is intricately involved with Japanese
history. On the one hand, there still survive some ele-
ments of ancient naturalistic beliefs. On the other, the
syncretistic Shugendo sects were institutionalized under
the strong influence of Mantrayana Buddhism of the
1 Edward Morse, lapan Day by Day (Boston, 1917), I, 95.
141
Mountains and Their Importance Mountains and Their Importance
Tendai (T’ien-t’ai in Chinese) and Shingon (Esoteric was influenced by Shugen-do, Shugen-dd itself borrowed
Buddhism, ChCn-yen in Chinese) schools in the Middle many elements from ancient shamanism, Yin-Yang and
Ages. Before the Meiji Restoration almost every Shinto Taoistic magic, Confucian ethics, and-above all-from
shrine had its own Buddhist temple, called jingti-ji or MantrayAna Buddhism. In other words, Shugen-d8 has
bett&ji, where services were conducted according to Bud- incorporated within itself many of the significant char-
dhist custom by Buddhist priests, frequently by those of acteristics of Japanese religion.
Mantrayanistic Tendai and Shingon schools. According Parenthetically, it might be added in this connection
to Mizoguchi’s study,2 more than 90 per cent of the vil- that in 1868 the Japanese government adopted the policy
lage shrines in mid-northern and northeastern Japan were of dissolving the historic pattern of Shinto-Buddhist
served by Shugen-dc priests, including mountain ascetics amalgamation and elevated Shinto as the de facto state
-shugen-ja (“exorciser”), yamabushi (literally, “priest religion. In this situation Shugen-d@ which had had pre-
who lies down on the mountain”), or hcSin (honorary carious relationships with both Shinto and Buddhism,
title for a Buddhist exorciser, meaning literally “seal of suffered a great deal. Many of the Shugen-d6 priests were
the law”). These priests were also in charge of sacred returned to secular life. Some of them chose to become
mountains and hills near villages and guided parishioners priests of the Shingon or Tendai school of Buddhism,
to such centers of the order as Mount Kimpu (Yoshino) , while others became engaged in secular professions. Only
Mount Omine, and Mount Kumano in Kinki province since the end of World War II has Shugen-dd been al-
(middle Honshu) ; Mont Hiko in Kyushu; Mount Ishi- lowed to enjoy independent status as a minor religious
zuchi in Shikoku; Mount Taisen in western Honshu; group. Nevertheless, the historic importance of Shugen-
Mount Haku in mid-northern Honshu; and the group of da in the religious life of the Japanese people cannot be
Haguro, Gassan, and Yudono in northern Honshu. From overlooked.
these religious centers priests went once or twice a year
to their parishioners’ villages and visited from house to
house to distribute charms, amulets, or talismans, to hold ([ Sacred Mountains and Cosmology
purification ceremonies, or to offer prayers for peace and
prosperity. Accordingly, both the settled village yama- Mountains have been the object of worship among many
bushi and the itinerant yamabushi exerted deep and last- peoples. Their height, their vastness, and the strangeness
ing influence upon the spiritual life of the common of their terrain often inspire in the human mind an atti-
people. Under these circumstances, while Japanese Shinto tude of reverence and adoration.3 Mountains in their very
2 Komazb Mizoguchi, “T6hoku, Hokuriku-chihd ni okeru Shugen nature have some measure of holiness, in the sense in
Chakusai” (“On the Coloration or Influence of Shugen-dd in North- 3 See, for example, J. A. MacCulloch, “Mountains, Mountain Gods,”
eastern and Mid-northern Honshu”), in Shfikye kenkyii, IV, No. 4, in J. Hastings (ea.), Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (New York,
192-98. 1930), VIII, 863.
142 143
which Rudolf Otto defined the term “holy,” or “numi- cosmic mountain at the center of the world and the
nous,” with the elements of mysterium tremendum and abode of the gods. It is the chief of mountains, the Gold-
fascinosum.’ en Mountain which is eighty-four thousand miles high,
There is much significant evidence of mountain wor- whose upper part is divided into thirty-three heavens. At
ship and mountain gods among ancient civilized peoples. the very top of this cosmic mountain is the palace of
The five sacred mountains (Wu-chen or Wu-yoh) in Sakra De&am Indra, the supreme god of the Vedic
China; Kanchinjunga in Tibet; Sumeru or Meru in an- pantheon, who governs the whole cosmos. Seven con-
cient India; AlbQrz or Hara Berezaiti in ancient Persia; centric rings of large mountains surround it, with inter-
Sinai, Nebo, Hor, and Zion from the Old Testament; and vening seas. Between these and the outermost ring are
Olympus in Greece-these are only a few examples. Also, the four worlds, including JambudvPpa in the south, the
we find numerous examples of sacred mountains among world where we are now living. The sun, moon, and
non-literate peoples in Oceania, Arctic Asia, Africa, and planets are believed to revolve around Mount Sumeru.
North and South America. In each case, the mountains Cosmological significance of mountains is also recog-
were believed to be the center of the world, the cosmic nized in Babylonian and Assyrian traditions, according to
mountain, the pillar supporting and linking heaven and which seven-storied temple towers. (ziggurats) were built
earth, or the residence of a god or gods. They were the symbolizing the seven heavens.’ The famous temple tow-
sites of religious services in which sacrifices and prayers er of Borobudur in Java also has the form of a ziggurat,
were offered and divine revelations and oracles received. even though it was built between the seventh and the
There ascetics practiced their religious austerities in order ninth centuries A.D. under the strong influence of Indian
to acquire magical, superhuman power or to attain en- Buddhism. It consists of nine levels which pilgrims ascend
lightenment. Taking on metaphysical significance, some step by step, worshipping at each statue of Buddha and
of the sacred mountains were believed to possess such chanting the sutras. When they reach the top level of
divine qualities as eternity, power, or stability, as in the the tower, they are believed to be able to pass from the
case of Mount Sumeru, representing the stability of Bud- profane world to the sacred world, from the human world
dha’s body.’ In Hindu and, more particularly, Buddhist full of ignorance and suffering to the Buddha’s world of
traditions,’ Mount Sumeru or Meru is thought to be the enlightenment and salvation.8
4 Rudolf Otto, Idea of the HoIy, trans. J. W. Harvey (rev. ed.; London, probably L6kasthiti (?)-abhidharma-Stlstra (Nanjd Catalogue, No. 1277)~
1946) t PP. 5-40. Vol. II; Abhidharma-k&a-Sbstra (Nanjd Catalogue, No. 1267), Vol. XI.
5 See Fo-su-khin-ttin-kin (Sanskrit, Buddhakarita-ktlr,va-sGtra; Nanjij See Willibald Kirfel, Der Kosmographie der Inder (Berlin, 1920).
Catalogue, No. 13 5 1) , I, i, 49. ‘See Theodor Dombart, Der Sakraltum (Munich, 1920), Part I:
6 Concerning the typical Buddhist cosmology centering on Sumeru, “Zikkurat”; A. Parrot, Ziggurate als Tour de Babel (Paris, 1949).
see lambu-d&pa, Dirghdgama-stltra (NanjG Catalogue, No. 545), Vol. 8 Mircea Eliade, Myth of the Eternal Return, trans. E. R. Trask (New
XVIII; “Numbers and Quantities,” Lo-shi-ij-phi- thrin-lun (Sanskrit, York, 1954), pp. 15, 18.
144 145
Cosmic mountains are also utilized in shamanism, es-

pecially in central Asia and Mongolia, where, for ex-
ample, the shamans of the Altaic Tatar tribes believe ([ Religious Ceremonies in Mountains
that their supreme god, Bai Ulgen, presides over the
whole world at his palace on the top of a golden moun- In many parts of the world, religious ceremonies in moun-
tain that emerges from the earth and stands at the center tains are performed not only by institutionalized religions
of heaven. These shamans believe that they must ascend but also by folk religious groups in various popular fes-
this mountain, successively conquering each stage of the tivals. May Day and Midsummer Day in Europe are ex-
seven heavens (three, seven, or nine stages, according to amples of festivals connected with mountains.12 In parts
the traditions of various tribes) in order to give offerings of Europe, the old pre-Christian festival of Midsummer
to Bai Ulgen, and then descend to the earth to transmit Eve was taken over by Christianity and renamed St.
his oracles to the people.’ There are also several instances, John’s Eve. Especially in northern European villages, a
as Mircea Eliade has pointed out, in which the future special tree was cut from a mountain to guard against fire
shamans in northern Asia have had strange but charac- or lightning, and the people gathered herbs and bathed in
teristic experiences during their maladies et r&es initia- streams to avoid sickness. Bonfires or midsummer fires
tiques. lo The souls of the novices are thought to ascend were kindled on mountaintops or hilltops at night to
to heaven through a high and precipitous mountain, or purify both men and cattle in the smoke of the fire.
through a symbolic birch tree with seven to nine notches Among certain American Indians, the first fruits of the
manifesting the number of heavens they must pass harvest were taken to a mountaintop and offered to the
through in order to receive the divine gift of shamanizing mountain gods. I3 A similar custom has also been reported
in some tribes of Africa.14 In Mexico, the mountain was
as the reward for long and excruciating ordeals.11
an important site of religious festivals,15 and where there
9 Cf. Uno Harva (Holmberg), Die Religiasen VorstelIungen der were no mountains, the people constructed a mound ex-
altaischen Vijlker (FF Communication No. 125 [Helsinki, 19381);
clusively for the purpose of celebrating a festival. In an-
Mircea Eliade, Shamanism (New York, 1964), pp. 181 ff.
cient China, kings regularly performed rituals facing
10 Eliade, Shamanism, pp. 33-66.
11 The number of heavens mentioned above is supposed to be influ- 12 Funk and Wagnalls, Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology,
enced by Lamaism and Buddhism from the south, or by Mithraism or and Legend, ed. Maria Leech (New York, 1949), II, 695-96, 723.
Zoroastrianism from the southwest. See Eliade, Shamanism, pp. 257-87, 13 MacCulloch, “Mountains, Mountain Gods,” p. 866.
495-507. See also N. D. Mironov and S. Shirokogoroff, “Srimana-Sha-
14 Ibid.
man,” Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society,
XXV (1924), I 10-30; cf. Mircea Eliade, “Recent Works on Shaman- 15 F. S. Dellenbaugh, North Americans of Yesterday (New York,
ism,” History of Religions, I (1961)~ 297-308. 1901)~ pp. 195, 206; MacCulloch, “Mountains, Mountain Gods,” p.
867; cf. Bancroft, Native Races of the Pacific, III, 123; IV, 756 ff.
146 147
a particular mountain or built two special mounds called in Korea and Japan and the obo in Mongolia and Man-
heaven altar (t’ien-tan) and earth altar (ti-tan).16 In churia are typical examples.18
India, many tribes held festivals upon or oriented toward
sacred mountains and hills; especially interesting among
these religious observances held on mountaintops is the ([ Three Categories
rite held for the benefit of the dead (Srgddha) .l’ of Japanese Mountain Worship
Parenthetically, it might be added that during the
forty-nine days following death a person is said be wan- At the expense of oversimplification, mountain beliefs
dering between this world and the next. The purpose of in Japan can be classified into three categories. The first
the SrJddha is to conduct the soul of Phe dead safely and is connected with conically shaped dormant volcanoes.
easily to the next world. Such a rite is usually performed In this respect, Mount Fuji is well known.lg In addition
in the mountains. Should the relatives of the deceased there are other famous mountains, such as Chekai in
fail to perform this rite, the soul of the dead is destined northeastern Honshu, Taisen in western Honshu, and
to wander about in this world, causing calamities and Kaimon in the southernmost part of Kyushu-all of
misfortune to the living. This rite was taken over by
which rise near the seashore. Sailors and fishermen have
Buddhism and became the formal service for the souls
traditionally believed that the deity who controls navi-
of the dead; it is held every seventh day up to the forty-
gation resides at the summit of these mountains, which to
ninth day after death. The annual festival for the ances-
them seemed to be the link between heaven and earth.
tors’ spirits connected with the Srjddha is called pi?-
Similarly, many conically shaped mountains in the Ry-
dapit?yjfia in India; this custom is observed in Japan un-
der the name of bon. ukyu and Amami archipelagoes are called a-mori or a-furi
It is also interesting to note that in Japan the word for (“descent from heaven”), and the peaks of the moun-
mountain pass is toge (from tamuke, “to offer”; travelers tains were venerated by these islanders. Even today there
always had to offer something to the god of the pass as are some Shinto shrines, such as Miwa-jinja in Nara pre-
a prayer for safe journey). This custom is not unique to fecture and Hiragiki-jinja at Mount Kaimon, that re-
Japan but can be seen also in Korea, Mongolia, and Tibet. gard the mountains as the object of worship. Therefore,
There are many instances where large mounds have ac- in these shrines there is no shinden (“inner sanctuary”).
cumulated from the offerings of small stones. The stone In Japan it was common practice for people to erect
mounds of the hilltop, mountaintop, and mountain pass
18 Yanagita and Hori, Jiisan-zuka ka (Study of the Thirteen Mounds)
16 Li-chi (The Book of Rites), III, ii, 14-16; iii, 6; etc.; cf. J. J. M. (Tokyo, 1948), pp. 194-216.
De Groot, Religion in China (New York, 15112). 19 Since the Many&shfi we can find many poems and other literary
17 “Ancestor-worship (India) ,” in Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion works, as well as works of art, that represent Mount Fuji as a divine or
and Ethics, I, 452-54. sacred mountain.
148 149
iwasaka (“sacred enclosures made of stones”) on moun- to agriculture in the eyes of the ancient Japanese. In fact,
taintops for religious purposes.2o the god of the mountain (yama-no-kami) and the god
The eruption of a volcano has been interpreted in of the rice field (ta-no-kami) were interchangeable. Even
many ancient documents as a divine creative act. For today many Japanese farmers believe that the mountain
example, when the people viewed the major eruption of god comes down in early spring to guard the rice field and
Mount Fuji in A .D . 865 at night, they thought they saw returns to the mountain in the fall. The villagers observe
a magnificent divine palace newly built on the moun- the rituals of welcoming and sending off the deity.24
taintop in the midst of the flames and smoke.21 Similarly, The third category of beliefs is concerned with the re-
in A . D . 840 a volcanic eruption on Kozu Island of the Izu lationship between the mountain and the souls of the
Archipelago so impressed the people that they believed
dead, which beliefs have played an important role in the
they saw, in addition to the divine palace, gods running
development of ancestor worship in Japan. There are
across the water holding torches to assist in the divine
two basic but contradictory beliefs in this connection.
re-creation of the island.22
The belief that mountains are the abode of the dead re-
The second category of beliefs is concerned with moun-
flects the ancient custom of actual burial on the moun-
tains as watersheds or sources of streams. Because agri-
tain, while the belief that mountains are merely the meet-
culture formed the foundation of ancient Japan, there
are many Shinto shrines dedicated to the gods of sur-
ing ground between this world and the next is predicated
rounding mountains who brought the rains and protected
upon the tradition that heaven or the other world exists
the water source.23 In the Heian period (A.D. 794-1185) some place beyond the mountains.
in the Kinki area around Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara, for These beliefs are illustrated in a poem written by
example, there were fifty-three such shrines (and in the Princess Oku lamenting the death of her brother, Prince
plain of the ancient metropolitan area of Nara alone, OtSu (d. A.D. 686) :
twenty-nine). Thus the mountain was integrally related I, living in this world,
20 See Yanagita, Kainan sh6ki (Some Folkloristic Sketches on the From tomorrow look on
Southern Islands of Japan) (Tokyo, 1925); Imo no Chikara; Hori, Yiik6 Mt. Futakami as my brother
shisa (Idea of the Migrating Kami, Heroes, and Priests) (Tokyo, 1944).
(For today he was buried there.)25
21 Sandai jitsuroku, in Kokushi taikei, Vols. IV, XIII.
22 Shoku Nihon k6ki, in Kokushi taikei, Vols. III, IX. 24 Cf. K6tar6 Hayakawa, N6 to matsuri (Agriculture and the FestivaZs
and Rites) (Tokyo, 1942); Ichird Kurata, Nd to minzoku-gaku (Agri-
23 See “Kiu shin-sai” (“Praying for Rain at Official Shinto Shrines”),
culture and Folklore Studies) (Tokyo, 1944); Yanagita, Bunrui n&on
Engishiki, in Kokushi taikei, Vol. XXIV (new ed.; Tokyo, 1964)) in
goi (Classified Folk Vocabularies of Farming-Village Life) (2 ~01s.;
which eleven shrines in Yamashiro (present Kyoto prefecture), twenty
Nagano, 1937; rev. ed.; Tokyo, 1945-46).
nine in Yamato (present Nara prefecture), three in Kawachi and Izumi
(present Osaka prefecture), and nine in Settsu (now a part of Hyago 25 Many&hi& Vol. II, No. 165 (in the “Iwanami Bunko” series
prefecture) were institutionalized and authorized. [Tokyo, 19271, p. 64).
150 151
I
Here the mountain where Prince Otsu was buried became kofun were no longer in use, the emperor’s mausoleum
the means of recalling his memory. Of ninety-four such was still called yama (“mountain”), and the official in
poems of bereavement (ban-ka-“dirge,” “funeral song,” charge of erecting the mausoleum was called yama-
or “lament”) in the Many+shii (the oldest official an- tsukuri-no-tsukasa (“official who erects the moun-
thology of Japanese poems, compiled in the eighth cen- tain”). 27 These ideas have been handed down to our
tury A.D.), there are fifty-one instances in which the soul time, so that in rural Japan the term yama is often used
of the dead is believed to rest on a mountain, a rock, or in connection with funerary rites.28 A similar belief is
a mountain valley; twenty-three instances in which it is found in the Amami and Ryukyu archipelagoes, where
believed to rest in the sky or the clouds; several instances the corpse is sometimes exposed in the bush, which sig-
in which it is believed to rest in islands, the sea, or the nificantly is called gosh&yama (“mountain of future
wilderness. But there are only three instances in which birth”) .2g
the soul of the dead is believed to rest in the underworld; Almost all sacred mountains in Japan have two sites of
this belief was influenced by the Buddhist concept of the religious services, the yama-miya (“shrine on the top of
netherworld or the Chinese concept of huang-chiian
(“underworld”). To be sure, these Many6 poems dealt 27 Cf. Kotosugu Tanikawa (1709-76), Wakun no shiori (Dic-
tionary of Iapanese Words and Their Origin and History) (Tokyo, 1887),
only with the life of the nobility, but nevertheless they Part I; Fujiwara-no-Michinaga (966-1027)) Mid&kanpaku ki, Michi-
indicate the beliefs that were widely held among all the naga’s diary in Dai Nihon kokiroku (Tokyo, 19 38), “The 2 5th Day of the
people in the seventh and eighth centuries concerning the Sixth Month of the Eighth Year of Kank8” (1007); Fujiwara-no-Yuki-
nari (d. 1027)) Gon ki, Yukinari’s diary in Shirya taisei, Vols. XXXV-
future life.26 It is significant that among these poems the XXXVI (Tokyo, 1938-39), “The Eighth Day of the Seventh Month
names of Mount Hatsuse and Mount Yoshino appear Of A.D. 1007."
often, since both of these later became sacred mountains 28 The coffin itself is called yama-oke (“mountain box”). Digging the
of Buddhism, especially to the traditions of Mantray!ina grave for burial is called yama-shigoto (“mountain work”). Choosing the
and Shugen-d& site of burial within a graveyard is called yama-gime (“choosing [or select-
ing] the mountain”). And when the funeral procession begins, the leader
In this connection we might also observe the close in- calls out: “Yama-yuki! Yama-yuki!” (“We go to the mountain!“) See
terrelationship between the mountain and the kofun Yanagita, Bunrui sdsci shnzoku goi (Classified Folk Vocabularies of
(“burial mound”). Many tombs, especially those of the Funeral Ceremonies and Customs) (Tokyo, 1937), pp. 117-19, 132-35,
emperors, were erected on natural hills, but sometimes 145, 161, etc.; Hori, Minkan shinkd, pp. 216-17.
large mounds were artificially created on the plain for the 29The relatives and friends of the dead person would come to this
place and offer food and a bottle of sake, singing and dancing around the
purpose of burying the dead. Even in Heian times, when corpse for from three to seven days. This custom reminds us of the
26 Hori, “Many6-shti ni aramreta sbei to takai-kan, reikon-kan ni ancient records of “Wo-jen chuan” in Wei-chih as well as of the legends
tsuite” (“On the Funeral Customs, Conceptions of the Other World of the Kojiki and Nihongi. See Fuyu Ifa, “Nantci komin no s@”
and the Soul of the Dead Which Appeared in the Many&shti”), Nihon (“Funeral Ceremonies and Customs in the Southern Islands of Japan”),
shw&shi kenkyii, II, 49-93. Minzoku, II, No. 6, 131 ff.
152 153
the mountain”) and the sato-miya (“shrine at the foot And the mists of the low mountains,
of the mountain”). This system of having two shrines, Will hear and receive [these words] ?2
according to Kunio Yanagita, is the prototype of the an- The above discussion may indicate how important the
cestor worship of Japan. 3o Yanagita further states that the mountain was to the religious life of the Japanese people,
earthly deities of ancient Japan were held to be the ances- both as the connecting link between this world and the
tral deities who ascend the mountain in order to observe life to come and as the link between the profane and the
the activities of their descendants. They were believed to sacred dimensions of life. It is readily understandable,
come down from the mountains at the time of harvest therefore, that Mantrayanistic ascetics in Japan, as much
and the new year to receive the homage of their descend- as the shamans of central and northern Asia, practiced
ants. From this viewpoint, it is noteworthy that in the austerities within the mountains to obtain supernatural
Norito (ancient Japanese Shinto ritual prayers) of the powers or to communicate with supernatural beings.33
o-harae (“great exorcism” or “purification”) in the Engi- Related to this is the notion of shide-no-yama (“moun-
shiki”l we can see clearly the ancient Japanese concept of tain leading to the other world”), which under Buddhist
heavenly and earthly deities. For example, influence came to be portrayed as a state of loneliness and
When he [chief priest of the Nakatomi] thus pro- painfulness characterized by the existence of demons who
nounces them [solemn ritual words] torture the souls of the dead.34 Another belief which
The heavenly deities (Ama-tsu-kami) will push open 32 Donald Philippi, Norito: A New TransZation of the Ancient Japa-
the heavenly rock door, nese Ritual Prayers (Tokyo, 1959)) p. 47. Philippi translated the term
And pushing with an awesome pushing through the ihori as “mists”; however, Yanagita interpreted this as “hermitage” or
myriad layers of heavenly clouds, “ritual hut.”
Will hear and receive [these words]. 33 Even today in some places in Japan, puberty rites are conducted
by yamabushi within the mountains. See Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinka-
shi no kenkyii, II, Part II: “Sangaku Bukkye no tenkai to Shugen-ja
Then the earthly deities (Kuni-tsu-kami) will climb up yamabushi no yugyb-teki kin6 to keitai” (“Development of Mountain
To the summits of the high mountains and to the Buddhism and the Social Functions of Shugen-d6 Priests”), pp. 58-248.
Summits of the low mountains, a4 In the Jigoku-by?jbu (Scroll of Hell), for instance, a woman is
And pushing aside the mists of the high mountains depicted as barely able to walk because she is constantly beaten by demons.
On this scroll the retired Emperor Nijb (reigned I I 58-65) wrote a poem:
30 The most significant example of this dual system is the festival One passes over the shide-no-)rama alone,
that celebrates the yama-miya and uji-gami simultaneously, an annual Without any relative or acquaintance,
event performed jointly by the members of hereditary priestly families Accompanied only by his former life’s sins,
of the shrine of Ise-the Arakida and Watarai families-a tradition that Tortured and crying all the while.
has continued for more than a thousand years. See Yanagita, Yama-miya See the Shin zoku kokin waka-sh8, an anthology of poems compiled by
kd (A Study of the Mountain Shrine) (Tokyo, 1947). Masayo Fujiwara in A.D. 1439, in Kokka taikan (Tokyo, 1903)~ Vol.
31 “Norito” (“Ritual Prayers”), Eugishiki. VIII.
154 155
Mountains and Their Importance
came to be widely held in Japan was the cuckoo bird as

the messenger between this world and the next.35 These
notions-the mountains leading to the other world and
the cuckoo bird as the messenger-so often cited in Japa-
nese classical literature, were not merely literary fancies
but were important ingredients of the religious life of the
Japanese, who took mountains very seriously.
The relationship between the soul of the dead and the
mountain is also seen in the bon festival, which is usually
held from the thirteenth to the sixteenth of the seventh
month of the lunar calendar (July or August). In some
places, big fires ( bon-bi)36 are kindled on the tops of
mountains or hills to welcome the spirits of the dead an-
cestors, who are thought to return to their places of birth
and receive offerings from their descendants.3T There are
35 The famous poet, Ise-no_Tayfi (ca. 987-1036), composed a poem
upon hearing the song of the cuckoo, in which she lamented her departed
son who had died the year before:
Please tell me all of
How my beloved son fares
In the Other World,
Oh! cuckoo
Because you must have passed over
The shide-no-yama from the Other World.
See “Aish6” (“Dirge” or “Lament”), Shtii waka-sh& an anthology of
poems supposedly compiled by the retired Emperor Kazan or Kintd Fuji-
wara about 996, Vol. XX, in Iwanami Bunko (Tokyo, 1938), Nos.
1774-75.
36 The “bonfire” known to the European and American readers is
different historically and etymologically from Japanese bon-bi (translated
here as bon fire).
37 One of the best-known bon &es is the dai-monji-yaki in Kyoto in
which thousands of torches are kindled in the shape of the character dai
(ta in Chinese) on the midslope of a peak of the East Mountain chain
of Kyoto. In some places, boys and girls make a big fire or brandish a
156
also two widespread customs in rural areas which mark

the beginning of the bon festival. The first is bon-michi-
tsukuri (“making of the bon road”), according to which
weeds from the top of a mountain or hill are cleared away
in order to make way for the spirits of the ancestors. The
other custom is bon-bana-mukae (“flower-gathering for
the bon festival”), according to which special kinds of
flowers, called bon flowers (such as the broad bell flower,
the Petrinia scabiosafolia, the bush clover, the gold-
banded lily, and the wild pink), are picked from the tops
of mountains or hills. The people believe that the spirits
of the dead ancestors enter into these bon flowers in
order to visit their homes. 38 In many areas of Japan,
catching certain kinds of dragonflies is strictly prohibited
during the bon festivals because it is thought that they
actually incarnate the spirits of the dead.3g
On several sacred mountains-such as Mount Kdya, a
center of the Shingon sect; Mount Asama in Mie pre-
fecture; Mount Risshaku-ji in Yamagata prefecture; and
Mount Osore in Aomori prefecture-parts of the remains
of the deceased are buried.40 In these mountains, certain
kindled straw rope separately on nearby hilltops, crying: “Grandpa!

Grandma! See this fire, and come visit us!” See Yanagita, Bunrui saiji
shazoku goi (Classified FoZk Vocabularies on the Annual Festivals and
Customs) (Tokyo, 1939), pp. 517 ff.
as If there is no mountain or hill near the village, the villagers must
go to the bon-ichi (“the market for bon”) at a nearby town to buy the
bon flowers. See Hiromasa Ikegami, “Bon-bana k6” (“A Study of the
Bon Flowers”), Shtikyi, kenkyfi, XIV, No. 1 (1937), 107 ff.
aa These dragonflies are sometimes called shc%y&yamma (“dragonfly
of the spirits of the dead”). See Yanagita, Bunrui saiji shfizoku goi, p. 450.
40 On the feast days for Bodhisattva Jiz6 (Sanskrit, Kshitigarbha, a
Buddhist savior from hell), on those for other buddhas or bodhisattvas,
and on the spring and autumn equinoxes, many persons ascend these
159
Mountains and Their Importance Mountains and Their importance
areas around the temple are designated as representing

jigoku (“hell”) and gokuraku (“pure land” or “para-
dise”) ; worshippers are expected to go through the for- c[ Sacred Mountain
mer before entering the latter. In this manner the his- and Sacred Water
toric Buddhist notion of perpendicular cosmology, con-
sisting of the three levels of heaven, earth, and under- In the history of Japanese mountain religion there are a
world, has been reinterpreted to fit into the indigenous number of sacred mountains. Foremost among them is
religious view of the Japanese. Furthermore, from the Mount Yoshino, around which many myths and legends
Middle Ages on, almost all the important mountains of have arisen. According to the ancient legends, the first
Japan have been occupied by Buddhist priests and the emperor, Jimmu, had crossed over Mount Yoshino dur-
shugen-ja (“mountain ascetics”) of Shugen-dd. Inevitably, ing his campaign from Kyushu to Yamato, the present
theologies of mountain religion developed in the two Nara prefecture. We are told that Jimmu had encountered
Mantrayanistic sects of Tendai and Shingon based on the mountain tribes in this region. One night while Jimmu
twofold principle of the Esoteric mandala-that is, “realm was sleeping by the Nifu River in this area, he was given
of the indestructibles” or “diamond” (in Sanskrit, vajra- magico-religious power by the sun goddess (Amaterasu) ,
dh&u; in Japanese, kong&kai)-and “womb store” (in and with the aid of the cross sword and a gigantic crow
Sanskrit, garbha-kukshi; in Japanese, taizd) . Significantly, he was able to pacify these mountain tribes.‘l
these theologies were greatly influenced by the pre- More pertinent for our purpose is the historical ac-
Buddhist Japanese beliefs concerning mountains, as evi- count of the Emperor Temmu (A.D. 622-686), who at
denced by the dhtita austerities, which are usually prac- one time retired to Mount Yoshino and underwent aus-
ticed on the mountain, as well as by shamanistic cosmol- tere Buddhist training on the mountain. At that time he
ogy and practices. composed the following poem.
I shall illustrate some of the important motifs of moun-
tain beliefs in the following sections. On the peak of Mimiga of fair Yoshinu42
The snow is falling constantly,
mountains to hold memorial services for the spirits of their dead relatives. The rain is falling ceaselessly;
Many wooden stupas dedicated to the spirits of the dead are erected on Constantly as falls the snow,
these mountaintops. There worshippers invoke buddhas or bodhisattvas
for the easy passage of the dead into Buddha’s Pure Land. See Hori,
Ceaselessly as beats the rain,
Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyfi, I, 229; Hori, Nihon shfiky&shi Ever thinking I have come,
kenkye (Tokyo, 1962), I, 173-75.
41 Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters), trans. Chamberlain (Tokyo,
1906)) pp. 157-74; Aston, Nihongi, I, 112-30.
42 Mount Yoshino was called Yoshinu in the Many&shii period,
160 161
Missing not one turning It is also interesting to note that Empress Jit.6, who
Of that mountain-path!43 succeeded Temmu in 687, was greatly impressed by the
beauty and numinous atmosphere of Mount Yoshino and
During the civil war which ensued, Temmu, much as the
paid thirty-two visits to it in the course of her life.46 We
legendary Emperor Jimmu had done before him, prayed
must bear in mind once again that this mountain was
to Amaterasu for victory and received a favorable oracle
in his dream. This event also took place at Mount Yo- the same or different mothers, together comply with the Emperor’s behest,
shino.‘4 It is apparent that the legend of Emperor Jimmu and will give each other mutual support and avoid contention. If, from
and the account of Emperor Temmu follow the same this time forward, any of us should not keep this vow, may he himself
perish and may his line become extinct! There will be no forgetfulness
pattern, and, significantly, Mount Yoshino appears prom- or failure.’
inently in both accounts. Furthermore, it was at Mount “The (other) five Imperial Princes took oath together in the above
Yoshino that Emperor Temmu, after the civil war, de- terms in order one after another, and thereupon the Emperor said, ‘Ye,
my sons, though each born of different mothers, are now in affection
manded and received oaths of loyalty from the imperial as if born of one mother.’ Accordingly, loosening out his collar, he took
princes, thus recognizing the special sacredness of this the six Imperial Princes to his bosom, and made oath, saying, ‘If we con-
mountain.4j travene this oath, may our body perish instantly!’ The Empress-consort’s
oath was like that of the Emperor.
43 The Emperor Temmu, then known s Crown Prince Mama, was “7th day: The Emperor’s car returned to the palace. 10th day: The
involved in succession rivalry with another prince following the death six Imperial Princes together paid their respects to the Emperor before the
of Emperor Tenchi in 671, and left the imperial palace in Omi (near Great Hall.”
present Otsu) for Mount Yoshino. In 672 he defeated the Omi dynasty 4s The following poem in the Many&shB, Vol. I, No. 36 (English
and founded his Asuka dynasty in Nara prefecture. See The Manydshfi, translation from The Many6shti, p. 20), was composed by Kakinomoto-
One Thousand Poems Selected and Translated from the Iapanese (herein- no-Hitomaro on the occasion of one of her visits to Mount Yoshino:
after cited as The Many&hii) (Tokyo, 1940), p, 17.
Though, in the Land where rules our Sovereign,
44 Nihongi, II, 301-20. The Provinces are many,
45Nihongi, pp. 341-42; Temmu: 8th year (A.D. 679): “5th month, She loves, in Yoshinu, the field of Akitsu,
5th day: The Emperor proceeded to the palace of Yoshino. 6th day: Encircled by clear streams and towering mountains,
The Emperor addressed the Empress-consort, the Imperial Prince Kusa- Where cherry-flowers fall,
kabe, The Imperial Prince, Ohotsu, the Imperial Prince Takechi, the Im- And there she has reared herself
perial Prince Kawashima, the Imperial Prince Osakabe, and the Imperial A mighty-pillar’d palace.
Prince Shiki, saying, ‘We wish today to unite with you in making a vow Here the courtiers row their barges
in the Court, so that after a thousand years there may be no trouble. Side by side across the morning waters
What think ye?’ The Imperial Princes answered together, saying, ‘The And race upon the evening stream,
reasonableness of this is manifest.’ Accordingly, His Highness the Im- Endless as this river flows,
perial Prince Kusakabe stood forward first and made oath, saying, ‘Ye Lofty as those mountains,
gods of Heaven and Earth, and ye Emperors, bear witness! We, elder Will it stand for aye,
and younger brothers, young or of mature age, more than ten Princes And never tire my eyes,
in all, born each of different mothers, without respect of birth from This palace by the stream!
162 163
noted not only for its beauty but also for its sacredness, Mount Tachi and Mount Futagami became the centers
so that a number of shrines came to be built there in of Shugen-d6 in the medieval period, and many Shinto
honor of the mountain deities.47 Some scholars assert that shrines and Shugen-d6 temples were built near them.m
the frequent visits by Jito and later royalty were moti- The streams invariably girdling the sacred mountains
vated by their search for the sacred water with which the of Japan may be explained as symbolic of the boundaries
heavenly deities might best be served and worshipped and
Of the engirdling Katakai,
in which they, as the heads of the imperial court, might
The Mountain will not leave our memory.
bathe and purify the court and the nation.48 This seems Envoys
to be a sound interpretation of the magico-religious func- The snows on Mount Tachi
tion of sacred mountains implied in these visits. In fact, Refresh me all through summer,
the sacred mountains in Japan without exception have Thanks to its divinity!
sacred waters which proceed from them.4g Among them, Unfailing as the limpid water
On Katakai’s shallows,
47 It should not be considered mere rhetorical flourish that in the
Will I come and gaze upon the mountain.
Kaifiisb (a Chinese-style anthology compiled about the same time as the Many&ha, Vol. XVII, Nos. 4ooo-4002; English translation from The
Many&shti), Mount Yoshino was frequently praised with the Chinese Many&ha, pp. 182-83.
Taoistic expressions as the “abode of holy wizards” or the “palace of divine 50 Many&h& Vol. XVII, No. 3985, records another poem composed
genii.” See Many&h@ Vol. VIII, No. 1’33. in 747 by Yakamochi entitled “In Praise of Mount Futagami.”
4s Yasabur6 Ikeda and Kenkichi Yamamoto, Many6 Hyakka (One Mount Futagami, round which flow
Hundred Poems from the Many&shii (Tokyo, 1963)) pp. 175,276. The waters of Imizu,
When I come out and gaze upon it
49 These sacred waters are usually called harae-gawa (“rivers of purifi-
In the rich and blossomed spring,
cation”) or mitarashi-gawa (literally, “rivers of divine girdle”; nowadays
Or in the glorious leaf of autumn
they write the characters of mitarashi as “holy washing of one’s hands”).
How sublime it soars
An early poem which celebrates mountains is important for our purposes.
Because of its divinity,
The following poem from the Many&shti, “In Praise of Mount Tachi,”
And how beautiful it stands,
was composed in 747 by &omo-no-Yakamochi:
With its shapely peaks.
In the land of Koshi Ceaselessly as the white waves break
Famous among the distant regions, As morning calm,
Many are the mountains And increasing as the flood-tide swells
And countless rivers run, At evening lull,
But on Mount Tachi of Niikawa About the rocky cape of Shibutani,
Because of its divinity, The godlike skirting ridge,
Snow lies throughout summer, All who gaze upon it
Unlike the mists that form and lift Give admiration to this mountain
Each morning and evening From old times to this day!
Over the limpid shallows English translation from The Many&hi& pp. 144-45.
164 165
between the profane and sacred worlds, the human and ascends the throne.51 In the popular belief of rural areas,
divine worlds, this world and the other world. Therefore, the mountain deity is believed to be a goddess who once
whoever wants to possess the divine power of the moun- a year gives birth to twelve children. She is therefore
tains or to communicate with the mountain deities must called Mrs. Twelve (Jiini-sama), and her twelve children
undergo some initiatory mysteries by these sacred waters. symbolize the twelve months of the year.52
Six empresses reigned in Japan from A.D. 593 to 770, a These beliefs in mountain deities probably originated
period in which the Kojiki and Nihongi were compiled in ancient Japan among the hunting tribes who believed
and in which Buddhism was introduced. These empresses in the existence of the Divine Mother of the Mountain.
frequently visited the sacred mountains, sacred waters, We are again indebted to Yanagita53 for depicting three
and sacred hot springs. We have no documents to explain major types of these mountain beliefs.
the purposes of these frequent imperial visits; however,
51 In the Heian period, a symbolic drama was performed at this rite
legends of the ancient shamanistic Queen Pi-mi-ko of the in which the priestess brought a mysterious box in her hand and wore a
Yamatai Kingdom have remained in the memories of the special wig made of creepers from the sacred mountain recess named Mi-
Japanese people and have been enhanced by the activities yama-katsura. See the “Songs of the Chinkon Ritual” cited in the Nenjii-
gy6ji-hishci (Memorandum of Annual Rites), which is a manuscript of
of shamanistic Buddhists throughout the ages.
unknown authorship written in the latter years of the Heian period in the
twelfth century (Kojitsu Sash0 [Tokyo, 19311). See also Hori, “Mysteri-
ous Visitors from the Harvest to the New Year,” in Dorson, Studies in
([ The Mountain as the Divine Mother Japanese Folklore, pp. 96-97, and n. 37.
52 Also, she is believed to assure easy child delivery. In many districts,
if a woman is having a difficult delivery, her husband or a relative will
usually lead a horse in the direction of the mountain in order to receive
One of the significant characteristics of mountain reli-
the mountain deity. Sometimes a scroll depicting the mountain deity
gion in Japan is the belief that the mountain itself has a or some magical symbol such as a rice spoon or pillow is hung at a pregnant
mystical power to cause the birth or rebirth of human be- woman’s bedside. The rice spoon is a symbol of the phallus and is held
ings and animals. More often than not, in ancient Japa- in the right hand of the mountain deity. See Ichir6 Kurata, “Yama-
no-kami” (“Mountain God”), in Yanagita, Sanson seikatsu no kenkyii,
nese myths mountain deities are portrayed as female. For pp. 414 ff.; Yanagita, San’iku shfizoku goi (Folk Vocabularies of the
example, it was a female deity, O-hirume (the Great Au- Customs of Childbirth and Nursing) (Tokyo, 1936), pp. 38 ff.; Yaichird
gust Sun Goddess, which is another name for Amaterasu- Yamaguchi, “Nanzan niwa Yama-no-kami” (“Mountain God for Difficult
O-mikami, the ancestral deity of the imperial family) Delivery”), Minkan denshd, X, No. 2, 14 ff.
who is believed to have brought down, presumably from 63 Yanagita, “Yamatachi to yamabushi” (“Hunters and the Yama-
bush?‘), in Sanson seikatsu no kenkyii pp. 538-47; Yama no jinsei (Life
the sacred mountain, the “soul box” of the new emperor in the Mountain) (Tokyo, 1926); “Kami wo tasuketa hanashi” (“Legends
at the time of his enthronement. According to this be- of Persons Who Helped Deities”), Yanagita Kunio chosaku-shii (2d ed.;
lief, the imperial charisma is embodied in the imperial Tokyo, 1950), Vol. X; Kizen Sasaki, “Banji, Banzaburfi no hanashi”
soul, which has to be given to the new emperor when he (“Legend of Banji and Banzaburd [two hunting brothers]“), Ted ibun
166 167
According to the first-the Kaya type-the mountain giant centipede. The goddess of Mount Nikka therefore
goddess and her son play dominant roles in guiding the rewarded Banzaburd by giving him the right of hunting
people and granting them permission to build houses or in every mountain and forest of Japan. Moreover, Banza-
temples and in guarding the mountain. The name bur6 himself came to be regarded as either the ancestor
“KGya” is taken from the mountain where Kakai, the or the guardian deity of the hunting tribes, and in some
ninth-century patriarch of the Shingon sect, established cases he is celebrated as the son of the Mountain Maiden
his monastic center. According to the legend, he met a (Yama-hime) and the Monkey King. This type of legend
young hunter who was accompanied by two dogs, and came to be associated with the mountain ascetics of the
through him Ktikai met the hunter’s mother, Nibu-tsu- Tendai Buddhist tradition, and is widely circulated
hime, the goddess of the mountain, and secured her per- among the hunters in east and northeast Honshu.6S
mission to build monasteries at Kaya. This legend, According to the third-the Shiiba type-typified by
which undoubtedly was influenced by those of hunting the legend transmitted in the village of Shiiba in south-
tribes, came to be widely circulated in \various parts of em Kyushu, the mountain goddess appears in the form
Japan, especially among the hunters in northeast Honshu. of a helpless maiden who tests the characters of hunters.
According to the second-the Nikk6 type-the god- There were two brothers-the older, Oma, who was heart-
dess of the mountain rewards certain hunters for their less; the younger, Koma, noted for his compassion. One
meritorious deeds with the right of hunting within her day when these brothers were hunting in the mountain
domain. The goddess of Mount Nikka (in Tochigi pre- they met a maiden who had just given birth to a child
fecture) was at one time attacked by the deity of nearby and who asked for food. The older brother, being afraid
Mount Akagi, whereupon the goddess of Mount Nikka of the impurity of blood, ignored her request. The
asked the help of a young hunter, BanzaburG, who was younger brother out of compassion offered his own lunch
known for his skill in archery. Banzabure shot out the basket, whereupon the maiden, who in reality was the
eyes of the deity of Mount Akagi, who was disguised as a Divine Mother of the Mountain (Yama-no-Shinbo),
promised him success and happiness.66 There is a wide
(Legends of Northeast Honshu) (Tokyo, 1926). pp. 15-65; BuntarB variety of legends based on this motif which have been
Takahashi, Akita Matagi shiry6 (Folklore of Hunters in Akita Prefecture
handed down among the hunters of northeast Honshu.5’
Named Matagi) (Attic Museum Note, No. 12 [Tokyo, 19371); Taka-
hashi, Futara-jinja bunka-bu: Nikkd kari-kotoba ki (Hunting Traditions 55 Yanagita, “Kami wo tasuketa hanashi,” Sanson seikatsu no kenkyfi,
in Mount Nikkd) (Tokyo, 1960). pp. 36-38; Yanagita (ed.), Minzokugaku jiten, p. 484.
54 Consequently, K&i built a shrine in honor of the mountain goddess 56 Yanagita, Nochi no kari-kotoba no ki (On Hunting Traditions)
and her son Kariba-my6jin (literally, “Deity of the Hunting Field”) as (Tokyo, 1908,1951).
the guardians of Shingon Buddhism, and more particularly of the Kong&
bu-ji temple on Mount Kaya. The meaning of the name of the mountain 57 Sasaki, “Banji, Banzabura no hanashi,” T6d ibun, pp. 56-58; see
goddess Nibu-tsu-hime will be discussed later. See Yanagita, “Yamatachi also his “Yomego-nezumi no hanashi” (“Stories of Rats and Brides”),
to yamabushi,” Sanson seikatsu no kenkyti, p. 544. Tti ibun, pp. 86-90.
168 169
([ Mounts Gassan and Haguro as Divine Mothers
As noted earlier, many of the mountains in Japan became

centers of the activities of Shugen-d& Chief among these
is Mount Gassan, the most prominent among the three
sacred mountains in Dewa, or present-day Yamagata pre-
fecture (Dewa-San-zan), where the mountain ascetics of
both the Haguro and Yudono sects practice religious aus-
terities. Mount Gassan (literally, “Mount Moon”) is
worshipped by the farmers of the vicinity as an agricul-
tural deity (Nb-gami) and as the resting place of ances-
tors or spirits of the dead.58 Special Shugen-d6 annual
rites are performed on Mount Gassan for the four sea
sons: Entering the Spring Peak (Hamno-mine), Enter-
68 On the first day of the bon festival, a big welcoming fire (mukae-bi)
is kindled by the chief abbot of the Haguro sect of Shugen-db at a special
place called Saitd-mori near the top of Mount Gassan. Then similar
welcoming bon fires are lit in order from higher to lower at each place
for ascetic exercises on the mountain. When the last in the sequence
of bon fires has been lit on the mountain, each family in the villages
at the foot lights a bon fire at the front door in order to welcome that
family’s ancestors. This custom seems to illustrate that the ancestor spirits
arrive first at the top of Mount Gassan and then gradually come down
to each family. However, from the Tokugawa period, Mount Gassan has
been considered the sacred mountain of Shugen-dd. Therefore it is believed
that several years after death the spirits of the dead climb up Mount
Gassan, during which time they are celebrated in memorial services at par-
ticular places named Mori-no-yama (“Wood Mountain”) near the villages.
See Yoshio Toda, “Honpd ni okeru shi-rei-shinkB no jisshb-teki kenkyti”
(“Report of Field Research on Belief in Spirits of the Dead in Japan”),
Shfikya kenkyti, No. 127 (19 51) ; Yoshio Toda, “Mori no shinko” (“Belief
and Practice of the Mori or Sacred Bush”), Shtiky8 kenkyii, No. 131
( 19 5 2 ) ; Anshi, Togawa, “Uzen Haguro-san no Bon-gy6ji” (“On the Bon
Festivals in Mount Haguro in Yamagata Prefecture”), Sendai kyado ken-
ky& No. 158 (1948)~ pp. 5-7.
170
ing the Summer Peak (Natsu-no-mine) , Entering the Au-

tumn Peak (Aki-no-mine), and Entering the Winter
Peak (Fuyu-no-mine) . The autumn peak is of special in-
terest because it features rituals that include the initia-
tory austerities for the novices of Shugen-do.
The main rites of the autumn peak begin with the mys-
tery of entering the Great Womb Store (garbha-hukshi
or taizd-kai), symbolized by the special hat and sacred
wooden box (oi) on the back of the leading mountain
ascetic (dai-sendatsu, “great [or chief] leader”) and by
the ritual act of throwing down the symbolic and decora-
tive pillar (bonden) in front of the main Buddha hall of
Shugen-de seminaries in Toge-mura on Mount Haguro.
These symbols and rituals are explained by the fact that
all the novices, together with the leading mountain as-
cetic, symbolically die and enter the womb of the Great
Mother, Dai-nichi-nyorai (Great Sun Buddha Mahavai-
rocana) or enter the underworld. The religious austerities
and rituals continue for about ten days at the end of Au-
gust, though they are now extremely shortened and sim-
plified from their original forms. The series of rituals and
austerities is divided into three periods: severe ordeals;
taboos of food, speech, and sleeping; and the dhfita (zuda
in Japanese) practices. Symbolically, the novices pass
through the six stages of Buddhist Hell (Jigoku), In-
ferno of Starvation (Gaki), the Realm of Beasts (Chi-
kusha), the World of AsQras ( S h u r a ) , t h e W o r l d o f
Humans (Ningen) , and Heaven (Ten j0) into the Great
Womb Store. At each step of the three periods, several
mysteries and dh&a practices are performed. It is note-
worthy that the main hall of the Ketaku-ji temple on top
of Mynt Haguro, in which the novices lead a secluded
life, is decorated with symbols of the Great Mother’s
173
womb. Hanging from the ceiling in the center of the hall

are red and white pieces of cloth about one meter long
about which twisted hemp threads are wrapped. These ([ Mountain as Axis Mundi
pieces of cloth are said to symbolize the Great Mother’s
blood vessels, and the hemp threads symbolize her bones. Mountains are frequently regarded not only as the divine
Because the religious austerities of the Autumn Peak are mother but also as the symbol of the cosmic mountain,
those of the Great Womb Store, or of pilgrimages into which is the axis mundi according to cosmologies in vari-
the Great Mother’s womb, the dhdta practices are usu- ous parts of the world. In the shamanic cosmology, which
ally performed at the rapids, streams, or waterfalls which was probably influenced by Tibetan lamaism and the an-
flow down from the mountaintop. The novices as well cient Bablyonian world view, the axis mundi is the moun-
as the leader wear white robes, different from the normal tain of gold which contains from seven to nine stages of
mountain ascetic’s robes of yellowish brown. The white heaven, the highest stage being the throne of the su-
robe corresponds to that of the deceased and the preme deity of the universe.” A similar view has been
mourner. At the end of the series of initiatory rituals, held by the Buddhist tradition, which regards the sacred
each novice is led to the most sacred valley, Moto-haguro mountain of Sumeru (or Meru) as the center of the
(“Original Haguro”) d He makes his final confession here universe. In Japan, Mount Yoshino was significantly
and purifies himself by the sacred waterfall. Then, nov- called Kinpu-sen (“Mount Golden Peak”) or, more po-
ices go to the top of Mount Haguro and crouch together etically, Kane-no-mitake or Mikane-no-take (“Divine.
in front of the main shrine of Hagurogongen. At the sig- Peak of Gold”). In China, Wu-tai-shan, under the influ-
nal of a loud cry by the leader, the novices spring up sud- ence of Buddhism, came to be regarded as the abode of
denly, shout loudly, and run downhill to the main sem- Monju (MafijuSrP in Sanskrit) .61 During the Heian period
inary in Toge-mura at mid-slope. The shout is called the
first cry of a child at birth (ubu-goe) . Finally, the novices (Mountain Ascetics of the Haguro Shugen-dd Sect and Folk Beliefs)
must jump over the sacred fire in front of the main sem- (Tsuruoka, I 9 50) . This was also observed in my field research on the Fall
Peak (Aki-no-mine) in Haguro in 1963.
inary and the main Buddha hall, where the first mystery
60 S. M. Shirokogoroff, Psychomental Complex of the Tungus (Lon-
was performed. After this, the novices are believed to be don, 193 5 ) ; Mironov and Shirokogoroff, “Srlmana-Shaman”; Eliade,
reborn as new mountain ascetics from the Great Womb Shamanism; Harva, Die ReJigiGsen Vorstellungen der altaischen VGJker.
Store and have conferred upon them certificates giving 61 According to Ennin’s diary, Nitta guhci junrei-kd-ki, he (Jikaku
the mountain ascetics new names, degrees, and secret Daishi, 794-864) arrived at the foot of Wu-tai-shan on the twenty-eighth
knowledge of Shugen-d&6g day of the fourth month in 840. He wrote: “This then is the region of
Monju (Bodhisattva MaiijuSrl). There are no trees to be seen on the
59 Anshb Togawa, “Haguro Shugen no nytibu shugyd” (“On Religious rounded heights of the five summits, and they look like overturned bronze
Austerities in the Mountains of Haguro Shugen-d6”), Shhky6 kenkyli, bowls. On looking at them from afar, our tears flowed involuntarily.
No. 136 (1953)) pp. 37-56; Togawa, Haguro yamabushi to minkan-shinke The trees and strange flowers are unlike those anywhere else, and it is
174 175
a belief developed among Japanese Buddhists that Wu- The mountain beliefs in Japan, as illustrated above,
tai-shan in China was really the paradise of the Golden show a typological similarity to shamanic beliefs of the
Mountain of Buddhist cosmology.62 archaic period in other parts of the world, in which such
There is not sufficient evidence as yet to trace a causal motifs as magical heat, ascension to heaven, and descent
relationship between the belief in Mount Yoshino as the to the netherworld are prominent. In Japan, it is signif-
peak of gold and Wu-tai-shan as the golden world of icant that these motifs are integrally related to sacred
Monju. We are more certain, however, that from ancient mountains, which are both the object of religious wor-
times Mount Yoshino has been considered the symbol of ship and the arena of religious practices.s4 Thus, we see
the cosmic mountain.” that the mountain is believed to be the world of the
dead; the meeting place of the living and the dead; or a
a most unusual region. This then is the gold-colored world of Mount passageway from this world to the’ next-from the pro-
Ch’ing-liang (Sheryh in Japanese, literally, “Mount Clear and Cool”), fane to the sacred and from earth to heaven. The moun-
where Monju manifested himself for our benefit.” See Ennin [Jikaku
Daishi], Nittd guhd junrei kdki, translation with annotations, in Kokuyaku
tain is also believed to be the world of the spirits and of
issai kyo, “Shiden-bu” (“Part of History and Biographies”), Vol. XXV the deities, buddhas, or bodhisattvas, where shamans and
(rev. ed., 1963), pp. 259-419; Reischauer, Ennin’s Diary, p. 214. ascetics must undergo the austerities of hell to receive the
62 In the Nihon @i-k& compiled by a Buddhist monk in the early powers and blessings of paradise and where souls of the
Heian period (early ninth century), Otomo-no-Yasuko tells of his mys- dead also must undergo initiation in order to enter para-
terious pilgrimages to the Other World after his sudden fainting; he
climbed up the Paradise of the Golden Mountain and met there the late
dise or Buddha’s Pure Land. Shugen-db, or mountain
Prince Sh6toku and the Buddhist saint Gycgi. The author of the Nihon- asceticism, was built on just these primitive but funda-
rysi-ki commented that the Paradise of the Golden Mountain might be
Wu-tai-shan. See Ky&ai, “Nihon @i-k? in Nihon koten zensho, anno- the ground was pure and completely flat, and a golden light shown over it.
tated by Ytikichi Takeda (Tokyo, 1950), pp. 75-79. In the north there was a mountain of gold which was an altar made of
as We can read a very interesting description in the D6ken shGnin seven treasures. The second virtuous monk sat on this altar and said to
meido-ki (Record of the Pilgrimage into the Other World by the Buddhist Dbken that he was Zab-bosatsu, the incarnation of Sakya-muni and the
Monk D6ken), which was quoted in the Fusb ryakki compiled in the latter main deity of Mount Yoshino, and that this world was the Pure Land
Heian period. Daken wrote: “At noon on the second day of the eighth of Mount Golden Peak [Kinpu]. Zab-bosatsu gave D6ken the new name
month [of A.D. 9411 when D6ken had practiced religious austerities, H6z6 and made him take a pilgrimage into Hell in the mountain. . . .
he suddenly felt an extreme inner heat. His throat and tongue were parched Z&i-bosatsu also taught D6ken powerful magic, mysteries, and new knowl-
with thirst, his breathing almost stopped. . . . After a moment he was edge, such as the cause of the disasters in this world.” See Fus&ryakki,
choked, and his soul left his body to roam about. . . . His soul then met in Kokushi taikei, Vol. XII (Tokyo, 1932), pp. 219-22; Fusb-ryakki
a Buddhist monk who came out of a cave and gave Daken’s soul a cup was originally thirty volumes of chronological records from the earliest
of sacred water. The Buddhist monk said that he.was Vajradhara [Shu- times to the reign of Emperor Horikawa (reigned 10861106) which
kongb-jin, in ppanese] and permanently resided in the cave in order was compiled by K&n (d. ii69), a Tendai monk and the teacher of
to guard the Sake-muni’s Law. . . . From the summit he was able to Genkti (Hdnen ShGnin) of the Pure Land school.
observe the whole universe below. This mountain was the highest, and a See Mircea Eliade, Birth and Rebirth (New York, 1958), pp. 85-87.
176 177
mental common beliefs in mountains. Mount Yoshino, cetics and the hunters. The hunting rituals on the moun-
for example, had been regarded in the ancient Yamato tains performed by the professional hunters were clearly
dynasty as both the cosmic mountain and the Great formed under the influence of Shugen-d6.
Mother, rejuvenator and guardian of the mysteries of life. Japanese mountain worship, though historically col-
It had been an important holy site for magico-religious ored by Shugen-db and Tantric Buddhism, has preserved
initiation, where the mysteries were performed to gain many features of ancient shamanism which can be traced
possession of magical power. In this connection, we to the prehistoric period.
should note the existence of the Nibu- (or Nifu-) Kawa-
kami shrine, which was located originally at the source of
the Yoshino River; later, the mountain was worshipped
at this shrine as a provider of rain.6K According to Yana-
gita,” niho, nifu, or nyii (all of which now mean “stack
of rice straw”) had the original meaning of the delivery
hut of the rice plant or rice child. I have already men-
tioned Nibu-tsu-hime, the mountain goddess of Mount
KGya, and her divine son Kariba-mybjin. Also, we can find
in Japan many places named Nibu, Nifu, or Niu, which
are without exception situated at river sources or water-
sheds. Therefore, it seems that the mountain goddess was
originally the goddess of reproduction of both plants and
animals as well as human beings. These mountain god-
desses were first worshipped by the hunting tribes, then
by the farmers. There is some evidence that the sacred
mountains occupied by mountain ascetics were exploited
at first by leaders or magicians among the hunters. And
there is an intimate connection between mountain as-
66 The terms nibu or nifu in Japanese folk vocabulary mean “child-
birth” or “pregnancy.” Yanagita (ed.), Wga Nihon minzoku goi (Syn-
thetic Vocabularies of Japanese Folklore) (Tokyo, 1941), III, 1148.
aa Yanagita, “Ine no ubuya” (“Delivery Hut of the Rice Plant”),
in Niiname no kenkyii (Studies on the Harvest Festivals) (Tokyo, 1952)~
I, 22.
178 179
CHAPTER
7
!~Z~IZ J apanese shamanism has persisted throughout a
long period of religious history without having been insti-
tutionalized in a strict sense, though it commingled with
Shinto and Buddhism and underwent many changes.
The leading role in Japanese shamanism has been
played by shamanesses. As Takashi Akiba has pointed
out,l Korean shamanism shows a significant contrast be-
tween northern and southern Korea. There are a few
male shamans in the north, while in the south (except
for Saishti Island) there are almost exclusively shaman-
esses. In fact, generally in the southern part of Korea,
the Ryukyu Islands, and many parts of Japan shamanesses
outnumber shamans. In Japanese, the general term for
a shamanic figure is miko, which means explicitly a
shamaness. There is no special term for a male shaman.
1 Takashi Akiba, Ch6sen fuzoku no genchi kenkyfi (A Study Based

on Field Researches on Korean Shamanism) (Tenri, 1950), pp. 13-31,
especially pp. 27-28.
181
Japanese Shamanism Japanese Shamanism
A good illustration is seen in a folk song from the twelfth- term) are usually chosen from among daughters of he-
century Ryajin-hisha. reditary families of Shinto priests or of hereditary pa-
rishioners of particular Shinto shrines. By contrast, the
Isn’t there any competent Woman
sato-miko (or kuchiyose-miko, using Nakayama’s term)
In the Eastern Province [Azumal?
become shamanesses through certain initiatory ordeals
There are male shamans there;
and training directed by a teacher or elders.
Then, Deities and Spirits I must add a third category, which includes both male
Inspire and possess the Man.2 and female shamans, in order to clarify the shamanic
According to the classification of Tarb Nakayama, elements of contemporary religious phenomena in Japan,
Japanese shamanesses are divided into two categories. such as the newly arisen religions,4 and the functions of
The first category he calls the Kan-nagi, which include the many independent sorcerers and magicians. I shall call
miko, who belong to the imperial court and Shinto this category the jussha (magician) or gycja (practi-
shrines. These shamanesses retain roles only in certain tioner) system-that is, the magico-shamanic system. The
formal Shinto rituals but have lost almost all their orig- Japanese jussha and g@ja are chosen by their guardian
inal functions and techniques. The second category is spirit, deity, or ancestral shaman, as in the Korean
the Kuchiyose, including shamanesses who settle down in son-mootang and the tsusu of the Ainu in Hokkaido.
their own villages or migrate from village to village in Son-mootang means an immature or unauthorized and
compliance with the requests of the residents. They utilize non-hereditary shaman, as contrasted wth mootang,
techniques of trance and engage in telepathy, medium- which means authorized and hereditary shaman. Al-
ship, divination, and fortunetelling, employing flexible though there are certainly frauds among these shamans,
but predictable forms. Their most frequently requested they display certain similarities to their Siberian and
service is to communicate with guardian deities or spirits Mongolian counterparts.
or with wraiths and spirits of the dead. The most popu-
lar name for the first category is miko or jinja-miko
([ Arctic and Korean Shamanism
(Shinto shrine shamaness); for the second category,
ichiko or sato-miko (city or village shamaness). The
shamanesses of these two categories are semi-institution- Shamanism has been investigated among various races
alized. The jinja-miko (or kan-nagi, using Nakayama’s and tribes, and has an extensive literature. The only work
2 Rydjin-hishd is a collection of folk songs and ballads of the late covering the whole subject of shamanism from the
Heian period which was compiled about 1192 by the retired Emperor 4 “Newly arisen religions” is a translation of the term shinkd shdkyd
Goshirakawa. Iwanami bunko, No. 935 (Tokyo, 1933), II, 87. and refers to sects that appeared or came to flourish after World War
3 Tara Nakayama, Nihon fujo shi (History of Japanese Shamanesses) II. The definition and contents of this term will be clarified in the last
(Tokyo, 193o), p. 4. chapter of this book.
182 183
Iapanese Shamanism Japanese Shamanism
viewpoint of the historian of religions is Mircea Eliade’s Ecstasy always involves a trance, whether symbolic or
Shamanism.5 According to Eliade, shamanism involves pretended or real, and the trance is interpreted as
“archaic techniques of ecstasy,” at the same time that it temporary abandonment of the body by the soul of
is a mysticism, a magic, and a religion in the larger sense the shaman. During ecstasy, the soul of the shaman
of these words. is thought to ascend to Heaven, or to descend to the
other world [netherworld] or to travel far away into
In Central and Northeast Asia the chief methods. of space. . . . Since the ecstasy [trance, losing one’s soul,
recruiting shamans are: (1) hereditary transmission of losing consciousness] seems to form an integral part
the shamanic profession and (2) spontaneous vocation of the human condition, just like anxiety, dream,
(call or election). There are also cases of individuals imagination, etc., we do not deem it necessary to look
who become shamans of their own free will . . . or by for its origin in a particular culture or in a particular
the will of the clan. . . . However selected, a shaman historical movement. As an experience, ecstasy is a
is not recognized as such until after he has received non-historical phenomenon; it is a primordial phe-
two kinds of teachings: (1) ecstatic (dreams, trances, nomenon in the sense that it is coextensive with human
etc.) and (2) traditional (shamanic techniques, names nature. Only the religious interpretation given to ec-
and functions of the spirits, mythology and genealogy stasy and the techniques designed to prepare it or fa-
of the clan, secret language, etc.).” cilitate it are historically conditioned. That is to say,
What it is important to note now is the parallel they are dependent on various cultural contexts, and
between the singularization of objects, beings, and they change in the course of history.*
sacred signs, and the singularization by election, by
If we cannot conclude that ancient Japan was com-
choice, of those who experience the sacred with greater
pletely dominated by shamanism, nevertheless the ex-
intensity than the rest of the community-those who,
istence of abundant shamanic elements should not
as it were, incarnate the sacred, because they live it
be denied. Shamanesses are still remarkably active in
abundantly, or rather are lived by the religious form
Japan, as in southern Korea, the Hokkaido of the Ainu,
that has chosen them [gods, spirits, ancestors, etc.].’
and the Ryuku Islands. According to Akiba’s excellent
Eliade also thought it useful to limit the term “shaman” work Chssen ffizoku no genchi kenkyii (Report of Field
to those among the various “specialists of the sacred Researches in Korean Shamanism) ,B the Korean shamans
(medicine men, magicians, contemplatives, inspired or having the closest relationship to Japanese shamanism
possessed persons) who know how to employ ecstasy for are divided into three characteristic types. As I have men-
the benefit of the community. tioned above, first there is the hereditary shaman, called
5 Eliade, Shamanism. 8 Eliade, “Recent Works on Shamanism,” pp. 135-54,
6 Ibid., p. 13. 1 Ibid., p. 32. 9 Akiba, Chasen fuzoku no genchi kenkyii, pp. 46-66.
184 185
\apanese Shamanism lapanese Shamanism
mootang, whose career is based on formalized initiation. concludes that the processes seen in the Korean son-
Second is the spontaneous son-mootang (unauthorized mootang are much the same as those for the shamans of
mootang) who has received a genuine initiatory trance Mongolia, Manchuria, and north-central Asian tribes.”
or “initiatory sickness and dream.” The third is the
pseudo-shaman who operates solely from economic mo-
tives. Akiba adds to this classification a blind male ([ Shamanesses in Japanese Society
shaman called pansu in the southern part and paksu (not
blind) in the north. Usually a person who becomes a Korean shamanism had the closest relationship to Japa-
son-mootang manifests his shamanic tendency through nese shamanism in ancient times. The role of Japanese
behavioral abnormalities. For example, he is attacked by shamanesses changed greatly, in keeping with a socio-
a kind of mental disease in his youth; he likes an un- political change that was supposedly based on the transi-
balanced diet; he confines himself to his room, hiding tion from the ancient matrilineal to the patrilineal soci-
from other persons. He comes to have keen eyesight in ety strongly influenced by China. Having gradually ceased
contrast to physical weakness. In his initiatory sicknesses, to play a significant political role, the Japanese shamaness
his face takes on a strange appearance; he suddenly rushes was absorbed into popular folk culture and transformed
about in an unusually excited condition; he wanders her function. Consequently, Japanese shamanism is not
through hills and fields, dances fanatically, speaks strange comparable to the highly developed integral institution
words, and falls in a faint. His awareness thus narrowed in Siberia.
and weakened, he suddenly blurts out divine messages In order to search for the original type of Japanese
under the influence of hypnotism. In order to cure this shamanesses, we must go back about eighteen hundred
initiatory pathology, one must become a shamaness or years to the shamanic and charismatic Queen Himiko or
shaman, or the condition will assume a dangerous char- Pimiko (literally, “August Child of the Sun”) of Yama-
acter. The future shamaness or shaman must then pass tai in the Wo (Japanese: Wa) Kingdom. (Wo was the
through three stages of the initiation: first, a rite for Chinese name for “Japan” or “Japanese” in ancient
driving away the defiled or evil spirits occupying the body times.) According to the Chinese historical document
and mind; second, a rite to pray for the descent of the Wo-jen-chuan (A History and Topography of Third-
particular deity or spirit who elected him; last, a rite for Century Japan) in the Wei-chi (History of the Wei
the introduction of a new shaman or shamaness to all the Dynasty), compiled by ChCn-shou ( A.D. 2 33-29~)~ Queen
deities and good spirits as well as to the people.lO Akiba Himiko ruled over more than thirty states from A.D. 180
to about 248, having unified a large part of ancient Japan
10 Hori, “Nihon shtikyi, no shakai-teki yakuwari” (“Social Roles in into a strong united kingdom centering in Yamatai. She
Japanese Religion”) in Nihon shdkyd-shi kenkyfi (Tokyo, 1962), I,
50-51; Akiba, Chdsen fuzoku no genchi kenkyii, pp. 62-64. 11 Akiba, Chdsen fuzoku no genchi kenkyti, p. 65.
186 187
Japanese Shamanism
exchanged envoys from time to time with the court of

the Wei dynasty. There have been many heated contro-
versies among Japanese historians, from as early as the
thirteenth century to the present day, concerning Himi-
ko’s self-conception, the location of Yamatai, and its re.
lation to Japanese historical personages. I shall limit my
discussion to the religious character of Queen Himiko.
We read in the Wo-jen-chuan:
That state [Wo] was ruled by a king for 70 to 80 years.
At that time, Wo was in a chaotic state as the result of
which a great civil war broke out and for many years
the lords of small manors attacked each other. After-
wards, the people of Wo elected a young girl as their
queen who was then named Himiko. She attended and
rendered service to the Deities or Spirits and had a spe-
cial power that bewitched the people. She never mar-
ried even in her youth, and her brother helped her ad-
minister the affairs of the Kingdom. After she was
enthroned, only a few persons were able to see her.
There was only one man who always attended her,
served her meals, transmitted her words, and had access
to her living room. Her palace, many-storied buildings
and citadels were very solemn and imposing, and were
guarded continuously by armed soldiers. . . . Queen
Himiko died. A big tomb built in order to bury her
corpse measured a hundred steps and more in diameter,
and more than one hundred royal retainers and slaves
killed themselves at the funeral of their Queen.l*
There are two important suggestions from this ancient
Chinese document: The first is that Himiko was en-
12 Gi-shi Wajin den, pp. 48, 103-4.
188
Japanese Shamanism
throned by her people at an apex of political and social

crisis, when she was only fourteen or fifteen, to judge
from the fact that her reign continued sixty-eight years.
The second point is that Himiko’s personality and char-
acter seem to be typical of the shamanic queen in the
ancient Japanese theocratic ages. From the archeological
viewpoint, Himiko’s reign falls at the end of the Yayoi
period, which spans from the introduction of agriculture
to the appearance of the local kingdom, and the begin-
ning of the Kofun period, symbolized by large mounds
erected for the dead of the ruling class, and during which
there was a gradual formation of the unified empire cen-
tering in the Yamato dynasty of the Tennb (or Mikado)
family.
It seems to me important that this highly shamanic
and charismatic girl was enthroned in order to meet a
social crisis presumably caused by civil war in a transi-
tional period of revolutionary political, economic, social,
and cultural changes at the juncture of the Yayoi and
Kofun periods. Having compared Himiko’s function and
character, some historians take her to be a female local
chief in Kyushu who appears in the Nihongi; others take
her to be Amaterasu-0mikami ( G r e a t S u n G o d d e s s ,
mythical ancestor of the imperial family) or Yamato-
totohi-momoso-hime, or take Himiko and her male at-
tendant to be Emperor Suinin and his daughter Yamato-
hime, Empress Jinga and her prime minister Takeshiuchi-
no-sukune, Empress Suiko and Crown Prince Shzitoku,
or Empress Saimei and Crown Prince Naka-no-aye (later
Emperor Tenchi) . It is interesting to compare the fact
that the Ryukus were ruled by the Shij dynasty under a
combination of a king and his sister or niece as a shamanic
191
priestess, the latter ruling over all the shamanesses and anxious Emperor Sujin prayed to be granted a revelation
priestesses in the kingdom, until the Meiji era.13 at a divine enclosure. The deity of Omono-nushi (Great
The theory of a combination of the Sun Goddess and Deity of All Deities and Spirits) suddenly possessed
the male deity Takagi seems unworthy of discussion since Yamato-totohi-momoso-hime to reveal the cause of the
the myths of the Kojiki and Nihongi upon which it is epidemic. On another occasion, she foretold an uprising
based are obscure.l” However, there is much evidence of by Prince Take-haniyase-hiko by explaining prophetic
shamanic activity elsewhere in these sources. For ex- poems that had been sung by a mysterious girl. Later,
ample, Emperor Sujin, the tenth emperor of the Yamato according to the Nihongi, she became the wife of the
dynasty according to the Nihongi, was praised as the deity Omono-nushi. However, owing to the fact that she
“emperor who first ruled over the state,” ranking thus broke a promise to her divine husband, the deity suddenly
with the traditional first emperor, Jimmu. During Sujin’s ascended to his residence, Mount Miwa (Mount Mimoro
reign, many charismatic shamanesses emerged as political in present-day Nara prefecture), saying that she did not
figures in the chaotic situation brought about by a great restrain herself but caused him shame.15 In the reign of
epidemic. Among these shamanesses the emperor’s aunt, Suinin (successor to Emperor Sujin), Princess Yamato-
Yamato-totohi-momoso-hime, was most remarkable. She hime, one of the emperor’s daughters, was chosen chief
was praised as a shrewd and intelligent princess able to priestess of the Sun Goddess at the imperial family’s
foresee the future. When almost half the population of shrine near the capital. One day, inspired by the Sun
the empire had died in the great epidemic, the deeply Goddess, she started out from the shrine reverently hold-
13 K&i Sakima, Nyonin seiji ka (A Study of the Female Rulers) ing up the sacred mirror, the symbol of the goddess, and
(Tokyo, 1926). traveled through various provinces in compliance with
14 According to the Kojiki, the Sun Goddess is described as a iigure
15 The episode was as follows: Because his visits to her were always
who oversees the tilling of her sacred rice field and the weaving of
at night, Yamato-totohi-momoso-hime could never see her husband’s
garments for the deities, presumably in order to offer them to her deity
true form clearly. She asked the deity to stay with her until daylight.
or deities at festivals. In the section “Descent to the Earth of the
The deity willingly consented, but made her promise solemnly that she
Descendant of the Sun Goddess” (Tenson-kdrin) of the Kojiki, which
would not cry out in surprise when she saw him. However, when she
may be an important part of the imperial family’s authoritative tradi-
looked at her divine husband’s real shape, she saw a small golden snake
tion, we can find this connection of the Sun Goddess and the deity of
and broke her solemn promise. Overcome with remorse, she fell down
Takagi at several places. The name “Takagi” means literally “Lofty
and with a chopstick stabbed herself in the pudenda and died. A large
Tree,” though Chamberlain translated it as “High-Integrating Deity,”
tomb for her was built by humans by day and by superhuman beings at
following Motoori’s interpretation, since the KojiJri has a footnote to
night. It was called “Chopstick Tomb” (Ha&i-baka). According to
the effect that this deity is the same as Takami-musubi-no-kami (“High-
the Kojiki, she was the ancestress of the famous shamanic and priestly
Integrating Deity”). However, if “Takagi” is a “Lofty Tree Deity,” it
families Miwa and Kamo, which both exerted great influence upon
would be possible to imagine that he was a personification of a cosmic
Shinto as well as upon Japanese politics. Nihongi, Vol. V, “Records of
tree. See Kojiki, Part I, “Jindai-no-maki” (“Records of the Divine
the Reign of Emperor Suijin,” Aston, Nihongi, I, 150-64.
Age”); Chamberlain, Kojiki, pp. 115-29.
192 ,193
the goddess’ instruction, finally erecting a new shrine at ister Takeshi-uchi, being in the pure court,ls requested
Ise (present-day Miye prefecture). She was called the the divine orders. Hereupon the empress, divinely pos-
August Staff of the Goddess (Kami-no-mitsuye), and the sessed, charged him with this instruction and counsel.
shrine she erected became the present Ise shrine.16 In . . . Then the emperor replied . . . saying, they are ly-
the reign of the next emperor (Keika) , when she was still ing deities; he pushed away his lute, did not play on
rendering service to the Sun Goddess at Ise, her nephew, it, and sat silent. Then the deities were very angry,
the great hero Prince Yamato-takeru, visited her to bid and said: as for this empire, it is a Iand over which
farewell as he set out on an eastern expedition com- thou oughtest to rule. Do thou go to the one road!
manded by his imperial father. According to the Kojiki, [Soon after this the emperor was dead.]lg
Princess Yamato-hime bestowed on Prince Yamato-takeru In the Nihongi the period from Emperor Sujin to
the Grass-Mowing Sword (Kusanagi-no-tsurugi, which Prince Yamato-takeru is full of stories which suggest the
later became one of the Three Divine Symbols of the gradual unification of the empire under the endeavors
Japanese imperial throne). This sword had been imbued of many heroes and the establishment of the hegemony
with divine and mysterious powers by Susanowo-no-kami of the Yamato dynasty over all Japan; Empress Jingii’s
in mythical times. The prince then achieved success in reign is at the turning point of political, economic, and
the suppression of the barbarians in the eastern provinces cultural transformation. The Yamato dynasty advanced
owing to the mysterious power of the sword. He left this into southern Korea and established the key position
sword at his lover’s house at the time he tried to subju- called Nihon-fu (Japanese Governor General) of Mimana
gate the evil deity of Mount Ibuki; this act was the direct (J&-na, in Chinese) at the southern tip of Korea, as a
cause of his tragic death.l7 It is said that the Prince result of Empress Jingti’s conquest of the Silla kingdom
Yamato-takeru’s soul flew away from his corpse in the following the divine instruction. Thereafter, a large num-
form of a swan, so that his tomb was named Swan tomb.
1sThe sentence “being in the pure court” follows Chamberlain’s
About Empress Jingti (Okinaga-tarashi-hime) , the translation. However, the original text is Takeshi-uchi-no-Sukune-no-
Kojiki says: Oomi saniwa ni ite; and the original characters of saniwa mean literally
sand garden. But these characters were probably only a phonetic trans-
This Empress was at that time divinely possessed. So literation. Saniwa in old Japanese had another meaning that signified
when the Emperor [Chtiai], dwelling at the palace . . . the transmitter or interpreter of the divine words. The Nihongi used
was about to smite the Land of the barbarian Kumaso, other characters in this part to write saniwa as interpreter of divine
words. Therefore, this sentence reading “being in the pure court” must
the emperor played on his lute, and the Prime Min- be corrected to “The Prime Minister Takeshi-uchi, becoming or being
1s Nihongi, Vol. VI, “Records of the Reign of Emperor Suinin,” appointed an interpreter of the divine words, requested the divine
Aston, Nihongi, I, 165-87. orders.”
l7 Kojiki, Part II, “Records of the Reign of Emperor Keikd,” Cham- 1aKojiki, Part II, “Records of the Reign of Emperor Chtiai,” Cham-
berlain, Kojiki, pp. 253-67. berlain, Kojiki, pp. 277-78.
194 195
ber of immigrants from Korea and China poured into off leafy branches and hanging them with tree fibre,
Japan, bringing with them the advanced learning and watched for the time when the O-omi [Prime Minister
techniques which became the direct cause of revolu- Soga-no-Emishi] would cross a bridge and vied with
tionary development in Japanese culture and industry. one another in addressing to him subtle interpretations
Parenthetically, it might be added that Emperor Nintoku, of divine words. They were in great numbers, so that
a grandson of the empress, was buried at the largest ter- they could not be heard distinctly. Old people said that
raced mound in ancient Japan, which is now compared this was a sign of changes. . . . Autumn, Seventh Month.
by archeologists with the Egyptian pyramid of Khufu or A man of the neighborhood of the River Fuji in the
the greatest Chinese tomb (that of Emperor Shih Huang East Country named C)fube-no-@hi urged his fellow-
Ti, the first emperor of China). It is noteworthy that villagers to worship an insect, saying: This is the God
such political and cultural change was brought about of the Everlasting World (Tokoyo-no-kami). Those
mainly by a powerful charismatic and shamanic empress. who worship this God will have long life and riches.
For several reasons, the Japan founded on the clan At length the wizards and witches, pretending an in-
system was facing immediate peril, and the whole society spiration of the gods, said . . . So they more and more
was falling into disorder. This dangerous situation was persuaded the people to cast out the valuables of their
caused by the increased number of Korean immigrants and houses, and to set out by the roadside sake,-vegetables,
the elevation of their social status based upon their cultural and the six domestic animals. . . . Both in the country
and technical skills, and by the gradual recession of Japa- and in the capital people took the insect of the Ever-
nese influence in Korea owing to the rise of the Sui (A.D. lasting World (Tokoyo-no-mushi), and placing it in a
589) and the T’ang dynasties (A.D. 618) in China. Under pure place, with song and dance invoked happiness. . . ?l
the strong influence of rationalistic Confucian ethics and It is noteworthy that old people recognized in the
universalistic Buddhist doctrines, in 645 the Taika Re. shamans’ unusual activities an omen of social change.
form first established the empire under the strong cen- Later, at moments of anxiety connected with social
tralized authoritarian rule of one emperor over all Japan. change or crisis shamanistic mass hysteria frequently oc-
Many records suggest the intense activities of shamans curred.
or shaman-like personages during these critical socio- Empress Ksgyoku ( 594-661)) who ascended the
cultural changes. As only one example among many, in throne a second time as Empress Saimei after the Taika
the year before the fall of the Soga clan, which fall per-
mitted the Taika Reform, the Nihongi tells us: and the interlinear phonetics letters in the Nihongi are in this case
kan-nagi, which means a lower class of Shinto priest or priestess; how-
In this month [the Sixth Month in A .D . 6443 the ever, its original meaning is probably a person who can engage and ask
witches and wizards2O of the whole country, breaking the deity for divine instructions. (See p. 195, above.)
20 The wizards and witches of Aston’s translation are originally writ- 21 Nihongi, Vol. XXIV, “Records of the Reign of Empress Kogyo-
ten with Chinese characters which mean “male and female shamans,” ku,” Aston, Nihongi, II, 187-89.
196 197
Reform in 655, had a dimly shamanic and charismatic of Yin-yang, while in turn Buddhism and Yin-yang were
nature. In 642, when there was a great drought and all influenced by popular shamanism. Buddhism and Yin-
Buddhist, Yin-yang, and traditional prayers for rain were yang could not have been diffused among the masses
unsuccessful, the empress paid a visit to the source of without such intermingling of traditions.
the Minabuchi River, and there she knelt and prayed, From the introduction of Buddhism into Japan-or
worshipping towards the four quarters, and looking up to at least from the beginning of the Heian period-Bud-
heaven. Straightway there was thunder and a great rain, dhism and Shinto confronted each other overtly and
which fell for five days. The peasants throughout the covertly. This is seen symbolically in the frequent records
empire called her “an empress of exceeding virtue.“22 of incidents in which, for example, the curse or anger of
After the Taika Reform, the new order of the empire a kami revealed itself in a thunderbolt or a mysterious
and the new social system modeled on that of the T’ang fire after infringement on his divine territory by the fell-
dynasty, together with the new religions and ethics from ing of sacred trees in the shrine enclosure for the building
abroad, made impossible the appearance of any more of a Buddhist temple. A shaman would announce the
charismatic sovereigns such as those I have discussed. curse or anger of the deity. The mixture of Shinto and
Nevertheless, magico-religious leaders as such were called Buddhism meant that Buddhism gradually lowered its
upon by all levels of society in event of group, social, or standards to accommodate the Shinto framework spe-
national crises. cifically to cooperate with popular Japanese shamanism.
In spite of the establishment of state Buddhism and One typical example of these tendencies is the belief in
the gradual popularization of Buddhist and Yin-yang gory@ which I have discussed elsewhere.23
magic from the eighth century on, shamanistic tendencies Belief in gory6 arose at the end of the eighth century
spread and were assimilated by the masses, since they ful- and flourished throughout the Heian period. It was
filled their functions effectively for the psychological and originally a belief that the spirits of persons who had died
social anomie of the ordinary people. Socio-religio-politi- as victims of political strife haunted their living antago-
cal disturbances followed the transfer of the capital from nists in their lifetime, and was propagated through the
Nara to Kyoto in 794. The activities of popular shamans mouths of popular shamanesses. Buddhist priests of the
and shamanesses are recorded in several documents of Tantric Tendai (T’ien-t’ai in Chinese) and Shingon
this time, such as the Shoku-Nihongi (A Succeeding His- (Mantraysna; Chin-yen in Chinese) sects, who practiced
torical Record to the LNihongi) and Nihon ryoi-ki (an religious austerities and obtained magical virtues in the
early Japanese Buddhist legendary record of the eighth mountains, as well as the powerful Yin-yang magicians,
century). Japanese shamanism became much trans- were invited to negotiate with and exorcise these revenge-
formed under the influences of Buddhism and the way ful spirits.
22 Aston, Nihongi, p., 175. 23 Hori, “The Concept of Hijiri,” pp. 128-60, 199-232.
198 199
Japanese Shamanism lapanese Shamanism
With the popularization of this belief, the possibility Ashikaga to Tokugawa, or from Tokugawa to Meiji, but
of becoming a gory& formerly the privilege of nobles also following World War II.
alone, was opened to the common people. Thus, the
linking of popular shamanesses with the Buddhist moun-
tain ascetics (shugen-ja) became more and more close. ([ Various Names
For example, during the Heian period, almost every Bud- of the Kuchiyose-mike System
dhist priest utilized a shamaness or her substitute as a
medium during his exorcism in order to know the names The actual behavioral patterns of the Kuchiyose-miko in
of the revengeful spirits and their complaints and curses. Japanese rural communities are significant, as are the
On the other hand, one of the earlier social functions of shamanistic tendencies in the new religions which have
the Japanese popular Jsdo school (Pure Land school) emerged at transitional moments from the end of the
seems also to have been to transfer these revengeful Tokugawa era to the present time.
spirits of the dead into the merciful hands of Amida Butsu Among the various names of the Kuchiyose-miko sys-
(Amitabha Buddha) by the repetition of his sacred name tem, we must notice ichiko and its variations: itako (in
(Nembutsu) , as well as to cause the believers themselves northeastern Honshu), ichijo (in Kyushu), ita (in the
to’arrive in Amitabha’s Pure Land after death.24
southern part of central Honshu) and yuta in the Ryuku
In these circumstances, the character and function of and Amami islands). According to such specialists on
Japanese popular shamanesses took different forms: some
shamanism as Takashi Akiba,25 the origin of these words
became professional mediums dependent upon Buddhist is thought to have some etymological similarity and his-
mountain asceticism (Shugen-d6) ; others became dancers torical connection with the names of Yakut, Buriat, Altaic,
or singers; others became kuchiyose-miko; still others be-
and Kirghise shamans: udagan, utygan, iduan, iidege.
came the reciters of ballads. Japanese popular entertain-
Another local name for “shamaness” is o-kami-n, or
ment, including Kabuki, emerged in the process of the
o-kami-sama. This name is thought to have derived from
differentiation of Japanese shamanism.
kami (“deity,” or sometimes “wife” in colloquial speech;
Though there were significant transformations and
o is an honorary prefix; sama is an honorary suffix; n is
transmutations in the history of Japanese shamanism, we
an abbreviation of sama or San). Kami has meant “god”
must not overlook the fact that shamanic personages as or “deity” in Japan from ancient times to the present
well as the phenomenon of shamanic mass hysteria ap- day; however, there is not a merely coincidental simi-
peared actively among the people at each socio-political
25 Akiba, Chessen fluzoku no genchi kenkyfi; Taikei Kunishita (Iwai) ,
crisis or change throughout Japanese history-not only “Shaman to yti go no gengi ni tsuite” (“‘Approach to the Original
at the transition from Heian to Kamakura, or from Meaning of the Word ‘Shaman”‘), Minzoku, Vol. II (Tokyo, 1926-
27); Jciji Tanase, Tcja no minzoku to slnikya (People’s Religions of
24 Ibid., pp. 213-28. Eastern Asia) (Tokyo, 1943).
200 201
larity between Japanese kami, Ainu kamui, and &Ion- wraiths, and the dead; divination and fortunetelling
golian kami or kam for “shaman” or “shamanizing,” al- through trance; prayers for recovery of the sick; and puri-
though we cannot yet elucidate the relationship. Still fication of new buildings, wells, stoves, and hearths. They
another local name is azusa-miko, which means a “sha- might give their own fetish to a parishioner’s child so
maness who uses a catalpa bow as a special instrument for that he would grow up in good health; sometimes they
her trance.” The so-called catalpa bow (azusa-yumi) held memorial services for a parishioner’s ancestors. Some
which the shamaness employs is a kind of one-stringed were said to have practiced clandestine prostitution, es-
instrument, said to be used by some Central Asian pecially in the urban societies.27
shamans. Words affiliated with azusa-miko are tataki,
sasa-hataki, and c?yumi. The origins of these words may
be linked to the fact that the shamaness held or beat ([ Initiation of Kuchiyose-miko
a bow, since tataki or hataki means “beating,” sasa means
“bamboo grass for beating the bow,” Gyumi means “big These wandering shamanesses have almost disappeared
bow.” Finally, the local name non6 could have come in present-day Japan, though many settled village shaman-
from the Sanskrit Namo, a hailing or invocation of a esses belonging to the kuchiyose system are still active
Buddha, or from the Japanese ndnd, “hello.” Nonb in various provinces, notably in the Tshoku (north-
supposedly suggests the impressive words spoken by eastern) area of Honshu. In the T6hoku area they are
shamanesses.26 not genuine shamanesses in the strict sense, not having
Until the beginning of the twentieth century there been elected or chosen by their deity or spirit but rather,
were many wandering shamanesses (aruki-miko) in rural voluntarily or involuntarily, adopted by an elder sha-
society and even in Yedo (the former name of Tokyo), maness master and bound to her in the relationship of
Kyoto, and Osaka. They were called ichiko, azusa-miko master and apprentice. In the TGhoku area almost all
as well as Shinano-miko, Agata-miko and nond. Shinano the shamanesses are blind. Blind girls in this area have
(the old name of present-day Nagano prefecture) and usually become the apprentices of the older shamanesses
Agata (a country name in Nagano prefecture) are from who lived near their native village. The novices undergo
the sites of the largest headquarters of these wandering training disciplines such as cold-water ablution, purifi-
shamanesses. They visited from village to village within cation, fasting, abstinence, and observance of various
their territories immediately following the harvest in taboos. They are taught the techniques of trance, of com-
autumn, traveling in groups of five or six. Their main munication with superhuman beings or spirits of the
functions were: communication with spirits, deities, dead, and of divination and fortunetelling; they also
26Nakayama, Nihon fujo shi, p. 14; Yanagita, “Fujo k6” (“A Study learn the melody and intonation used in the chanting
of Female Shamans in Japan”), Kyddo kenkyu, Vol. I, Nos. 1-12
(‘913).
27 Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenky& II, 65 5-68.
202 203
of prayers, magic formulas, and liturgies, and the narra- wedding toast by exchanging nine cups of sake with her
tives and ballads called saimon. After three to five years’ mistress. This exchange of cups is the most important
training, they become full-fledged shamanesses through part of the traditional wedding ceremony of Japan. After
the completion of initiatory ordeals and an initiation ritually practicing the first communication with her an-
ceremony which includes the use of symbols of death cestral spirit and other spirits of the dead, the novice is
and resurrection.28 given a large feast to certify her proficiency as an inde-
When the novice has completed her training, she is pendent shamaness. Her mistress, shamaness elders,
initiated into the shamanic mysteries by her mistress. parents, brothers and sisters, relatives, and friends are all
Before the initiation ceremony, as preliminary prepara- invited. After a week or ten days’ isolation at her tute-
tion, the novice puts on a white robe called the death lary shrine as a rite of recovery or agrdgation, she be-
dress and sits face to face with her mistress on three rice comes a professional shamaness.2g
bags. Several shamaness elders assist in the ceremony. The formulas for inquiring of spirits of dead persons
They chant and utter the names of deities, buddhas, and are great in variety, though somewhat formalized. For
several magic formulas in unison with the mistress and example, I have heard a shamaness in Aomori prefecture
the novice. In this mystical atmosphere, the novice’s say:
joined hands begin to tremble slightly. Observing care-
fully the novice’s change of behavior, the mistress per- Hear me! Hear me!
ceives the climax of inspiration and suddenly cries in I call for today’s water;
a loud voice to the novice: “What is the name of the What water may I call for?
deity that possessed you?” Immediately the novice an- I call for the water on the young spray.
swers: “So-and-so deity (or sometimes buddha or bo- [The spirit] comes with its sleeve bathed in tears.
dhisattva) possessed me.” When the mistress hears this [The spirit] comes with its skirt full of dewdrops.
answer, she throws a large rice cake at the novice, and We can only hear its voice, not see its form;
the novice falls off the bags and faints. Sometimes the We can but hear its sound, not see its figure;
elders dash water on top of the novice’s head 3,333 times [The spirit] comes on seven or eight rapid currents;
at a wellside or at the seashore. The novice in a dead [The spirit] comes down to play in dancing;
faint is warmed by the body heat of shamaness elders who And [the spirit] comes to give us an account.
share her bed, and finally regains consciousness. The Another shamaness in Akita prefecture said:
novice is said to be newborn and is then initiated. She
changes her white death dress to a colorful so-called wed- Coming along the seashore in paradise,
ding dress and performs the ceremony of the traditional We hear the songs of plovers,
2sZbid., p. 662. 29 Ibid., pp. 66263.
204 205
The plovers are proud of their voice,

By singing and singing;
[[ Social Functions of the Kuchiyose-miko
By what cause and condition can [the spirit] come
up to this world?
By a cup of tea and pure water for the service. The shamanesses of the Tdhoku area are usually re-
Or, finally, in Aomori prefecture: quested to communicate with and transmit the will of
superhuman beings and the spirits of the dead. They
In the dark night are often invited to visit a family in mourning, because
When I hear the voice of a crow the first communication with the spirit of the newly dead
Who never sings; person is thought to be an important part of the funeral.
What kind of fruit would grow They call it the hotoke-no-kuchiake (“opening of the dead
On a spray of the mysterious tree named zuiki? person’s mouth”). Hotoke originally meant “Buddha,”
There would grow the Six Characters but in colloquial speech now indicates any dead person.
Of Na-Mu-A-Mi-Da-Butsu.3° Especially when a person has met an unnatural death or
Another formal feature is the use of particular terms for died in difficult childbirth, the ceremony of opening the
the given names of relatives and others at the sCance. dead person’s mouth is the most important service for
For example, the spirit of the dead calls the eldest son the salvation of his soul. The relatives collect a sum of
the “first treasure” (ichi-no-takara) ; the married daugh- money and rice from seven neighboring villages and in-
ter the “outer-door treasure” (kabe-no-soto-no-takara ) ; vite a shamaness to perform a special and complicated
the husband the “high headgear” (taka-eboshi) ; the eld- service called nana-kura-yose (sCance together with the
est brother and sister “first row” (ichi-no-narabi); the seven divine seats). This seems to be a survival of the
native house the “old fire” (furu-bi). The shamaness ancient belief in gory&32
usually carries a black case on her back in which talis- One interesting custom is the large gathering of sha-
mans, fetishes, written formulas, and Buddhist sutras may manesses held once a year, on the day of Jiz6-bon,33 at
be found; she also has a rosary which is made of 180 a2Zbid., pp. 667-68; “Nihon shiikya no shakai-teki yakuwari,” in
wooden or stone beads strung together with several pol- Nihon shtikyb-shi kenkyti, Vol. I, pp. 192-93.
ished skulls and fangs of badger, fox, sable, bear, or ante- 33 Jizd-bon is a mixture of the belief in Jiz&bosatsu (the Buddhist
bodhisattva Kshitagarbha) and the bon festival that is still the most popu-
lope, as well as several old coins. This rosary is called lar annual festival, including memorial services for the spirits of the dead
irataka-no-juzu and is said to have originated in Buddhist as well as for the ancestors of each family. The J&-bon is held on the
asceticism and Shugen-do.31 festival day of Jizd in the sixth month of the lunar calendar, while the
bon festival is held from the thirteenth to fifteenth days of the seventh
30 Ibid., pp. 663-64. month in almost all rural societies in the T6hoku (northeastern Hon-
31 Ibid., p. 664. shu) area.
206 207
Japanese Shamanism
several sacred mountains and temples in northern Hon-

shu, such as Mount Osore, the JizG hall in Kanagi-machi
in Aomori prefecture, Hachiya-ji temple in Fukushima
prefecture. Jizo-bon is a festival for the bodhisattva Kshi-
tigarbha, whose Japanese name is Jiza (Ti-tsang in Chi-
nese) . Jizd, popular bodhisattva among the Japanese since
the tenth century, is believed to be a savior of spirits of
the dead, who otherwise would be suffering tortures in
hell, as well as a guardian deity of children.
Mount Osore is a dormant volcano and is believed to
be the Other World34 by the inhabitants of the area, who
believe that there is a terrestrial paradise as well as a ter-
restrial hell on the mountaintop with its crater lake. From
early morning on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth
month of the lunar calendar-the festival day of Jiz&old
men and women from various villages climb Mount
Osore carrying special rice dumplings to offer at each of
the stone statues of Jizii and stupas and mounds along the
mountain paths. Since ancient times the common people
have believed that dead children are required to heap up
small stones to build a stupa, goaded by the ogres of hell,
if they died without having offered any service to their
parents or community. Accordingly, any woman who has
lost a child heaps small stones in the shape of a stupa as a
substitute for her child on this day.
More than thirty shamanesses also climb the mountain
34 Several sacred mountains in Japan are believed to be the Other
World. For example, according to folk legends in the Heian period,
Tate-yama, Haku-san, Kimpu, Nachi, and others were believed to be
mountains which dead persons climbed and where they lived as ghosts.
These mountains afterward became sacred for mountain asceticism
(Shugen-d6). Mount Osore is one survival from ancient times of such
mountains of the dead.
208
Japanese Shamanism
for the festival and occupy a special comer near the main
hall of the temple in order to fulfill the worshippers’
requests. Old women who have been deprived of hus-
band, son, daughter, or grandchild ask one of the shaman-
esses to communicate with this spirit as a part of the in-
dispensable memorial service. They sit on the ground
around a shamaness and listen with rapt attention to the
voice of the dead relative who speaks through the sha-
maness. From morning till midnight these shamanesses
fall into trances to communicate with departed spirits
upon each request. A shamaness’s income on that day
alone might amount to more than eight thousand yen
(approximately twenty-five dollars) at the rate of a hun-
dred (about thirty cents) for each request. Each trance
for a single spirit continues for five or ten minutes, on the
festival day; on ordinary days, it lasts an hour or more.36
We can recognize some peculiar characteristics which
distinguish the kuchiyose-miko from the general type
common to northern Asia. First, the kuchiyose-miko does
not suffer a psycho-mental disorder or initiatory disease
before her initiation. She is transformed into a shaman-
ess by human means, not by a psycho-mental process or
by divine calling and election. Second, during her trance,
she does not invoke a particular deity who has elected her
as its mouthpiece. Instead, she usually invokes the guard-
ian deity or tutelary deity, or the buddha or bodhisattva,
of her client. She falls into a trance and relates the divi-
nation or the invocation as if she herself had become a
deity or a spirit of the dead through her own power, not
35 Hori, “Minzoku-gaku kara mita Nihon-jin no reikon-kan ni tsuite”
(“Soul Concepts of Japanese Peoples from the Viewpoint of Folklore
Studies”), Nihon shiikyd-shi kenkyii, Vol. I (Tokyo, 1962), 173-75;
Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyii, II, 661-62.
211
through the medium of her own deity or spirit. Finally, Tohoku area still hand down their peculiar ballad named
communication with spirits of the dead may be excep- oshira-saimon. Oshira is the name of a guardian spirit
tional in northern Asian shamanism. For example, the enshrined with each main family of the village. It is called
shamanesses whom I met among the Ainu in Hokkaido oshira-sama or oshira-gami (in some places, ohira or
are, without exception, loath to communicate with spir- ohina, supposedly because of the connection with hina, a
its of the dead, even though they have come to accept this doll, or paper cut in the shape of a human figure), and is
practice following the Japanese custom, mainly in order thought of as a pair of deities. The oshira-sama are sym-
to get money. They say that by doing so they would fall bolized by two small sticks made of the branches of a
under their guardian deity’s displeasure, because they special kind of mulberry tree carved into various shapes.
might be defiled by coming into contact with a new and Each stick is covered with cloth. Oshira-sama are wor-
unpurified spirit. When they do listen for the voice of a shipped mainly by housewives, organized on the basis of
departed relative, in order to beg forgiveness to their deity d6zoku groups, small territorial groups, or groups of rela-
they require the client to offer a special inao (an offering tives, usually around the vernal equinox. On the festival
to the deity made of wood carved like a flower, peculiar night, a village shamaness is invited to each family where
to the Ainu) in addition to the normal one.36 the oshira-sama are enshrined, to perform a sCance in or-
der to pray for the good health, good harvests of crops,
and silkworms of the associated families. After a formal
([ Shamanesses and the Folk Arts ceremony, the shamaness recites the oshira-saimon, hold-
ing and moving the two divine dolls in both hands as she
In concluding this chapter, I should like to call atten- recites the ballad. This is called oshira-asobase (literally,
tion to the particular techniques of kuchiyose-miko, “to entertain the oshira-sama”), but it is said to be a sur-
such as the saimon, uta-nembutsu, and. etoki. Saimon vival of the ancient word kami-asobase (“Shinto dancing
means a written address to the deities; however, the sai- and music”) .38
mon as a folk art is a kind of ballad, a distortion of its 38 It is very interesting as well as puzzling that the story told by the
oshira-saimon ballad first appeared in a Chinese book of legends named
original meaning. Two varieties of saimon ballad are: the
Sowsh&n-chi (compiled by Kan-pao about the fourth century A.D., in the
yamabushi-saimon,37 mainly distributed in the Tdhoku Tsin dynasty. This legend is classified by folklorists as the “horse-head-
area by yamabushi of the Haguro sect; and the sekkya- ed-maiden” type (ma-tou-Jan type in Chinese). The Japanese variation
saimon, originally transmitted by yamabushi of the Ku- of it which has been preserved by the blind shamanesses in the Tohoku
area is as follows: Once upon a time, there was a beautiful daughter in
mano sect. Probably under the influence either of Haguro- a wealthy family, but she had love only for the fine family horse. Her
yamabushi or Kumano-yamabushi, shamanesses in the father, angered by this passion, killed and skinned the horse. His be-
loved daughter was deeply grieved by this. On the next day the horse’s
36 Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyri, II, pp. 664-67.
skin was hanging on a tree, and the daughter robed herself with it. In
37 Ibid., pp. 174-75. this guise she marvelously soared higher and higher into the sky, scorn-
212 213
The etoki or holy picture is one of the earliest examples were colloquially called nuns (bikuni). They traveled
of historical diversification of the shamanic function. from village to village to preach the way to salvation in
Etoki literally means “explanation by means of a pic- the Pure Land of Amida Buddha and the moralistic
ture.” Historically, this form originated among shaman- theory of causality, designating as etoki boards on which
esses belonging to the Kumano Shugen-d6 and afterward pictures of paradise (Jodo) and hell were painted. They
was practiced professionally by wandering women of the lived on offerings from the villagers.
lower classes39-called Kumano-bikuni (“Buddhist nuns of In the early Tokugawa period (1603-1867) the Isc-
Kumano”). 4” In medieval times, especially during the bikuni appeared, functioning in the same manner as the
Ashikaga period (1338.1573)~ the mountain ascetics Kumano-bikuni, and are thought to have been directly
(yamabushi or shugen-ja) of Mount Kumano sometimes influenced by the Kumano-bikuni. In this period both
married shamanesses and wandered with them from vil- Kumano-bikuni and Ise-bikuni completely lost their
lage to village throughout Japan. Because the Kumano- shamanic functions and qualities and became merely
shugen-ja had been controlled by Mantray$na Bud- ballad singers and reciters from lower-class or outcaste
dhist Tendai and Shingon sects, the wives of shugen-ja groups. They developed several religious folk arts, such
as the uta-Nembutsu (sung Nembutsu), the uta-zaimon
ing the parent’s distress. A few days later, many silkworms descended (sung saimon) , and the sekky&saimon (sermon ballads).
from the sky to the mulberry tree in the garden and spun cocoons. Her These arts may be considered historical transformations
parents believed that the silkworms were incarnations of their daughter of the original shamanic techniques of ecstasy and
and her horse husband, and reared them carefully. This was said to be
the origin of silkworm culture in Japan. Villagers who engage in Eilk- trance.41
worm culture have come to enshrine daughter and consort as oshira- Such wandering popular artisans have almost complete-
sama, in accordance with this legend. Yanagita, Kyado kenkyti, Vol. I, ly disappeared, but their influence survives in artists or
PP. 397-408. entertainers of today. Even such highly developed music
It is still unclear how the blind shamanesses in rustic northeast Hon-
shu, far from cultural centers, received and transmitted this legend. Per- and drama as Kabuki, Jbruri, or the Bunraku puppet
haps it was through some unknown educated yamabushi or Buddhist shows may have originated from, or have been associated
priest who interpreted the origin of silkworm culture by borrowing a with, special techniques of shamanic ecstasy in the sev-
Chinese legend. However, as the result of the distribution of the oshira-
saimon, oshira-sama are worshipped by villagers as guardian deities of silk enteenth and eighteenth centuries. The shamanesses in
culture, while there still survives their original function as guardian of the Tohoku area should be observed as unchanged ex-
the household. See Yanagita, “Oshira-gami-ko” (“A Study of the Oshira amples of the coexistence of shamanic and artistic func-
Deity”), Yanagita Kunio shii, XII, 267-431; Hori, Wagakuni minkan-
tions.42
shinkd-shi no kenkyii, II, pp. 661-63, 667, 694.
aa Hori, Wagakuni minkan-shinkd-shi no kenkyii, II, pp. 699-700. 41 Ibid., P P. 37,45, 422-23, 698-99, 754.
40 Bikuni originated from the Sanskrit term bhiksuni (“nun”). See 42 “Aruki-mike to uta-bikuni” (“Migrating Shamanesses and Singing
ibid., pp. 144, 180-81, 698-703, 754. Nuns”), ibid., pp. 651-707.
214 215
CHAPTER
VI
EGEG# 0ne of the most significant religious phe-

nomena in Japan after World War II has been a sudden
rise of new religious movements. Sprouting up like mush-
rooms after a rain, they amounted to more than seven
hundred sects at the peak.l The Shakyii benran (A4anual
of Japanese Religions), issued by the De,partment of Edu-
cation (Monbu-she) in 1954, gives the statistics in the
accompanying tabulation.2
1 Hori, “Minshfi-seikatsu to shiiky,” (“Folk Life and Religion”) in
Nihon shiikyd-shi kenkyti, Vol. I, pp. 141-44. See also Section I: “Gen-
dai Nihon no shtiky&teki jink6” (“Religious Population of Modern
Japan”).
2 Monbushd shcmu-ka (camp.) , Shiikyci benran (Manual of Japanese
Religions), compiled by the Bureau of Religious Affairs in the Depart-
ment of Education (Tokyo, 1954), pp. 530-31.
217
Survival of Shamanic Tendencies Survival of Shamanic Tendencies
This phenomenon should be understood as a response defeated Japan. At this point, religious sects that had
to the acute anomie into which the Japanese people were been oppressed by the militaristic government revived,
thrown by defeat and occupation. The established re- and new religious movements endeavoring to answer to
ligions in Japan had supported the old regime and had this acute anomie sprang up. Actually, the complete
accorded it ultimate meaning and value, and understand- destruction of traditional Japanese social, cultural, and
ably were not able to minister to people confused in the political structures was averted by the rise of the new
religious movements.3 This can be understood in terms
face of the collapse of state and society in 1945. The
of Merton’s theory of anomie,4 which states that ritualism
cultural value system that had previously controlled the
denies the cultural end of a given society but approves
conduct of individuals was broken by the occupation as
institutionalized means as a response to anomie.
well as by the political, economic, and social disasters of
H. Neil McFarland has pointed out the five factors
R ELIGIOUS O RGANIZATION which caused the emergence of messianic cults in primi-
UNINCORPO- tive societies, such as the Ghost-Dance religion of the
INCORPO- RATED OR-
BATED GANIZATIONS TOTAL American Indians and the Cargo cults of New Guinea,
Shinto affiliation. . . . . . . . . . . 204 54 258 and has compared them with the Japanese new religions
Buddhist affiliation . . . . . . . 220 46 266
Christian affiliation . . . . . . . 38 50 phenomena. He says:
Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 ii 1.51
- - These cults are examples of a socio-religious phenome
Totals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547 178 725 non which, for over a half-century, has been reasonably
Nu~.~EB SHBINES, TEMPLES, ANII CHURCHES
OF well understood by anthropologists. Among such cults,
OFFICIALLY
AFFILIATED INDEPENDENT TOTAL 3 Hiroo Takagi, Shinkd shfikyd (Newly Arisen Religions) (Tokyo,
Shinto (in origin). . . . . . . . . . 120,608 984 121,592 1958), pp. 212-42, especially section on “Shinkb shtikyd no shakai-teki
Buddhist (in origin). . . . . . . . 82,798 645 83,443 kinb” (“Social Functions of the Newly Arisen Religions”), pp. 228 ff.
Christian (in origin). . . . . . . . 31737 82 3,819 See also his Nihon no shinka shiiky6 (Newly Arisen Religions of lapan)
Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41994 79 5,073 (Tokyo, 1959).
- -
4 R. K. Merton, Social Theory and Social Structure (rev. and enl.
Totals. ............. 212,137 1,790 213,927 ed.; Glencoe, Ill., 1957). See especially Chapter IV, “Social Structure
N UMBER OF R ELIGIOUS P ROFESSIONALS (PRIESTS , M O N K S , N U N S) and Anomies,” pp. 126-40; Chapter V, “Continuities of the Theory of
hwLE FEMALE TOTAL Social Structure and Anomie,” pp. 161-75. See also Merton, “Social
Shinto affiliation. .......... 60,290
Structure and Anomie,” in The Family, Its Function and Destiny, ed.
110,293 170,583
Buddhist affiliation . . . . . . . .
Ruth N. Anshen (New York, 1949); and “The Social-Cultural Environ-
122,570 59,976 182,546
Christian affiliation . . . . . . . .
ment and Anomie,” in New Responsives for Research on Juvenile Delin-
4,117 4,217 8,334
Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
quency, ed. Helen L. Witmer and Ruth Kotinsky (Washington, 1959))
9,596 4,394 I3 7 990
~ ___ pp. 34-50; and Talcott Parsons, Social System (Glencoe, Ill., 1951) , pp.
Totals. ............... 256-57; 322-25.
246,576 128,877 37s ,453
218 219
Survival of Shamanic Tendencies
wherever they have been discovered, there is discernible

a remarkably standard pattern of development in which
at least five factors are recurrent: (1) social crisis in-
tensified by an intrusive culture; (2 ) a charismatic
leader; (3) apocalyptic signs and wonders; (4) ecstatic
behavior; and (5) syncretic doctrine. The milieu from
which they arise, described in the words of anthropolo-
gist Margaret Mead, is the “ferment of half-abandoned
old and half-understood new.“5
([ General Tendencies
of the New Religions
Iichi Oguchi has analyzed the general tendencies of the

new religions as follows. 6 The founder is always some-
what critical of established religions in theoretical mat-
ters, but the criticisms never attack organized religion as
such, since the new order is still modeled on established
precedents. The theories of the new religions are dynamic
in comparison to the formalized theologies of the tradi-
tional sects; but while they reject the doctrines and dog-
mas of the older religions, their own message is not based
on new or creative insights. The founders know, however,
how to relate a simple message to the frustration and
fragmentation of the general populace. Underlying the
new religions is an age-old shamanistic element trans-
formed into a modem shape and coupled with residual
features of traditional ancestor worship.
6 H. Neil McFarland, “Japan’s New Religions,” in Contemporary
Religions in Japan, I, No. 4 (December, 1960), 60.
a Iichi Oguchi, Nihon sh&yG no shakai-teki seikaku (Social Charac-
teristics of Japanese Religion) (Tokyo, 1953). pp. 74-75, 102.
220
According to Hiroo Takagi,’ the ethos of the new re-

ligious movement is in effect pre-modern; that is to say,
all the new religions have the following characteristics:
elements of Japanese folk beliefs; inter-human relations
based on a pseudo parent-and-child system; anti-social
and yet life-affirming attitude; and, finally, astute organi-
zational ability and commercialism. For the most part
the new religions promise to solve the problems of the
masses by means of magico-religious formulas without
undercutting the framework of the old social order. This
means that what these new religions provide is a sub-
jectivistic, temporary “solution” of people’s problems, so
that converts are made to feel that they can start their
lives afresh in the midst of a troubled world and enjoy
better human relations within the context of their newly
acquired religious groups. However, these new religions
have made no attempt to address themselves to the larger
issues of social evils and injustice. In addition, many of
the founders or organizers of these new religious groups
seem to have charismatic personalities. Almost every one
of them was born as the second or third child of a poor
landowner, peasant, fisherman, or small merchant, and
had firsthand experience of poverty and the difficulties
of the downtrodden. In spite of, or indeed because of,
all this they found a deeper meaning of life in their re-
ligious faith.* This may account for the fact that they
are such effective communicators and teachers to the
men and women of the lower strata of Japanese society.g
7 Takagi, Shinkb shfikyb, pp. 86-241; see especially pp. 86, 101, 102,
122, 228, and 241.
* Ibid., pp. 142 -209.
9 Following Oguchi’s and Takagi’s analyses, Clark B. Offner and
IIenry van Straelen, in their work Modern Iapanese Religions, have
223
from the beginning to the middle of the nineteenth cen-

tury, just at the time of the great change from the pre-
([ The Three Periods of the Emergence
industrial feudal system to modem industrial Japan. In
of New Religions
this period many independent religious movements arose.
However, the Tokugawa shogunate prohibited the estab-
The leading new religions in present-day Japan must be lishment of any new religious sects beyond the thirteen
divided into three groups or periods in accordance with Buddhist sects already authorized. After the Meiji Res-
their origin and development. The first group appeared toration, these movements were permitted to establish
and developed in the last period of the Tokugawa themselves as thirteen Shinto sects. Some of them were
shogunate before the beginning of the Meiji era-that is, the institutionalizations of nationalistic Shinto, such as
pointed out twelve characteristics of the new religions: (1) The particu- sidered characteristic. One enters a new religion by individual faith,
lar teaching, emphases, ceremonies, and sacred writings of each are con- rather than simply by virtue of family or geographical accident. Having
sidered to have been divinely revealed to the founder. (2) The founders become a believer by choice, it is normal for one to become an en-
of the new religions do not seem to excel in humility. Some refer to thusiastic proponent of his faith. (8) Many of the new religions have
themselves as saviors of the present age or equate themselves with Moses, rejected any traditional hierarchical organization which distinguishes be-
Christ, Buddha, Confucius, or certain Japanese emperors. (3) The ma- tween clergy and laity. Most of the believers are entitled to perform
jority of the new religions are syncretistic to a greater or lesser degree. sacred functions, and this lay character seems to stimulate missionary
They freely incorporate the teachings and practices of various other reli- activities among the members. Nevertheless, lack of a priesthood does
gions or philosophical systems. (During their whole history the Japanese not mean lack of organization. Great care is taken to assure liaison with
have shown a pronounced undogmatic tendency together with a great the denomination’s headquarters. (9) Despite pretensions on the part of
flexibility and adaptability of mind. They link together quite contrary some to be world religions, the new religions are definitely Japanese
views, a characteristic which goes together with a distaste for absolutes. faiths. Thy are rooted in Japan and make their appeal to the Japanese.
They can easily worship at Buddhist temples and at the same time at Their “newness” is found in certain emphases or enthusiasms rather
Shinto shrines or Christian churches.) (4) Doctrinally and ceremonial- than in major differences from traditional Japanese thought. (IO) As a
ly the new religions tend to be simple-almost superficial. Many have movement among the masses, the new religions are usually tainted to a
little concrete doctrine of their own. Their doctrinal bases are often greater or lesser degree with superstition. Shamanistic features are
Buddhist or Shintoist with certain peculiar emphases. Simplicity of doc- prominent in many. In some cases this is because ancestor worship played
trine is one obvious reason for their popularity among the masses. (5) an important role in their foundation. (1 I ) Along with this tendency
Related to doctrinal simplicity is the primary emphasis upon “this world- toward superstition and shamanism, there are other elements in the new
ly” benefit. The new religions are more concerned with meeting man’s religions which evidence a more modem outlook. An obvious new re-
material needs in the present than with giving hope for the future or spect for women is seen both in the number of women founders and in
speculating about the nature of another world. One result of the “this the large proportion of women preachers, teachers, and believers. (12)
worldly” emphasis is the important and almost indispensable part played Finally, an outstanding characteristic, even the raison-d’&tre of certain
by physical healing. (6) Most of the new religions have a strong eschato- new religions, is faith healing. It is also one of the main attractions of
logical character. They point to a bright and cheerful life sometime in these religions. See Offner and van Straelen, Modem Japanese Religions,
the future in this world. (7) The enthusiasm and individualism of the pp. 28-37. See also Maurice A. Bairy, Japans neue Religionen in der
new religions contrast with the established faiths and may also be con- Nachkriegszeit (Bonn, 1959).
224 225
the Misogi (Purification), Shim-i (Divine Doctrine), of the public peace and l&se-majest&. However, they have
Shinshfi (Divine Learning), Taisei (Divine Comple- been revived since World War II.ll
tion), and Shtisei (Practice and Becoming) sects; others The third group appeared immediately after World
were reorganizations of those popular religious associa- War II in the throes of political, economic, and cultural
tions based especially on mountain asceticism or Shugen- ruin. Omoto-kyo was revived as Omoto-Aizen-en (Great
do, such as the JikkG (centering in the worship of Mount Foundation Love of Goodness Garden) and Hitonomichi
Fuji), Fusd (the same), Mitake (worship on Mount as the P L KyGdan (Perfect Liberty sect). Sekai-kyiisei-
Ontake in Nagano prefecture), and others. Finally, and kyti (World Messianic Association), the Reify-kai (Spir-
most important, were Kurozumi (from the name of the itual Friends’ Association), the Seichd-no-Iye (House of
founder), Tenri (Heavenly Truth), Konkii (Golden Growth), Rissh&K%ei-kai (Integrative Becoming, a
Light), and other sects which had been established by group following the Nichiren Buddhist line), Saks-
founders who were elected or possessed by their own gakkai (Creating Value Academy, following the Nichiren
kami through the medium of Buddhist ascetics called
Buddhist line), and other small sects suddenly flour-
shugen-ja (magico-religious mountain ascetics) .l”
ished.12
The second group appeared from the end of World
War I to the Manchurian Incident in 1931, a period of 11 Oguchi and Murakaml,. “Kindai-shakai seiritsu-ki no shin shtikya”;
oppression brought on by serious economic depression Takagi, Shinkd shfikyd.
and the rise of militaristic totalitarianism. The Omoto 12 It is noteworthy that the SeichB-no-iye and the Sekai-kytisei-ky6
are large religious bodies which separated from the Omoto-kya sect. The
(Great Foundation) and Hitonomichi (Way of Man- Reiyti-kai, Rissh6-kesei-kai, and the Sbka-gakkai sects are the three largest
kind) sects sprang up and rapidly flourished among the and most active religious bodies in the line of the Nichiren Buddhist
lower classes of townspeople, while the Tenri sect and the sect. The Tokumitsu-kyB sect and its branch, Hitonomichi (now revived
as P L KY&Ian), originated from the Mitake-kyi, (a popular association
Konkii-ky6 sect generally gained in influence among the promoting mountain asceticism based on Mount Ontake). However, it
peasant, laboring, and merchant classes. However, is also significant that the founder of the bmoto-ky6 sect, Nao Deguchi,
Omoto-kyb in 1935 and Hitonomichi in 1937 were at- was once a believer and later a teacher of the Konkb-kyb sect during her
religious roamings. The KonkB-ky6’s influence on the Omoto-kyB. sect . is
tacked and completely crushed by the government under evident in terminology, teaching, and practice. The personal histones of
the pretext of offenses against the law for maintenance Bun@ Kawate, the founder of the Konk&kyb sect, and Nao Deguchi
of the Omoto-kyb sect will be described later. But it is now sufficient to
10 I. Oguchi and Shigeyoshi Murakami, “Kindai-shakai seiritsu-ki no note that Nao was possessed by Konjin (the Kami of Gold, sometimes
shin shfiky6” (“New Religions Emerged in the Period of Establishment called Ushitora-no-Konjin [“Kami of Gold in the Direction of the North-
of Modem IndustriaJ Japan”), in Nihon shtiky&shi k6za (Lectures on west”] ) , who is also the principal deity of KonkB-kyB.
the History of Japanese Religions), ed. Oguchi, Iyenage, Saki, and On the other hand, of the three big Nichiren-related religious bodies,
Matsushima, III (Tokyo, 1959), 217-20; Takagi, Shinka shiiky6, pp. Risshb-kbsei-kai sect separated from the Reiyti-kai sect. It is also note-
36, 44, 47, 50, 55-56; see also D. C. Holtom, Modern Japan and Shinto worthy that among the various Buddhist sects the Nichiren sect has had
Nationalism (New York, 1963). a unique situation in the field of new religious movements. Actually the
226 227
has descended upon her. Itoko Unigame, the founder of

the Shin&shin-ky6 (Shinto New Religion) sect, was pos-
([ Survivals of Shamanic Tendencies
sessed by Konjin (Kami of Gold, the kami of the KonkB
and Omoto sects) and Ame-no-minaka-nushi-no-kami
Returning to our theme, I should like to discuss the (Lord of the Heavenly Center).
relationship between the new religions and Japanese Now let us consider in more detail the lives of several
shamanism. From this viewpoint, we must discuss the founders, in order to clarify their shamanic and charis-
shamanic character of the founders of these new religions matic as well as their mystic character. We will confine
which without exception have appeared during critical ourselves to founders who have transmitted their mystical
periods of social, economic, and political changes within and initiatory experiences in their own writings and who
modern Japan. have exerted great influence by becoming models for
Among ten major founders seven were chosen or pos- new religious movements: Munetada Kurozumi, of
sessed by a kami, and all had experiences of mystical Kurozumi-ky6; BunjirB Kawate, of Konkb-kyb;Miki Na-
inspiration and religious initiation. If we include other kayama, of Tenri-ky6; Nao Deguchi and OnisaburB
founders of smaller sects, such as JikBson, the founder Deguchi, both of Omoto-kyB; Mokichi Okada, of Sekai-
of the Jiu-kyd sect, which was prominent in the news- kytisei-ky6; Masaharu Taniguchi, of Seich&no-Iye.
papers about thirteen years ago, or Sayo Kitamura of the
so-called Dancing Religion (Odoru-shtiky6 or Tenshii-
([ Munetada Kurozumi
k&i-jingti-kyG), the shamanistic character of these per-
sons would be even more remarkable.
For example, Sayo Kitamura calls herself the O-gami- Munetada Kurozumi, the founder of the Kurozumi-kyB
sama (Great August Kami) and believes that the Tenshb- sect, was born into the family of a hereditary Shinto priest
ketai-jingti (Divine Palace of the Heavenly Shining in 1780 in presentday Okayama prefecture. He is said
Great Kami) actually exists in her body. Nami Orimo, to have been well educated, but had a sensitive, intro-
the founder of the Dai-hizen-ky6 (Great Sun Teach- spective nature from childhood. In his youth, in the
ing) sect, claims that the highest kami of the universe transitional period before the Tokugawa shogunate gave
way to the Meiji Restoration, he had been impressed by
Nichiren-related new religions now represent more than one-third of all the unusual mass-hysteric movements of pilgrims to the
the new religious bodies in Japan. Their theology, sacred books, and the Ise shrine, with their chanting, dancing, and begging
objects of worship are superficially based on those of Nichiren Bud-
dhism, though of course there are many varieties and transformations in (okage-mairi). He himself made a pilgrimage to Ise at
the teachings, interpretations, practices, and activities. (See Takagi, the age of twenty-four. The Ise shrine is dedicated to
Shinkd shtikyb, pp. 55-56.) Amaterasu-0-mikami, the Sun Goddess, believed to be
228 229
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E N EW R E L I G I O N S
Social Status Age at Con- Nature of

Sect” Founders of Parents Education version Conversion
KUROZUMI Munetada Shinto priest Home Mystical experience of union with
3.5
Kurozumi (M) the Sun Goddess (Amaterasu-
O-mikami)
TENRI Miki Nakayama Ruined landowner Home 41 Chosen and possessed by ten kami
(F) which were later systematized un-
der the control of Tenri-&no-mi-
koto (Supreme Kami of Heavenly
Truth)
KONKO Bunjira Kawate Poor farmer Self-taught 45 Inspired and possessed by Konjin or
(M) Konk&Daijin (Great Kami of
Gold)
OM~TO Nao Deguchi (F) Poor carpenter None Chosen and possessed by Konjin
56
Onisabura Poor peasant Educational certificate 27 Fell into trance and called by Ko-
Deguchi (M) matsu-no-mikoto (Kami of a
Small Pine Tree)
HITONO- Tokumitsu Small-scale mer- (Formerly a mountain-
MICHI Kaneda (M) chant ascetic of the Mitakekyii
Tokuchilca Small-scale mer- (Formerly a Buddhist 52 Inspired by the Rising Sun to be-
Miki (M) chant novice of Obaku Zen lieve that kami is one not many
sect)
B Shigeyoshi Murakami, Kinsei minshti shfikyb-shi no kenkyti (A Study of the Popular Religions of Modern Japan) (Kyoto, 1957) ;
Murakami, “Bakumatsu ishin ki ni okeru minshti shtikyb no scshd” (“The Emergence of Popular New Religions during the Later
Tokugawa Regime and the Meiji Restoration”), in Nihon shtikyd-shi kdza (1959), II, 197-276; T. Inui, I. Oguchi, A. Saki, and
A. Matsushima, KY&o--shomin no kami-gami (Founders of the New Religions--Kami of the Masses) (Tokyos 1955).
R E P R E S E N T A T IV E N EW RELIGIONS<ontinued
Social Status Age at Con- Nature of

Founders of Parents Education version Conversion
Sect8
REIYO-KAI Kimi Poor peasant Primary school 25 Chosen and possessed by kami and
Kotani (F) spirits. In the tradition of the Ni-
chiren sect
Mokichi Okada Small-scale mer- Primary school 45 Chosen and possessed by kami and
SEKAI-
chant spirits, especially Kannon. Sepa-
KYBSEI (M)
rated from the Omoto sect
Masaharu Farmer, afterward Waseda Univ., not 38 Inspired by divine revelation. Sepa-
SEICHO-
2 owner of small fac- graduated rated from the Omoto sect
h NO-IYE Taniguchi (M)
tory
Myijkb Poor laborer Primary school 50 Chosen and possessed by the spirit
RISSHO-
Naganuma (F) of Nichiren and other Buddhist
ROSEI-KAI
deities
Tsunesaburb Farmer Normal school 59 Formerly a primary schoolmaster.

SOKA-
GAKKAI Makiguchi (M)
Jbsei Toda (M) Fisherman Monotheistic theology and move-
ment based on Nichiren doctrine.
Actual organizer of SGka-gakkai
the mythical ancestress of the imperial family as well as

a personification of the sun. As the result of his pilgrim-
age he became a pious believer in Amaterasu-0mikami. ([ Bunjird Kawate
In 1812, he lost both his father and mother within ten
days in an epidemic. Heartbroken at this unexpected The Konk&kyG sect was founded in October, 1859, by
misfortune, he soon contracted tuberculosis. His con- BunjirG Kawate (1814-1883), a poor farmer in present-
dition became critical in 1814. While in a desperate state, day Konk&machi near Okayama. In this area there ex-
he suddenly arose and prayed with his whole heart that isted an old and strong ShugendG tradition, centering
he might become a kami after his death in order to save especially in the Kojima-yamabushi (or Kojima-gorfi-yama-
all human beings who were suffering from sickness. (We bushi). Their headquarters were close to Okayama and
may observe here one typical example of survival of an- Konk&machi. (They were under the influence of the
cient belief in goryii or reijin). In the early morning of Ishizuchi-yamabushi centering in Mount Ishizuchi in
the winter solstice of 1814, as he piously worshipped the Shikoku.) Superstitious beliefs and practices based on
rising sun, he suddenly felt the unification of his whole OnmyGdG flourished among the masses, since the
life with Amaterasu-O-mikami. This mysterious experi- yamabushi utilized them to appeal to the common
ence made Munetada awaken to his own mystical power. people. Among the various kami and buddhas Shugen-d6
The experience was later called by him “Tenmei-jikiju” venerated, the most fearful was Konjin, who brought evil
(direct initiation by heaven’s decree or calling). After on any who violated the direction in which, in his regu-
his conversion he gradually recovered from his illness. lar circuit of the heavens, he was residing. Konjin’s
He then endeavored to preach the divine power of curses (called shichi-satsu, “seven-murders”) were ex-
tremely awe-inspiring to the common people.
Amaterasu-O-mikami, at first to lower samurai and neigh-
boring small landowners. He composed more than one BunjirG was a timid, cautious, and pious person from
his youth. As with Munetada, BunjirG was much im-
hundred and twenty Japanese poems called “Go-shin-ei”
pressed by the okage-mairi movements, and he also made
(Divine Poems), published together with his letters un-
a pilgrimage to the Ise shrine together with neighboring
der the title Go-ka-mon-shti (Collection of Divine Poems
peasants, Furthermore, he made a pilgrimage to the
and Letters).13
eighty-eight Shingon Buddhist temples in Shikoku
13 Genda Yano, Kurozumi Munetada-6 den (“Biography of Mune- (Shikoku-henro or Hachijti-hakka-sho-junrei) when he
tada Kurozumi”), in Shintd sdsho (Tokyo, 1897); Murakami, Kinsei was thirty-three years of age. He was also very much in
minshti shtiky&shi n o kenkyti (1957)~ p p . 88-97; see also Holtom,
Modern Japan and Shinto Nationalism, p. 160. fear of the curse of Konjin. In spite of his diligent farm
work, misfortunes befell his family. It is said that he
had to build seven tombs for his dead children as well
232 233
as for his domestic animals in a short period. At forty-two brings misfortune to people. During the two years after
years of age he himself became seriously ill and asked his first revelation, Bunjirb continued to work diligently
a yamabushi to pray for his recovery. As expected, the as a farmer and preached his Konjin to neighboring
yamabushi told him that his illness was the result of the peasants. In 1859 he decided to establish a new religion
curse of Konjin. After he had made amends to Konjin,
upon the kami’s request, and completely abandoned
his illness was completely cured. He became an even
farming. Konjin was renamed by him Tenchi-kane-no-
more ardent believer in Konjin as well as in various other
kami (Kami of Gold in Heaven and Earth), and Bunjirb
kami and buddhas.
himself became a kami named Bunji-daimy6jin.14 His
In 1857 his younger brother was suddenly possessed by
Konjin. This deeply impressed Bunjiro, and he became focus of evangelization was mainly on farmers, rural mer-
the first follower of his brother’s religion. In the next chants, and artisans.
year, when Bunjird was forty-five years of age, he him- It is noteworthy that Bunjird insisted on human equali-
self was possessed by Konjin directly. The god said to ty and the rejection of magical healing. He called his
him: followers the kami’s ujiko and taught cooperation be-
tween the kami and the ujiko. He strongly denied super-
You must obey my orders and worship me as the one stitious belief in direction, day, and place, teaching rath-
true kami. . . . I will register your name before all the er: “Wherever, whenever and what direction it may be,
Japanese kami as my ujiko [“parishioner”] so that you
it is a good place, good day and good direction, if the
will be able to receive my messages. Up to today you
person be good.” This seems an interesting example of
have had misfortunes and sufferings. However, from
religious rationalization from superstition to metaphysic,
now on, you must pray to me with your whole heart,
paralleling the socio-cultural modernization of nine-
so that I can make you into a powerful person who
needs neither medical doctors nor magicians. teenth-century Japan. In 1868, when the Emperor Meiji
proclaimed the establishment of a reformed modern
This revelation was written down by BunjirG himself. state, Bunjiro renamed himself “Ikigami-Konk&daijin”
Together with successive mysterious experiences and (Living Great Kami Light) ; he continued his religious
teachings, it was published under the title 0-oboe-gaki activities until his death in 1883. The influence of the
(Divine Memorandum). Konjin as revealed to Bunjirb Konka-kya sect and belief in Konjin is clearly seen in
seems to be quite different from the deity of popular be- the theology of the Omoto-kys sect and of its founder,
lief. This Konjin was the one true kami, who is the an- Nao Deguchi, whose shamanic initiation I shall describe
cestral kami of the earth, and who loves those who trust later.
him, much as good parents love their children. This is
14Delwin B. Schneider, Konkokyo: A Japanese Religion (Tokyo,
in sharp contrast to the Konjin of popular belief, who
1962); Murakami, Kinsei minshii shfikyd-shi no kenkyfi, pp. 97-112.
234 235
a neighboring village, to perform a special incantation

and faith cure (usually called yose-kaji) for Shtishi’s re-
([ Miki Nakayama covery, Ichibei used a female medium in the course of
his faith cure in order to learn the cause of his patient’s
Miki Nakayama was born in 1798, the daughter of a disease. On the night of the twenty-fourth of the Tenth
landowner in present-day Tenri in Nara prefecture. She Month in 1838, Miki took the place of Ichibei’s own
has said that as a child she had been a moody girl who absent medium. Miki, after a cold-water purification,
disliked crowded places, preferring to stay alone in her took two sacred staffs in her hands. Suddenly, during
room to practice handicrafts, sewing, and calligraphy. Ichibei’s incantation, Miki fell into a trance, and the
But she also liked to go to Buddhist temples to chant Great Heavenly Generalissimo (Ten-taishogun) and nine
the name of Amida-Butsu. She received a religious cer- other kami descended and possessed her, proclaiming:
tificate (gojii&den) from the Jodo sect (Pure Land “Miki’s mind and body will be accepted by us as a divine
School) in her nineteenth year. At the age of thirteen shrine, and we desire to save this three-thousand-world
she was married to Zen’emon Nakayama, a landowner of through this divine body. Otherwise, and if you all re-
a neighboring village, and gave birth to one son and five fuse our desire, the Nakayama family shall completely
daughters. The first half of her life covered the period cease to exist. . . .“15
of continuous extraordinary social anxiety caused by both After her husband died in 1853 and the Nakayama
the great famine which reached its peak in 1836 and the family had fallen into the depth of poverty, Miki began
political disturbances of the last stage of the Tokugawa to perform incantations and faith cures for the neighbor-
shogunate. In 1837, Heihachir6 Oshio, a famous Con- ing peasants. Around 1864, a small k6 association was
fucian and Shinto scholar, started a rebellion in Osaka established by her followers. In 1867, Miki received the
against the shogunate after having severely criticized its title of Tenri-6-myGjin (Kami of the Heavenly King of
maladministration. The Nakayama family gradually de- Truth) from the orthodox Shinto family Yoshida in
clined throughout this period. Kyoto. She composed twelve mikagura-uta, poems, which
In 1837, Miki’s eldest son Shtishi became seriously ill. she and her followers recited as a substitute for the Shinto
Miki, pregnant at the time and overcome with anxiety
15 Tenri kyGso den (Life of the Founder of the Tenri-kyd Sect),
over her son’s illness, would become mentally deranged compiled by the Tenri-kyb d&hi-kai (Tenri, 1913) ; Bunichi Okutani,
at times. She wrote later that after she became forty-one Tenri kyeso den kbwa (Lectures on the Biography of the Founder of
years old she sometimes felt as if she were mad. Her the Tenri-kyi, Sect) (Tenri, 1924); Murakami, “Bakumatsu ishin ki ni
okeru minshfi shtiky6 no s&hi&” in Nihon shfikyd-shi kdza, II, 208-24;
body would sway; frequently she would faint while oc- Inui et al., Kydso (1955), pp. 16-28; H. van Straelen, The Religion of
cupied with her domestic duties. Several times she asked Divine Wisdom (Kyoto, 1957); Tenri-ky6 Honbu (ed.), A Short His-
Ichibei, a mountain ascetic (yamabushi) who lived in tory of Tenrikyd (Tenri, 1960).
236 237
Norito (“prayers”). Her preaching gradually became mes- Nao in succession became mentally deranged after child-
sianic under the direct influence of the political changes birth. The unexpected madness of her two daughters
of the time. After her seventy-first year, she began to gave Nao the severe shock which became the overt cause
dance and sing her mikagura-uta songs in front of the of her shamanic activity. On the tenth of January, 1892,
kami’s altar. From 1869 to 1882, Miki extemporaneously just one month after her eldest daughter was stricken,
composed 1,711 waka poems following divine revelations Nao was suddenly possessed by a kami after having
or inspirations. These poems were compiled under the dreamed several times that she was in the divine world.
title Ofude-saki (literally, The Tip of the Writing- Her first initiatory symptoms continued for thirteen days,
brush), and became the sacred teachings of the TenriLky6 during which Nao was convinced that some invisible
sect. She died in 1887 at the age of ninety, leaving twenty- being had entered her body. She performed a cold-water
one churches and more than fifteen thousand followers.ls purification, as the invisible being had instructed; she
groaned with tension, jumped up, and roared violently
from deep in her abdomen. It is said that during this
fi iVao Deguchi and OnisaburG Deguchi first violent attack the following dialogue occurred be-
tween Nao and the invisible being in her abdomen.
Nao Deguchi was born in 1826, a daughter of a poor Znvisible Being: “I am a kami named Ushitora-no-
carpenter in a small town in present-day Fukuchiyama Konjin [Kami of Gold in the Direction of the North-
in Kyoto prefecture. She had to serve an apprenticeship west] .”
as a nursemaid from her eleventh year because of the Nao: “I do not believe what you say; you deceive
poverty of her home. Nao married at seventeen years of me, don’t you?”
age, and became the mother of three sons and five daugh- Invisible Being: “I never lie, for I am a kami.”
ters. According to her biography, before her marriage Nao: “Oh! Such a great kami you are! But, aren’t
she suddenly disappeared from her house for a few days, you a fox or badger deceiving me?”
and after returning home she said that she had practiced Invisible Being: “I am neither a fox nor a badger. I
religious austerities on a mountain. When she was nine- am a kami who wants to re-create and rebuild this
teen, Nao fell into a critical condition because she was Three-Thousand-World to become the world of Konjin
possessed by the spirit of one of her aunts who had com- at once, just as plum Rowers open suddenly. Without
mitted suicide. me this world would not be rebuilt. . . . Though it
In 1890 and 1891, the third and eldest daughters of may be a high ambition, I will endeavor to make the
16 Ofude-saki was compiled in seventeen paper-bound volumes. The eternal divine world, and roll this Three-Thousand-
original handwritten manuscript by Miki herself is treasured at the head- World into one.”
quarters of the Ten&ky6 sect. Nao: “Is it true what you are saying?”
238 239
Invisible Being: “I, the kami, could not do so if I told ky6 sect calls Nao the Kyijso (Foundress) andonisaburo
a lie.“” the Sei-shi (Holy Teacher).
From this year to the next, violent shamanic attacks OnisaburG Deguchi, the great organizer of the Omoto-
(otakebi, “courageous shout” or “divine roar”) visited kycS sect, possessed a weak body in his early days, and was
her intermittently. Nao also performed incantations and frequently haunted by apparitions of his departed grand-
faith cures for the neighboring peasants or townsmen and father. He listened to magico-religious teachers and was
gained several followers. She began to write her Ofude- also influenced by his grandmother’s father, a local
saki, though she had been illiterate. Immediately after scholar of nationalistic Shinto who advocated the study
her first shamanic attack, Nao visited the branch church of magical formulas (koto-dama). Blessed with an ex-
of the KonkG-ky6 sect in Kameoka near Fukuchiyama ceptional memory and intelligence, Onisabur6 took a
and later became a teacher of this sect. Nao was also rebellious attitude toward the world, which because of
influenced by the Tenri-ky6 theology. This is the reason his limited opportunities seemed to him full of inequality
why Nao’s ideas have remarkable similarities to those of and vexation. It is said that even in his adolescence
both Konkti and Tehri. In 1896 Nao separated from the OnisaburG had frequent hallucinations. In 1898 he was
KonkG-ky6 sect and tried to form an independent sect, beaten by some village gamblers for troubles involving
though unsuccessfully because of pressure from govem- women, and barely escaped with his life. Severely repri-
ment police as well as from the Konka-kyis headquarters. manded by his mother, OnisaburG invoked the aid of the
Eventually, Nao was visited by KisaburG Ueda in 1897. kami with regret and suffering. On that same night, ac-
This was the turning point for the independent develop cording to his report, he was led from home by a divine
ment of Omoto-kyd. KisaburG Ueda, twenty-eight years
messenger. He wandered about Mount Takakura for
old at that time, became an active associate and later the about a week and was granted mystical experiences. After
successor and the son-in-law of Nao Deguchi. Later, he he returned home he announced to his family that he had
changed his name to OnisaburG Deguchi. The Omoto-
gone to practice religious austerities, having been led by
1’ Nao Deguchi, Keireki (My Life Story) (Ayabe, 1902); Kdhon a kami. It is said that then, owing to exhaustion, he was
Omoto ky6so den-kaiso no maki (Manuscript of the Biographies of the unable to speak for several days. This experience of wan-
Founders of the Omoto-kyb Sect-Section on the Founder), compiled
dering and of religious austerities became the basis of
by the Omoto kyhgakuin (Ayabe, 1957); Shizuo Hattori, Omoto kydso
Deguchi Nao den (A Life of Nao Deguchi, the Founder of the Omoto- later memoirs entitled Reikai-monogatari (Story of the
ky6 Sect) (Ayabe, 1921); Murakami, Kinsei minshti shiikyb-shi no ken- World of Spirits). He tells us that his soul had wan-
kyfi, pp. 117-29; Inui et al., Kyciso, pp. 59-67. Omoto Movement: Its dered about the spiritual realm, his religious mission was
Origin, Aims, and Objects and the Universal Love and Brotherhood
revealed, and he gained occult powers and received sev-
Association (Kameoka, 1952); TcjjBrB Murai, What Is “Omoto”?
(Kameoka, 1957). eral divine revelations. The name of the kami who elected
241
240
him was revealed two and a half months after his first police, and the messianic divine hall (Miroku-den) and
initiation. all its other buildings and institutions were destroyed in
Some scholars are skeptical about OnisaburG’s story of 1935. Onisaburb died in 1948 at the age of seventy-eight,
his experience on the mountain, holding that it was having reconstructed his sect as Omoto-aizen-en after
probably his own arbitrary action and not a real initiatory World War II. His Reikai-monogatari reached eighty-
election. Even supposing this to be true, we must say one volumes and is now the sacred book of the sect. He
that it followed a stereotyped pattern peculiar to sha- also composed many poems.‘*
manism.
From this rough sketch of the biographies of the
During World War I, after Nao had retired, OnisaburG
founders of representative new religions, we can recog-
was active in the messianic movement: he published a
nize that there still survive some of the fundamental ele-
bulletin named Shikishima-shinbun; he organized the re- ments of genuine Arctic shamanism, though with many
ligious military system; he proclaimed that he was not artificial and historical embellishments, alterations, and
only the Holy Teacher but an incarnation of Miroku transmutations. These persons displayed unusual fea-
(the bodhisattva Maitreya, believed to be the future Bud- tures or abnormalities in their personalities-they were
dha who will descend from Tusita Heaven to save the constitutionally weak, loved solitude, were introspective,
human race; this belief had frequently been the touch- and had visions and auditory hallucinations. They ex-
stone of agrarian revolts in Japanese history). OnisaburG perienced initiatory mental disorders in the context of
also performed a peculiar faith cure termed chinkon- personal crises. They were possessed or visited by a kami
kishin (unification with the kami through meditation or during their first trance. They felt a reintegration of per-
repose of one’s own soul). There was occasionally a sonality after initiation, which took the form of the de-
revivalistic atmosphere in his large kami hall. OnisaburG velopment of shamanistic techniques and self-control.
also gave his followers objects called mite-shiro (sub- They created such apocalyptic literature as the Go-shin-ei
stitutes for the divine hands). They were dipper-shaped of Munetada Kurozumi, the 0-oboe-gaki of BunjirG Ka-
pieces of wood with sacred characters written on them, wate, the Ofude-saki of Miki Nakayama and Nao De-
and were believed to be magical means of healing. From guchi, the Mikagura-uta of Miki Nakayama, and the
1917 to 1921, OnisaburG published the Omoto-ky6 bul- Reikai-monogatari of OnisaburG Deguchi.lg
letin Shinrei-kai (Spiritual World). Masaharu Taniguchi, 1sKcjhon amoto kydso den-seishi no maki (Section on the Holy
the founder of the SeichG-no-Iye sect, was one of its Teacher), compiled by the Omoto ky6gakuin (Ayabe, 1957) ; Onisabur6
Deguchi, Waga hansei no ki (Story of Half My Life) (Ayabe, 1935);
editors in his youth. Several intellectuals became Murakami, Kinsei minshti shtiky&shi no kenkyii, pp. 140-48; Inui et al.,
OnisaburG’s followers. Ky;yciso, pp. 70-75.
The movement was attacked in 1921 by government 19 Hori, Nihon shiiky&shi kenkyii, I, 5o-52.
242 243
guchi picked up his pen and began writing the work

which was published under the title of Seimei no jissd
([ Seichd-no-lye, Sekai-kytisei-kyd,
and S&a-gakkai (Reality of Life).
His literary gift and his knowledge of metaphysics, phi-
losophy, and mysticism as well as his concern for Spirit-
In concluding this chapter, I must add a few words about ualism, his practice of the Omoto-kyo’s chinkon-kishin,
the peculiar characteristics of the Seich&no-Iye, Sekai- and his own doctrine inculcating spiritual reality as the
kflsei-ky8, and SGka-gakkai sects. basis of social reformation, led Taniguchi to a unique
Masaharu Taniguchi ( 1893- ), the founder of the venture in philosophical writing. After his first revelation
SeichG-no-Iye sect, first became an Omoto-kyti believer, at thirty-eight years of age, he wrote a great number of
and served on the editorial staff of the bulletin of the articles which were later compiled into voluminous books.
Omoto-ky0 headquarters, Shinrei-kai. Educated at Wa- His principal work is the Seimei no jiss0, which has now
seda University in Tokyo, Taniguchi was interested in reached more than forty volumes.
Buddhist and Christian theories as well as in Christian Some similarities to Taniguchi’s mysterious experiences
Science and Spiritualism. He also was interested in such are seen in those of Mokichi Okada ( 1882-1954), the
Western intellectuals as Schopenhauer, Tolstoi, Oscar founder of the Sekai-kflsei-ky6. Both Taniguchi and
Wilde, and Nietzsche. It is said that he was most im- Okada began in the Omoto-kyb sect. Unlike Taniguchi,
pressed by F. L. Holmes’ Love of Mind Action, which he Okada was the son of a small merchant and suffered from
translated into Japanese. After the great earthquake struck poverty and sickness. After the g-rest earthquake in 1923,
Tokyo in 1923, Taniguchi heard mysterious voices more overwhelmed by sickness, financial crises, and his wife’s
frequently than before. He practiced chinkon-kishin, the death, he sought spiritual help in the Omoto-ky6 sect.
technique of ecstasy or trance mentioned above. Accord- During practice of the chinkon-kishin, he began to have
ing to Taniguchi’s memoirs, during ‘this exercise he once various mysterious experiences. According to the Guse
heard a voice from an invisible being: “Arise now! Now no hikari (Light of the Savior), he was possessed in De-
is the time. It is a mistake to think of waiting until you cember, 1926, by a divine being named Inanome-no-kami,
have sufficient money or time before beginning your work who was revealed to be a form of Kannon, the Buddhist
of enlightenment.” Despite Taniguchi’s protests, the goddess of mercy. Kannon told him that she wanted to
voice came back: “There is no such thing as material ap- use Okada’s body to perfom a great work of salvation for
pearance. Do not be tricked by things that do not exist. all mankind. Okada wrote: “From the first year of Shawa
. . . You are reality. You are Buddha. You are Christ. You [ 19261 Kannon-sama constantly possessed my body,
are infinite. You are inexhaustible.“20 Suddenly Tani-
2o Masaharu Taniguchi, Seimei no jissa (Reality of Life) (Tokyo, Training of Mankind (Tokyo, 1960); Inui et al., Kyeso (1955)~ PP. V
1958), XX, 163 ff.; see also Tan&hi, Divine Education and Spiritual ‘35.
244 245
taught me many things, gave commands, and used my

body with perfect freedom. She simply used me as a ve-
hicle to save all men. . . .“21 He also proclaimed that the
Buddha, Christ, and Mohammed were mere preachers of
the kami’s will; however, Okada believed that he himself
was a man truly united with the kami.
Okada’s method of evangelization is somewhat differ-
ent from Taniguchi’s, though both have been deeply in-
fluenced by Onisaburo’s Omoto-kyo practices such as
chinkon-kishin. Okada developed his own method for
treatment of the sick, but borrowed from Onisaburo’s
mite-shiro, which is similar to that of many folk magico-
religious movements.
The Soka-gakkai sect is the most vigorous, dogmatic,
exclusivistic, belligerent, and self-confident group in con-
temporary Japan, and is the fastest growing.22 This sect is
closely associated with Nichiren-she-shii, one of the de-
nominations of the Nichiren sect. Though the Soka-
gakkai sect proclaims that it spreads the real teachings of
Nichiren over the world, strictly following the special
theology and authority of the Nichiren-she-shri, it has its
own special theory-value creation (so-ka). This theory
was revealed by Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871-1944), the
founder of this sect. The sect has engaged in socio-
religious activities but has also made rapid progress by
the traditional method of shakubuku (“browbeating into
submission”) advocated by Nichiren (122~1282)) the
historical founder of the Nichiren sect.
21 Yoshiko Okada, Guse no hikari (Light of the Savior) (Atami),
cited by Offner and van Straelen, Modern Japanese ReZigions, pp. 78-79;
Inui et al., Ky~%o (1955), pp. 171-206.
22 Offner and van Straelen, Modern Iapanese Religions, p. 98.
246
Originally, Nichiren-she-shu was only a small society.

After Makiguchi and Josei Toda converted to it in 1928,
that faith was united with their theory of value creation
and became an impelling force. In 1930 Makiguchi pub-
lished a series of books entitled Soka-kyoiku taikei (A
System of Value-Creation Education), setting forth the
Soka-gakkai theory of education, value, and religion. In
1937, Makiguchi and Toda established the Soka-kyoiku-
gakkai (Society for Value-Creation Education) with
some sixty members. Makiguchi died in 1944 under
strong pressure from the military and the police. After
Makiguchi’s death, through the dynamic leadership of his
successor and co-founder, Jdsei Toda (19oo-1958), Soka-
gakkai advanced with great strides. Toda published the
monthly Dai-byaku-renge (Big White Lotus) and the
newspaper Seikyo-shinbun (Holy Teachings). These pub-
lishing ventures, like those of Onisaburo and Taniguchi,
appealed to both intellectual young people and to labor-
ers who felt the postwar anomie.
Toda utilized vividly the method of shakubuku or
forced conversions which he expounded in his book
Shakubuku-kyoten (Scripture of Conversion by Force).
Toda created a strict, military-like organization. Giving a
vital strength to the movement are the youth organiza-
tions, structured on a military model. These groups sing
spirited marching songs urging them to battle and vic-
tory.23 The young people’s divisions now total some quar-
ter of a million members, a driving force behind the sect’s
political successes. At present Soka-gakkai (under the
guise of the Komei-kai party) is the third largest political
body in the upper house of the Japanese Diet.
23 Ibid., p. 103.
249
Curiously, Soka-gakkai denies that it is an independent teristics indicated above are not unique to Japanese new
religious body, insisting it is merely a lay association religions and their founders. If one carefully examines
within the Nichiren sect. But its rapid growth, its pene- modern American cults and minority religious move-
tration into labor unions, its recent successes in political nlents,25 one can find many similarities to those of Japan,
activities, and its offensive methods of gaining converts as well as to new religious movements in Africa, Indo-
have all forced national attention upon it. Offner and nesia, and other places in the world.
van Straelen regard it as one of the most important socio- 25 Charles Samuel Braden, These Also Believe: A Study of Modern
religious groups in present-day Japan, and recognition of American Cults and Minority Rehgious Movements (New York, 1951);
it, whether as a religion or not, is unavoidable in any J. P. Williams, What Americans Believe and How They Worship (New
study of modern religions.24 York, 1952). See Offner and van Straelen, Modern Japanese Rehgions,
Finally, I should like to point out again that the re- PP. 29-30.
ligious interest of the founders, Miki Nakayama, Nao
Deguchi, Taniguchi, and Okada, resulted from frustra-
tion, disappointment, and experiences in which they
were completely helpless. These conditions were caused
by social, political, economic, cultural, or socio-psycho-
logical instability which were keenly felt by a person of
especial religious sensitivity, particularly of the charis-
matic or shamanic type.
Though these founders may proclaim themselves mes-
siahs and teach the possibility of paradise in this world,
they never became practical social reformers. They have
given frustrations, disappointments, and experiences of
helplessness an individual outlet in individual salvation.
Therefore, the new religions in Japan have played a con-
servative role, serving to help maintain the status quo and
to prevent social revolution. This role is due also to their
magico-religious or folk religious tendencies. The charac-
24 Akio Saki and I. Oguchi, Soka-gakkai, sono shish6 to kodd (Soka-
gakkai Sect: Its Thought and Activity) (Tokyo, 1958); Kyotoku Na-
kano, Shinkd shukyd no kaibd (Analysis of the Newly Arisen Religions)
(Tokyo, 19 54) ; 3 Hiroo Takagi, Shinko shukyo; Sdka-gakkai Honbu, The
Soka Gakkai (Tokyo, 1960).
250 251
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
([ Subject Bibliography
JAPANESE RELIGION AND CULTURE

Adams, Charles J., ed. A Reader’s Guide to the Great Re-
ligions. New York: Free Press, 1965.
Anesaki, Masaharu. Japanese Mythology (Vol. 8 of The
Mythology of AIZ Races, ed. C. J. A. MacCulloch). Bos-
ton: Marshall Jones, 1928.
---. History of Japanese Religion. London: Kegan Paul,
Trench, Trubner, 1930. A standard work, although dated.
---. Religious Life of the Japanese People, rev. Hideo
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Hori, Ichiro. Wagakuni minkan-shinkb-shi no kenkyfi (A Terms of Relationship.” Southwestern Journal of An-
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Tokyo: Sogensha, 1953; 1955. Bellah, Robert N. Tokugawa Religion. Glencoe, Ill.: Free
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258 259
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Cornell, John B., and Smith, Robert J. Two Japanese Vil- ter, 1962.
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Hulse, Frederick S. “A Sketch of Japanese Society.” Journal
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CHAPTER III
Neumann, Nelly. “Yama no Kami-die japanische Berggott-
Coates, Harper H., and Ishizuka, Ryagaku. Hdnen the
heit.” Folklore Studies 22 (1963) : 133-366.
Buddhist Saint. Kyoto: Society for the Publication of
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Fujiwara, Ry&.etsu. Nembutsu shisd no kenkyii (A Study of
the Nembutsu Ideology). Kyoto: Nagata Bunshtido, 1957. Asiatique 17 (1965).
260 261
---. “Religious and Cultural Ethos of Modern Japan.”

Slawick, Alexander. “Zur Etymologie des japanischen Ter-
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ligionen in Japan. Zurich: Atlantis, 1962.
44-58.
McFarland, H. Neill. “The New Religions of Japan.” The
Perkins School of Theology Journal 12 (no. 1, Fall,
CHAPTER V
1958) : 3-21.
Eder, Matthias. “Shamanismus in Japan.” Paideuma 6 (no. Offner, Clark B., and Straelen, Henry van. Modern Japanese
7, May, 1958) : 367-80. Religions. Leiden: Brill, 1963.
Fairchild, William P. “Shamanism in Japan.” Folklore Schneider, Delwin B. Konkokyo: A Japanese Religion. To-
Studies 21 (1962) : 1-122. kyo: lnternational Institute for the Study of Religions,
Kitagawa, Joseph M. “Kaiser und Shamane in Japan.” An- 1962.
taios 2 (no. 6, March, 1961) : 552-66. Tenrikyo, The Headquarters of. A Short History of Ten-
Nakayama, Tar& Nihon fujo-shi (History of Japanese Fe- riky0. Tenri: Headquarters of Tenrikyd Church, 1956.
male Shamans). Tokyo: Ookayama Shoten, 1930. Tensh&K&ai-ring&KY& The Prophets of Tabuse. Tabuse:
Slawick, Alexander. “Kultische Gereimbiinde der Japaner Tenshij-Ketai-Jingu-Kyo Headquarters, 1954.
und Germanen.” Die Indogermanen- und Germanen- Thornsen, Harry. The New Religions of lapan. Tokyo and
frage: neue Wege zu ihrer LBsung, Wiener Beitrige zur Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle, 1963.
Kulturgeschichte und Linguistik 4 (1936) : 675-763. Van Straelen, Henry. The Religion of Divine Wisdom.
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in Japan”). Kyodo kenkyti 1 (nos. l-12, 1913). Yashima, Jiro. An Essay on the Way of Life. Tondabayashi:
P L Kyodan Headquarters, 1950.
CHAPTER VI
Bairy, Maurice A. Japans neue Religionen in der Nach-
kriegszeit. Bonn: Rahrscheid, 1959.
Deguchi, Nao. Scripture of Ooomoto. Kameoka: Oomoto-
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May, 1961): 24-42.
262 263
INDEX
Abe %$$ family, 14, 79 #&.VfttLjG , 214-15; Uta-

Akiba Takashi &* t’% , 181, bikuni, 4on
1s 5-87 Bon @ festival, 56, 57, 134,
Amaterasu-O-mikami 5 S!, h 138-39, 156-59, 17011, 201-
11
*+ , 161, 162, 166, 191, Buddhism, 10, 16, 37, 43, 50,
229, 232 58, 68, 71, 93, 112, 115,
130, 166, 181, 198-99; Man-
Amida?IJJ&?k, 67, 73, 74, 93,
traysna or Esoteric Bud-
95-97, 99% 105, 107% dhism, 77, 92, 93, 111, 116,
117-23,125n, 127n, 129-33, 143, 152
200, 215; sutras, 118 Buddhist sects: Hoss~%$~ ,
Ancestor-worship, 10, 49, 59,
86, 154; connected with uji- 88, 122; Ji e , 74, 1=3n,
gami system, 30-31 124n, 126, 132, 139; Jiido
Anesaki Masaharu +L$& $ , i+, 43, 6 4 , 74, 91, 122,
101, lzln, lt8n, 130” 139; Kegon 0 fi , 88, 122;
Anraku @q , 119 N i c h i r e n v & , 39n, io5n,

246, 250; Nichiren Sh&hti
Antoku 4’rk. , Emperor, 23
u;ies $ , 246, 2 4 9 ; R1tsu
Arakida gjjcw family, 154”
4$, 88, 122; Sanron 3 $+ ,
Bairy, Maurice A., 225n 122; Shin & , 3p, 64, 74,
Bellah, Robert N., 3on 131, 139; Shingon$% , 77,
Bett&ji&\sg$ , 1 4 2 78, 88, 122, 139, 14% 159,
B&u, 99 160, 199, 214; Tendai z&$ ,
Bikuni, 215; Ise-bikuni dt$$
64, 77, 78, 88, 94, 97, 106,
ttk& , 215; Kumano-bikuni 107, 111, 117, 121n, 122,
265
Index Index
139,142, 160, 169,199, 214; Dai-byaku-renge A b i&t + , 249 Enchin fti ~9 , or Chisb Daishi Fusr?ryakki SR$@~C , lop,
Yuzfi-Nembutsu-shti I&&$. Daigo&@ , Emperor, 97, 98n, *iq7, 111 l$n, 177n
/L$ , 122n; Zen*%, 9 1 115”
Ennin 10 i= , or Jikaku Daishi Gaku-s6&$ , loo, 101
Bunji-daimy$n k.32 ksFi tt , &@xq, 9 5 , 1 0 7 , 1 1 1 , Gansai @I 15, 120
235 Dai-hizen-kyij k v t?+, ak , 228 17511, 176n
Bun-ke a!$ , 52 Geisetsu-e >&q&e , 11811
En-no-Gyijja b$fi_ sfj , or En-no-
Dai-nichi-nyorai k u * 8 , 173 Gen-buku rt16t , 26, 2711
Bunraku i* , 215 Shijkaku f%clb k , 74, 77, 87,
Dai-shl k $ , 100 Genji-monogatari j$ k%$g, 72
9=? 99
Deguchi Nao ti t7 ‘s L’ , 235, Enryaku-ji &%--$ , 95” GenkB-shaku-sho % f k t
Chase&$-X, 134 7
238-40, 243
Etoki i&k$! , 212, 214-15 109n, 119n, 12on, 122n, 127
Chih-kai #$ $6 , 94, 9 j Deguchi Onisaburii ti m I&
Genshin $4’;) or Eshin-sczu k.
Ching-t’u 5$ t , 73 f i$ 7 240-43 Fujiwara & 3 family, 11511
Den-ryaku$&# , 98n Fujiwara Kanezane 5 $ , 133 CX$~;), , 103, 104, 107-8,
Chin-ka-sai, or Hana-shizume-
118, 127, 132”
no-matsuri a,&+ , 125 DBgen $% , lop Fujiwara Kintij /;4P , 13611
Gion <i&a , 3 5
Chinkon-kishin $$ i&tJ$i I$ , Dcken shonin meido-ki 5 Fl
Fujiwara Masayo && , 1 j jn Go-kamon-shii ‘r+$? k $, , 232
242, 244-46 ~q. &it , 176n Fujiwara Michinaga & k ? Gon-kid%%, 123n, 153”
Chishin %# , or Ippen Sh&
Dozoku &Jjk , 27, 32, 5% 5 2 - 104n, 119n, 153”
Gorybe 8?$,+, 115
n i n -&LX , 7 4 , iogn, Fujiwara Michinori I& !& , 123n
6 3 , 213; of the Nakabori
12411, 126, 132 Gory&shin f+$ it+ , or GO@:
family, 61; of the Omi fam-
Fujiwara Morozane @ $ 2 97” a,e of, 72, 77, 79, 116, , be-
ChGgen B * , 12p ily, 60-61; of the Sait6
family, 54-57 Fujiwara Munetada * % , @n, l&f in 43-44, 51, 52, 63, 64,
ChBi $49 , 120 Durkheim, Emile, 134 71-7~,92,ll2-l7,12i, 123,
12jn
139; 19&200, 207, 232
Fujiwara Sanesuke $ $$, 105”
ChGkei 4 & , Emperor, 21,
Eboshi,&% $, 27”; Eboshi-gi Go-shin-ei &iq&ic, 232, 243
24” Fujiwara Sukefusa S&h , 1o5n
Goshirakawa f+ S%J , Emperor,
Chii Z , 3011 .&%$j ’ 26; Eboshi-iwai .
Fujiwara Tadazane (3, ‘# , 98n 182n
Chiq’ii-ki + & ‘st , 98n, 12311 ,$~ji~ 26; Eboshi-oya &,lp6 Gosh& bjd den &mtk$$ ,
Fujiwara Yukinari ‘r-i- 4‘, 12311,
Confucianism, 9, 10, 50, 58, logn, 122n
+ti, =7n, 28 I c2n
717 931 143 Fur;;0 Kiyoto 6 %?f $X, 15 Gukan-shd E. % 30, lop
Cosmic Tree, 5 Eliade, Mircea, 146, 184-85
Czaplicka, M., 6 Eliot, Charles, 16-17 Fuse-kyB ?@#i , 4on, 226 Guse-no-bikari &@ II % , 245
266 267
Index Index
IkuhGmon-in X$ % ~7 t% , 98n Jiu-ky6 @. $ XL, 228
GyGgi%i &, 87,92,99,176n Hokke gen ki $$#@t~ , 1o3n,
105” Imo-ji&j*i/ZLp, 40” Jiza*c&, 159n, 2o7n, 208
Gyaja+i,$$ , 4on, 1 8 3 Hokke-zammai % + 5 B,+ , 96
Innai-mura &I+ +r , 80 JizG-bonl&‘$ , 207-10
Gyoku-y6 3, $ , I 3 3n Honch&seiki & ti g tfi , 12 3n
Jagij Shiitoku-11% teisetsu A ‘$
Ippen-hiiiri-e -s&q ti , 10911,
Hcnen 51; $6 , or Genkti %$ Q , %f&LL.l$% , 85n, 9711
Hachitataki b&r~ , 74, 134 126n, 132”
94, 10211, lop, 12111, 122, Ibgyii-jijza-zammai %r+$& 3ec ,
Hachiya@& , 74, 134 127-30, 131-33 Ise-no-Tayfi CT $$7: PIP , 156n
Hdnen Shdnin gycjiii ezu ii $+ L 94, 95
Hada-awase &L&h v_ , 2 7 Ise shrine i(~zrfi? ‘$4 , 7, 39% J6mon $$, k culture, 8, 20
~r&r~ , 96n
Hangyo-hanza-zammai $ “3 $:k 6’7, 194, 2’29, 233 Jfiruri;$@s&, , 80, 215
Hon-ke +& , 52 Ita, 201
se,+. , 94” Itako, 7, 201 Jussha d~?s , 4011, 183
Ho-on $K!% , IO, 32
Higy&hiza-zammai + ‘i lf/+ z Ito-hiki $, ~1 , 11911
Horikawa % 5~ , Emperor, 9811, Kabuki #&4$_ , 74, 137% 200,
b$.. 7 94n Izumi-shikibu &,%3i’fp , lo@
177” 215
Hijiri @&’ , 40, 92, 101, 103-5, H&yi$ 5&/k+ , 97" Kaif tisfi +$I$,+ , 164”
Izumo shrine ti +?x in , 7, 39”
118, 122, 123, 127, 139; Hosshin-shti @I? $ , 12on Kaija-sh6 L%$+, 1o9n
Amida-hijiri 14 ji&l~‘_Lq , 10 5- J a k u s h i n & (2:’ , pp, 103, Kaito, 62-63
Hou-Han-shu $k;H $ , 9n
lop, 106-10, 118
10; Kaikoku-hijiri @ ti Q , Kakan nb % , 26
Hui-yiian ij.,$. , 73, 93, 95 Jichin G.&@, 105n
Kakunyo ,/&h , iogn
4011; Gya-hijiri &~f@ , 126,
lchijo $tr , 201 JikGson @ $I$ , 228
Kakure-Kirishitan IL.6 %, FL@ ,
134; Nembutsu-hijiri %+ 15-16
Zchiko & +. , 182, 201, 202 Jikkb-kyG ‘$/r+&, 4on, 226
$, 4on, 106-10, 118, lzjn, Kdlayasas, 94”
Ichimai kish&mon - ~k,@tt Jimmu 1$d , Emperor, 161, Kami, 32, 37-38, 58, 64, 68,
133-34; Sammai-hijiri 2 P+
kc, 128-29 162, 192 201-2; Ama-tsu-kami k$
=QP, 134; Zoku-hijiri I.&Q , Ichinen-gi -&&% , 12111, 131 Jingi-rye i+tw , 12 511 +, 9, I 54; Ara-hito-gami%A
108
Ifa Fuyii CPX#t-riji, 153” I+, 35; Kuni-tsu-kami @J;$
Jin@ i$+ , Empress, 191,
Hi-mi-ko, or Pi-mi-ko $l& p+ ,
q , 69, 154; Tenchi-Kane-no-
31, 166, 187-91 Iken-ftiji &% in jg , 98n 194-9 5
Hito-gami, type of belief, 31- Jingfi-ji 19% 3 , 37-38, 142 k a m i Xre&iilp , 235; Tad
38, 70-71, 80-81 Iken jiinikajc $. f7_+ = gb$:, 99n
Ji-shti s+ $_ , 134 no-kami 10 ., ig , I 5 1; Yama-
Hitonomichi Xa & , 226, 227 Ikigami-Konks-Daijin 2 109%
Jita +$$k, Empress, 163-64 no-kami&-i+ , 151
H&n 2 “7 , 142 kkp 9 235
268 269
Index Index
Kamo ‘I? “‘family, 14, 79 system, 38-40; connected Kcmei-kai 2,‘s.~ Q , or KGmei-to Latter Age of the Buddha’s
with nji-gami system, 28-29, Law. See Mappb
Kamo-no-ChGmei & fi-@n, 12on Z@J$? t 249
38-40; Ise-ka 47 $tk , 39n, Li-chi $L~L , 148n
Kaneda Tokumitsu $ IQ 18 $, Kongbkai & 141~ !# , 160
67; Kabu-kij a%:$, 57; Kan- Linton, Ralph, 13-15
230 Konjaku monogatari ++% A ,
Kaneuchi k?J, 74, 134 non-kc &% $&, 67; Kcshin- Lotus Sutra ‘t$ B% , 85, 96,
103n, 105n, iion, 121n
Kangaku-c @I $9, 109 kd &% 4’ %, 39, 66-67; K&hi, 99n, 103, 1o4n, 109, 1 1 7 ,
Konjin$ip , 229, 233-35 12211
Kan-nagi %‘*b, 182 or Kinoene-kB ‘P +9& , 3 9 ,
Konk&kyG $ G tk, 226, 235,
Kannon b*-, 67, 97n, 245 6 8 ; Mukae-k6 k% , 1 0 7 ; McFarland, H. N., 219-20
240
Kantei-go px) 4 $5, 104” K%ai $13 , 12111, 131” Maka-shikan e tq rt &, , 94
Nembutsu-kd &t;&, 67; Ni-
Kotani Miki III&$ % , 231 Maki, 52, 57
Kanze @e, 124” jfisanya-k6 1 t 5 k ;&- , Makiguchi Tsunesaburb 4k b
Kariba-my+n $ c% Bn ip, 168n, KGya, or Kfiya 6 e, 103, 106-
39,67, Oj&ka 4k k$& 118n; 7 ~#.p , 246, 249
1j8 8, 118, 126
Kari-oya a@~,, 28 &Jakura-no-s&hi 3t.S + , 72,
Senzo-k6 %jat&, 57; Shijii- K6ya-rui 112 +j$ , 107” 116
KatG Genchi bb&t@, 34 ha&i&j (3 t / L *k
PCs- , 118n; Kijzen gokoku ron &J$&@ .% , Many&shii &,$, )f, , 149%
K a w a t e Bunjirii 1’ 1 $ ks2 .$ , various types of, 37-40; 10211
1pb 152, 162n, 163n,
233-35, 243 Yama-no-kami-k5 A 9 1~ f&_ , Kuchiyose p $ , 182 164n, 165”
Kazan fi k , Emperor, 10411,
39767 Kfikai $;& , or Kc?bbb Daishi a;& MappG z:k. , 92, 101-5
10511, 156n Ko-bun fp , 28n
Keikb % fi , Emperor, 194 xt~ ,61,92, 111, 168
KGen 9 ffl , 10511, 17711
Kiji-ya &Q& , 4on Kumlrajiva, 9 3n
Kdgyoku k+& , Empress, 197- Maruyama-kyd fz&fj,~ , 40”
Kumi ?a, 62-63
Kitamura Sayo jtd47 d , 228 98
Merton, R. K., 219
Kojiki ;f fin , 4-5, 24, 69, Kurozumi-kyb $,I$& , 226
Kit&ja &f&A , 4on Michiae-no-matsuri $ I#$$ , 12 5
126n, 153% 16111, 166,
Kiyono Kenji ift @$ #iz, 2 Kurozumi Munetada !?l& $8, ,
19211, 193n, 194-95; creation
=29--j=, 243 &Jid&kanpaku ki $7 # atJ L % ,
myth of, 4n, 5n
Kd ig, IO, 3on, 62-63, 66-68; Kybgydshinsho &rj I;?%, 10211, 153”
Akiba-kc $‘k$ ;1% , p, 6 7 ; Kojiki-den % F j&4$ , 4 Mikagura-uta kb*C”i fk , 237,
131
Amida_kc ~~~&I~:‘;k , 118n; Ko-kata s$ , 28n, 29n Kydkai 8 *’ , 176n 243
connected with hito-gami KbkB %& , Emperor, 115” Kybshin $i,,$ , logn, 120 Miki Tokuchika fSp&f&&, 230
270 271
Index Index
Mikogq , I 81-82; Jinja-mike Mountains; Fuji $ *.L , 149, Nakayama Tar5 9 L h h? , =j’n, Nijcgo-zammai-kesshii : 7 h -
~+$tgt , 1 8 2 - 8 3 ; Kuchi- 182, 2o2n o%:tfiYt, 108
150, 226; Gassan ,Q L , 142,
y o s e - m i k o D$& Q , 200- Nakijdo-oya I+ .4.b ,28 Nijfigo-zammai-kish6 zt h 5
170-74; Haguro %I L L , 77,
2 I 2; Shinano-miko 4 i 5%~ Ncmbutsu $cq ; Fudan-Nem- q_j&1o8n
142, 173-74; Haku-san b
q t 7, =o= butsu ;I- !+%:/lf, 95n; In-zci Nimnyb 12 DfJ , Emperor, 12 311
CL. ,142 20811; Hiei tth4 ,
Minamoto :# family, 2 3 Nembutsu Z)j# , 9 511; magic, Nintoku I=. 15, , Emperor, 196
95, 1o3n, 106-8; Hiko $ L ,
Minamoto Tamenori & !& , 106,
51, 73-74, 93; Nembutsu- Nitti%guhBjunrei-k6ki hk rf;$
107” 77,142; Kimpu $L$L~L ,142, odori or Odori-Nembutsu %J , ~,@+t, 95n, 175n, 17611
Minamoto Yoshiiye &$ , 23 126, 134, 137-38; Nemh-
20811; KGya &Lpf L , 159, NGiiL, 80, 124n
Minamoto Yoshitsune && , 3 tsu-zammai&fi~+, 96, 107;
178; Kumano %. @$A , 77, Norito $%iq , I 54
Miroku$Q$$ , 97n, 242 practices of, 43, 74, 117-27,
142, 214; Osore%!:L , 159, 200; Uta-Nembutsu Jo, 13711,
Misogi $9 sect, 226 Obayashi Taryd F! %. A ,$- , 3-5
208-11; Taisen X CL , 142, 212, 215; Yama-no-Nembu-
Mitake-kyG &&#L, 4on, 226 tsu L , 95” Odoru-shiiky5 $6 5 9, %L , or
Mixture of Shinto and Bud- 149; Wu-tai-shan 6. Y L ,
Nenju-gyGji-hisho %pri+w*$-, TensG-kGtai-jingh-kyG RL
dhism (Shin-Butsu konkd) ,
95, 175-76; Yudono @IQ& , 16711 Qkt+‘ir&, 228
Mzmoto Tsuneichi $ $-!$ 77, 142; Yoshino 4q~ , Newly Arisen Religions, 7, 15, Offner, Clark B., 22311, 246n,
183, 217-51. See also ShinkG 24911, 250, 251”
-, 50” 142, 152, 161-64, 175-76, Shiikya
Miya-za $tu: system, 62 178 0-fude-saki &‘$ % , 238, 240,
Nichiren u & , 3911, 91, 10211,
Miyoshi-no-Kiyotsura % g $ Murasaki Shikibu ‘$ &$, 72 243
10511, 246 Oguchi Iichi 1~1 b 4% - , 220,
ti ,9811,99n A/Jusume-gumi &?a, 28 N i h o n g i o+-n.~ , 4, 24, 69, 22611, 22711, =jon, =5on
Miyoshi-no-Tameyasu 3 % ,&,
Musume-yado &G , 28 8611, 126n, 153n, 16211, 166,
& , qn 0)-hirume kct&i*, 166
191-93, 195
Morse, Edward, 141 Nihon Kiryaku u +\a~@& , 12311
Motoori Norinaga $3 “: +_ ,4, Nihon Gj6gokuraku ki a+?t-ri%
192n Nlgarjuna, 132” $@i$ , 9411, 1o7n, 109-10,
Mountain ascetic. See Shugen-
Nakayama Miki 4 4 y\ (X. , 121n Okada Mokichi 19 IE) % % , 245-
ja
Mountain belief; of KGya type, 236-38, 243 Nihon rysi-ki 0+$X :O , 94% 46
168; of NikkG type, 168-69; Naka-no-Oye +’ &% , P r i n c e , 176n, 198 Okage-mairi @qfftsi , 229, 233
of Shiiba type, 169 191 Nija : $$ , Emperor, 15 511 O-kami-n, or o-kami-sama, 201
272 273
Index Index
Oku A*%. , Princess, 151 Puberty rites, 25-30, 155n; Samddhi (sammai 5 I+ ), 94-96 Shamans : female, 6-7, 77-79,
connected with the dGzoku 112, 115, 18 1-2 15; male,
Omoto-aizen-en hP& k & , Samurai($) 26, 27n, 91, 232 116-17
system, 27-30
227, 243 Sandai-jitsu-roku F it’ 9 &+ , Shan-tao g 4 , 122, 127,12gn,
Omoto-ky5 A+#k, 7, 226-27, Rei-jin &;1+ , 32, 232 l l j n , 150” 132n
Reikai-monogatari $ & fti s , Sange-gy6dG #,?$+i&, 126 Shigeakira b sf) , Prince, 98n
235, 240, 244
On .% , 10, 31-32 241, 243 Sange Gj&den 3.f/-4t ‘r I$ , Shikishima-shinbun $&&w ,
On-myE--dG t%#,& , 14, 43, 52, Reiyii-kai Q A* , 227 12011 242
Shink6 ShiikyB $$-@ $ $t_ . S e e
68, 71, 73, 79-80, 93, 116, Rihdd-ki ‘&I r:t , 98n San-g8 5 ~~ , 100
also Newly Arisen Religions,
233. See also Yin-yang
Risshi%K&ei-kai 1: 5 .& k * , Sanjo-mura #lr &-JT, 100 77 15
Onmyb-hakase a#, I$ * , loo
227 Shinran&,% , p, 7 4 , 10211,
Onmy&ji t%&,tF , 40n Ritual Year; connected with Sato-miya y % , 154
agriculture, 21-22 105n, 109n, 13o-32
OnmyGji-mura, 80 Rokuji-Nembutsu-shfi f, ~$6!4_ Seichii-no-Iye 2% 9 $ , 2 2 7 , Shinrei-kai i$& q , 242, 244
Onshi, or oshi Mp’p , 4on 242, 244
$7134 Sciky&shinbun !$$&w , 249 Shinri tqe sect, 226
0-oboe-gakir+&+ , 234, 243 Rozan-ji Engi /% & 3 & & ,96n Shinsen-shdji roku $+~~k+,
Orikuchi Shinobu #$ b 4; R , Seimei-no-jissc 2 +- $FD , 245
Ryiibu Shintij &$+ilh- , 37 84n
24 Sei-sh&iagon 3-fr 9 & B , 72, Shinto Ii+ $ , 10, 14--15, 50,
Orimo Nami $9 R 2 ,++ , 228 RyGjin-hish6 <f$& &+r, 182
116 58, 68, 70-71, 7 9 , 86, 92-
Oshira, or oshira-same, 213 RyGnin t$_$. , 103, 122 93, 112, 115-16, 125, 130,
Seiwa >t$b , Emperor, 115n
Otsu k+ , Prince, 151-52 181
Rye no gige $$$&. , 125” Sekai-kyusei-kyB g !& & t $2 , Shin&shin-kyb + $ %,-$k, 229
Otto, Rudolf, 36, 144
Rytikan&$ , 12111 227,245 Shin Zoku-Kokin-waka-shiinb$@-
Oya-bun&p , 28
Sekkyii $8~ , 4on
Saiclia && , or Dengyb Daishi -&+-&+Q 9 155”
Oya-kata ;pR$ , 28, 2911 Senchaku - hongan - Nembutsu-
Shiren kp&$ , 1o9n, 127
Oyumi X 5 , 202 @#Ltklp , 92, 94, lo=, 111 shii $!.@+$$&c~$, , or Sen-
Shishin gohon she \a 4; h La+,
Sail16 jbdo I+,” 39 f; , 73, 93’ chaku-shii, 128, 133 102n
Parsons, Talcott, 17, 219 94, 97, 1=o Shakubuku tb (k: , 246, 249 ShGbs ~:t, , 77
Pilgrimage s# , 132, 299, Saimei $B, , Empress, 191
Shakubuku-kydten %{xl e p; , Sh~ko#r c , 103
232-33 Saimon +? X , 4on, 204, 2 12-
P L KyGdan 4;r @ , 227 249
13; Oshira-saimon, 2 I 3; Sek- Shamanism, 6-7, 92-93, 146, Shoku Nihongi $ko+;sr, , 87”
Prime Numenon, manifestation kyo-saimon, 212, 215; Uta- 181-215, 228-51; Arctic,
Shoku Nihon k6ki $k u + &
of (honji-suijaku &eC& ), zaimon, 2 1 5 ; Yamabushi- 183-85, 243; Korean, 9, 181,
saimon, 212 185-87 kt, 1234 150”
37
274 275
Index Index
Shckti Sh6nin den +~$Lx$$ , 56, 67, 71-731 77, 79, 81, Taoism, 9, 14, 35, 50, 58, 71, Van Gennep, A., 25-26
10411 9 6 - 9 8 , loo, 110-12, 117, 93, 112, 142. See also On- Van Straelen, Henry, 223n,
Sh~mon-ji pl5rq by , 4in 124, 138, 148-49, 155, 170, myG-dd 250
205-6, 207-12 Temmu XX , Emperor, 161- Vasubandhu, 132n
Shomo( n) ji-mura, 80 Sugawara-no-Michizane 1% 9 & 62
Shbmu ‘ipd , Emperor, 87” 6, 115-16 Wago TBroku &$+&+, 1o2n
Tenchi iir Q , Emperor, 162n,
Shosha-zan ShGnin den $$,A Suikostt -t; , Empress, 84, 191 191 Wakamono-gumi ss 6~ , 28
Tenri-kyij jc_@&_, 7, 3on, 226,
Lx4$ 9 104” Suinin $4; , Emperor, 191, Wakamono-iri s 2~ , 28
238, 240
Sh?jtoku @ $&, Prince, 64, 84- 193 Tenri-O-mycjin KS’&? ksh 14 , Wakamono-yado g 2 ti , 28
Sujaku %& , Emperor, 9711
85, 9% 176n, 191 237 Wakun no shiori &C&J% , 15311
Sujin $+ , Emperor, 70, 192- Tenson-kcrin k$ I+$ , 2 4 ,
Shijyii-ki 5-g tt , lop
192n Wasan&&, 131
93, 195
Shugen-d~&&&.$_ , 14, 43, 52, TGdai-ji *R; , 12411 Washii Tbnomine-dera Zbga
73-78, 87n, 93 139, 141-43, Ta-a&q, 123n, 124” Toda J6sei $ m z$& , 249 Shdnin gyajoki &~~&$+#
152, 160, 165, 170-74, 200,
206, to8n, 226, 233 Taika Reform krtz+- , 85’ Tokoyo $ & , 69 ~~~~irtit, lo311
86, 196-98
Shugen-ja#@, , 39, 43, 77, Toriage-oya @_L& , 28 Watarai A* family, 15411
Taira + family, 23
112, 117-18, 142, 160, 169, W a t s u j i TelsurG $pz*b $ ,
Taisei %ki;fi’ sect, 226 TCya & (a )/“r , system, 35,
200,214, 226 62 32
Shiii dj&den &-& 4% x 49 , Weber, Max, 47
Taisha-ky6 h $1: & , 4on Tsuina&lQlt , 8
lip, izon Wo-jen Chuan (Gishi Wajin
Taizb-kai&Q!& , 160, 173 TSUSU , 7, 183
Shiii-waka-shii $.+& !$b#k $ , Twofold Shinto. See RyGbu den&&x$ ), ==n, 153%
156n Takagi Hiroo &$k$_. , 223 Shintii 187-88
Shun-ki &-it, 105” Tamuramaro of the Sakanoue
Uda $pP , Emperor, 115” Xavier, Francis, 15
Shfisei {It a’ sect, 2 26 t&L loo.&& ’ 23
U c d a Kisaburii k I~J 4 5 $7 ,
S6gB &drs, , 100 Tanabata -t p , 8 240 Yak&i d$ k+ , 9711
Ui-ktiburi &E , 26
Soi-bushi :& ti , 26 Tanen-gi $&@ , 121n Yamabushi &it’ , 27, 39, 4on,
Uji-gami type of belief, 30-38
Taniguchi Masaharu s-b f& ,& , 7 4 , 77-78, 142, 155% 212,
SGka-gakkai $1~ 4g $ + , 227, 242, 244-46 Uji shiii monogatari !$&++.&. 2 14, 2 3 3-34; Haguro-yama-
246-50
Tan-Luan &g, 132n sb%, 1o3n bushim#.A& , 212; Ku-
Sbka-ky&ku taikei $J @ 8~: p k
Tanni-sh6 $,@l;~- , 13on Unigame Itoko ee4& 11 1: S_ ,
mano-yamabushi 14 !?f L (L’ ,
#, 9 249 229
Spirit of the Dead, 13, 16, 5 1, Tao-ch’o &tit, 132” UshiromiffeR , 27n 212. See also Shugen-ja
276 277
Index
Yama-miya LLI @ , I 53 Yoshishige-no-Yasutane t&Sk@

Yamato k& d y n a st y , 8++ /*L, 106, 107% 109-10
191-95 Ybzei ?a& , Emperor, 11 p
Yamatoiikeru O+& , Prince,
Yuien pit IQ , 13011
23, 194
Yayoij& % , culture, 8, 191 Ylikan &‘%a, 122n
Yuta, 201
Yi-king $I&!&, 116
Yuzii enmon-sh6
Yin-yang it<& , 9, 14-15, 37, 122n
68, 86, 92-93, 100, 112,
115-17,1=4n, 1=5,143,199. Zenkb-ji $ %* ,64
See also On- .rnyE-ds
Zaga @& , 103
Yiikan, or Eikan J~L %, 1o9n,
Zoku honchi, ijjc den @+@fi
119, 127
YGsai, or Eisai $! b , 10211, ft rrg, 11on
Zoku ijja den $$-rt%Q$, 103”
278

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HASKELL FOLK

Joseph M. Kitagawa and Alan L. Miller

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS

American Anthropologist, 61: 3 (June, 1959)) which be-

I. M AIN FEATURES OF F O L K R ELIGION IN JA P A N L

S HAMANIC T ENDENCIES 217

in the rural communities of China and Korea. Moreover,

on); mutual borrowing and mixing of different religious

As Ralph Linton has pointed out, borrowing is an in-

If we examine these ka systems carefully, we can de-

Mount Ontake in Nagano prefecture), Fuji-k6 (k6 for climbing and

complex, may be the widespread and highly active belief

fd f4 !d lhe purposes of this chapter are twofold: to

(Fictive Branch Family)

them, Htinen ( 1133-1212) founded the JGdo sect, in-

If we can say that Nembutsu magic is a negative magic

or En-no-ShGkaku (priest of the En family), who is said

is the purpose of this chapter to discuss

to turn toward secularism, and concentrated instead on

actual practice these sects became highly aristocratic and

Shin-&U (JGdo) . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,573 38,821 8,838,179

Some independent temples are omitted.

the street accepted all kinds of beliefs derived not only

to Amida; thus he was also called Amida-no-hijiri. One

da’s Pure Land after Death). He recorded his intention

Daishi: A.D. 814-891). The most significant of these sue

Public opinion attributed this to the anger of the gory&

man has once obtained faith in Amida, he commits all

such as: Sammai-hijiri (hijiri who serve the graveyard),

dancing) and dramas, became professional actors or pup

provinces, also originated from the Odori-Nembutsu intended to ward off

!&W#J apan has a highly complicated mountain wor-

Cosmic mountains are also utilized in shamanism, es-

came to be widely held in Japan was the cuckoo bird as

also two widespread customs in rural areas which mark

kindled straw rope separately on nearby hilltops, crying: “Grandpa!

areas around the temple are designated as representing

([ Mounts Gassan and Haguro as Divine Mothers

As noted earlier, many of the mountains in Japan became

ing the Summer Peak (Natsu-no-mine) , Entering the Au-

womb. Hanging from the ceiling in the center of the hall

1 Takashi Akiba, Ch6sen fuzoku no genchi kenkyfi (A Study Based

exchanged envoys from time to time with the court of

throned by her people at an apex of political and social

2sZbid., p. 662. 29 Ibid., pp. 66263.

The plovers are proud of their voice,

several sacred mountains and temples in northern Hon-

EGEG# 0ne of the most significant religious phe-

wherever they have been discovered, there is discernible

Iichi Oguchi has analyzed the general tendencies of the

According to Hiroo Takagi,’ the ethos of the new re-

from the beginning to the middle of the nineteenth cen-

has descended upon her. Itoko Unigame, the founder of

Social Status Age at Con- Nature of

Social Status Age at Con- Nature of

Tsunesaburb Farmer Normal school 59 Formerly a primary schoolmaster.

the mythical ancestress of the imperial family as well as

a neighboring village, to perform a special incantation

guchi picked up his pen and began writing the work

taught me many things, gave commands, and used my

Originally, Nichiren-she-shu was only a small society.

JAPANESE RELIGION AND CULTURE