Buddhism
Buddhism first entered Japan from China and Korea in the sixth century, bringing immense cultural influence such as written language. Buddhism and Shintō soon began to exchange elements; see Shinbutsu-shūgō. Eventually multiple schools of Buddhism developed in Japan, including Shingon, Tendai, Jōdo, Zen, and others.
In this adventure, place names ending in -ji are Buddhist temples.
Hayatama Taisha
This shrine, one of the Kumano Sanzan, has occupied its location on the Kumano riverbank since the 12th century, but artifacts in the area suggest a much longer history of worship here. The primary deities enshrined here are Kumano Hayatama and Kumano Fusumi. A nagi (bayberry) tree here was planted by Taira no Shigemori and now, at over a thousand years old, is recognized as a national monument.
A short walk away and up 538 steep, irregular stone steps, the Gotobiki Iwa is the enormous granite boulder where the three primary Kumano deities descended to earth. Here the Oto Matsuri fire festival has continued each winter since approximately AD 600 in the hopes of a good harvest.
Hōjō clan
After the unexpected death of shōgun Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1199, his father-in-law Hōjō Tokimasa became regent to the young heir to the shōgunate, creating a hereditary position from which to wield actual political power behind the puppet shōgunate, which itself overshadowed a nominal imperial court.
The Hōjō resisted the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century and promoted Zen Buddhism in Japan. They retained their powerful political position well into the fourteenth century.
Some mon, or crests, of Japanese clans have inspired other insignia in media or found new careers themselves. The mon of the Hōjō clan has become a popular icon in another gaming arena—you might recognize it as the Triforce from The Legend of Zelda.
Hongū Taisha
One of the Kumano Sanzan, this site enshrines the deity Kumano Gonzen as well as others. Today it sits uphill from the Kumano River, following a disastrous flood in 1889, but until then it was on a sandbank and enshrined twelve gods.
Jade Flutes
While jade flutes were a cool literary trope in ancient times, mentioned in Chinese works, they were not actually crafted until the eighteenth century.
...That we know of. Possibly the only example was gifted to Japan, hidden by a mad emperor, and lost to history. Who’s to say?
Kazan
Kazan was the 65th emperor of Japan, ruling from 984-986. His given name was Morasada; he took the imperial name Kazan upon his ascension to the throne. After his abdication at age 19, his monk’s name was Nyūkaku.
The Great Mirror (Ōkagami), written in the late Heian era, mentions Emperor Reizei, his son Kazan, and daughter Sonshi as being afflicted with mental disorders and displaying eccentric behavior. (Kazan is said to have ridden his horse through the palace’s dining room, among other things.) These accusations of mental instability contributed to Reizei’s and Kazan’s removals from the throne, though it is difficult to ascertain whether these assertions were based in fact or primarily political tools to harm the inconvenient royals’ characters.
Regardless, Fujiwara no Michikane’s part in deceiving Kazan to influence his abdication and then abandoning him at the temple is recorded in early historical texts.
Fujiwara no Michikane
The Fujiwara clan was a political powerhouse through much of the Heian era and beyond. Fujiwara no Kaneie was a minister who pressured Kazan to abdicate. Kaneie’s son, Fujiwara no Michikane, about 25 years old, promised young Kazan he would enter religious orders with him.
In fact, he left Kazan at the monastery and returned, escorted by his father’s men, to the palace, where he became Minister of the Right while his father Kaneie became regent for the new six-year-old emperor, Kaneie’s grandson, demonstrating and locking in the Fujiwara influence.
Blood or dew?
The mention of Kazan using reeds for chopsticks is from an incident preserved in two place names. Hashiori Pass is named for the breaking off (ori) of chopsticks (hashi) from reeds. The reeds were wet with dew, colored by the reeds, and Kazan asked, “Is this blood or dew?” (In modern Japanese, “kore wa chi ka tsuyu ka?” Whether he was quipping or despairing varies by the retelling.) This became the name of the oji and village here.
The Saikoku Kannon Pilgrimage
In 718, a monk called Tokudō Shōnin grew dangerously ill. In his near-death experience, he encountered Enma-Ō, the lord of the underworld. Enma instructed Tokudō to establish thirty-three sacred sites honoring Kannon, promising that those who completed a pilgrimage to all these sites would not fall into hell. To mark this promise, he gave the monk thirty-three seals. Upon his recovery, Tokudō established the pilgrimage route and sites, and he placed the seals in a stone coffin at Nakayamadera.
When Kazan entered religious orders as Nyūkaku, he went to Seiganto-ji (a Buddhist temple at Nachi Taisha) for strict training. It is said he practiced shugendō, including praying for one thousand days beneath the waterfall and became a powerful mystic. At last, he had a vision of the Shintō god Kumano Daigongen at his bedside. The god ordered him to re-found Tokudo Shonin’s pilgrimage for Kannon. Nyūkaku discovered the thirty-three seals and set out on the pilgrimage route. This is the Saigoku route of today’s Kannon pilgrimages. Nyūkaku composed poems which today are still used as hymns on this route.
...Or, the pilgrimage was actually founded a century later, and Kazan’s legacy benefited from a need for an impressive origin story, despite his scandalous life as a promiscuous monk. Historians still debate.
Whether an incorrigible playboy or a tortured ascetic, Kazan died at only thirty-nine years of age. He is interred at Ryōan-ji in Kyōto.
Author’s Note
While there are still historical questions of Kazan’s mental state, the motivations for his abdication, and his adherence to his vows, I have chosen to write Kazan in fiction as if he suffered depression or anxiety and as if he took his religious pursuits seriously.
Kumano Sanzan
These are the three primary shrines in the Kumano faith, Kumano Hongū Taisha, Kumano Nachi Taisha, and Kumano Hayatama Taisha. The Kumano Road leads to and between these shrines.
Minamoto clan
Following the Genpei Wars, the Minamoto began ruling Japan and eventually named Minamoto no Yoritomo the Sei-i Taishōgun, or Shōgun. Upon his death in 1199, the Hōjō clan gained actual political power while the Minamoto retained the title of shōgun.
Moja-no-Deai: The Abode of the Dead
This stretch of trail between Funami-toge Pass and Irokawatsuji on the Ogumotori-goe section is known for encounters with the dead.
There is also a tradition that hungry ghosts or the spirits of pilgrims who died on the difficult route may attack travelers here. Carrying extra food may assuage these cruel spirits—and is also excellent advice for pilgrims who are likely to be faint after the strenous Dogirizaka. A snack to recover blood sugar and prevent “hitting the wall,” in modern athletic slang, might be enough to keep from a fatal fall on the mountain trail.
Nachi Taisha
This site, one of the Kumano Sanzan, was sacred long before the rise of the Kumano Road, a place of worship since prehistory. According to lore, this shrine was first founded by Japan’s first emperor Jinmu while conquering the Kumano region, whose reign is traditionally regarded as beginning in 660.
Hiro-jinja, the shrine of the waterfall itself, is unusual and possibly unique in that it does not have a worship hall—only the torii and the waterfall itself, the object of devotion and residence of the kami.
Onigiri
Onigiri were popular as a convenience food for laborers and gifts for domestic servants. They were known as tonjiki at this time, and they are even mentioned in Genji Monogatari.
Onigiri descend from an earlier rice ball in the Yayoi period, which was pressed by hand just as onigiri are today. Those were steamed in bamboo leaves instead of wrapped in today’s nori.
The modern name onigiri is used here for the convenience of players and readers.
Onmyōdō
Onmyōdō is a system of divination and magic. Most Westerners are probably more familiar with its Chinese cousin, feng shui, but onmyōdō in Japan had some unique properties. It is rooted in the ideas of yin and yang (on and myō) and the five elements, blended with nature magic, astronomy, and other practices and sciences. It is sometimes translated as “geomancy,” though this is an incomplete concept.
Onmyōdō became institutionalized in the 700s and was a key part of court policy in the Heian era and beyond with onmyōji serving in the court and also among the common people. These practitioners offered fortune telling and other divination (such as auspicious dates for a particular campaign or project) as well as curses, purification of curses or ill influences, calendar or almanac making, the appeasement of unquiet or vengeful spirits, and even match-making. Onmyōdō was ended by imperial edict during the Meiji Restoration due to its integrated practices of “foreign elements” such as Buddhism, Daoism, etc.
Seiganto-ji
This temple was founded by Ragyō Shōnin in the late 4th century, making it the oldest temple in the area. The monk reportedly built the temple after Kannon (also known as Kanzeon) Bosatsu appeared to him as he practiced Shūgendō at the Nachi falls.
Today, Seiganto-ji is one of the few remaining examples of a shrine and temple complex, surviving the forcible separation of Shintō and Buddhism in the Meiji restoration.
Senjafuda
These narrow strips (also called nosatsu) feature the worshiper’s name and are a form of religious graffiti, both marking a visit and leaving a presence to continue worshiping at the shrine. Originally these were slats of bamboo, but after a few centuries they became inked paper that could be pasted on walls, ceilings, gates, etc. They also spread from Shintō shrines to Buddhist temples.
By the 17th century, senjafuda had additionally become collectors’ items and a popular trading activity, with colorful slips forming complex patterns when assembled. This early 20th century example shows ema and senjafuda hanging at a shrine, printed on two senjafuda which combine to form the image. Some sets had as many as 32 pieces to put together!
Senjafuda are still very visible today at both shrines and temples.
一Senjafuda at Sazaedō, Aizuwakamatsu. Photo by Laura VanArendonk Baugh.
Shinbutsu-shūgō
Buddhism and Shintō formed a syncretic practice known today as Shinbutsu-shūgō. Buddhist temples were attached to Shintō shrines (such as the presence of Seiganto-ji at Nachi Taisha) and Shintō shrines could be found at Buddhist sites, and these combinations were called jingū-ji (shrine-temples). Shintō kami were regarded as indiginous manifestations of Buddhist deities, or Buddhist deities as foreign manifestations of Shintō kami.
In 1868, after over one thousand years of Buddhist influence in Japan, the Meiji government severely restricted and persecuted Buddhism in favor of native Shintō, ending most Shinbutsu-shūgō practice.
Shintō
Generally considered the native religion of Japan, honoring the kami (native spirits) of natural places. After the introduction of Buddhism in the 6th century, the new religion and Shintō soon began to exchange elements; see Shinbutsu-shūgō.
In this adventure, place names ending in -taisha or -oji are Shintō shrines.
The subsidiary shrines along the Kumano Road (ending in -oji) house the Kumano child deities. These shrines are attributed to previous noble pilgrims and to yamabushi (see shūgendō). There are dozens, but five are regarded as the most important, including Takijiri-oji.
Shūgendō
This blend of Shintō and Buddhism included extreme ascetic practices to gain spiritual insight through training in the mountains. Practitioners were known as shūgenja or yamabushi.
Shugo
Shugo were regional governors assigned to oversee assigned provinces and support the shōgunate. By the 14th century, they were called shugo-daimyō, and then daimyō.
Teahouse
In this context, a tea house is not a hut for the tea ceremony (not yet formalized) nor a restaurant or brothel, but more of a waystation or rest area. Tea houses provided food and drink to pilgrims as well as baths and other comforts on the strenuous road.
Tōdai-ji
This famous temple in Nara was built
Toko-ji, in Yunomine
This temple was founded by Ragyō Shōnin, a priest from India, during the reign of Nintoku (late 4th century). Ragyō also founded Seiganto-ji at Nachi Taisha. The concretions of minerals from the hot springs formed an image of Yakushi Nyori, the Medicine Buddha. Springs eminating from the figure’s chest gave the area its name, Yu no mune (literally “hot water from the chest”), now rendered Yunomine in modern times.
Tsuboyu, in Yunomine
This ancient hot spring is the only hot spring recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is one of Japan’s oldest onsen (discovered roughly 1,800 years ago) and credited with healing waters. One famous cure, the recovery of Hangan Oguri, became the subject of legend and kabuki plays. This spring has been an important stop on the Kumano Road since its inception.
Waka
A waka, also called a tanka today, is a poetic form. The fixed structure has five phrases consisting of five or seven syllables, in a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern.
Yatagarasu
This large three-legged crow led Japan’s legendary first emperor Jinmu across the Kumano region to conquer the peninsula and establish his rule in Nara. Once his role as guide to the gods’ descendent was completed, Yatagarasu became a stone, which is enshrined at Nachi Taisha.
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