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11/06/2015

Furuyama Moromasa

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Furuyama Moromasa 古山師政

Ukiyoe-Master of the Edo period, dates unknown.

- quote
古山師重の子。姓は古山、名は新七郎（一説には新九郎とも）。
月々堂、文志、文翅と号す。はじめは菱川昌則と称した。江戸両国の江市長屋に住んでいたと伝わる。『浮世絵類考』の一本には師政について「画法を師宣に学ぶ」と記されているが、「此の人に至りて菱川の画風を失ふ」ともあり、残されている作品を見てもその画風は菱川派ではなく、同じ時代に活躍した奥村政信や石川豊信、上方の西川祐信といった絵師たちの影響を受けているといわれる。従来作画期は宝永から延享の頃にかけてとされていたが、「浮世絵屏風」（今治市河野美術館蔵）の発見により、師政は元禄10年（1697年）前後には菱川派の画風で絵を制作し父師重の代筆をしており、更に元禄14年（1701年）頃には菱川一門を離れたことが判明した。

現在までに大判漆絵、浮絵、墨摺絵、紅絵（柱絵2点、浮絵3点を含む）の他に、多くの肉筆画が確認されている。木版画では特に大判墨摺絵の「吉田街道」、紅絵の「新吉原座舗けんすもふ」はよく知られている。肉筆画の代表作としては「梅下美人図」、「踊りの稽古図」、「巳屋店先図」などがある。
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Rare Japanese painting by Furuyama Moromasa
discovered in Edinburgh's Central Library collections

Undated photo of a section of a rare Japanese painting by Furuyama Moromasa, made available by City of Edinburgh Council, Scotland Friday Jan. 4, 2013, depicting early 18th century street life which has been discovered in a library's special collections. The 44ft scroll was donated in the 1940s but its significance has only just been realised by experts in Edinburgh. It is believed to be the largest of his works anywhere in the world. Two other examples of his work are held by the British Museum.
The scroll depicts a street scene from Edo, which became Tokyo, showing shops, theatres and domestic life. A funding application has been made to the Japan-based Sumitomo Foundation for conservation funding, with a result expected in March.

The scroll, by Japanese painter Furuyama Moromasa, is over 44ft in length and depicts an extended street scene in C18th Edo, or Tokyo, showing the shops and theatres and domestic detail of life at that time.

Two of Furuyama Moromasa's paintings are currently held by the British Museum, but this is thought to be the largest of his works discovered anywhere in the world.

AP Photo/ City of Edinburgh Council.

- source : artdaily.com/news - June 2015

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. Welcome to Edo 江戸 ! .

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05/06/2015

Tokugawa Tsunayoshi

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the fifth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the younger brother of Tokugawa Ietsuna, thus making him the son of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

He is known for instituting animal protection laws, particularly for dogs. This earned him the nickname of "the dog shogun."
- snip -
In 1691, Engelbert Kaempfer visited Edo as part of the annual Dutch embassy from Dejima in Nagasaki. He journeyed from Nagasaki to Osaka, to Kyoto, and there to Edo. Kaempfer gives us information on Japan during the early reign of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. As the Dutch embassy entered Edo in 1692, they asked to have an audience with Shogun Tsunayoshi. While they were waiting for approval, a fire destroyed six hundred houses in Edo, and the audience was postponed. Tsunayoshi and several of the ladies of the court sat behind reed screens, while the Dutch embassy sat in front of them. Tsunayoshi took an interest in Western matters, and apparently asked them to talk and sing with one another for him to see how Westerners behaved. Tsunayoshi later put on a Noh drama for them.
- snip -
Owing to religious fundamentalism, Tsunayoshi sought protection for living beings in the later parts of his rule. In the 1690s and first decade of the 18th century, Tsunayoshi, who was born in the Year of the Dog, thought he should take several measures concerning dogs. A collection of edicts released daily, known as the Edicts on Compassion for Living Things (生類憐みの令 Shōruiawareminorei, Shorui Awaremi no Rei) told the populace, inter alia, to protect dogs, since in Edo there were many stray and diseased dogs walking around the city.
Therefore, he earned the pejorative title Inu-Kubō (犬公方:Inu=Dog, Kubō=formal title of Shogun).
In 1695, there were so many dogs that Edo began to smell horribly.
- snip -
For the latter part of Tsunayoshi's reign, he was advised by Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu. It was a golden era of classic Japanese art, known as the Genroku era.
...
In 1695, there were so many dogs that Edo began to smell horribly.
An apprentice was even executed because he wounded a dog. Finally, the trouble was taken to a distance, as over 50,000 dogs were deported to kennels in the suburbs of the city where they would be housed.
They were apparently fed rice and fish which were at the expense of the taxpaying citizens of Edo.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. 犬御用屋敷跡　inu yashiki 犬小屋 remains of the dog kennel .
Yotsuya, Edo

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. Nerima daikon 練馬大根 radish from Nerima .
- - - has been introduced by Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, 5th shogun, to help feed the growing population of Edo.

. The Temple Bell at Asakusa, Senso-Ji .
- - - was cast at the orders of the shogun Tsunayoshi.

. Nezu Jinja 根津神社　Nezu Shrine .
The shrine pavilions we see today were constructed under the orders of Tsunayoshi Tokugawa (1646-1709), the fifth Shogun, in 1706.

. Yuuten, Yūten 祐天 Yuten Shami .
Yuten came to be patronized by Keisho-in, the mother of the fifth Tokugawa shogun Tsunayoshi, who is said to have called on him in his hermit's hut on the outskirts of Edo.

. 柳澤吉保 Yanagizawa Yoshiyasu . ［1658 -1714］
special retainer of Tsunayoshi.

- - - - - 生類憐みの令 shōrui awaremi no rei
This law encompasses all living things, humans at first.
Tsunayoshi cared about the people, he was the first to promote Terakoya schools. When the first foreigners came to Japan in the Meiji period, they were surprized at the high level of literacy in this "backward" country.
He also abolished the law of "kirisute gomen", where samurai could kill normal people without any problem.
He also introduced the idea of being gratetful to the ancestors, installing family graves for the first time, gosenzo daidai　御先祖代々. mostly at temple graveyards.
Until then, individuals had individual graves.

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The Dog Shogun:
The Personality and Policies of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi
Author: Beatrice Bodart-Bailey

Tsunayoshi (1646–1709), the fifth Tokugawa shogun, is one of the most notorious figures in Japanese history. Viewed by many as a tyrant, his policies were deemed eccentric, extreme, and unorthodox. His Laws of Compassion, which made the maltreatment of dogs an offense punishable by death, earned him the nickname Dog Shogun, by which he is still popularly known today. However, Tsunayoshi’s rule coincides with the famed Genroku era, a period of unprecedented cultural growth and prosperity that Japan would not experience again until the mid-twentieth century. It was under Tsunayoshi that for the first time in Japanese history considerable numbers of ordinary townspeople were in a financial position to acquire an education and enjoy many of the amusements previously reserved for the ruling elite.

Based on a masterful re-examination of primary sources, this exciting new work by a senior scholar of the Tokugawa period maintains that Tsunayoshi’s notoriety stems largely from the work of samurai historians and officials who saw their privileges challenged by a ruler sympathetic to commoners. Beatrice Bodart-Bailey’s insightful analysis of Tsunayoshi’s background sheds new light on his personality and the policies associated with his shogunate. Tsunayoshi was the fourth son of Tokugawa Iemitsu (1604–1651) and left largely in the care of his mother, the daughter of a greengrocer. Under her influence, Bodart-Bailey argues, the future ruler rebelled against the values of his class. As evidence she cites the fact that, as shogun, Tsunayoshi not only decreed the registration of dogs, which were kept in large numbers by samurai and posed a threat to the populace, but also the registration of pregnant women and young children to prevent infanticide. He decreed, moreover, that officials take on the onerous tasks of finding homes for abandoned children and caring for sick travelers.

In the eyes of his detractors, Tsunayoshi’s interest in Confucian and Buddhist studies and his other intellectual pursuits were merely distractions for a dilettante. Bodart-Bailey counters that view by pointing out that one of Japan’s most important political philosophers, Ogyû Sorai, learned his craft under the fifth shogun. Sorai not only praised Tsunayoshi’s government, but his writings constitute the theoretical framework for many of the ruler’s controversial policies. Another salutary aspect of Tsunayoshi’s leadership that Bodart-Bailey brings to light is his role in preventing the famines and riots that would have undoubtedly taken place following the worst earthquake and tsunami as well as the most violent eruption of Mount Fuji in history—all of which occurred during the final years of Tsunayoshi's shogunate.

The Dog Shogun is a thoroughly revisionist work of Japanese political history that touches on many social, intellectual, and economic developments as well. As such it promises to become a standard text on late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth-century Japan.
- source : www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/ -

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Keishooin 桂昌院 Keisho-In, Keishoin

- quote -
Keisho-in - Biography (1627-1705).
The birth mother of the fifth shogun Tsunayoshi Tokugawa. The second daughter of Nizaemon, a green grocer of Horikawa, Kyoto.
Keisho-in entered into service at the inner palace as the adopted daughter of Munemasa Honjo, the Keishi (an officer responsible for running the household) of Nijo Kampaku (Imperial Regent). She was chosen by Kasuganotsubone (the nurse of the shogun Iemitsu), became the concubine of the third shogun Iemitsu, and gave birth to Tsunayoshi. She was called Otamanokata (O-Tama no Kata), became a nun after the death of Iemitsu, and called herself Keisho-in. She rose to Juichii, the highest position for women, and became the power behind Tsunayoshi’s policies. She was also very religious and contributed to building Gokoku-Ji Temple and restoring many temples and shrines.
- snip -
When Otamanokata was a small girl, a priest was said to have predicted that she would rise to greatness.
Just as in the prediction, from being a daughter of a green grocer, Keisho-in rose to the highest possible position a woman could attain. It is a widely accepted theory that her name is the pronoun of Tamanokoshi (Japanese expression for marrying into money) because of her name and how she advanced in the world. In 1680, when Tsunayoshi assumed the role of shogun, she moved into Sannomaru in Edo Castle and intervened in politics.
It is generally believed that the famous law against the harming of animals was drawn up by Keisho-in pressuring Tsunayoshi following the suggestion made by her favorite high priest, Takamitsu. The Matsu no Roka Jiken (the incidence in the Matsu hallway) caused by Asano Takuminokami Naganori at Edo Castle happened during a visit by the Imperial envoy to announce Keisho-in’s new position as Juichii. In Zojo Temple in Shibakoen, where Keisho-in is buried, there are tombs of six shoguns, including the second shogun, Hidetada, and the sixth shogun, Ienobu, as well as the wives and concubines of each shogun.
The Inukimon Gate of the Tokugawa tomb is registered as the City’s tangible cultural property and was originally in front of Ienobu’s tomb. It is a Chinese-style bronze gate decorated with castings of ascending and descending dragons on either side of the gate. The 10 hollyhock crests on the door were added after World War II.
- source : lib.city.minato.tokyo.jp/yukari -

. Otowa Gokokuji 音羽護国寺 Otowa Gokoku-Ji .
This temple was founded in 1681 by 亮賢僧正 high priest Ryoken (1611 - 1687)
on behalf of Shogun Tsunayoshi for his mother, 桂昌院 Lady Keisho-In (徳川綱吉生母).

. Yanagimori Jinja 柳森神社 Yanagimori Shrine .
The shrine was built in the late 17th century by a woman named Keisho-in 桂昌院, the daughter of a lowly greengrocer. As a teenager she was 'scouted' by representatives of Edo castle to join the O-oku -- the harem of women who serviced the Shogun.

. Keisho-In and her retainer Otowa 音羽 .
Otowachoo　音羽町 Otowa district in Edo

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- Reference - English -

- - - #tokugawatsunayoshi #tsunayoshi - - -
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02/06/2015

Tanuma Okitsugu

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a rōjū (senior counselor) of the Tokugawa shogunate who introduced monetary reform. He was also a daimyo, and ruled the Sagara han. He used the title Tonomo-no-kami.

His regime is often identified with rampant corruption and huge inflation of currency. In Tenmei 4 (1784), Okitsugu's son, the wakadoshiyori (junior counselor) Tanuma Okitomo, was assassinated inside Edo Castle. Okitomo was killed in front of his father as both were returning to their norimono after a meeting of the Counselors of State had broken up. Okitomo was killed by Sano Masakoto, a hatamoto. The involvement of senior figures in the bakufu was suspected, but only the assassin himself was punished. The result was that the Tanuma-initiated, liberalizing reforms within the bakufu and the relaxation of the strictures of sakoku were blocked.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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- quote -
Tanuma Okitsugu
Tairô (1767/7-1786/8/27)
Tanuma Okitsugu served as Tairô from 1767 to 1786.
Though Tanuma is generally remembered as a terribly corrupt official, John Whitney Hall emphasizes his contributions to the expansion of trade through expansion of government control over it, going so far as to suggest that his programs might have led Japan towards industrializing earlier.
Hall places the blame for Japan's economic and military weakness in the 19th century on the conservative policies of Tanuma's successor, Matsudaira Sadanobu.

As Tairô
Tanuma's time as Tairô is generally associated with political corruption, especially in the form of bribes, and with rampant inflation, and widespread moral decay.
In the 1770s,
Tanuma provided Tsushima han with sizable monetary loans and grants on a number of occasions, eventually putting into place an annual grant of 12,000 ryô which helped the domain accommodate for the decline in the Korea trade caused by continued debasement of silver coinage and expansion of domestic production of ginseng and other goods which drove down the demand for imports; the domain would continue to be paid this grant every year until 1862.

In 1785, he established clearinghouses in Hakodate, Edo, Osaka, and Shimonoseki which oversaw the collection and transportation of marine products to Nagasaki for export; as with similar steps taken in other industries where the shogunate established or reorganized za trade associations, this did not push private merchants out of the business, but rather made them into something akin to government contractors, placing the operations of that business under more direct government oversight, in the hopes of stemming fluctuations, smuggling, and other problems.

The 1783 eruption of Mt. Asama, combined with the nearly ten-year-long Great Tenmei Famine, were widely seen as symbols that the country was in need of serious change and a return to virtuous leadership. Tanuma was ousted from power in 1786, and replaced as Tairô by Matsudaira Sadanobu the following year.

He is buried at the Zen temple Mannen-zan Shôrin-ji in the Komagome neighborhood of Tokyo.
- source : samurai archives -

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Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788, forerunner of modern Japan
John Whitney Hall

This is a study of Tanuma Okitsugu, the most powerful political figure in Japan during the quarter century between 1760-1786. The book also provides a descriptive history of mid-eighteenth-century Japan.
- source : books.google.co.jp -

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Once
Tanuma looked at the pond in his garden and mumbled:
"It would be nice to have some fish swim here!"
And when he came back in the afternoon, the pond was full of the most beautiful koi goldfish - gifts (bribes) from people who depended on his support.

Once
Tanuma got a large gift parcel with the inscription :
"A Doll from Kyoto". When he opened it, it was a living Maiko girl with splendid robed and . . .

. shimonya 四文屋 "Four Mon Shop" .
They begun sprouting up everywhere during the period of Tanuma.
Small shops in Edo where everything cost just one coin, the "Four Mon Coin".
That was the beginning of our 100 Yen Shop, the One Dollar Shop, the One Euro Shop.
Other cheap items in Edo were multiplied with four.

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He supported the trade with foreign countries through the port of Nagasaki, especially
tawaramono　俵物 "goods packed in straw bags"
Nagasaki tawaramono yakusho　長崎俵物役所

- quote -
In the era of Edo, export goods from Nagasaki were such as dried sea cucumbers, dried abalones, dried fins of sharks that were all packed with straw rice bags, or tawara.
Foreign trade payment had been dealt with gold, silver and cotton at that time.
An outflow of these metals from Japan was so immense that a part of its trade payment was replaced with stuffs packed with straw rice bags called tawaramono.
The club was established to gather tawaramono for the convenience of those who were concerned in the first year of Enkyo (1744), but it often moved until being settled at this site in the 6th year of Anei (1777).
Later it was run exclusively by the shogunate but it didn't work well.
The club remained until the end of the shogunate.
Osaka, 2-15, 2-chome, Kitahama, Chuo-ku
- source : www.city.osaka.lg.jp -

- tawaramono sanpin 俵物三品: The three best were
iri namako 煎海鼠（いりなまこ/いりこ）- dried sea cucumbers
hoshi awabi 乾鮑（干鮑（ほしあわび））- dried abalones
fukahire 鱶鰭（ふかひれ）- dried sharks fins

- quote -
Sino-Japanese Interaction via Chinese Junks in the Edo Period
Matsuura Akira
In Japan as well, increased production of these three products — dried sea cucumber, dried abalone, and shark’s fin, collectively called tawaramono or hyōmotsu (俵物 goods in straw bags) — was actively promoted. At the beginning of the Guangxu years (1875–1908), He Ruzhang, appointed as plenipotentiary to Japan, wrote in his Shidong zaji (Miscellany of an Envoy to Japan),
“Many Chinese merchants take raw cotton and white sugar, and return with various marine products such as sea cucumbers and dried abalone.”
He Ruzhang’s note clearly underscores the importance of these products in China even after the Edo era . . .
- Read the full article PDF file, 14 pages :
- source : Matsuura Akira -

Through the tawawamono and payment in 銅　bronze instead of gold he managed to deal with the huge trade deficit of his times.
He founded the "Bronze Bank" dooza 銅座 in Osaka to deal with trade payments.

Since silver was rare in Japan and not enough to print silver coins for trade, he started the import of silver from China and then Holland. This silver also helped to grease the trade within Japan.
Gold was used as payment in Edo (Eastern Japan, whith more gold mines) whereas silver was used as payment in Osaka (Western Japan, with more silver mines). And the poor people used the bronze coins to make their payments.

- - - - - Monetary reform of 1772
nanryoonishugin なんりょうにしゅぎん　南鐐二朱銀　Nanryo Nishu Gin
silver coins introduced by Tanuma

nishububan 貮朱之歩判
nishuban 貮朱判
meiwa nanryoonishugin 明和南鐐二朱銀

- quote -
In the latter half of the 18th century, the demand for small-denomination currency increased due to expanded production of commercial crops in local villages. The Tokugawa Shogunate government issued silver coins (Meiwa Nanryo Nishu-gin <2-shu-gin>) with denominations based on gold coin units. Thus, the silver coins eventually became supplementary currencies of gold coins.
Toward the end of the Edo period, recoinages (Bunsei and Tenpo recoinages) were often carried out to finance the budget deficits of the Shogunate government, which led to chronic inflation. After the re-opening of international trade at the end of the Edo period, Japan experienced a huge outflow of gold coins overseas, and the Man’en recoinage, which was carried out to stop this outflow, caused further inflation, resulting in confusion of the nation’s monetary system toward the Meiji Restoration.
- source : BOJ Currency Museum -

. Coins (zeni, kozeni (銭、小銭) and Japanese money .

. kabunakama, kabu nakama 株仲間 merchant guild, merchant coalition
za 座 trade guilds, industrial guilds, artisan guilds .
Tanuma encouraged the kabunakama system in Edo.
Roju Tanuma 老中田沼意次 - 株仲間の奨励

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. satoo 砂糖 Sato - History of Japanese sugar .
Tanuma
encouraged the trade of white European sugar via the merchants of Nagasaki.
He also introduced the plant satokibi , first grown at his request at a Nichiren temple, the Ikegami Honmon-Ji 池上本門寺 in the South of Edo. From there its growth spread to other suitable areas of Japan.

. koorai ninjin 高麗人参 Panax ginseng .
Tanuma
around 1760 encouraged their planting in Japan. He offered positions as "ministers" (bakushin 幕臣) to the scholars of kanpo 漢方 Chinese medicine plants.
Japanese ginseng 東洋参 (Panax japonicus)

With his great interest in these things, Tanuma was most probably influenced by the great

. Hiraga Gennai　平賀源内　 (1728 - 80) .

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A 狂歌 Kyoka parody poem about Tanuma

白河の清き流れに住みかねてもとの田沼のにごり恋しき
Shirakawa no kiyoki nagare ni sumikanete moto no tanuma no nigori koishiki

River Shirakawa is shorthand for Matsudaira Sadanobu.
tanuma, lit. fields and swamps.
.
古河の清き流れに住みかねてもとの田沼ぞ今は恋しき

We can't get used to the clean flow of Shirakawa -
We rather long for the dirty puddles of fields and swamps.

- quote -
Matsudaira Sadanobu 松平定信 (1759 - 1829)
Japanese daimyo of the mid-Edo period, famous for his financial reforms which saved the Shirakawa Domain, and the similar reforms he undertook during his tenure as chief senior councilor (rōjū shuza; 老中首座) of the Tokugawa Shogunate, from 1787 to 1793.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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増補版　通史　田沼意次 - 2013

東日本大震災で破壊してしまった田沼家墓所
The grave of the Tanuma family has been destroyed by the Great Tohoku Earthquake in 2011.

- reference : TBS - Edo no Susume -

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. senryuu, senryū 川柳　Senryu in Edo .

- - - - - The most famous senryu in the times of Tanuma :

役人の子はにぎにぎをよく覚え
yakunin no ko wa niginigi o yoku oboe

the son of an official
learns quite easily
to grab anything

Taking bribes became the rule of the day in the time of Tanuma.

役人の骨っぽいのは猪牙に乗せ
yakunin no honeppoi no wa choki ni nose

a serious official
is best invited
to take a choki boat trip

. choki 猪牙 / chokibune 猪牙舟 water taxi, river taxi .
to the Yoshiware pleasure quarters.
Once an official has learned to enjoy (and spent his money) at the pleasure quarters, he can be kept with more bribes to indulge more and so on . . .

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- Reference - Japanese -

- Reference - English -

- #tanumaokitsugu -
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01/06/2015

Dokyo and Koken

- quote -
Dōkyō (700 – May 13, 772)
was a Japanese monk of the Hossō sect of Buddhism; and he was a political figure in the Nara period.
When Dōkyō cured the illness of Empress Kōken in 761, his place in her court was made secure and influential. When she returned to the throne as Empress Shōtoku following the Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion, Dokyo was given authority over religious and civil matters.

In 766, an oracle from the Usa Shrine in Buzen Province was reported to predict peace in Japan if Dōkyō were named emperor. Soon after, a second oracle was brought to Kyoto by Wake no Kiyomaro. It stated:

Since the establishment of our state, the distinction between lord and subject has been fixed. Never has there been an occasion when a subject was made lord. The throne of the Heavenly Sun Succession shall be given to one of the imperial lineage; wicked persons should immediately be swept away.

In response to the second oracle, Dōkyō had Wake no Kiyomaro sent into exile in Ōsumi Province.

When the empress died, Dōkyō was banished from Nara.

- - - - - Timeline
752 (Tenpyō-shōhō 4): Dōkyō was called to the court of Empress Kōken
761 (Tenpyō-hōji 5): Dōkyō cured empress of a serious illness
763 (Tenpyō-hōji 7): He was appointed Shōsōzu in the Buddhist hierarchy
765 (Tenpyō-jingo 1, 2nd month): Empress Shōtoku gave Dōkyō the newly created title of daijō-daijin zenji (Meditation Master who ranks as Chancellor)
766 (Tenpyō-jingo 2): Dokyo claimed that an Usa Hachiman oracle said that he should become Hō-ō (法王, literally, king of the dharma).He was given the title.
770 (Jingo-keiun 4): In the 5th year of Empress Shōtoku's reign, she died; and Dōkyō was exiled to Shimotsuke Province.

- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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- quote
もう一つの神託「道鏡」事件の真相を探る　　　　　
昔々、
奈良に都があった頃、道鏡（どうきょう）と言う、とても偉いお坊さんが居ました。このお坊さんは中国語は勿論、梵語（サンスクリット語）もペラペラの有数の知識人であったばかりでなく、気功術も会得した「超能力」をも兼ね備えていた超人だったので、天皇さまの病気も得意の呪法で、あっという間に治すことが出来ました。元気を取り戻された天皇さまは、この天才超人・道鏡を大変御気に召し、最初は少僧都に、次は大臣禅師に、また次には太政大臣禅師に任じられ、天平神護二年七月（７６６）には、ついに法王にまで任じられたのです。
それから１年半が過ぎた神護景雲三年正月三日、九州にある宇佐八幡宮は『道鏡を皇位につけよ』とのお告げがあったと奏上し、偉いお坊さんも、自分から望んで天皇になろうと思いました。と、まあ簡単に言えばそれだけのお話しなのですが、ことが皇位（天皇の位）に関る事であっただけに朝廷内は大騒動になったのです。それでは、事件の主役・道鏡とは、一体どのような人物だったのでしょう。
- source : www.ten-f.com/doukYoujiken -

Usa Hachiman Jinja 宇佐八幡神社
熊本市龍田町にある弓削神宮 Yuge Jinja in Kumamoto

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「道鏡か否か？愛に揺れた女帝」

source :　chachachiako

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Kooken Tennoo 孝謙天皇 Koken Tenno Empress Kōken
- 称徳天皇 Empress Shōtoku. Shotoku
Empress Kōken (孝謙天皇 Kōken-tennō, 718 – August 28, 770),
also known as Empress Shōtoku (称徳天皇 Shōtoku-tennō), was the 46th (with Empress Kōken name) and the 48th monarch of Japan (with Empress Shōtoku name), according to the traditional order of succession.
Empress Kōken first reigned from 749 to 758, then, following the Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion, she reascended the throne as Empress Shōtoku from 765 until her death in 770. Empress Kōken was involved in the Rasputin-like affair with priest Dōkyō and appointed him Grand Minister in 764. In 766 he was promoted to Hōō (priestly emperor) and in 770 had tried to ascend to throne by himself. Death of Empress and resistance of the aristocracy destroyed his plans. This incident was a reason for the later move of the Japanese capital from Nara (Heijō).
In the history of Japan, Kōken/Shōtoku was the sixth of eight women to take on the role of empress regnant.
. . .
Koken's reign was turbulent, and she survived coup attempts by both Tachibana Naramaro and Fujiwara no Nakamaro. Today, she is remembered chiefly for her alleged affair with a Buddhist monk named Dōkyō (道鏡), a man she honored with titles and power. An oracle from Usa Shrine, the shrine of the kami Hachiman (八幡 in Usa, is said to have proclaimed that the monk should be made emperor; but when the empress sent Wake no Kiyomaro (和気清麻呂) to verify the pronouncement, Hachiman decreed that only one of imperial blood should ascend to the throne.

Bender, Ross.
"The Hachiman Cult and the Dōkyō Incident,"
Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 34, No. 2 (1979). pp. 125–153.

- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

- quote -
Yuge no Dookyoo 弓削道鏡 Yuge no Dokyo
道鏡（どうきょう、文武天皇4年（700年）? - 宝亀3年4月7日（772年5月13日））

生地 - 河内国
没地 - 下野国
宗派 - 法相宗
師 - 義淵

奈良時代の法相宗の僧。物部氏の一族の弓削氏の出自で、弓削櫛麻呂の子。俗姓が弓削連であることから、弓削道鏡（ゆげのどうきょう）とも呼ばれる。兄弟に弓削浄人。天智天皇の皇子である志貴皇子の子とする異説もある。祈祷の力をもって皇室に取り入って権力を握り、政治に容喙した。

道鏡塚（下野市の龍興寺）

宇佐神託と左遷
姦通説 / 俗説 / 関連づけられた人物
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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- quote
"The Monk who Moved a Capital ”
(from the Nihon Ryōiki )
It begins
"In ancient Japan, there was an unmarried Empress named Kōken . . .one day she fell ill and a handsome young Buddhist monk named Dōkyō went to her bedside to pray for her health.”

The credited author is one “Takeshi Hanamoto,”
Ross Bender

new translation of Nihon Ryōiki by Burton Watson
-- Record of Miraculous Events in Japan (Columbia University Press, 2013).

The Vermilion Bridge: A novel of 8th Century Japan / Shelly Mydans
(Doubleday 1980).

Narachō no Seihen to Dōkyō (Yoshikawa Kōbunkan) / Takinami Sadako

Women in Japanese Religions (New York University Press, 2015). Barbara Ambros
. . .she notes
"Ultimately both Empress Wu Zetian and Shōtoku were reviled as bad rulers by later Confucian historians who resented both their patronage of Buddhism and the fact that they were female rulers." (pp. 50-51).
Wu Zetian of course was the only woman who ruled China as an Empress in her own right.

- quote from June 3, 2015
It is an interesting question whether Buddhist healing monks could actually attend at the bedside of an Empress. The eminent monk Genbō 玄昉 established the Naidōjō within the Nara palace, and apparently served as a healing monk for Miyako, the mother of Shōmu. The Shoku Nihongi entry for Hōki 1.8.17, after the death of Empress Shōtoku on the fourth day of the month, says that “Over one hundred days had passed during which she was unable to attend to the affairs of government. During this time there were no officials who were able to have audience with her. Only the Kura no Suke Jr 3 Kibi no Ason Yuri went in and out of the bedchamber, reporting to her on affairs.” The lady Yuri was a relative of the Udaijin Kibi no Ason Makibi.

Dōkyō’s obituary from Hōki 3.4.7 says that he met the Empress at the Hora Palace and served as a healing monk. 従幸保良。時侍看病稍被寵幸。
Incidentally the term chōkō 寵幸, which some have seen as proof of an untoward relationship between the Empress and the monk, is not gender-specific or evidence of a sexual liason. It is also applied to the relationship between the Emperor Kōnin and the Sangi Ōtomo no Sukune Ojimaro. (Shoku Nihongi, Enryaku 1.2.3)
- Ross Bender

Follow the discussion here:
- source : PMJS forum

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- Reference - Japanese -

- Reference - English -

. Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets .

- KAPPA 河童 water goblin - ABC-Index -
- - - #dookyoo #dokyo - - -
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17/03/2015

Genno Shinsho

源翁和尚坐像　－　那須烏山市指定有形文化財
Statue of Genno at Nasu, Karasuyama town

Born in Echigo no Kuni 越後国.
In 1333 at five years old he entered the temple 国上寺 Kokujo-Ji at his own will and begun his strict religious training, with an unwavering heart and mind 一心不乱 .

In 1344 at age 16 he became an ordained priest.
In 1346 he became the disciple of Zen priest Gasan Jooseki, Gasan Jōseki 峨山韶碩 Gasan Joseki (1275 - 1366) at the temple 能登/總持寺 Soji-Ji in Noto.

From 1352 to 1358, he searched for his own way and walked around in Japan.
At the temple 永泉寺 /栄泉寺 Eisen-Ji in 出羽国 Dewa, Yamagata, Mogami 最上市, there is one of the seven wonderous stories about him:
「一つ、開山/源翁和尚が、今も毎夜山境を巡り不思議の威徳を現す」
姿見池の蛙は開山源翁の誡により鳴かない。
Once priest Genno did an exorcism to quieten a frog and since that time no voice of a frog is heard in the pond Sugatami no Ike 姿見の池 / 姿見池 of the temple compound.

In 1357 at age 29 he founded 伯耆国 Hoki (Tottori) - 退休寺 Taikyu-Ji
At the 源翁寺 Genno-Ji in Hoki there was once a fire. The head priest of that time painted a water dragon, said to be from the Chinese temple Kinzan-Ji 金山寺, to appease the flames and let the painting float in a barrel. Then he used the water to extinguish the flames

In 1358 at age 30 a large old cedar tree in the temple compound fell to the ground and from there a hot spring began to flow. So the name of the temple was changed from 雲泉寺 to Onsen-Ji 温泉寺 "Temple of the Hot Spring".
He took the stem of the old cedar tree and carved a statue of his teacher, Gasan Joseki.

In 1360 at age 32 on the invitation of the Daimyo, he came to 下野国 Shimotsuke (Tochigi) and founded temple Senkei-Ji 泉渓寺.

In 1364 at age 36 he came back to Echigo and the "Hot Spring Temple".

In 1367 at age 39 he settled in Aizu at a small retreat in the compound of the temple Keitoku-Ji 慶徳寺. Soon the Lord became aware of his great powers, but he could not keep him for long.

In 1369 at age 41 in Shimosa no Kuni 下総国 he founded Annon-Ji 安穏寺 and stayed there fro 4 years.

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In 1375 at age 47 he begun to live at temple Jigen-Ji 護法山示現寺 in Fukushima.
One year later, invited by the Lord of Shirakawa, he founded Jozai-In 常在院.
From there we have the legend of the fox with nine tails and the "murder stone" 殺生石.
One of the splinters from the rock fell down and now there is the rock Hoseki Inari 法石稲荷 in the back of the temple.
The actual event was supposed to have been in August 1385.

smashing the "murder rock" - fox legend -

. kyuubi no kitsune 九尾の狐 white fox with nine tails .
toys from Nasu village 那須町, Tochigi

Legends from the village Omotegomura 表郷村 in Shirakawa 白河郡

At the riverpool Naranokibuchi 楢木淵 a dragon lady heard the preachings of Genno and was then saved from doing bad deeds.
In gratitude she produced a well below the temple at the Sekishoseki. The dragon lady came here every time she had to give birth. Even now there is a stone in the temple compound, which she had hugged and warmed during her labour.

- - - - -

At the time of Emperor Toba Tenno 鳥羽天皇 (1154 - 1103) a white fox from China had come to be the wife of the Emperor. During some exorcism rituals, she showed her real identity and fled to Nasu. Her body became a large black stone from all the blood that flew from her body. Birds who sat on the stone fell down dead soon. So Genno hit the stone and split it into three parts.
One of them is now in the compound of temple 常在院 Jozai-In.

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In 1380 at age 52 he found the hot spring Atsushio Onsen 熱塩温泉 and temple Jigen-Ji 示現寺.
- - - - - The Legend knows this:
One day Priest Genno was on his way to 熱塩村 Atsushio Village to help a farmer named 作太郎Sakutaro, who's home was in danger of flooding. The villagers thought the damage was caused by a huge serpent 大蛇. Genno and Sakutaro went to the river together. They saw a huge serpent, trying to give birth under great pain and thus causing the river to go wild. The priest began to chant sutras to take the pain away from the serpent and all of a sudden, the serpent changed into a bridge over the river. At the part of her tail a hot spring begun to flow.
Later the priest founded temple Jigen-Ji to remember this event.

In 1382 at age 54 he was on the road again, this time crossing over to Sado Island by boat.
There he founded temple Toko-Ji 東光寺.

In 1386, one year after he took care of the fox with nine tails and slamming the "murder rock", this story of his fame began to spread all over.

In 1386 at age 59 he received the honorable title of 法王能昭禅師 Ho-O Nosho Zenshi from the Emperor Gokomatsu Tenno 後小松天皇 (1377 - 1433)
The long title is : 能照法王禅師源翁心昭大和尚

In 1387, again on the pilgrim's road he founded 最禅寺 in Akita.
There are famous statues which he had carved, Yakushi Nyorai and the 12 Heavenly Generals
薬師如来像 / 十二神将.

In 1390 at age 62 on request of Lord Muira 三浦貞宗 in Katsuyama, Okayama, he founded temple Kesho-Ji 化生寺, where legend knows a piece of the smashed "murder rock" had fallen down.

In 1395 he founded the temple Gyokusen-Ji 玉泉寺 in Kagoshima (Kyushu).

- Legend from 上県郡 Kamiagata-gun in Nagasaki :
The Empress had fallen ill and the priest Tendō 天道法師 Tendo Hoshi had been called from Tsushima 対馬. He did the exorcist rituals and a fox made its appearance. The fox jumped through the ceiling and disappeared. This fox landed somewhere and became a stone, hurting people in the neighbourhood. This stone was later split by Genno 玄翁.

In 1396 in spring when he stayed at the temple Keitoku-Ji慶徳寺, another piece of the smashed "murder rock" appeared. He gave another lecture and the beautiful white fox showed up, promising not to do any more harm. Then the fox turned into Kannon Bosatsu and disappeared into the sky.
Part of the temple name was now changed to 巻尾山 "Mountain of the twisted hair".
In a shrine of the compound, 、慶徳稲荷神社 the Inari fox is venerated.

In 1400 on the 7th day of the first lunar month he entered eternal rest, after 51 years as a priest 法臘 at the age of 72.
His grave is at temple Jigen-Ji 示現寺, part of his bones 分骨墓 are venerated in a grave at the temple Annon-Ji 安穏寺.

He founded various temples in Japan :
In Akita : 最禅寺 and 東光寺
In Kagoshima : 玉泉寺
In Niigata : 雲泉寺, 東光寺 , 慈眼寺
In Yamagata : 永泉寺 - 正法寺 - 冷泉寺 - 冷岩寺 - 普門院

Kaizō-ji 海蔵寺 Kaizo-Ji in Kamakura in 1253.
神奈川県鎌倉市扇ガ谷４丁目１８−８

His grave is in Ibaraki 茨城県結城市.

He is famous for the many stories where he exorcised local monsters and demons.
He smashed the famous "murder rock", 殺生石 Sesshoseki, in August 1385, with his tsue　杖walking stick.
This is the reason why a strong hammer, the gennoo 玄能, is now named after him.

The most famous legend about him is maybe the exorcism of the poisonous dragon 毒龍.

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Gennō Shinshō helped domesticate the recently arrived school of Zen by exorcising troublesome local spirits.
One legend describes the “killing stone” of Mount Nasu,

It is said that in the Muromachi period, Genno osho who opened 元現寺 Gengen-Ji Temple in the Aizu district of Fukushima, destroyed Sesshoseki the "murder stone" 殺生石, and pieces of the destroyed Sesshoseki flew to various parts of Japan:

in Okayama 美作国高田（現在の岡山県真庭市勝山）
in Niigata 越後国高田（現在の新潟県上越市）
in Hiroshima 安芸国高田（現在の広島県安芸高田市）
All theses towns have TAKATA 高田 in their naming.

The gennoo type hammer is double-faced and has two round sides. It is used to split rocks or to hit the back of a chisle. It is basically a tool for stone workers.
Legend says that the priest Gennoo was the first to use such a hammer.

Now it is also called "Daruma Hammer" daruma gennoo ダルマ玄能.

. Hammer types of Japan (gennoo 玄能 ) .

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- - - - - Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 "Oku no Hosomichi"
Station 9 - Sesshooseki Hot Spring 殺生石

"the murder stone", "Slaughter Stone" , "Killing Stone"
The hot spring has poisonous yellow water and bees and butterflies can not live there.

野を横に馬引き向けよほととぎす
no o yoko ni uma hikimuke yo hototogisu

road across a plain --
turn my horse sideways
toward that hototogisu!
- Tr. Ueda -

. - - - Station 9 - Sesshoseki 殺生岩 - Ashino 蘆野 - - - .
and Tamamo Gozen

source :　kayoko2.exblog.jp

A doll of Genno from the Otsu festival 大津祭.

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- quote -
Genno Dispels a Ghost & the Evil Dragaon
Genno was traveling through Hoki when he encountered the ghost of the wife of Shimazu Atsutada　島津惇忠, the lord of Kasuga castle.
A lifetime of evil deeds had led the deceased wife to suffer the torments of hell. Every night as she attempted to escape, her ghost appeared, shrieking outside of her grave. The local people were afraid to go out after dark. Genno confronted the ghost, teaching her that anyone who repented of their evil deeds could be saved. That night Atsutada dreamed that his wife had become a Buddha.

The next morning he discovered that it was Genno who had led her to salvation, and in thanks he pledged his financial support to Genno. Shortly thereafter, Atsutada told Genno that for several nights he had observed a light shine out of the sea to a certain spot on a nearby mountain.
Genno interpreted the light as evidence that a Buddhist spirit must be hidden in the mountain. Atsutada, however, told him that at the foot of the mountain lay the pond of an evil dragon. On occasion, the dragon had destroyed local crops and attacked people. Genno walked over to the mountain, seeing with his own eyes the lands wasted, the crops in ruins.

The local villagers begged Genno to protect them from the dragon. As he approached the pond, the wind suddenly howled and the surface of the water boiled. The dragon appeared out of the pond and moved toward Genno. To stop the dragon, Genno chanted scripture. Then, as soon as the dragon became still, he administered the precepts. The dragon was transformed instantly into Kannon Bodhisattva and disappeared into the sky.
The next morning the baleful pond was gone. The site of evil obstructions thus proved the ideal setting for revealing the spiritual power of the precepts and the Buddhist compassion associated with Kannon Bodhisattva.
At that site Atsutada erected a new Zen temple (Taikyuji) for Genno.

— William M. Bodiford, Soto Zen in Medieval Japan,
University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1`993, pp. 176-178
- source : www.wisdomportal.com - Peter Y. Chou

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. 河童伝説 Kappa Legends from Fukushima 福島県 .

At the Genpatsunuma ゲンパツ沼 / 源八沼 Genpatsu swamp (Genpachi swamp) a Kappa used to pull horses into the water.
After a priest had prayed at the swamp, the Kappa did not appear any more.
Another version knows that the priest made the Kappa sign a contract not to harm horses any more.
and
On a rainy night the Kappa would shapeshift into a lady and lure people who walked along there. The Zen priest Genno 源翁禅師 from the temple 常在院 Jozai-In lectured the Kappa about evil deeds and then the Kappa never did anything bad again.

白河郡 Shirakawa gun 表郷村 Omotego Mura

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A legend from Shiga, Ikagun 伊香郡 Yogocho village 余呉町

A fox with nine tails had come from China and transformed into a princess. But when she put a ring of the feathers from a white dove around her neck, she was found out and had to flee. She landed in Nasu, where she became the "murder stone", and killed people in the neighborhood.
When Genno split the stone, one of the pieces fell down in the garden of a villager from Yogocho.
Every month on the 17th day the family offers red auspicious rice 赤飯 and holds it in great honor. It is not to be made fun of or used as a normal garden stone. but keeps the family safe from disasters.

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After reading all the above, there are some questions that I have not yet found an answer to:

How could the legend of the "murder stone" spread so far over Japan in a time without smartphones or handies?
- - - - - and
How could pieces of the stone spread all over Japan, from Fukushima even to Okayama and Hiroshima? Who carried them? And why?

Any hints to answer this are most welcome.
Gabi Greve

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Lafcdio Hearn wrote :

Tamamo-no-Mae (玉藻前, 玉藻の前, also 玉藻御前) is a legendary figure in Japanese mythology.
In the Otogizōshi, a collection of Japanese prose written in the Muromachi period, Tamamo-no-Mae was a courtesan under the Japanese Emperor Konoe (who reigned from 1142 through 1155). She was said to be the most beautiful and intelligent woman in Japan. Tamamo-no-Mae’s body mysteriously always smelled wonderful, and her clothes never became wrinkled or dirty. Tamamo-no-Mae was not only beautiful, but she was infinitely knowledgeable in all subjects. Although she appeared to be only twenty years old, there was no question that she could not answer. She answered every question posed to her, whether about music, religion or astronomy. Because of her beauty and intelligence, everyone in the Imperial Court adored her, and Emperor Konoe fell deeply in love with her.

After some time had passed, with Konoe all the while lavishing all his affection on the beautiful Tamamo-no-Mae, the Emperor suddenly and mysteriously fell ill. He went to many priests and fortune-tellers for answers, but they had none to offer. Finally, an astrologer, Abe no Yasuchika, told the Emperor that Tamamo-no-Mae was the cause of his illness. The astrologer explained that the beautiful young woman was in fact a kind or evil (depending on the story variant being told) nine-tailed fox (kitsune Good fox spirit. nogitsune malicious fox spirit) working for an evil daimyo, who was making the Emperor ill in a devious plot to take the throne. Following this, Tamamo-no-Mae disappeared from the court.

The Emperor ordered Kazusa-no-suke and Miura-no-suke, the most powerful warriors of the day, to hunt and kill the fox. After eluding the hunters for some time, the fox appeared to Miura-no-suke in a dream. Once again in the form of the beautiful Tamamo-no-Mae, the fox prophesied that Miura-no-suke would kill it the next day, and begged for its life. Miura-no-suke refused.

Early the next day, the hunters found the fox on the Plain of Nasu, and Miura-no-suke shot and killed the magical creature with an arrow. The body of the fox became the Sessho-seki, (殺生石) or Killing Stone, which kills anyone that comes in contact with it.
Tamamo-no-Mae’s spirit became Hoji and haunted the stone.
- source : Hayato on facebook

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- Reference -

Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism
Chapter about Gennō Shinshō
By Bernard Faure
- source : books.google.co.jp

A Study of Genno Shinsho and his Religious Training in the Mountains
Author: Rikizan Ishikawa (Komazawa University)
Source:
JOURNAL OF INDIAN AND BUDDHIST STUDIES (INDOGAKU BUKKYOGAKU KENKYU)

『詰苑』，『玄翁伝』一土人
玄翁禅師伝現出と真如堂信仰: 玄翁禅師と不思議な出合
月史·小林, 1978

- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp - yokai database

- Reference - Japanese 源翁心昭 -

- Reference - English -

化生寺 Kesho-Ji in Maniwa, Katsuyama, Okayama 真庭市勝山　
- source : okatabi.com/maniwa/kesyou

. Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets .

- KAPPA 河童 water goblin - ABC-Index -

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16/03/2015

Legends about Saints

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]

. - - - PERSONS - ABC - LIST of this BLOG - - - .
. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .
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Legends about Japanese Saints

上人 shonin 　法人 honin 　禅師 zenshi
修験者 shugenja 山伏 yamabushi - mountain priest

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .
mukashibanashi　昔話

. Join us ! Japanese Legends of Facebook ! .

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. Enkuu 円空 Legends about Master Carver Enku　円空と伝説　 .

. Gennoo Shinshoo 源翁心昭 Genno Shinsho (Shinjo)
Gennoo Zenshi 源翁禅師Genno Zenji .
Shinsho Kugai 心昭空外, Genno Osho 玄翁(げんのう)和尚, a monk of the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism.
(1329 - 1400)

. Nichiren, Saint Nichiren 日蓮上人 .
February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282
- 日蓮 50 legends to explore / 日蓮上人 19 -

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. 音誉上人 - 音誉聖観上人 Saint Onyo Shokan Shonin . (? - 1479)

音誉上人自ら火車に乗る Onyo Shonin riding the chariot of fire

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. Shinran, Saint Shinran 親鸞聖人 (1173 - 1263) .
- 31 legends to explore -

. Yuuten Shoonin 祐天上人 Yuten Shonin .
Yuuten, Yūten 祐天 Yuten Shami - (1637 - 1718)

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- quote -
Yamabushi Daruma

Yamabushi Daruma combine the unmoving will power and determination of yamabushi
with the unyielding intensity of Daruma to help you get things done.

- source : yamabushido -

. Shugenja 修験者 Mountain Ascets .
yamabushi 山伏 mountain priests

. Yamabushi and the Battle of Sekigahara 関ヶ原の戦い .

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Miyagi 宮城県

Shugenja no tatari 修験者の祟り The curse of the Shugenja

Once upon a time
there lived a guardian soldier in Sendai, named 広田甚八 Hirota Jinpachi.
One evening he had been drinking sake with his friends. They were just having a good time when a Shugenja came to the door and blew his ritual conch 法螺貝. Jinpachi got angry, d attacked the Shugenja and finally killed him in his anger.
Next day Jinpachi was put to trial but let go free, since he was a samurai. But later he was put to trial again and thrown into jail, where he soon died of madness.
His son had been in charge of the horses in Edo. On the evening before the son arrived in Edo there was a Shugenja at his gate and asked "Is this the estate of Hirota?"
"Yes sir".
"Oh, I thought they had all died, how stange!" replied the Shugenja. The servant kicked him out of the gate and reported the event to his master. When he mentioned it was a Shgenja, Hirota got pale in his face and ran out to bring the man back. But he was nowhere in sight. And soon after this event the young Master Hirota also died.
His son 彦兵衛 Hikobe and his daughter also died soon after.
His widow became the second wife of one 丹野某 Tanno, but she also died soon afterwards in mysterious circumstances.

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岡山県 Okayama, 大原町 Ohara

. The konya 紺屋 indigo cloth dyer in Midoro 美土路 .

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- reference -

yokai database　妖怪データベース　- 上人 - 156 entries
日蓮上人 / 円観上人,不動明王 / 親鸞上人 , 智光上人 and more
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp -

yokai database　妖怪データベース　- 禅師 - zenji 30 entries
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp -

yokai database　妖怪データベース　- 修験者 - shugenja 43 entries
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp -

yokai database　妖怪データベース - 山伏 - yamabushi 174 entries
- source : www.nichibun.ac.jp -

- #legendssaints #saintslegends #yamabushi #shugenja -
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19/01/2015

Yoshimura Kei

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

A Kappa with folded hands, walking and listening to the wind.
He is all alone . . .

- KAPPA - 河童 / 合羽　/ かっぱ /　カッパ - ABC-Index -

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Daruma 達磨

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. - - - Join my Kappa friends on facebook ! - - - .

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