Ashikaga Takauji and Godaigo

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Ashikaga Takauji 足利尊氏
(1305 – 1358)



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Ashikaga Takauji   足利尊氏
(1305 – June 7, 1358) was the founder and first shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromachi period of Japan, and ended with his death in 1358. He was a descendant of the samurai of the (Minamoto) Seiwa Genji line (meaning they were descendants of Emperor Seiwa) who had settled in the Ashikaga area of Shimotsuke Province, in present day Tochigi Prefecture.

According to famous Zen master and intellectual Musō Soseki, who enjoyed his favor and collaborated with him, Takauji had three qualities.
- First, he kept his cool in battle and was not afraid of death.
- Second, he was merciful and tolerant.
- Third, he was very generous with those below him.

Takauji was a general of the Kamakura shogunate sent to Kyoto in 1333 to put down the Genkō War which had started in 1331.
After becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Kamakura shogunate over time, Takauji joined the banished Emperor GoDaigo II and Kusunoki Masashige, and seized Kyoto. Soon after, Nitta Yoshisada joined their cause, and laid siege to Kamakura. When the city fell to Nitta, the Shogunal regent, Hōjō Takatoki, and his clansmen committed suicide. This ended the Kamakura shogunate, as well as the Hōjō clan's power and influence.
GoDaigo was enthroned once more as emperor, reestablishing the primacy of the Imperial court in Kyoto and starting the so-called Kenmu Restoration.
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At the decisive Battle of Minatogawa in 1336, Takauji defeated Yoshisada again and killed Masashige, allowing him to seize Kyoto for good. Emperor Kōmyō of the illegitimate Northern Court (see below) was installed as emperor by Takauji in opposition to the exiled Southern Court, beginning the turbulent Northern and Southern Court period (Nanboku-chō), which saw two emperors fight each other and which would last for almost 60 more years.
Besides other honors,
Emperor GoDaigo II had given Takauji the title of Chinjufu Shogun　鎮守府将軍, or Commander-in-chief of the Defense of the North, and the courtly title of the Fourth Rank, Junior Grade.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

- - - - - His jisei 辞世 last poem

良し悪しと 人をば言ひて たれもみな わが心をや 知らぬならん



Takatoki and Tengu
Hokusai"Ehon Wa-Kan no Homare"

. Tengupedia - 天狗ペディア　- Tengu ABC-List.

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南北朝の動乱を生きぬいた武将
柳川 創造 古城 武司

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Emperor Go-Daigo, Godaigo (後醍醐天皇 Go-Daigo-tennō)
(November 26, 1288 – September 19, 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan.
..... In 1333, Emperor Go-Daigo escaped from Oki with the help of Nawa Nagatoshi and his family, raising an army at Funagami Mountain in Hōki Province (the modern town of Kotoura in Tōhaku District, Tottori Prefecture). Ashikaga Takauji, who had been sent by the shogunate to find and destroy this army, sided with the emperor and captured the Rokuhara Tandai. .....
..... When Ashikaga's army entered Kyōto, Emperor Go-Daigo resisted, fleeing to Mount Hiei, but seeking reconciliation, he sent the imperial regalia to the Ashikaga side. Takauji enthroned the Jimyōin-tō emperor, Kōmyō, and officially began his shogunate with the enactment of the Kenmu Law Code ... Go-Daigo escaped from the capital in Jan. 1337, the regalia that he had handed over to the Ashikaga being counterfeit, and set up the Southern Court among the mountains of Yoshino, beginning the Period of Northern and Southern Courts in which the Northern Dynasty in Kyōto and the Southern Dynasty in Yoshino faced off against each other.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Emperor Godaigo, dreaming of ghosts in his palace
Ogata Gekkō

. Kasagidera 笠置寺 Kasagi-Dera in Kyoto .
On August 27th in Genkou 1 ( the 1st year of Genkou, in 1331 ), Emperor Go Daigo 後醍醐天皇, who attempted to usurp power from the Kamakura shougunate but failed, escaped into Kasagi Dera. For about a month, these was a battle between Emperor Go Daigo and the Kamakura shougunate (Kasagiyama no Tatakai 笠置山の戦い Siege of Mount Kasagiyama). At the end, Emperor Go Daigo lost and retreated to Yoshino Yama. Only the burnt ruins of Kasagi Dera remained.

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Tōji-In 等持院 Toji-In
dedicated to Ashikaga Takauji
and a Daruma



Reikō-den 霊光殿 and the famous
riun Jizo bosatsu, ri-un 利運地蔵菩薩
Jizo to win in battle
. Jizo Bosatsu (Kshitigarbha) 地蔵菩薩 .

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. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu 足利 義満 (1358 - 1408).
The third Ashikaga Shogun and the Higashiyama Culture in Kyoto

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Fudo Myo-O on the breast plate of the armour of Ashikaga Takauji
. yoroi Fudoo 鎧不動 Fudo Myo-O and armour .


. basara ばさら / 婆娑羅 / バサラ flamboyant elegance .
..... Basara activities were banned in the Kenmu Code, which was the fundamental code of laws for the shogunate established by Takauji Ashikaga in 1336.

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佐藤和彦 - 足利尊氏

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A homepage for Ashikaga Takauji

このホームページは教育現場からのご利用に配慮しております。
- source : www.ashikagatakauji.jp -

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


. Matsuo Basho in Kanegasaki, Tsuruga .
The mystery background story
of the war bell at the bottom of the sea
..... The castle Kanegasakijoo 金崎城 / 鐘ヶ崎城 is the place where Nitta Yoshisada (1301 - 1338) fought against Ashikaga Takauji 足利尊氏 (1305 - 1358), who was trying to topple the government.

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尊氏の爪墓に啼く法師蝉
Takauji no tsumebaka ni naku hooshizemi

at the grave of
the nails of Takauji
a monk cicada is singing

西岡史代　Nishioka Fumiyo



This grave for his nails 尊氏の爪墓 is at the temple 安楽寺 Anraku-Ji, Nagahama, which was constructed on Takauji's orders at the time of his death.
- source : ameblo.jp/lani-lani-aroma-



CLICK for more photos !

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尊氏の血の流れゐる昼寝かな
龍岡晋 Tatsuoka Shin (1904 - 1983)


年酒一盞尊氏と酌む陣揃ひ
田中水桜 Tanaka Suioo

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This famous portrait is most probably not Takauji himself, but his brother Tadayoshi　足利直義.

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

gunjin kago 軍神加護 divine protection by the God of War
Takauji tried everything to win a battle. Before he had to fight 楠木正成 Kusunoki Masashige and 新田義貞 Nitta Yoshisada he prayed at the Munakata Shrine in Buzen (now Fukuoka) and asked for winning.
Nitta was a great general too, but he lost because he did not make offerings to a deity.


His problem with Godaigo Tenno 後醍醐天皇
After he fought Godaigo Tenno and founded the 足利幕府 Ashikaga Bakufu government, there were many rumous that the vengeful spirit of Godaigo would now cause trouble for the land. Since the spirit could not be consoled by a human, Takauji had the temple 天龍寺 Tenryu-Ji offer prayers for the sould and finally things calmed down.
『太平記』巻２５「天龍寺事」 - as written in the Taiheiki, Volume 25.

His relation with the Tengu 天狗
天狗の階級、種類、名前、登場する記録を列挙。南北朝時代には天狗評定、天狗集会で天下の動乱を画策し、足利尊氏一族に内紛が起きたという。（太平記に記載）

yahiroi Jizo 矢拾いの地蔵 Jizo to pick up the arrows
“Shōgun Ashikaga Takauji 足利 尊氏, a fervent Jizō devotee, drew a picture of Jizō and worshipped it daily."
"Jōkōmyōji Temple 浄光明寺 in Kamakura houses a statue of Jizō called the Yahiroi Jizō 矢拾い地蔵, literally Arrow-Gathering Jizō. According to legend, Yahiroi Jizō appeared as a child-monk on the battlefield to save Ashikaga Tadayoshi 足利直義 (1306-52), the younger brother of Ashikaga Takauji, by gathering arrows after Tadayoshi had run out of weapons."
. Shogun Jizo 勝軍地蔵 Victorious Jizo .

- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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Kabuki - Shinrei Yaguchi no Watashi
The play "Shinrei Yaguchi no Watashi" was originally written for the puppet theater (Bunraku) and staged in the 1st lunar month of 1770 in Edo at the Gekiza. It was adapted to Kabuki many years later and staged for the first time in the 8th lunar month of 1794 at the Kiriza.



- Summary
During the reign of the Emperor Godaigo, the wicked Ashikaga Takauji attempted to dethrone the Emperor and set up a pretender in his place. A great battle was fought on the Plain of Musashino, near what later became Edo. The commander of the Imperial army was Nitta Yoshioki, a famous soldier. He and his troops fought courageously, but were defeated through the treachery of a man whom Yoshioki believed to be his friend. Yoshioki himself was murdered by this same false friend at Yaguchi, where a ferry crossed the Tama River.
- source : www.kabuki21.com/yaguchi_no_watashi -

. 新田義貞 Nitta Yoshisada (1301 - 1338) .

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- Reference - 足利尊氏 -
- Reference - English -

- - - #ashikagatakauji #takauji #godaigo - - -
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Takauji 尊氏せんべい　Senbei rice crackers



Takauji monaka 最中 waffles with his kao 花押 signature　



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Kakinomoto Hitomaro

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高雄内供奉 - Takao Naigubu Tengu, see below
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Kakinomoto Hitomaro 柿本人麻呂 Hitomaru 人丸 / 人麿
(c. 662 – 710)

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a Japanese waka poet and aristocrat of the late Asuka period. He was the most prominent of the poets included in the Man'yōshū Poetry Collection (万葉集 Manyoshu), and was particularly represented in volumes 1 and 2. He is ranked as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals.
From the Heian period period on, he was often called "Hito-maru" .



敷島の 大和の国は 言霊の 助くる国ぞ まさきくありこそ
Shikishima no Yamato no kuni wa kototama no tasukuru kuni zo asakiku ari koso

..... In the prefatory essay to the Kokin Wakashū compilation of poetry, Ki no Tsurayuki called him Uta no Hijiri — a divine poet equal to the Nara period poet Yamabe no Akahito, a high regard echoed by later poets such as Fujiwara no Teika. Ikeda Munemasa wrote Portrait of Hitomaro and His Waka Poem. Modern waka poets like Masaoka Shiki and Saito Mokichi considered him one of greatest poets in the history of Japanese literature.

In Masuda, Iwami Province in Shimane Prefecture, there are two Kakinomoto shrines, Takatsu Kakinomoto Shrine and Toda Kakinomoto Shrine. It is said that Kamoshima in Masuda is Hitomaro's death place and Toda is Hitomaro's birthplace. The priest of Toda Kakinomoto Shrine is Ayabe, and he is the 49th of Hitomaro's mother's line.

In Akashi, Hyōgo Prefecture there is Kakinomoto Jinja, a shrine devoted to Hitomaro. The shrine holds an annual utakai (waka party) devoted to him.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

かきのもと‐の‐ひとまろ - 柿本人麻呂

敷島の 大和の国は 言霊の 助くる国ぞ まさきくありこそ
My country, Shikishima, the country of Yamato, is a country to which kotodama has imparted
prosperity / good fortune. So I hope/pray that it comes to no harm.

The Question of Kotodama
- source : Peter Goldsbury -


. Sekishu washi 石州和紙 Sekishu Paper .
While mention is made of Sekishu (Iwami) in the Engishiki, a Heian period (794-1185) document on court protocol, a more direct reference to paper is made in the 紙漉重宝記 Kamisuki Chohoki, a "A Manual of Papermaking" published in 1798.
It says that when 柿本人麻呂 Kakinomotono Hitomaro went to take up the post of protector in the province of Iwami (Shimane prefecture), he taught the people there how to make paper.

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Kakinomoto Jinja 柿本神社 Shinto Shrine in Akashi, Hyogo
Hitomaru Jinja 人丸神社 / Kakimoto Sha 柿本社
1-26 Hitomarucho, Akashi, Hyogo / 明石市人丸町1-26

This shrine was relocated to Mount Hitomaruyama in 1620 by 小笠原忠政　Ogawawara Tadamasa, Lord of Akashi, who was a great admirer of Kakinomoto.



on top of Mount Hitomaruyama 人丸山 Founded in 887.
Deity in residence : 柿本人麻呂朝臣
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


A shrine in his honor, with amulets and pottery figures :

okutopasu - オクトパス　- oku to pass - octopus
if you put it up there (on your desk) you pass the examination !



. Octopus (tako　蛸　/ たこ) .

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source : city.tatsuno.lg.jp/rekibun

Kakinomoto from Akashiyaki pottery 明石焼
They were made for the shrine, but in a typoon in 1957, the kiln was destroyed.

. Hyogo Folk Art - 兵庫県　 .


天離る　夷の長通ゆ　恋ひ来れば
明石の門より　大和島見ゆ
amazakaru hina no nagachiyu koi kureba Akashi no to yori Yamatoshima miyu

Far away from the capital I come to Akashi Strait
longing for the capital, the Island of Yamato will be out of sight




In the compound of the shrine is a tree called 盲杖桜 "Blind Stick Cherry"
Once upon a time a blind person from Tsukishi, Fukuoka came here to pray for health, reciting the following words :


amulet for good health

ほのぼのと　まこと明石の　神なれば 　我にも見せよ　人丸の塚
honobono to makoto Akashi no kami nareba ware ni miseyo Hitomaru no zuka

and was healed in an instant, leaving his walking stick, which turned into a cherry tree.

. Health Amulets 健康御守 kenkoo omamori .

- - - - - HP of the shrine
- source : kakinomoto-jinja.or.jp -




燈火の明石大門に入らむ日や漕ぎ別れなむ 家のあたり見ず
tomoshibi no Akashi no ooto ni iramu hi ya kogiwakarenamu ie no atari mizu

Down into the straits
of Akashi, land of torchlight,
the sun will soon sink:
and I - mist I row away,
beyond sight of my home?

Traditional Japanese Poetry: An Anthology
Steven D. Carter
- source : google books - More poems by Kakinomoto -


人丸塚
More Shrines and places dedicated to Kakinomoto in Hyogo :
- reference source : cultural-experience.blogspot.jp -
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Toda Kakinomoto Shrine　戸田柿本神社
Hitomaro's birthplace
イ８５６ 戸田町 益田市 島根県



The priest of Toda Kakinomoto Shrine is from the 綾部家 Ayabe family, and he is the 49th of Hitomaro's mother's line.

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This shrine is dedicated to Kakinomoto Hitomaro who was a great Japanese poet in the Nara era, about 1300 years ago. It’s said that the shrine was originally built on Kamoshima Island near the mouth of Masuda River. But the shrine sank off the coast of Masuda due to a tsunami (big tidal wave) in 1026. Only the statue of Hitomaro floated to Matsuzaki and the shrine was rebuilt there.
Afterward in 1681, the shrine was moved and built in Takatsu by Koremasa Kamei who was lord of Tsuwano.
Hitomaro was born in Toda village. After he grew up, he went to Nara( the capital city on that time) and served as a court poet for three emperors: - Tenmu, Monbu and Jitoh.

He traveled various places, supporting these emperors and making many poems. About 450 of his poems were put in Manyoshu, a book of the oldest poems in Japan. When he was older, he came back to Masuda and died at Kamoshima in the year 724.
The successive emperors of the Edo era had dedicated many poems to this shrine.They are displayed in the treasury of this shrine.

On leaving his wife as he set out from Iwami for the capital:

Along the coast of Tsunu
On the sea of Iwami
One may find no sheltering bay,
One may find no sequestered lagoon.
O well if there be no bay!
O well if there be no lagoon!
Upon Watazu’s rocky strand,
Where I travel by the whale-haunted sea,
The wind blows in the morning,
And the waves wash at eve
The sleek sea-tangle and the ocean weed,
All limpid green.
Like the sea-tangle, swaying in the wave
Hither and thither, my wife would cling to me,
As she lay by my side.
Now I have left her, and journey on my way,
I look back a myriad times
At each turn of the road.
Father and father my home falls behind,
Steeper and steeper the mountains I have crossed.
My wife must be languishing
Like drooping summer grass.
I would see where she dwells ...
Bend down, O mountains!

- source : visit-masuda.main.jp/hitomaro -


- - - - - HP of the Shrine
万葉の時代から1300年、
その生誕秘話を今に語り継ぐ「語家 katarai」があった！
- source : hitomaro.com-

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Takatsu Kakinomoto Shrine 　高津柿本神社
Kamoshima in Masuda is Hitomaro's death place.
島根県益田市高津町上市イ−2616−1



高津柿本神社（たかつかきのもとじんじゃ）は、島根県益田市高津町に鎮座する旧県社。歌聖柿本人麿を祀る神社で、正式名称は柿本神社。柿本人麿を祀る柿本神社は日本各地に存在するが、その本社を主張している。鎮座地は丸山の東に張り出した尾根筋の鴨山（高角山）山頂に位置し、境内を含めた一帯は祭神にちなんで、昭和50年代から島根県立万葉公園として整備されている。
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !


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Fujisaki Hachimangu 藤崎八幡宮　Kumamoto, Kyushu
3-1 Igawabuchimachi, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto

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founded in 935 by the order of Emperor Suzaku.
Fujisaki Hachimangu was destroyed during the Seinan Rebellion of 1877 and rebuilt at its current location. Being a Hachiman Shrine, the main kami enshrined is Emperor Ojin, but as with most major shrines there are a multitude of secondary shrines within the grounds including Tenmangu, Susano, Onamuchi, and unusually Kakinomoto Hitomaro the famed 7th century poet. ...
- reference source : -


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Katsuragi Kakinomoto Jinja 葛城　柿本神社
187-1 Kakinomoto, Katsuragi City, Nara

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The shrine is dedicated to Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, one of the first ranked poets in Manyoshu, Japan's oldest anthology of poems. He died in Iwami no kuni in Masuda City, Shimane Prefecture, but was reburied in 770, and this shrine was built by his tomb.



Together with Yogenji Temple next to the shrine, on April 18, which is the anniversary of Hitomaro’s death, every year, the Chinponkanpon Festival is held.
People recollect him by his poem concerning Katsuragi:

Spring willows, the clouds over Mt. Katsuragi,
Remind me of my sister, Standing or sitting.

- source : city.katsuragi.nara.jp -


柿本山　影現寺 Kakinomotozan Yogen-Ji
奈良県葛城市柿本161 / 161 Kakinomoto, Katsuragi City, Nara

- HP of the temple
- reference source : yougenji.jp/guide -

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高雄内供奉 - Takao Naigubu

He is one of the
. 四十八天狗 48 important Tengu of Japan .

also known as[
Shinzei 真済（しんぜい）
高雄僧正 Takao Sojo - "Priest with high learning" (attained at Jingo-Ji)
柿本僧正 Kakinomoto Sojo

Shinzei practised for 12 years at the temple 神護寺 Jingo-Ji and later came to attend to the Emperor as a teacher 御斎会.

He is venerated at founder of the temple 影現寺 Yogen-Ji in Nara, Katsuragi town 奈良県葛城市.

He studied Mikkyo Buddhism with Kobo Daishi. He often practised austerities at Takao 高雄の峯. Once he saw the honorable Lady 藤原明子 Fujiwara no Meishi (染殿后 Somedono no Kisaki) and felt love trouble in his heart. He died soon afterwards and became a blue demon. First he tormented Somedono and later he turned into an Ootengu 大天狗 Great Tengu.

欲に惑い天狗・鬼と化す
文徳天皇の女御で清和天皇の母である藤原明子（染殿后）に一目惚れした真済が、死後、紺青色をした鬼、あるいは天狗と化して彼女のもとに現れ悩ませる。そして比叡山無動寺の相応和尚に退治されるという話。延喜18年（918年）～23年の間に書かれたとされる『天台南山無動寺建立和尚伝』をはじめ、『拾遺往生伝』巻下の相応伝、『古事談』巻三、『宝物集』巻二などに載っている。なお、類似の説話に『今昔物語集』巻二十、第七話「染殿ノ后、為天宮嬈乱事」があるが、この話では紺青鬼（表題は「天宮＝てんぐ」だが本文では鬼）と化すのは真済でなく大和葛木の金剛山の聖人で、相応和尚による退治もなく、后は衆人環視の中、鬼と情交に及ぶに至り、天皇もなすすべがなかったという絶望的結末となっている。この真済や相応和尚が登場しない形の説話の出典は、延喜17年～18年ころ三善清行が書いた『善家秘記』（散逸）とされる。[7]時期的に相応和尚の伝記成立とほぼ同じだが、おそらくは、『今昔』型の説話が先にあって、それを相応和尚の伝記に素材として取り込んだ際、天台宗対真言宗という構図が持ち込まれ、真済が紺青鬼・天狗にされたのであろう。
ー More legends about Shinzei
- reference source : wikipedia -

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The Empress Somedono is possessed by a tengu (天狗).
The Empress Somedono (829-900) was the wife of Emperor Montoku (r. 850-858).
Also known as Akirakeiko, she was the daughter of the Regent Fujiwara no Yoshifusa (804-872), chief adviser to the Emperor. She was the mother of Emperor Seiwa (r. 858-876).
“Empress Somedono was possessed by a tengu. Several months passed by, but nobody could exorcise the tengu. The tengu announced: ‘Unless the buddhas of the three eras appear, who could dare oppose me.'
After some time
the priest Sõõ (831-918) who had founded Mudõ Temple on sacred Mount Hiei was summoned to perform an exorcism.
Sõõ prayed to Amida Buddha for a week, but his prayers had no effect on the tengu. Sõõ then returned to Mount Hiei to pray instead to Fudõ Myõ-õ, the Immovable Wisdom King.
Fudõ Myõ-õ
sat upon his great dais facing the south. When Sõõ sat to pray to Fudõ Myõ-õ, the Wisdom King turned away from Sõõ and faced the west. When the priest seated himself in the west, Fudõ Myõ-õ turned to face the east. The priest again sat in the east facing Fudõ Myõ-õ, but the Wisdom King again turned to face the west. After a few more times at trying to pray to Fudõ Myõ-õ, the Wisdom King finally returned to his original position facing the south.
The priest seated himself again in the south and with tears in his eyes, begged Fudõ Myõ-õ, 'I request an answer to my prayers, why do you turn away from me?' Fudõ Myõ-õ looked into the teary eyes of the priest and spoke, 'In accordance with my vow that if a person keeps my spell even once, I will protect him for lives to come, I have not responded to your petitions and have turned away from you. This is my reason, in the past, the priest Shinzei of Ki kept my spell; however, because of a slightly wrong attachment, he fell into the realm of tengu and now torments the Empress.



Because of the original vow, I must protect this tengu. You must go to the palace and secretly whisper to the tengu, 'Are you the tengu of Kaki no moto, the priest Shinzei of Ki known as Ki no Sõjõ? As he answers, lower your head and perform an exorcism by quietly chanting the magic Buddhist spell of the Daiitoku. The tengu will then be bound by this spell. Meanwhile, I will absolve him of his wrong attachment and lead him back to the path of the Buddha.’ Sõõ was deeply moved by the words of Fudõ Myõ-õ. He did as he was instructed, asking the question and performing the exorcism. He was able to successfully seize the tengu and banish it. The Empress Somedono recovered soon after."

The tengu that possessed Empress Somedono was Shinzei (800-860), the priest of Ki known as Ki no Sõjõ. Shinzei was a disciple of Kõbõ Daishi (774-835), the founder of Shingon-shu Mikkyõ (esoteric) Buddhism. He transformed himself into a tengu and possessed the Empress because he supported Prince Koretaka as the new emperor in place of Prince Korehito.
- more is here :
- source : hayakawajunpei.tumblr.com © James Kemlo -

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Other high priests who turned into Tengu
玄隈 Genbo - 、慈恵 Jiei Daishi (Hieizan), 尊雲 Sonun

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CLICK for more statues of Hitomaro .

柿本人麻呂にまつわる全国の神社仏閣（まとめ）
(A long list of shrines in Japan in honor of Hitomaro.)
- source : cultural-experience.blogspot.jp -

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source : photozou.jp - 花兄 さん

柿本人麻呂像 statue carved by Enku san !

. Welcome to Master Carver Enku 円空 ! .

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

Hitomaru Ki 人丸忌 (ひとまるき) HITOMARU, Kakimoto Hitomaru
Hitomaru Ki 人麿忌（ひとまろき）
Hitomaru Matsuri 人丸祭（ひとまるまつり）

陰暦3月18日 third lunar month, 18th day
. WKD - Kigo for Spring .


小机にもたれ心や人丸忌
kozukue ni motare kokoro ya Hitomaru ki

松瀬青々　Matsuse Seisei (1869 - 1937)


Hitomaru and his "small desk" (kozukue 小机)


source : blog.goo.ne.jp/OTSUMITSU/e
柿本人麻呂像　松村景文筆　- Paintings of Kakinomoto


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人丸をまつると云へる机かな
尾崎迷堂

鳥の名の貝がらひろふ人丸忌
三田きえ子

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CLICK for more specialities !

Hitomaro was a truly "divine" Waka poet and is revered in many shrines in Japan, for various reasons.
. 柿本神社 Kakinomoto Shrines in Japan .
- Introduction -

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. Matsuo Basho in Akashi 松尾芭蕉 .


蛸壺やはかなき夢を夏の月
takotsubo ya hakanaki yume o natsu no tsuki


蝸牛 角ふりわけよ 須磨明石
katatsuburi tsuno furiwake yo Suma Akashi


足洗うてつひ明けやすき丸寝かな
ashi aroote tsui akeyasuki marune kana


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. Manyooshuu, Man'yōshū 万葉集 Manyoshu, Manyo'shu .
Collection of One Thousand Poems

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source : mfa.org/collections - William Sturgis Bigelow Collection

Poem by Kakinomoto Hitomaro: (Actor Iwai Kumesaburô III as) Matsuura Sayohime
from the series Comparisons for
Thirty-six Selected Poems (Mitate sanjûrokkasen no uchi)
「見立三十六歌撰之内　柿本人丸 　松浦さよ姫」　三代目岩井粂三郎
by Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III) (Japanese, 1786–1864),

Honobono to Akashi no ura no asagiri ni shima kagureyuku fune o shizo omou
ほのぼのと あかしの浦の 朝ぎりに 島がくれゆく 舟をしぞ思ふ

Faintly with the dawn
That glimmers on Akashi Bay,
In the morning mist
A boat goes hidden by the isle -
And my thoughts go after it.
Tr. Edwin A. Cranston


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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

Hyogo, Akashi 明石市
variations about the legend of a blind man getting healed at a Shrine in honor of Kakinomoto.

筑紫の盲人が柿本人麻呂を祭る柿本神社に行き、
「ほのゞとまこと明石の神ならば　我にも見せよ人丸の塚」
という短歌を詠んで祈り続けると、満願の日に視力が回復した。その時いつまでも栄えよと祈りを込めて挿したのを盲杖櫻という。

kame 亀 turtle
水戸の龜屋という穀物問屋の主が、眼病を患いついに失明してしまった。主はたまたま人丸塚の事を聞いて参篭し、不思議な夢を見た。大きな龜が主を乗せて、清水の側に下ろしたという夢で、実際に清水があったので、神のお告げと思い、その水で洗眼すると視力が回復した。

moojoozakura 盲杖櫻 盲杖桜 "Blind Stick Cherry"
明石の人丸社に座頭が参詣して祈請したところ、眼が開いたので、不要になった杖を庭に挿した。翌春、その杖から芽吹き、花が咲き、桜の木になった。

- reference : nichibun yokai database -




CLICK for more dolls !
歌仙人形　百人一首　柿本人麻呂　


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- Reference - Japanese - 柿本人麻呂 -
- Reference - English -

Kakinomoto Hito Maro / Kakinomoto-no asomi Hitomaro
- reference -


- quote -
During the Yamato era, high ranking people had the term “Maro” attached to their names, (e.g. Kakinomoto Hito Maro, a 7th century poet, or “Abenonaka Maro”, an 8th century writer). Later on, the “Maro” became “Maru”. Both “Maro” and “Maru” are derived from the Aramaic word “Mar,” meaning “Lord,” “Sir” or “Saint.” The Church of South India, which was founded by the Apostle Thomas, is called the “Mar Thoma Church,” or “St. Thomas Church.” It is also of interest to note that “Mar” was also a title given to priests of the Eastern Church (Joseph, Jr., 2008).
- source : projectjapan.org-


. Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets .

- - - #kakinomoto #hitomaro #hitomaru - - -
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Ii Naosuke Sakuradamon

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. Edopedia - all about Edo　江戸 .
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Ii Naosuke 井伊直弼
(November 29, 1815 – March 24, 1860)



- quote
A daimyo of Hikone (1850–1860) and also Tairō of Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan, a position he held from April 23, 1858 until his death on March 24, 1860. He is most famous for signing the Harris Treaty with the United States, granting access to ports for trade to American merchants and seamen and extraterritoriality to American citizens. He was also an enthusiastic and accomplished practitioner of the Japanese tea ceremony, in the Sekishūryū style, and his writings include at least two works on the tea ceremony.

Under Ii Naosuke’s guidance, the Tokugawa shogunate navigated past a particularly difficult conflict over the succession to the ailing and childless Tokugawa Iesada. Ii Naosuke managed to coerce the Tokugawa Shogunate to its last brief resurgence of its power and position in Japanese society before the start of the Meiji period. Ii was assassinated in the Sakuradamon incident by a group of 17 Mito and 1 Satsuma samurai on March 24, 1860.


Edo Castle's Sakurada Gate – photographed by Felix Beato, 1863–1870.

- snip -
- - - - - Tairō
In 1858 after Hotta Masayoshi’s disastrous attempt to obtain the emperor’s approval for the Harris treaty the Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Iesada (徳川家定), chose Ii Naosuke to be the Tairō (Great Elder); a decision influenced by the Kii Party. The position of Tairō, a post traditionally held by members of the Ii family, was rarely filled; in fact there had only been three Tairō between 1700 and Ii Naosuke’s rise to power 158 years later. Ii’s promotion to the post of Tairō annoyed many of the shinpan daimyo (daimyo related to the Shogun, they were unable to be members of the bakufu, but in the event of the Shogun dying heirless the next Shogun would be chosen from one of the shinpan families) including Tokugawa Nariaki. As the Tairō Ii Naosuke had both prestige and power second only to the Shogun; Ii also enjoyed the full backing of the Fudai daimyo. An intelligent and capable politician Ii Naosuke was determined to restore the power of the bakufu in Japanese policy making, both in a domestic and a foreign role.
- snip -
- - - - - Kōbu gattai and the Kazunomiya marriage 公武合体
Kōbu Gattai is the policy of binding Kyoto and Edo closer together to shore up the failing shogunate with the prestige of the imperial court. This policy was to be carried out by means of a marriage between the Shogun and the Emperor’s younger sister, Princess Kazunomiya.
- snip -
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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The daimyo of Hikone Ii Naosuke　井伊直弼　had meat from Omi cows 　近江牛　prepared as misozuke, pickled in miso paste, and send it to Edo to the Tokugawa Shogun, especially also to Nariaki of Mito　水戸斉昭.
Nariaki even wrote a letter to thank for the meat.


徳川斉昭書状別紙, 嘉永元年（1848年）12月
（彦根城博物館蔵）

The beef from Hikone was also dried in the cold 「寒」の干牛肉 during the coldest month of January and then eaten as "medicine".
When Ii Naosuke was killed in the Sakuradamon incident on March 24, 1860, by a group of samurai from Mito, the shipments to Mito Tokugawa Nariaki stopped and Nariaki was quite unhappy about this turn of events.

. Eating Meat in Edo .

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Sakurada Mon 桜田門 lit. Gate of the Field of Cherry Trees


source : 桜田門外の変」を歩く

Sakurada mon is Nr. 10

The district used to be called
Sakurada goo 桜田郷 Sakurada Go hometown area
It was a wide area of rice fields and many cherry trees were planted along the azemichi 畦道 small paths between the fields.
Near Kasumigaseki there was also
Sakurada mura 桜田村 Sakurada village.
After Ieyasu moved into Edo castle, this part of Edo begun to flourish. Soon there were seven villaged, the
Sakurada Nanagemachi 桜田七ヵ町 / 桜田七ヶ町:
伏見町 Fushimi，善右衛門町 Zen-Saemon，久保町 Kubo，太左衛門町 Tazaemon，
備前町 Bizen，鍛冶町 Kaji and 和泉町 Izumi.

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. Kawase Hasui 川瀬巴水 (1883 - 1957) .


Sakurada Gate



Sakurada Gate in Spring Rain


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The Sakuradamon Incident 桜田門外の変 Sakuradamon-gai no Hen
桜田門の変 Sakuradamon no Hen

- quote -
the assassination of Japanese Chief Minister (Tairō) Ii Naosuke (1815–1860) on 24 March 1860 by rōnin samurai of the Mito Domain, outside the Sakurada Gate of Edo Castle.

The assassination took place outside the Shogun's Edo Castle in Edo (modern Tokyo), just as Ii Naosuke was reaching the premises. Ii Naosuke had been warned about his safety, and many encouraged him to retire from office, but he refused, replying that "My own safety is nothing when I see the danger threatening the future of the country".



A total of 17 Mito rōnin ambushed Ii Naosuke together with Arimura Jisaemon (有村次左衛門), a samurai from Satsuma Domain. While an attack at the front drew the attention of the guards, a lone assassin fired one shot into the palanquin containing Ii Naosuke, with a Japanese-made Colt 1851 Navy Revolver, which had been copied from the firearms that Perry had given the Shogunate as gifts. Drawing the injured and likely paralyzed Ii Naosuke out, Arimura decapitated Ii Naosuke and then committed seppuku.
Arimura Jisaemon, on the point of committing the assassination.

The conspirators carried a manifesto on themselves, outlining the reason for their act:
- snip -
- - - - - Consequences
The popular upheaval against foreign encroachment and assassination of Ii Naosuke forced the Bakufu to soften its stance, and to adopt a compromise policy of Kōbu Gattai ("Union of the Emperor and the Shogun") suggested by Satsuma Domain and Mito Domain, in which both parties vied for political supremacy in the years to follow. This soon amplified into the violent Sonnō Jōi ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians") movement.

For the following years until the fall of Bakufu in 1868, Edo, and more generally the streets of Japan, would remain notably hazardous for Bakufu officials (see attack on Andō Nobumasa) and foreigners alike (Richardson murder), as the Sonno Joi movement continued to expand. According to Sir Ernest Satow: "A bloody revenge was taken on the individual [Ii Naosuke], but the hostility to the system only increased with time, and in the end brought about its complete ruin".

The conflict reached its resolution with the military defeat of the Shogunate in the Boshin war, and the installation of the Meiji restoration in 1868.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !




source : d4.dion.ne.jp/~ponskp/bakumatsu

On the famous painting of the incident, you can see some normal Samurai without shoes.
It was winter and a rare snowfall of about 20 cm kept the rather unprotected palanquin bearers and accompanying samurai cold. So many of the 60 people in the procession, who were only hired for the job, did not protect Naosuke but just run away when they heard the shots.
(Some sources quote one shot, others quote two or more.)

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- quote -
Tale of Okabe Sanjuro
近世明義伝 岡部三十郎 Kinsei Meigiden Okabe Sanjyūro

Painted by Utagawa Yoshitsuya II
This is a color print of Sanjuro Okabe, one of the Mito clansman who attacked the Chief Councillor of the Shogun at the time Naosuke Ii. This attack, which took place just outside Sakuradamon, Edo in 1860 (seventh year of Ansei) was later referred to as 'The Sakuradamon Incident'.
In 'The Sakuradamon Incident', seceded warriors from the Mito and Satsuma clans attacked the Hikone clan's procession and assassinated the Chief Councillor Naosuke Ii. The assassination of this authority figure of the time sent a signal that the Bakufu's authority had weakened and it is said to have led the Bakufu Administration to fall. Many of the ringleaders committed suicide or were captured and executed by the Bakufu.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Library -

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

春寒料峭井伊直弼に手を合はす
shunkan ryooshoo Ii Naosuke ni te o awasu

very cold spring day -
I fold my hands
for Ii Naosuke

Kawasaki Tenkoo 川崎展宏 Kawasaki Tenko (1927 - 2009)

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鳥帰る桜田門を掃き終り
斉藤夏風

浮寝鳥桜田門の日向かな
瀧井孝作




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. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 in Edo .

鮒ずしや 彦根の城に 雲かゝる
funazushi ya hikone no shiro ni kumo kakaru

Cruician sushi!
Hikone Castle
Covered with floating clouds.
Tr. hokuoto77

'A crucian sushi' was a favorite with Buson.
The crucian sushi is a specialty of Otsu district in Shiga Prefecture. Today Otsu City is nine minutes train ride from Kyoto City and Hikone City about forty minutes train ride from Otsu City.
The crucian sushi in the Haiku must have been one of products of Otsu region. Crucian's scales gills, visceral parts are taken away and the rest are salted. After this process, slices are sandwiched between rice, one by one, and pressed for some time to be fermented naturally. The seasoning and maturing of crucian sushi is a very delicate operation. The whole process calls for skill and experience. Of course, it must be a well-kept trade secret.

*The Poet wrote to Tairo(大魯), one of his disciples:
｢此句､解ｽべく解すべからざるものに候｡とかく聞得る人まれニて､只几董のみ微笑いたし候｣
(Kono ku kaisu bekara zaru mono ni soro. tokaku kiki uru hito mare nite, tada, kito nomi misho itashi soro.)
It translates:
"The Haiku is not appreciated as it should be and people are apt to miss its depth. It is only Kito (几董) who smiled to me with its understanding."
(Translated by hokuto77). In the same letter Buson asked Tairo (大魯) for comments on the Haiku. I can’t possibly get Tairo’s comments at all.
- snip -
Impression:
The Poet had a rest at a tea house on Lake Biwa, enjoying his favorite crucian sushi. A cloud formed from the lake and was drifting up towards the Castle Tower of Hikone. He happened to notice the scene. I believe the cloud was not a figment of his imagination but really existed. The cloud plays a prominent role in the Haiku. It's very clear the cloud will cause no shower of rain at all.
Academic critics say the taste of well matured 'crucian sushi' and the large-scaled landscape, together with the early summer breeze, gave a lot of refreshment to the Poet.
The scenery in the Haiku is magnificent. Even to those who haven’t ever tasted a crucian sushi, nor seen Hikone Castle in the distance, the Haiku will give a breathtaking impression. The rest of sushi haiku by the Poet may well be thought to be discolored by this eminent one.
Here, I think we must carefully consider at what point Kito (几董) nodded smiling to Buson.

The floating cloud can’t be regarded as an omen, good or bad, for the future of the Poet or the castle. It’s just a moving piece of the workings of Nature in the still vast scenery which the Poet is viewing quite by chance. The key is how to interpret the sailing cloud.

I know my guess is wide of the mark. Kito's impression goes:
"Well matured crucian sushi gives him a deeply satisfying feeling and he admires the scenery around him with a real sense of fulfilled existence.　Right now, a cloud rising from on Lake Biwa has come up obscuring the Castle. As sushi has thoroughly melted into my body, so he himself merged into this vast landscape filled with splendor and he feel as if riding on the floating cloud and he’ve begun to wonder if it keeps sailing for Eternity."
I know Kito (几董) is acutely aware that Eternity is the very thing that Buson seeks.
- source : hokuoto77.com/buson-su -


crucian carp sushi -
the castle of Hikone
is wrapped in clouds
Tr. Gabi Greve

. funazushi, funa sushi, bunazushi ふな寿司 .
- kigo for summer -

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- Reference - Japanese 桜田門の変 -
- Reference - English sakuradamon -


. Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets .

- KAPPA 河童 water goblin - ABC-Index -
- - - #sakuradamon #iinaosuke #naosukeiihikone #hikone - - -


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Sakurada Jinja 櫻田神社 / 桜田神社 Sakurada Shrine
3 Chome-2-17 Nishiazabu, Minato ward, Tokyo // 東京都港区西麻布3-2-17

This shrine dates back to 1180, the Heian period.
It has been built on orders of 源頼朝 Minamoto no Yoritomo to house the deity
霞山桜田明神 Kazan Sakurada Myojin.
The fields belonging to the shrine, 御神田, were later re-named 桜田.
Around 1470, 大田道灌 Ota Dokan revived the shrine.
In 1624 it was relocated to Azabu.

Deity in residence;
豊宇迦能売神 Toyoukanome 豊宇賀能売命
(トヨウケビメ Toyoukehime)



- quote -
This is a small shrine in the middle of urban area. And, the entrance is inconspicuous although it's along an avenue.
This shrine enshrine the Jurojin deity.
He brings good luck of longevity and recovery from illness.
He is one of the Seven Deities of Good Luck in Japan.

The shrine also has an old tensuioke 天水桶, a basin for collecting rain water.
. Sakurada Shrine - Ten-sui-oke　天水桶 .



The Sakurada Shrine is run by a family, almost like a family business.
- reference -

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Ii Naotora and Tokugawa Ieyasu
on a manhole in Shizuoka



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Kani Saizo

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Kani Saizoo, Kani Saizō 可児才蔵 Kani Saizo
Kani Yoshinaga 可児吉長
(1554 - 1613) 慶長18年6月24日（1613年8月10日）

- - - - - 笹の才蔵 Sasa no Saizo / 笹野才蔵 Sasano Saizo



- quote
Kani Saizô was born in the town of Kani in Gifu.
He was originally a vassal of the Saitô in Mino province. When Saitô Tatsuoki was defeated by Oda Nobunaga, Saizô joined the Shibata clan, which he later left to serve Akechi Mitsuhide. After Mitsuhide's defeat at the Battle of Yamazaki, he joined Oda Nobutaka until Nobutaka, too, was killed (1583). Saizô eventually joined Toyotomi Hidetsugu, and then, following Hidetsugu's fall, went to serve Maeda Toshiie. Eventually, he ended up with Fukushima Masanori 福島正則 , under whom he would serve at the Battle of Sekigahara.
He is best remembered for his taking of 16 heads at Sekigahara - probably the most for any one single warrior at that battle. Rather than bring the heads back to camp one by one, Saizô marked them as his own by stuffing their mouths with bamboo grass (sasa).
It is said that upon hearing of his deeds at the post battle gathering, Tokugawa Ieyasu nicknamed him 'Sasasaizô' - Bamboo grass Saizô.
- source : wiki.samurai-archives.com

- - - - - 笹の才蔵 Sasa no Saizo / 笹野才蔵 Sasano Saizo

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可児才蔵 - 志木沢郁 - Shikisawa Kaoru (1955 - )

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

The Bean Paste Jizo of Temple Saizo-Ji, Hiroshima
広島のみそ地蔵（広島県広島市東山）

There is a temple in Hiroshima, Higashiyama, where people bring a flat pack of miso (bean paste), put it on the head of a seated Jizo statue, say a prayer and then put it on their own head, to cure illness or pray for intelligence, to pass the school and university exams.
In the area here in Hiroshima, this Jizo is more popular than Sugawara Michizane, another deity venerated for passing school exams and promotion of learning.

The statue is in the temple Saizo-Ji, in honor of Kani Saizo, retainer of Fukushima Masanori, deeds during the war at the beginning of the Edo period.

miso can be short for noomiso, the brain, and miso jizo is a play of sounds.

Read more about Fukushima Masanori 福島正則 in my library


. Miso Jizo みそ地蔵 the Bean Curd Jizo .

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Saizooji 才蔵寺 Temple Saizo-Ji
1-11 Higashiyamacho, Higashi Ward, Hiroshima, Hiroshima

The statue of Saizo Kani was erected in November 2004.
Saizo was a master of spear fighting with the Naginata, a halberd-like spear, skilled in the "Hozoin-ryu" 宝蔵院流　spearfighting style. The statue shows Saizo with his cross-shaped spear in his right hand.




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- - - - - Fukuoka 福岡県

hoosoogami 疱瘡神 Hosogami - God of Smallpox

Once Saizo saw something strange and threatening trying to come in through his window, so he jumped out of the window and killed it. It was the God of Smallpox.
People started to pray to Saizo and put his figure in their Shelf of the Gods or pasted a painting of him at the door entrance to hinder the God of Smallpox from entering their home.


笹野才蔵 Sasano Saizo (the normal spelling of Fukuoka)

Other dolls of this kind 赤坂人形 Akasaka, 博多人形 Hakata and 津屋崎人形 Tsuyasakiでも笹野才蔵.



Sasano Saizoo, Sasano Saizō 笹野才蔵 Sasano Saizo
with his monkey carrying a gohei　御幣 wand

Most dolls are made by the Nakanoko family 中ノ子家.
中ノ子吉兵衛 Nakanoko Kichibei was also a famous potter and is called the "Father of Hakata Dolls".

He was the son of a rich man in Hakata, warding off the deity of smallpox by jumping out of the window of his home to hit the monster. He is now a helpful amulet to ward off disease. Paintings of Saizo are attached to the entrance door of a home.
Dolls of Saizo are made in many parts of Northern Kyushu.


CLICK for more samples !

. Clay Dolls from Hakata 博多土人形 .

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The story of Saizo is also part of Kabuki and Noh performances.


「今様百花撰之内」「笹野才蔵」Sasano Saizo
歌川国貞 Utagawa Kunisada (1768 - 1864)


. Hosogami, Hososhin 疱瘡神 the God of Smallpox .


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- - - - - Kyoto 京都府

愛宕山奥の院 Atagoyama Oku no In

Kani Saizo was a strong believer in the Atago Deity. He even thought he was an incarnation of Tarobo the Tengu. But others thought he was just out of his mind.
In former times it was known that people who believe strongly in the Atago Deity will die on the special day dedicated to Atago 縁日の日, the 24th of each month. Legend says Saizo felt his death coming, made his preparations on the day before and then died in the evening of the Atago Day.
He died in the sixth lunar month on the 24th day 慶長18年6月24日 (1613).


. Mount Atago Yama 愛宕山 / 阿多古 Atagoyama .

. 太郎坊天狗 Tarobo Tengu .

. Hatsu Atago 初愛宕 (はつあたご) First visit to Atago .
kigo for the New Year

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- Reference - 可児才蔵 -
- Reference - English -


. Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets .

- - - #kanisaizo - - -
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