Oyamato Shrine Festivals

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for koma inu　狛犬 guardian dogs see below


Ooyamato Shrine Festivals

***** Location: Nara, Tenri Village
***** Season: See below
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Ooyamato shinkoosai 大和神幸祭 (おおやまとしんこうさい)
Festival at shrine Oyamato Jinja
chanchan matsuri ちゃんちゃん祭 Chanchan festival

observance kigo for late spring



source :　iron.cocolog-nifty.com/matsuri
大和神社ちゃんちゃん祭り


April 1
at the shrine Ooyamato Jinja 大和神社 Oyamato Jinja
奈良県天理市新泉

The mikoshi is carried to the large stone otabisho 御旅所 resting place.

source and more photos :　tyantyan/index.html
中山町での「お旅所祭」
The tabisho is also called 岸田の市場.


Many prayer gongs (shooko) 鉦鼓　are rung when the mikoshi arrives, therefore the festival is also called "chanchan", like the sound of the gongs.


Chimaki mochi 粽餅 steamed rice dumplings are offered to the deities.

Various dances are performed.
ryuu no mai 龍の舞 "dragon dance"
.....「竜の口」舞い

ta no mi no mai 田の実の舞 "field fruit dance"
ogina mai 翁舞 a kind of sarugaku dance

Showing the sacred horse 神馬曳き and other rituals.



MORE
photos from this festival :
source : 09-6tyantyan



quote
Held on April 1, this is the annual high festival (reitaisai) of Ōyamato Jinja in Tenri City, Nara Prefecture.
On the day before the festival, those people who are to participate in the togyo (sacred procession) present offerings of taihei (large nusa, ritual purification wands) at the shrine. In an event called the yoimiya watashi, the shinshoku (priest) receives the taihei and makes a ceremonial offering (hōbei) with the performance of a norito.

The Chan-chan matsuri begins at ten o'clock the next morning, and with the transfer of the god (mitama utsushi) to the shin'yo (sacred palanquin) at approximately two o'clock, the procession sets forth. The syllables "chan-chan," representing the sound of the bells that accompany the procession to the otabisho (temporary destination or resting point), became the common name of the festival.

This is also the largest shinkō procession among festivals in the Yamato region. During the otabisho rites, there are offerings (kensen) of steamed rice cakes (chimaki mochi) and dedications (hōnō) of artistic performances.
source : Mori Sakae, Kokugakuin 2007


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Deities in residence are

Yamato no Ookuni Tama no Kami 倭大国魂神
（やまとのおおくにたまのかみ）
Okunitama no Kami
日本大国魂大神 in the central hall 中殿

Yachihoko no Kami 八千矛神（やちほこのかみ）to the left

Mi-Toshi no Kami 御年神（みとしのかみ） / 御年大神 to the right

. Toshigami 年神 God of the Year .
, Toshidon and other names


quote
Yamatonoōkunitama
[Yamato no ōkunitama] (Nihongi)
Other names: Yamato no ōkunitama no kami
The central deity (saijin) of the Ōyamato Shrine, but possessing ambiguous attributes. According to Nihongi's record of the sixth year of Emperor Sujin's reign, Yamato no Ōkunitama was originally enshrined together with Amaterasu ōmikami inside the palace, but the emperor feared the power of the two kami, and decided to no longer dwell under the same roof with them. Amaterasu possessed the maiden Toyosukiirihime no mikoto and led her to a new place of enshrinement at Kasanui no mura in Yamato, while
Yamato no Ōkunitama possessed Nunakiirihime no mikoto and was enshrined at the Ōyamato Shrine.

In his Kojikiden, Motoori Norinaga denied the theory that Yamato no Ōkunitama was the same as Ōkuninushi no kami, but the Ōyamato Jinja chūshinjō (1167) claims that Ōkunitama is the "rough spirit" (aramitama) of Ōnamuchi (another name for Ōkuninushi).
source : Matsunaga Naomichi, Kokugakuin 2005


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Other festivals


1月4日 -- January 4
O-yumi hajime 御弓始式 First Archery Offering
from the Ogasawara line of archery 小笠原流弓術

Sansan kudebasami shiki 三々九手挟式 shooting ritual

The arrows for this ritual are called
jintooya 神頭矢 and made from white shirano bamboo 白箆.
Feathers from an eagle or hawk.
source :　ogasawararyu kamakura


. WKD : Horses and Yabusame .

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6月30日 -- June 30
chinowa kuguri 茅の輪くぐり Summer purification

. Summer Purification Ceremony (nagoshi) .
chinowa 茅の輪 sacred ring
passing through the sacred ring, wagoshi matsuri　輪越祭


More festivals at the shrine:
source : ooyamato

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quote
Oyamato Shrine
is located in Tenri City, Nara Pref. It was called “Yamato no Miya” in ancient times. It is said that Emperor Sujin (B.C. 97-30), who was afraid of the sacred power of Okunitama no Okami, which was enshrined at the Imperial Place with Amaterasu Okami, ordered his daughter, Nunaki Iri Hime, to relocate it to this place. Later the emperor built the shrine here, assigning Ichishi no Nagaoichi as the head priest.


In the early Heian period, the shrine flourished and possessed the second largest shrine territory next to Ise shrine.
However with the capital relocation to Kyoto, the shrine fell into decline. From the nominal link, the deity of this shrine was imparted to Battle Ship Yamato, and the war memorial stone for the crew on Yamato is placed in the precinct.
Annual festival of “Chan Chan Festival,” in which a parade of people in ancient costumes walk through the town, carrying mikoshi and beating shoko (bronze gongs), is enjoyed by people as the charming sight of the spring.
source : nippon-kichi.jp




Homepage of the shrine: OOYAMATO SHIRINE 大和神社
source : ooyamato


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狛犬大神 Komainu Daijin
八幡大神 Hachiman Daijin
道祖大神 Dooso Daijin
The amulets come in a beautiful wooden box.


a shrine with the same kanji, but different reading

小諸市の大和神社（やまとじんじゃ)
Shrine Yamato Jinja, Komoro Town, Nagano
from 宗教法人「紀元会」Kigen Kai
source : cult.s295


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


. Ookunitama 大国魂神社 Okunitama Jinja .
Miya-Machi,Fuchu-Shi,Tokyo


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quote
komainu, koma inu　狛犬
Lit. 'Korean dog'.
A pair of lion-like guardian figures placed at each side of a shrine or temple entrance; believed to ward off evil spirits. Thought to have been brought to Japan from China via Korea, their name is derived from Koma 高麗, the Japanese term for the Korean kingdom of Koguryo 高句麗.

In the early Heian period (9c) the two statues were clearly distinguished: the figure on the left, called shishi 獅子 (lion), resembled a lion with its mouth open agyou 阿形;
the figure on the right, called komainu 狛犬 (Korean dog), resembled a dog with its mouth closed ungyou 吽形, and sometimes had a horn on its head.
Gradually the term komainu came to be used for both statues, and their shapes became indistinguishable except for the open and closed mouths a-un 阿吽. In the Heian period (9-12c) komainu were used as weights or door-stops for curtains and screens in the Seiryouden 清涼殿, Kyoto Gosho 京都御所.

Other famous examples include a pair of painted wooden komainu (10-11c) at Yakushiji 薬師寺, Nara; 14 painted and lacquered wooden figures at Itsukushima Jinja 厳島神社,(12-14c) Hiroshima prefecture, and the stone figures inside the south gate of Toudaiji 東大寺, Nara, made by the 12c Chinese sculptor Chinnakei 陳和卿.
source : www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus






. Shiisa シーサー Lion Dogs from Okinawa.



- quote -
The term A-un (阿吽) is the transliteration in Japanese of the two syllables "a" and "hūṃ". Written in Devanagari as अहूँ.
The original Sanskrit term
is composed of two letters, the first and the last of the Sanskrit alphabet. Together, they symbolically represent the beginning and the end of all things. In Japanese Mikkyō Buddhism, the letters represent the beginning and the end of the universe.
The term is also used
in Shinto and Buddhist architecture to describe the paired statues common in Japanese religious settings, most notably the Niō and the komainu. In most cases one of the two, the right one, has its mouth open to pronounce the sound "a", while the other has it closed to utter the sound "um". The symbolism is the same already seen. The generic name for statues with an open mouth is agyō (阿形 lit. "a" shape), that for those with a closed mouth ungyō (吽形 lit. "un" shape").
The term a-un
is used figuratively in some Japanese expressions as "a-un breathing" (阿吽の呼吸 a-un no kokyū) or "a-un relationship" (阿吽の仲 a-un no naka), indicating an inherently harmonious relationship or non-verbal communication.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Komainu Daruma　だるま狛犬


source : facebook

市ヶ谷亀岡八幡宮 Kameoka Hachimangu

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. shishigashira 獅子頭 lion head mask .


. koma usagi 狛兎 rabbit statues as guardians at the gate .
Tsuki Jinja 調神社 , Saitama


. koma ...　 狛　 shrine guardian animals .

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in the limelight
for two seconds -
photographer's luck!


. Shrine Ichi no Miya, Wadakita, Ohaga .
和田北 一宮神社, my local shrine


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HAIKU



郷中の旗押し立てて春祭　　
gojuu no hata oshi-tatete haru matsuri

all over my home village
the flags are jostling -
spring festival

丘ひとつすっぽり包む桃の花

常朝
With more photos
source : teisyo.blogspot.com



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Related words

***** . NEW YEAR - the complete SAIJIKI

***** . Drums and Gongs .



source :　facebook
Tokyo Asakusa Sanja Jinja 浅草『三社神社』　
. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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. Join the Komainu Gallery on facebook .
The latest updates are here !

. koma-inu 狛犬 / 高麗犬 / 胡麻犬 "Korean Dog" .
- Introduction -

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Todai-Ji Nara

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Temple Todai-Ji 東大寺

***** Location: Nara, Japan
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Tōdai-ji (東大寺, Todaiji, Tōdai-ji, Toodaiji, Eastern Great Temple),
is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan.

Its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), the largest wooden building in the world, houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu (大仏).



The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon school of Buddhism. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara", together with seven other sites including temples, shrines and places in the city of Nara.
Shika deer, regarded as messengers of the gods in the Shinto religion, roam the grounds freely.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !






- quote - Japan Times 2015 -
Great Buddha of Nara has only half its reported number of hair curls
The Great Buddha of Nara, a 15-meter-high statue listed among Japan’s national treasures, has only 492 spiraling curls of hair on its bronze head, not the 966 locks described in ancient documents, new research indicates.

The discovery was made via a 3-D analysis of the statue’s head using a laser scanning method, conducted by Takeshi Oishi, associate professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Industrial Science, the temple in Nara where the statue is housed said Thursday on its website.

Todaiji temple asked Oishi to undertake the research because it kept receiving inquiries about the number of curls, known as “rahotsu,” on the Buddha’s head, with some visitors saying it seems the statue has many fewer curls than the number described in scrolls dating back nearly 1,000 years.

A question composed by the Mathematics Certification Institute of Japan further motivated the temple in the ancient Japanese capital to shed light on the issue, which “has remained a mystery to this day,” the temple said on its website.

When 966 hair locks are placed inside a circle, the question asks, what is the area of the smallest possible circle?



One hair curl is about 22 centimeters in diameter, 21 cm in height and weighs 1.2 kilograms.

The research required a laser beam because it is physically impossible to get behind the Buddha to count the number of locks there. A huge golden decoration representing a halo is located immediately behind the Buddha’s head, blocking access.

According to Oishi, it is estimated that the Buddha has 483 rahotsu and nine are missing, for a combined number of 492 — or just about half of the 966 mentioned in the earliest scrolls from the 1100s about the temple’s history. That number was repeated in later documents on the temple history compiled in the Edo (1603-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) periods.

However, it is still possible to assume that the statue did have 966 hair curls when it was originally built more than 1,200 years ago. The Buddha has been rebuilt each time it was damaged in war, making its seat and part of its knees the only surviving portions from the original built in 752 under the orders of Emperor Shomu to wish for peace and the stability of his nation.

- source : japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/12/03 -


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observance kigo for late spring

jukai-e 授戒会 Jukai initiation ceremony
initiation ceremony for novice monks and lay people
Toodaiji jukai 東大寺授戒

It was first performed in the year 6 of the period Tenpyoo Shoohoo 天平勝宝 (754), when priest Ganjin came from China and initiated the emperor Shomu Tenno 聖武上皇, Koken Tenno 孝謙天皇 and others.
In the following year a special hall, Kaidan-In 戒壇院, was constructed for this ceremony, where the Jukai ceremony was performed.

At present initiation rituals for lay people are performed in June 結縁授戒.
The initiation rituals for priests and monks are performed in November 授戒.


Kaidan-In 戒壇院


Todai-ji Kaidan-in Jukai Shiki
ceremony to impart the Buddhist precepts on priests and nuns at Kaidan-in of Todai-ji Temple


授戒会の五色の幡や同小春

西村舟津


source :　www.asahi.com/culture

Monks entering the hall for the Jukai ceremony, which had not been held for 26 years before that, due to repairs of the temple.


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Important yearly festivals of Todai-Ji

January 7 - Shushoo-e 修正会

February 3 - Setsubun 節分　万灯明 星祭

Around February 20 - Shuuni-e 修二会 別火坊

March 1 - 15 - Shuuni-e 修二会 本行

April 8 - 仏生会 Buddha's Birthday

May 2 - 最勝十講 聖武天皇御忌 Memorial for Emperor Shomu
May 3 - 山陵祭 - 献茶式(裏千家) Tea Ceremony

June 5 - Shunjoo Ki 俊乗忌(しゅんじょうき)
June 28 - Kejo-e 解除会(けじょえ)
Purification, to drive away evil influence from the first half of the year.

August 7 - 大仏さま　お身拭い Daibutsu Festival
August 15 - Mantoo Kuyoo-e 万灯供養会

September 17 - O-Bon 十七夜・十七夜盆踊り

October 5 - 転害会 - showing of secret statues
October 15 - 大仏さま秋の祭り Autumn Festival for the Daibutsu

December 14 - 仏名会

December 16 - 良弁忌 Roben Memorial Day
(kigo for mid-winter)


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amulet for traffic safety　交通安全　

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


. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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- --- -Yokai Database

- Todaiji - 14 legends to explore -

- Daibutsu - 17 legends to explore -

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Rooben Soojoo　良弁僧正　Roben Sojo　(689 - 773)

quote
The origin of Todaiji goes back to the Kinshoji, a temple that had existed in the eastern sector of the present Todaiji compound. Here, Roben (689-773), a scholar-monk of the Kegon sect who was to become the first abbot of Todaiji, had been active in 733. Roben is commemorated by a portrait-statue made around 1019 and kept in the Kaisando (founder's hall).

The kondo (main hall) of Kinshoji probably is the extant inner sanctuary of the hokkedo (lotus hall), popularly known as the Sangatsudo (Third Month Hall), where the Lotus Sutra (Hokekyo) is chanted yearly during the third month (sangatsu). The main icon of the hokkedo is the Fukukensaku Kannon, a splendid, dry-lacquer statue, made around 746. In 741 the Kinshoji became the provincial monastery-temple for Yamato Province (now Nara Prefecture). At that time the temple was renovated and renamed Konkomyoji after the Sutra of the Golden Light (J: Konkomyo kyo).

BIRUSHANA BUDDHA, BIRUSHANA NYORAI
source : - Mark Schumacher





His statue is shown on December 16, on the memorial day of his death.


. Roben and the Oyama Fudo Myo-O .
大山の不動様


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jukai, o-jukai お授戒 initiation ceremonies are also performed by other Buddhist sects.

お授戒や庭広々と花旋風
o-jukai ya niwa hirobiro to hana senpuu

jukai ceremony -
in the large garden
a whirlwind of blossoms

Matsufuji Kazan 松藤夏山


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Things found on the way

Famous priests related to the temple Todai-Ji

. Priest Ganjin 鑑真 .


. Priest Chogen 重源 Choogen .


. Gyoki Bosatsu (Gyooki) 行基菩薩 .

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There used to be seven large temples in Nara, Nanto Shichi Daiji 南都七大寺
Nanto Shichi doo 南都七堂 - shichi daiji 七大寺 :

. Daiji, ootera 大寺 large temple .
and haiku by Masaoka Shiki


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HAIKU

When Matsuo Basho visited Todaiji in the year Genroku 2 in december, the temple was still under repair after the destruction wrought by the civil wars of the sixteenth century. The Great Buddha statue was only finally completed in 1692, after the visit by Basho described above, and the statue sat for years in the open like the Great Buddha in Kamakura.

The new Buddha Hall (which is the present one) was finally finished in 1708, and Basho did not live to see this. He grieved for the Buddha in its sad state, for at that time even the head had not been restored yet. Basho saw only the rump of the statue, slowly being covered by the first snow of the year, and he wrote:

初雪やいつ大仏の柱立
hatsu yuki ya itsu Daibutsu no hashira date

first snow!
when will the temple building start
for the Great Buddha?
Tr. Ad G. Blankestijn

The year's first snowfall!
When are the columns of Daibutsu
Temple to be erected?
Tr. Oseko


Written in December Genroku 2. 元禄2年12月


Daibutsuden, the current Hall for the Great Buddha was built in 1709.


Barnhill translated:

Visiting the Southern Capital, I yearned for the eventual building of the Buddha Hall

first snow--
for the Great Buddha, when
will the columns be raised?


Barnhill also gives an earlier version of this hokku:

雪悲しいつ大仏の瓦葺き
yuki kanashi itsu Daibutsu no kawarabuki

the snow is sad:
when will the Great Buddha
have its tiled roof?


It took about two years after the visit of Basho until the roof was preliminary fixed and the statue out of danger.


how sad to see it snowing!
when will the Gread Buddha Hall
get its roof tiled?
Tr. Gabi Greve




round tiles from the Daibutsu Hall
now a sweet from Nara
天平時代大仏殿の巴瓦 - tomoegawara

. . . CLICK here for Photos of the tiles !



Visiting temples with
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


. Hotoke, Daibutsu and Hokku .

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source :　facebook

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Related words

***** . Drawing Sacred Well Water お水取り
O-Mizutori, Omizutori .
at the Nigatsudo hall of Todai-ji Temple.


***** . OBSERVANCES – SPRING SAIJIKI .

. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

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. komainu 狛犬 / 高麗犬 / 胡麻犬 "Korean Dog" .


made by the Chinese sculptor Chinnakei 陳和卿 Chin Nakei, around 1196.
He had come from China on a mission to reconstruct the Todaiji in Nara.

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Cow nose ring festival

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Nose ring festival (hanaguri matsuri )

***** Location:
***** Season: Mid-spring
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

cow nose ring ceremony はなぐり　供養)

memorial ceremony for the cows 牛魂供養
third saturday in April

hanagurizuka 鼻輪塚 / 鼻ぐり塚 "nose-ring mound"
hanaguri zuka



Farmers send the nose rings of their cows, which come in all sorts of material, from plastic to metal.

Fukudenkai Temple 福田海本部のはなぐり塚
This temple is close to Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama prefecture.

There is now also a statue of a large pig and the memorial service covers all kinds of livestock, bred for human consumption.

Memorial services with fire rituals (goma) are held every month on the third saturday, but the mid-spring and autumn ceremonies are the most popular, because they can be combined with cherry-blossom viewing or red maple leaves.

. . . . .


quote
"hanagurizuka" is decorated with more than 6.8 million nose rings of cows.



The Fukudenkai cult, established in 1901 by Tsuyu Nakayama, taught that in order to accumulate positive karma one should pray for the souls of cows, as
"the animal spends all its life for the people; it not only works in the fields but, after death, its flesh is then eaten and its skin is used for leather."

Since the early Showa period (1926-1989), the nose rings of cows have been put on the burial mound and twice a year—once in spring, and again in autumn—special ceremonies known as Chikukonsai are held to mourn the spirit of this beast.
source : japanonfoot.blogspot.com


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


source : gigazine.net

cow ring ritual -
I thank for the steak
of last night

Nakayama Ishino


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Related words

***** . Cow, Bull, Ox (ushi　牛) 　


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Furukawa Drums

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Furukawa Drum Festival

***** Location: Gifu, Japan
***** Season: Late spring
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Furukawa no okoshi daiko
古川の起し太鼓 (ふるかわのおこしだいこ)
"wake-up drums from Furukawa"
Furukawa "drum" festival
Rousing Drum
Wakening Drum
okoshidaiko, okoshitaiko, okoshi taiko

April 19th and 20th, Hida Furukawa town
Kita-Wakamiya shrine

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© PHOTO :　mineo 20

quote
“Okoshi Daiko (Wakening Drum)” known in Japan as the most eccentric festival. This festival can be described as a combination of naked and fighting festival. Only this day, this quiet little town becomes tumult with the intense fights among naked men.

Then, on the following day, April 20, the atmosphere changes completely and graceful stalls parade around the town of Furukawa. Harmony of “Movement and Quietness”, this is the Furukawa Festival.

All of a sudden, you hear, “Boom! Thud! Boom!” You can feel the succession of pounding sounds of drums vibrating your body. Simultaneously, the large chorus of “Zenzenoko” celebratory song begins.




“Zenze no ko” song: 古川ぜんぜの子

Medeta Medeta no Wakamatsu Sama yo
(Let’s celebrate the young pine buds coming out)
Eda mo Sakaeru Ha mo Shigeru
(Its branches and leaves will grow)
Sore Tsuita tote Nanto sezu
(If everything is gone, it’s OK.)
Zenzenoko Sorya Manma no ko
(No money, nothing to eat)

They wear white headband, white “tabi (Japanese socks)” and stomach band made from bleached cotton. Hida in mid April is still chilly and blows cold wind at night, but it has no effect to their body heated with sake and high spirits. It is their proudest moment at the year of "Furukawa Yancha (Adventure)."


“Parade of Festival Floats” April 20
nine stalls that Furukawa people are proud of are lined up.

People in Furukawa often say, “Don’t say you saw the Furukawa Festival just by seeing the wakening drum.” Certainly, you cannot say you’ve seen the Furukawa Festival without experiencing the glorious stalls, Honraku Festival 本楽祭 （and “Mikoshi (portable shrine)” parade.

Hiding the remaining pain after the intense battle from previous night, the young men of Furukawa parade around the town pull these “Movable Youmei-Mon (gate)”.

The stall made by “Takumi (the Master)” of Hida from his heart and soul represents the traditional beauty and craft beauty, while magnificence and glorious, and profoundness and melancholy fuse at just right level.



At the night of Honraku Festival, the gloriously stalls decorated with gorgeous lanterns parade within the town showing the fantasy world.

MORE
source : www.city.hida.gifu.jp



There is a museum with the drums on display in Furukawa.

. Reference


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU


Furukawa drums -
rhythms from the heart
of old Japan

Nakayama Ishino


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Related words

***** . Furukawa Matsuri 古川祭（ふるかわまつり）
Naked Festivals of Japan 　


***** . Big Drums of Japan



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Kurama Festivals

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Kurama Festivals

***** Location: Mt. Kurama, Japan
***** Season: Various, see below
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Mount Kurama
(鞍馬山, Kurama-yama)
is a mountain to the north-west of the city of Kyoto. It is the birthplace of the Reiki practice, and is said to be the home of Sōjōbō, King of the Tengu, who taught swordsmanship to Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Kurama is also the location of the annual Kurama Fire Festival (鞍馬の火祭り, Kurama no Hi-matsuri), which takes place every October. Kurama Temple (鞍馬寺, Kuramadera) is now designated as a national treasure of Japan.

Kurama-dera, a Buddhist temple, is located in the wooded slopes above Kurama town. From its main gate in the town's center, the main buildings can be reached in a 30-45minute climb up the mountain. A cablecar leads halfway up.

Along the ascent to Kurama-dera stands Yuki Jinja 由岐神社, a shrine famous for its Fire Festival held annually on October 22. Kurama-dera's main buildings stand on a terrace on the mountain's slope, overlooking the wooded valley.

The philosopher Hayashi Razan lists one of the three greatest of the daitengu as Sōjōbō 僧正坊 of Mount Kurama. The tengu goblins of Kurama and Atago are among the most famous tengu of Japan.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !


- - - - - Tengupedia - - - - -
. 四十八天狗 48 Tengu of Japan .

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Three are three main deities venerated at the temple



sonten 尊天 symbolizing all things

千手観世音菩薩 Senju Kannon
毘沙門天王 Bishamonten (in the center)
護法魔王尊 Gohoo Maoo Son

Bishamonten symbolizes light and the sun
Kannon symabolizes love and the moon
Goho Mao Son symbolizes power and the earth.



Goho Mao Son, the great King of the conquerors of evil and the spirit of the earth, looks almost like a tengu himself.
Legend says he came to earth from Venus more than 6500000 years ago.
He is shown as a male of the age 16 and remains young for ever.
He is a special secret Buddha of Kurama temple.

quote
Mao-son, Bishamon-ten, and Senju-kannon are the symbols of the universal soul, forming a Trinity known as "Sonten" or the "Supreme Deity". Sonten is the "Living Soul", the "Supreme Soul of the universe", the "Glorious Light", and the "Activity of the Soul".
These three are the symbols of power, light, and love. We worship Sonten as the composite of all three.
"We trust in Sonten for all things." Sonten is the creator of the universe, and cultivates the development of everything all over the earth. He rests deeps in our individual minds, and causes the "Great Self" or "Atman" to wake up within our hearts. He gives us new power and glorious light.

More than six million years ago, Mao-son (the great king of the conquerors of evil and the spirit of the earth) descended upon Mt. Kurama from Venus, with the great mission of the salvation of mankind. Since then, Mao-son's powerful spirit governing the development and the evolution not only of mankind but of all living things on Earth has been emanating from Mt. Kurama, and a priest named Gantei received the spiritual transmission.
source : www.ihreiki.com

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kigo for late spring



Kurama no Hana Kuyoo 鞍馬の花供養
Flower Ceremony at Kurama
hana kuyoo 花供養（はなくよう）Flower Ceremony
flower dedication
hana gu senboo 花供懺法（はなぐせんぽう）

It used to be for five days from April 18 till 22, but now it is for seven days till 24.

At the temple Kuramadera flowers are offered and prayers of repentance (senboo) are spoken.
During this period,the main deity, Tamonten (Bishamonten), which is usually hidden (hibutsu), is shown to the public.

Small children in court robes form a procession and throw artificial blossoms for the visitors.
There are performances of dance, kyogen, songs, tea ceremonies and more by the believers of Bishamonten. Every day there is something else to enjoy.



午の鐘響き渡るや花供養
uma no kane hibiki-wataru ya hana kuyoo

the mid-day bell
reverberates far and wide -
flower ceremony

. Takahama Kyoshi 高浜虚子 　

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kigo for mid-summer



Kurama no take kiri 鞍馬の竹伐 (くらまのたけきり)
cutting bamboo at Kurama
takekiri 竹筏（たけきり）
Kurama no renge e 鞍馬の蓮華会（くらまのれんげえ）
Kurama Lotus Ceremony

Kurama no take kiri eshiki
鞍馬の竹伐会式（くらまのたけきりえしき）
ceremony of cutting bamboo at Kurama


On June 20 at temple Kuramadera.

Four bamboo poles in front of the main temple hall are cut by two groups of people clad in formal robes, the east and west group. They use special woodman's hatchets (山刀) and fight for speed. The group which finishes first will be used to divine the harvest of the coming autumn.

quote
Takekiri-eshiki is a bamboo-cutting ceremony based on a story about the monk Buen　（峯延）. The legend is that one day while Buen was undertaking austerities in the mountains monstrous male and female serpents attacked him. After the monk cut and killed the male serpent by chanting a powerful mantra the female serpent pleaded for mercy and promised to help people to make a stream from the mountain. The serpent kept her word and since then the villagers could enjoy affluent water and worshiped the serpent by creating a little shrine.

In the annual ceremony eight male parishioners clad in costumes of warrior monks form two teams. Upon a signal the teams rush out to cut 4m long and 10cm thick green bamboo poles with strokes of mountain hatchets (山刀) into eight pieces. The poles symbolise the serpents, which are incarnations of evil. The ceremony is performed to pray for a bountiful harvest. The area represented by the winning team will enjoy rich harvests that year.
The teams of Omi and Tanba represent the eastern and western sides of Mt Kurama. In ancient times the area around Lake Biwa was called Omi and parts of Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures Tanba.

The pieces of cut bamboo are believed to guard homes against misfortune. At the end of the ritual, a female bamboo, roots intact, is returned and replanted in the grove from which the male trees were taken.


Monk Gantei （鑑禎）
Kurama temple has its origin in the monk Gantei who had a dream about being guided to a sacred place on the saddle of a white horse. He followed this spiritual transmission and the horse brought him to the foot of the mountain, where he built a small thatched temple to Bishamonten. Years later, Isendo Fujiwara was also guided on horseback to the mountain with the intent of building a temple to the Thousand-armed Kannon Bodhisattva. Gantei’s temple became known as Kurama-dera (Horse-saddle temple) due to Gantei and Fujiwara both being guided there on saddle-back.


Tagyuraku 打毬楽
Tagyuraku is a kind of polo dance in which the dancers are dressed as courtiers of the Heian period. Polo was an ancient Persian sport known in China of the Tang dynasty and thence introduced into Nara of the Heian period. It is said that 88 or 40 persons played this polo like game on horseback. What is now left from the game is the music accompanying traditional court dance.
source : photojapan.karigrohn.com
Look at the photos of this link !


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kigo for late autumn

. Kurama no hi matsuri 鞍馬の火祭
Kurama Fire Festival 　
October 22


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kigo for the New Year

. Kurama mairi 鞍馬詣（くらままいり)
first visit to temple Kuramadera 　
Kurama hatsu tora mairi 鞍馬初寅詣（くらまはつとらまいり）
visit to Kurama Temple on the first day of the tiger
"Kurama Gold Coin", Kurama koban 鞍馬小判（くらまこばん）
. . . . . and more kigo about this ceremony

The Tiger hour is about 3-5am. Tiger Month is January and the Tiger day comes up every 12 days.


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Things found on the way



Kurama stone Daruma

. Kurama Ishi 鞍馬石 Kurama Stone 　


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Ushiwakamaru 牛若丸

. Ushiwaka mochi 牛若餅 Ushiwaka rice cakes 　
Named after Minamoto no Yoshitsune in his boyhood (Ushiwaka, the one as strong as a bull), when he was trained at the Kurama Mountain Temple by the Forest Goblins (tengu).


. Minamoto no Yoshitsune 源の義経 (1159 - 1189) .
- Introduction -
Shanaoo, Shanaō 遮那王　Shanao (his boyhood name at Kurama)
牛若丸　Ushiwakamaru // Hoogan 判官 Hogan (his court title)


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Goma sen, gomasen 護摩扇 ritual fan from Kurama

. ha-uchiwa 天狗の羽団扇 "feather fan of a Tengu" .

This is the fan of the great tengu from Kurama mountain, used to ward off all evil during the goma fire rituals.

quote
Sōjōbō - Sojobo
Sōjōbō (僧正坊, lit. "high Buddhist priest")
is the mythical king of the tengu, minor deities who inhabit the mountains of forests of Japan. Sōjōbō is an ancient yamabushi (mountain hermit) tengu with long, white hair and an unnaturally long nose. He carries a fan made from seven feathers as a sign of his position at the top of tengu society. He is extremely powerful, and one legend says he has the strength of 1,000 normal tengu. Sōjōbō lives on Mount Kurama (north of Kyoto).

Sōjōbō is perhaps best known for teaching the warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune (then known by his childhood name Ushiwaka-maru or Shanao) the arts of swordsmanship, tactics, and magic in the 12th century. In fact, the name "Sōjōbō" originates from Sōjōgatani, the valley at Mount Kurama near Kibune Shrine associated with the Shugenja. It is in this valley that Ushiwaka trained with Sōjōbō in legend. This relationship serves as the basis of many Japanese woodblock prints, including one by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.
Also in some Japanese villages, parents spread the myth that he eats little boys to stop them going into the forests at night.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !



a kind of fly swatter : Tengu no uchiwa
. Swatter of a Forest Goblin
Tengu no uchiwa　天狗のうちわ .

. Fan (oogi 扇　- uchiwa　団扇）.


. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　



source : hayato on facebook

"Tengu Monsters and Ushiwakamaru"
c. 1760, by Shunsho Katsukawa (1726-1792).


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HAIKU




月ぞしるべこなたへ入せ旅の宿
tsuki zo shirube konata e irase tabi no yado

moon! guide
this-way to please-enter
journey's lodging

Matsuo Basho, 1663

Basho alludes to a line from the No play Tengu on Mount Kurama, in which the blossoms are the guides.

Tr. David Landis Barnhill


奥は鞍馬の山道の花ぞしるべなる へ入らせ給へや

oku wa Kurama no yamamichi no
hana zo shirube naru konata e irase tamae ya


Kurama no Tengu 鞍馬天狗 Noh Performance


tsuki zo shirube konata e irase tabi no yado


the moon will guide you . . .
this way, traveler; please come
into the inn here
Tr. Ueda


The moon is your guide;
Come to my house, says the host
Of a wayside inn.
Tr. Yuasa

Written in 寛文4年, Basho age 21
During that time the Teimon school was in full swing and it was popular to make an allusion to poems and songs of old.

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


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道標は蝸牛遊ばせ右鞍馬
doohyoo wa kagyuu asobase migi Kurama

the guidepost
is a resting post for the snail -
turn right for Mount Kurama

Minamisawa Kiriko 南澤霧子


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Related words

***** . Bishamonten 毘沙門天 　


***** . Ushiwaka-maru and Benkei 　

***** . Kurama gannin 鞍馬願人 Gannin from Kurama .
gannin boozu 願人坊主 mendicant monks



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Kurama karakuri gangu　鞍馬のからくり玩具 mechanical dolls from Kurama
They are about 30 to 40 cm high. The deities of Wind and Thunder 風神雷神. Made from bamboo with a string to pull for moving the fan and arms.

. Kyoto Folk Art - 京都（府） .
Kuramadera no koi ningyoo 鞍馬寺 鯉の人形 Kurama carp dolls
Kurama yama no a-un-tora 鞍馬山のあうん虎 tiger dolls
Kurama kubi ningyoo くらま首人形 head dolls


. karakuri ningyoo からくり人形 mechanical dolls .

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Mino Drum Festival

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Mino Festival (Mino matsuri)

***** Location: Gifu, Japan
***** Season: Late Spring
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Mino matsuri 美濃祭 (みのまつり) Mino festival

On April 14 and 15. Mino town, Gifu prefecture
八幡神社 岐阜県美濃. 美濃祭り




Town festival of the 'Hachiman' Shrine of Mino.
On the first day, over 30 portable shrines are decorated as 'Hana-mikoshi 花みこし' (flower-palanquins); more than 200 branches of attached flowers for 'hana-mikoshi' are made of 'washi' (Japanese paper) dyed a cherry colour and carried to the central shrine of the town by a joyful procession of young men gathered from several districts.

A parade of six gorgeous 'Yama 山車' (wheeled floats) with open-air stand of wind-up dolls takes place on the following day. 'Niwaka　流しにわか' (street comedy with teams of amateur comedians) entertains audience the evening of both days.
The floats date back to the Edo period, some have mechanical dolls on them 'karakuri ningyo からくり人形".
source : www.infomapjapan.com


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Things found on the way


. Washi paper from Mino


. WASHOKU - regional dishes from Mino and Gifu 　


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HAIKU




朧夜の町かどに聞く美濃仁輪加
oboro ya no machikado ni kiku Mino niwaka

on a hazy spring night
in all corners of Mino you hear
the festival songs

. Inahata Teiko　稲畑汀子



hazy spring night
every corner of Mino
floats the comedy skit
Tr. Makiko


. Discussing NIWAKA .
Translating Haiku Forum


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Related words



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Seimei and Kanshoku Okinawa

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Seimei festival (seimeisai)

***** Location: Okinawa, Japan
***** Season: Mid-Spring
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

seimeisai 清明祭 (せいめいさい) Seimei festival
..... seimei mairi 清明参（せいめいまいり) "visiting graves at Seimei"
ushiimii （ウシーミー）, shiimii



This is a celebration in Okainawa, on the beginning of the period

Seimei (清明): Start on April 5 — Clear and bright
It used to be in the third lunar month.

The relatives gather in front of the graves, say prayers and then have a feast, including traditional dishes and the loved "awamori" liquor. After the feast it is time for shamisen music and dance.
The relatives have two weeks to perform the rituals. Sometimes the bones are taken out of the graves and washed.
Washing the bones is a custom of China, see below.

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observance kigo for mid-spring

kanshoku 寒食 (かんしょく) "cold food"
kanshoku setsu 寒食節（かんしょくせつ）
ritual of eating cold food

hyakugo setsu 百五節（ひゃくごせつ）
ritual on day 105 (after the winter solstice)

reien setsu 冷烟節（れいえんせつ）"cold smoke" ritual

anzu no kayu 杏の粥 apricot rice gruel
momobana kayu 桃花粥 peach blossom rice gruel
yookagayu 楊花粥 willow blossom rice gruel

kinka 禁火 no fire

jukushoku setsu 熟食節 ritual of hot food

. . . . .


寒食や饐になれたるひとり住み
kanshoku ya su ni naretaru hitori sumi

cold food -
I live alone and am used
to things tasting sour

Kuroyanagi Shooha 黒柳召波


. . . . .


寒食や竃をめぐるあぶら虫
kanshoku ya kamado o meguru aburamushi

cold food -
cockroaches search
around the hearth

Tan Taigi 炭太祇


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The six seasonal segments of spring
asian lunar calendar

Risshun (立春): February 4—Beginning of spring
Usui (雨水): February 19—Rain water
Keichitsu (啓蟄): March 5—awakening of hibernated (insects)
Shunbun (春分): March 20—Vernal equinox, middle of spring
Seimei (清明): April 5—Clear and bright
Kokuu (穀雨): April 20—Grain rain


. WKD : The 24 solar sections 　　


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Things found on the way


cold food (hiyashi mono) eaten after a banquet

Matsuo Basho
'At Kyokusui's House' 曲水亭
A party of 5, with Basho, Kyokusui, Kagami Shikoo 各務支考, Hirose Izen Sogyuu 広瀬維然（素牛） and Gakoo 臥高 from Iga.
The cold food was often sooomen そうめん　素麺　thin noodles and fruit.


夏の夜や崩て明し冷し物
natsu no yo ya kuzurete akeshi hiyashi mono

summer night--
at dawn, scattered leftovers
of chilled food
Tr. Barnhill

An excerpt from Barnhill's comment:
"Cool food such as melon and eggplant was served at the conclusion of a banquet."


summer night
broken up at dawn
chilled food
Tr. Reichhold

Reichhold's comment:
"This verse was Basho's greeting and beginning link for a renga done with Kyokusui, Gakoo, Izen, and Shikioo at the home of Kyokusui in Zeze. It is thought to be funny that Basho begins a renga with a verse that describes the end of a party. The word 'broken' ['kuzurete'] refers to the night [because of the dawn], the food [leftovers], and the party."]


MORE - hokku about food by
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .


. hiya soomen 冷索麺 cold Somen noodles .

. Hiyashi Chuuka　冷やし中華 cold Chinese noodles .

cold tofu
. hiyayakko, hiya yakko 冷奴 "cold guy" .


. WASHOKU - Japanese Food Culture .


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HAIKU


what was my face
before my forefathers were born?
Seimei Festival

Note:
Ls 1&2 allude to the Zen Buddhist concept of the original face.

. WKD : Koan and Haiku 　




Seimei Festival
rain on the grave site I visit
for the first time

faintly alluding to Ching-ming (or Qing-Ming, 清明 Seimei), a poem by the famous Late Tang poet, Du Mu 杜牧.
The festival originated from the Day with Cold Food, a memorial day for Jie Zhitui (介子推 Kai Shisui), who died in 636 BC in the Spring and Autumn Period.

Chen-Ou Liu
Canada

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quote
The 1st day of the 5th solar term is the Qingming.
Qingming Festival is the 15th day after the Spring Equinox occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar.

The Qingming Festival is commonly translated as the Clear Bright Festival or the Tomb Sweeping Day.

During the Spring and Autumn Period (Chinese: 春秋战国时期), the Duke Wen of Jin (Chinese: 晋文公) created the Hanshi Cold Food Festival (Chinese: 寒食节) to commemorate the loyalty of his friend and servant Jie Zhitui (Chinese: 介之推).

On Hanshi Festival, the day before the solar term Qingming (Chinese: 清明), people were not allowed to use fires to cook or heat up food (eat cold food only), and hang willow branches on doors to show respect to Jie Zhitui, because he was killed with his mother by a fire next to a willow tree. The fire was actually set up by Duke Wen hoping to force Jie Zhitui to come out of his hiding place in the mountains.

The Qingming Festival itself was created by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong in 732. It is said that because the wealthy held too many expensive, elaborate ancestor-worshipping ceremonies, in a needed effort to lower this expense, Emperor Xuanzong declared that respects could be formally paid at ancestor's graves only on Qingming.

Gradually, people combined traditions of the Hanshi Festival into the Qingming Festival and kept as a one-day festival.



Qingming Poem by Du Mu



A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Mourning Day;
The mourner's heart is breaking on his way.
Where can a hostel be found to drown his sadness?
A cowherd points to Xing Hua village in the distance.

source : chinese/festivals



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Related words

***** . WKD : The Season of Spring 　


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