Rosary (juzu)

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. juzu 数珠, nenju 念珠 rosary legends .
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Rosary (juzu) Rosenkranz

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Rosaray (nenju, juzu) 　念珠、数珠, 誦数

"The rosary's structure, with its specific numbers and sizes of beads arranged in a prescribed pattern, is a framework,
like a haiku or a sonnet."
©　www.atelier-beads.com





As you can see in photo 1, the use of holding a rosary in Buddhist sects of Japan is different.
Rosaries are also called "prayer beads".


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A string of beads or a rosary, used for Buddhist prayer and invocation. Associated particularly with a chant repeating the name of Amida Nyorai. The number and shape of the beads varies, but the most common type has 108 beads. Rosaries were introduced to Japan with Buddhism.

Originally rare and precious, the spread of Buddhism brought wider use of "nenju" from the Heian Period (8th-12th century) through the Kamakura Period (12th-14th century). Permission to trade in rosaries during the Edo Period (17th-19th century) made them available to the general public. Kyoto has many head temples of various Buddhist sects, and the techniques of making rosaries have been passed down from generation to generation.

The number "108" is a sacred number in many Buddhist traditions. It is said to represent the number of earthly passions and desires that blind and delude us, entrapping us in the Six States of Existence (the wheel of life, the cycle of samsara, the cycle of suffering and reincarnation). At the end of each year, Japanese temples strike a large bell 108 times to symbolically awaken us from our delusions. This bell-ringing tradition is called Joya-no-Kane (除夜の鐘).

RESOURCE GUIDE TO JAPANESE PILGRIMS & PILGRIMAGES
Mark Schumacher


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Rosenkranz



Large Rosary at Mitoku San
- by Gabi Greve

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Reciting with the Rosary, juzu kuri,
juzu mawashi 数珠回し

... where children sit and recite a long rosary with many large beads, since Jizo is the protector deity of children.
Jizo Bon and Haiku


To pass a large rosary in a common prayer session is rather common in rural Japan, not only for the o-Bon ceremonies. I have observed them quite often. Sometimes real big beads are used, the BIG rosary, 大数珠回し.




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Worldwide use



CHINA : Shu-Zhu" ("Counting Beads")
HINDUISM : Prayer beads, or Japa Malas, rudraksha mala, bead mala
ISLAM : Misbaha
WIKIPEDIA has more !


. Rudraksha tree ("Rudra's eyes") .
India Saijiki


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Things found on the way

I have a special statue of Daruma, where he is holding a scroll and a rosary.



What is Daruma holding ?
Jimotsu 持物

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"Old Chinese Ivory Daruma
with Prayer Beads"


　- 2ezr Antiques, Los Angeles

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. Edo no shokunin 江戸の職人 Edo craftsmen .


source : edoichiba.jp. jyuzu

juzu shokunin 珠数職人 craftsman making rosaries
juzuya 珠数屋 shop selling rosaries
Many shops were 浅草本願寺、浅草観音前 around the Asakusa Kannon temple.
The material used was mukuroji 無患子（むくろじ) soapberry fruit, suisho 水晶 chrystals, shinju 真珠 pearls or sango 珊瑚 corals.

juzu 数珠,. some pronounce it ずず zuzu.


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The Christian Rosary

It is usually suggested that the rosary began as a practice by the laity to imitate the monastic Office (Breviary or Liturgy of the Hours), by which monks prayed the 150 Psalms. The laity, many of whom could not read, substituted 50 or 150 Ave Marias for the Psalms. Sometimes a cord with counters on it was used to keep an accurate count.

The first clear historical reference to the rosary, however, is from the life of St. Dominic (+1221), the founder of the Order of Preachers or Dominicans. He preached a form of the rosary in France at the time that the Albigensian heresy was devastating the faith there. Tradition has it that the Blessed Mother herself asked for the practice as an antidote for heresy and sin.

One of Dominic's future disciples, Alain de Roche, began to establish Rosary Confraternities to promote the praying of the rosary. The form of the rosary we have today is believed to date from his time. Over the centuries the saints and popes have highly recommended the rosary, the greatest prayer in the Church after the Mass and Liturgy of the Hours. Not surprisingly, it's most active promoters have been Dominicans.

Rosary means a crown of roses, a spiritual bouquet given to the Blessed Mother.
It is sometimes called the Dominican Rosary, to distinguish it from other rosary-like prayers (e.g. Franciscan Rosary of the Seven Joys, Servite Rosary of the Seven Sorrows). It is also, in a general sense, a form of chaplet or corona (also referring to a crown), of which there are many varieties in the Church. Finally, in English it has been called "Our Lady's Psalter" or "the beads." This last derives from an Old English word for prayers (bede) and to request (biddan or bid).

©　Colin B. Donovan, STL

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observance kigo for late autumn

rozario sai, rosariosai ロザリオ祭 (ろざりおさい)
"Feast of the Rosary"
rozario no tsuki ロザリオの月（ろざりおのつき）
Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
rozario no seibo no hi ロザリオの聖母の日（ろざりおのせいぼのひ）
Our Lady of the Rosary
October 7

. Christian Celebrations in Japanese Kigo 　



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HAIKU

ねはん会や皺手合る珠数の音
Nehan-e ya shiwa-de awaseru juzu no oto
Basho

Nehan Ceremony-
wrinkled hands in prayer and
the sound of rosary beads
Tr. Gabi Greve

Nirvana Ceremony and Haiku

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首塚にロザリオひとつ額の花
kubizuka ni rozario hitotsu gaku no hana

on the head mound
just one rosary -
hydrangeas

Kashiwara Min-U 柏原眠雨
Tr. Gabi Greve

Kubizuka, memorial stone pagodas and mounds
for the beheaded ... 首塚 .. and Haiku

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Young green leaves
Mirrored in the crystal beads
Of my rosary.

Kawabata Bosha

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a rose is a rose is a rose
memories of
my mother's rosary

-　Isa Kocher (Turkey)

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In my Japanese Haiku Temple

I burn incense to calm the mind
I use my rosary with 17 beads
Five seven five

I read my Good Book, called
Saijiki, full of seasons best words
Kigo, the pillars of my prayer

I wiggle my fingers as a means
Of saying my prayer
After all, this is a Haiku Temple

Sometimes I pause
Kireji
And start again with fresh inspiration

In my final thoughts
I embrace all poets
with my one short breath mumbelings

<> In my English Haiku Temple

I miss many things
I find <> freedom <>
But I wonder and wonder

Gabi Greve
October 2004 on a rainy morning

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evening dew --
these worn beads slipping through
old fingers

- Shared by Elaine Andre -
Haiku Culture Magazine, 2013


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Related words

***** "Rosary Bead Plant", Job's tears, juzudama
数珠玉 じゅずだま
kigo for late autumn

zuzuko ずずこ、"Chinese Barley", toomugi 唐麦（とうむぎ）
(Coix lacryma-jobi)



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The biggest bead in a rosary of the Sects of the Pure Land represents Amida Nyorai.
***** Namu Amida Butsu, the Amida Prayer


***** Saijiki of Japanese Ceremonies and Festivals

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. juzu 数珠, nenju 念珠 rosary legends .
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- #juzu #rosenkranz #rosary #shinju -
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Yama Tera Yama

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Yamadera, terayama 　山寺 - 寺山　

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Here we will explore the difference between

Yamadera, a temple with this name

yamadera, a temple in the mountains

terayama, mountain with many temples


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Matsuo Basho at the temple Yamadera
Oku no Hosomichi　奥の細道

閑さや岩にしみ入る蝉の声
shizukesa ya iwa ni shimi-iru semi no koe
(Discussing various translation.)

deep silence -
the shrill of cicadas
seeps into rocks



　© PHOTO Basho-An

Basho visited here
元禄2年5月27日（1689年7月13日)
Genroku 2, 27th day of the 5th lunar month
(now 13th of July)

"Yamadera, an amazing temple built in the side of a mountain. It consists of about 40 very beautiful buildings, and was first opened in the year 860, during the Heian Era. In 1689, Matsuo Basho -- a famous master of haiku -- visited Yamadera. "

More photos are here
© Jason in Japan

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Yamadera in Yamagata Province

In ancient Japan it was believed that huge rock faces such as those at Yamadera, represented the boundary between this world and the next. It is said that the Buddhist Priest Jikaku Daishi Ennin began cutting away at the rocks in 860ad to build the Konponchudo - the main temple building of Yamadera. This building - reconstructed in 1356, houses an 800 year old wooden Buddhist image and the 'Flame of belief' which has been burning constantly at Yamadera for over 1000 years.

The Konponchudo is the first building one passes on the 1100 step climb to the Oku-no-in, the uppermost of the 40 temple buildings. The stone steps wind their way through the trees and rocks and pass through the large wooden 'ni-o-mon' gate around halfway. Shortly after the gate, the path divides in two, the left route leading to a lookout platform commanding spectacular views of the valley below. The path straight ahead leads to the Oku-no-in.

Along the way, one also passes the semizuka stone engraved with a much celebrated haiku poem written at Yamadera by the founder of Haiku; Matsuo Basho:


© Yamagata Kanko


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Ryushaku-ji - 立石寺

The Risshaku-ji (Ryushaku-ji in Oku) is a mountain temple with long paths through dark, old cedars and rocky pathways. The number of steps down, for example, from the summit (Oku no In) to the main building of Risshaku-ji count out to 870 (according to the Bashouan web site).

The crags there are of volcanic rock and rather porous. There is a possibility that Basho is speaking about a sense that these rocks mute the sound of the cicadas in comparison to how they sound in the forest. Below are some pictures of the crags ("iwa") that he refers to. In the first you can get a sense of scale, and if you look closely, a stone lanter on the path gives you a sense of the nature and narrowness of the walk. In the second, the volcanic characteristics of the rock are quite clear. The third is a large crag near the main building of Risshakuji.



How still it is here --
Stinging into the stones,
The locusts' trill.

Tr. Donald Keene

Interpretations

A poem by Tu Fu says,
"Cicadas' voices merge together at an old temple."
Basho further enhanced the poetic beauty of the scene by introducing the image of rocks absorbing the voices. --Moran (1713-1779, haiku poet and chief priest of Myoho Temple in Shimousa)

Not a single sound was heard at this quiet place, except the voice of the cicadas that was so forceful that it seemed to seep into the rocks. --Sanga (Haiku poet who wrote a book on Basho in 1793)

If my sensibility is reliable, there should not be many circads here. -- Mizuho (1876-1955, tanka poet and classical scholar)

I disagree. The whole mountain is filled with the cicadas' screech. -- Watsuji (1889-1960, philosopher and scholar, an "intellectual leader of his generation")

In the word shimiiru ["to seep / stain into" -- Wallace] we sense motion in stillness, and stillness in motion. Basho, with his consummate art, captured this oneness of motion and stillness in a short poem. -- Ebara (1894-1948, scholar of renga and haikai at Kyoto University)

(excerpted from Basho and His Interpreters by Makoto Ueda)
©　www.sonic.net/





Basho wrote the famous cicada haiku in memoriam of his haiku teacher and friend,
Sengin 蝉吟 (1642 - 1666) "Cicada poet"
寛永19年（1642年） - 寛文6年4月25日 25th day of the 4th lunar month.
(1666年5月28日）May 28
His name was 良忠.

Basho was of a poor family and was sent to the Todo family to become an attendant to the young lord Todo Shinshichiro 藤堂新七郎 (Toodoo Shinshichiroo) at age 13.
Sengin was the son of the head of the family and Basho studied with him in Iga Ueno, but Sengin died very young at age 25.
Basho took his bones to Mount Koyasan to have them burried. Basho then went on to Edo to start his own career as a haiku master.
He always kept his young master in mind all his life.

cicada here becomes his kakekotoba for his friend, since it was close to the day of his death memorial (there is confusion about the dates), but it was 23 years after his death.



The Todo family 藤堂氏 had always been involved in waterworks, construction of canals and freshwater supply for the towns. They were also famous for their skills in building castles and stone walls.

Todo Takatora 藤堂高虎
(1556 - 1630)

©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

Whilst studying with Shinchichiro Basho also memorized a lot of Chinese poems and migh have this one in mind, by Du Fu

Cicada's voices merge together at an old temple


- Japanese Reference -


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yamadera, a temple in the mountains 山寺




Mitoku San, Temple Sanbutsu-Ji 三徳山三仏寺

This is just one example, the famous "hall thrown into the rocks", Nage-Ire Doo.


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. Matsuo Basho visiting Temples . 　　


此山のかなしさ告よ野老掘
kono yama no kanashisa tsuge yo tokorohori

山寺の悲しさ告げよ野老掘り
yamadera no kanashisa tsugeyo tokoro-hori

of this mountain’s
many sorrows, tell the tales
old yam diggers
Tr. Barnhill


The mountain's sorrows
the sweet potato digger
can readily tell
Tr. ??
source : www.soupsong.com


Written at temple 伊勢の菩提山 Bodaisen（ぼだいせん）Jinguuji 神宮寺 Jingu-Ji in Ise, Mie prefecture, close to the famous shrine Ise Jingu..
. . . CLICK here for Photos ! This temple has been founded by waka-poet and priest Saigyo, but has fallen to ruin when Basho visited and there was no trace of the former temple left. Today there is a haiku memorial stone with this haiku by Basho.

Oi no Kobumi 笈の小文

This seems the Japanese to go with it, but it is about the
tokoro imo 野老芋 yam potato (Dioscorea tokoro), a kind of yama-imo, Dioscorea opposita, a kind of YAM, and not the satsumaimo, the sweet potato.

digger of yam
tell us about the sorrowful fate
of this mountain!


another version is this:

山寺の悲しさ告げよ野老掘り
yamadera no kanashisa tsugeyo tokoro hori

tell us about
the sad fate of this mountain temple -
old yam digger


Details about this potato:
tororoimo, tororo imo とろろ芋 and tokoro imo 野老芋


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terayama, mountain with many temples 寺山

tera yama ya chigo wa korogeru chô wa tobu / Issa

When Issa wrote the haiku quoted below, he was supposed to be at the Higashiyama area of Kyoto. In this area, there are 36 famous peaks, some of which feature the name combination terayama, including the name of a famous temple of this area:

東山３６峰

稲荷山,光明峯,惠日山,白水山,今熊野山,阿弥陀ヶ峰, 清閑寺山, 鳥辺山,霊山, 高大寺山, 東大谷山, 双林寺山, 長楽寺山, 円山,華頂山,粟田山,神野山,大日山, 南禅寺山, 若王寺山,椿ヶ峰,着気山,紫雲山,吉田山,如意岳,月待山,北白川山,爪生山,茶山,一乗寺山,葉山,修学院山,赤山,御生山,比叡山
http://homepage3.nifty.com/tomarigi/kyoto.html


Other famous mountains with many temples in Japan

Eihei-Ji Temple 永平寺

Koya San in Wakayama 高野山


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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU

寺山や児はころげる蝶はとぶ
tera yama ya chigo wa korogeru chô wa tobu

temple mountains —
babies tumble
butterflies flit

Issa (Tr. Nakamura Sakuo)

稚児達の夜は涙か寝小便
chigo tachi no yoru wa namida ka neshooben

do the children cry at night?
take a pee at night?

Renku from Nakamura Sakuo


Discussing CHIGO, the temple acolytes

... ... ...

寺山や春の月夜の連歌道
tera yama ya haru no tsuki yo no renga michi

temple mountain--
under a spring moon heading
to a poem party



寺山や袂の下を蝉のとぶ
tera yama ya tamoto no shita wo semi no tobu

temple mountain--
buzzing into my sleeve
a cicada



寺山やかがし立ても犬ほゆる
tera yama ya kagashi tatte mo inu hoyuru

temple mountain--
the dog also barks
at a scarecrow

Issa (Tr. David Lanoue

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山寺や雪の底なる鐘の声
yamadera ya yuki no soko naru kane no koe

mountain temple--
deep under snow
a bell



山寺や木がらしの上に寝るがごと
yamadera ya kogarashi no ue ni neru ga goto

mountain temple--
like it's lying down
on the winter wind



山寺や霧にまぶれし鉋屑
yamadera ya kiri ni mabureshi kannakuzu

mountain temple--
mist covers up
the wood shavings


Read more of Issa Haiku here:
Issa (Tr. David Lanoue

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mountain temple -
a prayer overgrown
with moss

Gabi Greve
Look at the Photo HERE !



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Related words

***** CHIGO, the temple acolytes


***** Mountain, peak, hill (yama, gake, oka) Japan


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Chichibu Night Festival

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Chichibu Night Festival (Chichibu Yomatsuri )

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Mid-Winter
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Chichibu Yomatsuri 秩父夜祭 (ちちぶよまつり)
Chichibu Matsuri 秩父祭（ちちぶまつり）




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December 2nd and 3rd

Chichibu Yomatsuri is a festival of Chichibu Shrine which has a history of more than 2,000 years. It is one of Japan's three greatest hikiyama (float) festivals, together with the Gion Matsuri of Kyoto (July 1st-31st) and the Takayama Matsuri of Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture (April 14th and 15th, and October 9th and 10th).

The main attraction of this festival takes place on the 3rd (the 2nd features an event held on the eve called Yoiyama). Two kasaboko floats which are large parasol-like objects decorated on top with weapons such as spears, and artificial flowers together with four yatai floats shaped like small houses are paraded through the city streets. In the afternoon, the floats are transformed into stages by pulling out wings on either side, where Kabuki plays are performed.

The most exciting scene of the festival unfolds on the evening of the 3rd when kasaboko and yatai floats, weighing 10-20 tons each and lit up with countless lanterns, climb up a steep slope with a mikoshi (a portable shrine). The spectators' excitement reaches its peak at the powerful sound of the drums and flutes, and the unique festival shouts of 'Ho-ryai! Ho-ryai!' The fireworks illuminating the clear winter evening skies are another of the attractions of this festival.
©　Japan National Tourist Organization

More ENGLISH reference

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Star Festival at the Chichibu Shrine
The Deity Myooken is celebrated.

It is believed Myoken Bosatsu, the goddess of Chichibu Shrine, and the dragon god of Mount Buko meet once a year at a site called Otabijo -- literally, "a place of pilgrimage" -- symbolizing Horai, where the fruit of immortality is said to grow, on Dec. 3. The pair are supposed to meet at Kame-no-ko Ishi (Tortoise Stone). The tortoise symbolizes the earth (the goddess) and the dragon god symbolizes the sky.

Star Shrines of Japan
Gabi Greve

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way


Chichibu Daruma
Daruma Museum Japan


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HAIKU



秩父祭片欠けの火輪冬花火
Chichibu sai katakake no karin fuyu hanabi

Chichibu Festival -
half of a fire ring missing
at the winter fireworks

©　kakashi007
Tr. Gabi Greve


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This not about the festival, but a local
Chichibu Kagura Dance


天高し　狐も出でしい　村神楽
ten takashi kitsune mo ideshi mura kagura

bright autumn sky -
even a fox appears at
the local shrine dance

heller Herbsthimmel -
sogar ein Fuchs erscheint
beim Dorf-Shreintanz

in Chichibu, near Tokyo, 1990
Gabi Greve

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Related words

***** Kagura Dance (Japan)


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昔聞け秩父殿さへすまふとり
mukashi kike Chichibu dono sae sumootori

listen to the old stories -
even the lord of Chichibu
did some sumo wrestling
Tr. Gabi Greve

Written about 貞亨元年, Basho age 41 or older.

Chichibu Dono refers to the samurai Hatakeyama Shigetada 畠山重忠 (1164 - 1205), who was a vassal of the famous Minamoto no Yoritomo 源頼朝 (1147 - 1199).
In the history book "kokon chomonjuu" 古今著聞集 from the Kamakura Period there is a story that he once won against the strong sumo wrestler Nagai 長居.

The circumstances why Basho picked him for his hokku is not quite clear.

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



quote
Hatakeyama Shigetada (畠山 重忠, 1164–1205)
was a samurai who fought in the Genpei War, in Japan. Originally fighting for the Taira clan, he switched sides for the battle of Dan-no-ura, and ended the war on the winning side.


woodblock by Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Following the war, when his son Shigeyasu was killed by Hōjō Tokimasa, Shigetada spoke up. The reward for this temerity was death, along with the rest of his family. His brave attempt to defend his honor, along with various other acts of strength and skill are recorded in the Heike Monogatari and other chronicles of the period.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

. WKD : Wrestling (sumo, sumoo 相撲) .

Kokon Chomonju - Notable Tales Old and New
Tachibana Narisue
- Reference -

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Kitamura Kigin Day

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Kitamura Kigin Day

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation



Kitamura Kigin 北村季吟
1625-1705. June 15, ６月１５日　
1625年1月19日（寛永元年12月11日） - 1705年8月4日（宝永2年6月15日）
Dates vary according to the Asian Lunar Calendar.


Day of Kigin, Kigin Ki 季吟忌 (きぎんき)
Day of Shuusui Ken,
Shuusui Ken Ki 拾穂軒忌（しゅうすいけんき）


He was the haiku teacher of Matsuo Basho, Yamaoka Genrin 山岡元隣 and Yamaguchi Sodoo 山口素堂.

He was a famous writer and compiler of the early Edo period. He also used these pen names:
静厚、通称は久助、別号は慮庵・呂庵・七松子・拾穂軒, Kogestu Tei 湖月亭
He belonged to the Teimon Group of haiku, Teimon Ha 貞門派 of Matsunaga Teitoku.

He was born in present-day Shiga prefecture, former Omi province.

He was the haiku student of Yasuhara Teishitsu 安原貞室 and Matsunaga Teitoku 松永貞徳.
He edited some old pieces of literature, for example the Tale of Genji, the Tosa Nikki (Tosa Diary) and the Tales of Ise.



He compiled an important collection of seasonal words and topics:

北村季吟『山之井』 Yama no I
by Kitamura Kigin ［1624 -1705］comp. 1647-8
It contained 1300 kigo.
............... later republished as
Zoo yama no i "Expanded Mountain Well "Yama no I" 1667

. WKD : History of Japanese Saijiki .


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He rewrote more than 180 classic novels into easier language, some of which are the The Tales of the Genji, Makurano Soushi, The Tales of Yamato, The Diary of Tosa, and The Tales of Ise. The Yedo government presented him with a title Houin and invited him to Yedo.
In his later life he devoted himself to educating his students, many of whom became influential, among them the famous Matsuo Basho.
Kitamura Kigin died at 82.
　©　Photo and Text : kinki/yasu



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The Invention of a Literary Tradition of Male Love

Kitamura Kigin's "Iwatsutsuji 岩つつじ"
Paul Gordon Schalow

Ominaeshi monogatari, (1661; Tales of Lady Flowers)
a collection of anecdotes and legends about female poets.



湖月抄　Kogetsushoo

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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way

Reference : 北村季吟





地主神社 Jishu Shrine Visit, Kyoto



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HAIKU



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Related words

***** Memorial Days of Famous People / SAIJIKI


History of Japanese Saijiki

Matsunaga Teitoku 松永貞徳 (1571-1653)


Introducing Japanese Haiku Poets


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Adashino Temple Kyoto

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Explanation

Adashino, Temple Nenbutsu-ji

Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple あだしの念仏寺, 仏野念仏寺　/ 化野念仏寺
Adashino-cho, Toriimoto, Saga, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City

The Chinese characters of the name mean "Buddha Field 仏野 ". The temple is located overlooking Kyoto from the North-West, in a place of an old burrial ground, where in olden times it was a custom to leave the bodies here to decay 風葬. Kobo Daishi erected a temple here, and Saint Honen re-named it as "Amida Prayer Temple" Nenbutsu-Ji. See LINKS below.

People build many stone markers for the dead and soon started some funral and memorial services to pacify the souls, especially for graves with no families to look after them any more. Now there are more than 8000 stone markers.

There is also a region for the graves of small children, Sai no Kawara.




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- Homepage of the temple
source : www.nenbutsuji.jp

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quote
© Idler, cheap to travel

Late one afternoon I make my away to Adashino Nembutsu-ji, the famous temple and cemetery on the outskirts of Kyoto. Along the way I ponder just what draws me to these places beyond mere historical and architectural interest. Is it the sheer novelty of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, or is there some underlying principle that I find appealing?

The key, I think, is rooted in mono no aware, a sensibility that is uniquely Japanese. Without going into a prolonged discourse, the simplest definition would be a keen appreciation of the vulnerability of life and the transitory nature of all things, yet at the same time a pleasurable sadness that arises from cherishing brief moments of beauty. The cherry blossom is perhaps the most common symbol of mono no aware—budding, blooming, and falling softly to the ground in only a few days—evanescent beauty in a world in which all things continuously change and disappear.

The concept of the transience of the world is central to Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism, with its appreciation of beauty as a fleeting state and its longing for the infinite and eternal. The very brevity and fragility of life makes it all the more touching. Those who possess a sense of mono no aware are sensitive not only to ephemeral beauty but to the suffering of all living things.

“If we lived forever,
if the dews of Adashino never vanished,
if the crematory smoke on Toribeyama never faded,
men would hardly feel the pity of things."

Yoshida Kenko (author and Buddhist monk, 1283-1350)
Yoshida Kenko 吉田兼好 Yoshida Kenkoo

This is the essence of mono no aware.

The “Adashino” that Kenko referred to was the same Adashino Nembutsu-ji which was the object of my pilgrimage. Accounts of the creation of this temple and its cemetery vary, though most credit the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, Kooboo Daishi Kuukai Dashi (774-835), with establishing it to create a proper burial ground for the unclaimed deceased of Kyoto.

All the grave markers in the area were gathered, some 8,000 crude stone Buddhas and gorinto (stone pagodas), and assembled in a large courtyard outside the temple, arranged in rows around a central stupa.

The effect of the thousands of amassed weathered stones, arrayed as if listening to a sermon, is striking, even more so each August when a ceremony called Sentō Kuyō or “The Service of A Thousand Lights” is held. During this ceremony, thousands of people gather at nightfall and light votive candles before the stone Buddhas, lighting a path home for the anonymous dead spirits.

In the 12th century, Honen Shonin, the founder of Pure Land Buddhism, established a training center at the temple, “Nembutsu” referring to the Pure Land Buddhist devotional recitation. Much of the appeal of the Pure Land sect was its accessibility to commoners, as Buddhism was initially the religion of the ruling classes. At first it was not widely spread among common folk due to both its complexity and strictures on exactly who could worship and how. Pure Land Buddhism played a key role in the democratization of Buddhism, allowing those on the periphery of society to participate. Honen expressed the essence of Pure Land teaching, quite radical at the time, when he wrote:

“There shall be no distinction, no regard to male or female, good or bad, exalted or lowly; none shall fail to be in his Land of Purity after having called, with complete faith, on Amida [Buddha].”

This world of dew
Is only a world of dew
And yet ... oh yet ...

Issa

Read the rest of the story HERE !
by Kay Douglas (Idler)

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There is another Nenbutsu-Ji in Kyoto,
Nishimura Kocho and the Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji
Gabi Greve


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Things found on the way


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HAIKU



あだしのに蝶は罪なく見ゆる也
Adashino ni choo wa tsumi naku miyuru nari

in Adashi Field
the butterflies seem
sinless

Issa

Or: "a butterfly seems..."
Shinji Ogawa notes that Issa is punning in this haiku. Adashino means "Adashi Field" and "guilty field." The butterflies seem sinless, despite being in "Sinful Field."

Tr. David Lanoue

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Two tsuke-ku, capped verse


in Adashi Field
the butterflies seem
sinless


so many little
piles of stones

Linda Papanicolaou, November 2007

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in Adashi Field
the butterflies seem
sinless


the lightness of these
tiny piles of stones

Norman Darlington, November 2007

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Related words

Adashiono was later relocated to this area
Toribeno Cemetery in Kyoto 鳥辺野


***** Light offerings afloat (tooroo nagashi, sentoo kuyoo) and more

***** Kobo Daishi, Kukai 弘法大師　空海

***** Saint Hoonen, Hoonen Shoonin, Honen 法然上人

***** Nenbutsu, Namu Amida Butsu, the Amida Prayer

***** Gorinto, stone grave markers


***** Saijiki of Japanese Ceremonies and Festivals

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Kasamori Inari

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Kasamori Inari Fox Shrines

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Kasamori Inari Fox Shrine, 笠森稲荷

Kasamori Inari Fox Shrine カサモリ稲荷

Kasamori Inari Dai Myojin 瘡守いなり 大明神

Kasagami, God of the Smallpox Scabs 瘡神（かさがみ）

瘡守薬王菩薩 Kasamori Yaku-O Bosatsu. PHOTO .


Kasa mori, most probably meaning

to protect (mori 守り) the scab (kasa 瘡（かさ) on a wound or smallpox.



This Inari fox deity was popular during the Edo period when smallpox where dangerous. If not treated properly, they would leave deep skars in faces of people.
This Deity is also worshipped to protect and cure from other skin diseases, ulcers and also to help cure syphillis.

The scab of a wound was represented as an earthen dumpling (tsuchi dango), offered to the Fox Deity Inari. When the wound healed properly, the dumpling was covered with white rice powder (looking like the white powder used for doll making, gofun) as an act of thanking the Deity.

Fox gods like to eat dumplings of white rice, but this was not affordable as a common offering, so people out-tricked the tricky fox god and made mud and earth dumplings for him. Since the Fox god was waiting for the real ones after he performed his miraculous treatment, he would usually carry out the wish of the worshipper. Now when the patient was healed, the Fox god was offered mud dumplings with a thin coat of rice powder.

Since smallpox were very much feared during the Edo period, there were many shrines to this deity to pray for protection and healing.
The daily offering to this deity is also a set of two mud dumplings (土の団子).

The famous beauty of the Edo period, Kasamori O-Sen (1751～1827） 笠森お仙, also worshipped at a famous Kasamori Shrine in Edo for the protection of the beauty of her skin; there are many woodblock printings about her, especially by Harunobu Suzuki.
Osen, the "teahouse girl at Kasamori Inari Shrine".

Kasamori no O-Sen：English Reference

. Kanban musume 看板娘 Kamban "advertising servant" .



CLICK to look at many prints!


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手鞠歌 Children's song about the dumplings

向う横丁のお稲荷さんへ、
一文あげてざっと拝んでお仙の茶屋へ、
腰を掛けたら渋茶を出して、
渋茶よくよく横目で見たら、
米の団子か土の団子かお団子団子

Let's to go the Fox Shrine over there.
Let's visit the teahouse of O-Sen.
Let's sit down and have some bitter tea!
Sip the tee and peek at her and then
dumplings from rice, dumplings from mud,
dumplings, dumplings, dumplings !


O-Sen bringing dumplings


by Suzuki Harunobu

© Kubota: Kasamori Osen
Japanese LINK with many photos !


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CLICK for photos of the Shrine !

カサモリ稲荷

その笠森お仙の「笠森」とは、もちろん笠森稲荷から来ているのであるが、いろいろな字があてられているので、とりあえずここでは「カサモリ稲荷」としておこう。カサモリのカサとは本来「瘡（かさ）」の意で、モリは「守り」である。疱瘡や腫れ物・性病治しの神としてそれは信心されており、カサを表した土団子を神前に奉納し、平癒の後は白い米粉の団子をそこに供えて礼参りをするという祈願が、そこでおこなわれていた。この団子の奉納習俗のことは、先に掲げた童謡の歌詞の中にも歌われている。
©　www.kashiwashobo.co.jp


There were many shrines of this name in many places of Japan, since the smallpox were a difficult disease to cure.
When the great shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu fell ill with a swelling on his head, he prayed to the Kasamori Inari Shrine in Edo to get well.


Yamanashi Kasamori Inari Jinja
月見里笠森稲荷神社（やまなしかさもりいなりじんじゃ）

The reading of YAMANASHI is special here.





Kasamori Inari Shrine in Morioka, Hachimangu Shrine compound

Kasa no Mori Inari Shrine in Osaka, Takatsuki （かさのもりいなり）
Especially helpful for syphillis patients (baidoku 瘡（かさ＝梅毒のこと）. 瘡毒平癒の神.

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Kasamori Kannon, 笠森観音
Chiba Prefecture



Kasamori Temple was founded in 784, and is known as the 31st holy temple among the 33 holy grounds of Bando. This important cultural asset, supported by 61 pillars of various lengths and dedicated to Kannon (Goddess of Mercy), is a rare sight even in Japan.
The temple is also known for housing a haiku monument composed by the famous haiku poet Matsuo Basho.
©　www.ccb.or.jp Chiba

External LINK
Pilgrimage to Bando Fudasho : Kasamori, Chonan




五月雨にこの笠森をさしもぐさ
samidare ni kono Kasamori o sashi mogusa

during the rainy season
here at Temple Kasamori
I get some moxabustion

Matsuo Basho at Temple Kasamori-ji 笠森寺


Moxibustion (moxabustion) and Haiku

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Worldwide use

A Tale from Taiwan

" Hot and delicious dumplings! Red beans and sesame.
One for ten cents, two for twenty cents and three for free!"

Mountain Ban Pin Shan



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Things found on the way

DARUMA

Daruma, Smallpox and the color Red, the Double Life of a Patriarch
by Bernard Faure

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. Ichiron san no kubi ningyoo いちろんさんの首人形
head dolls from Ichiron san .

in memory of Minamoto no Tametomo 源為朝 (1139 - 1177), sold at Kasamori Inari


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Shining Mud Balls, hikaru doro dango 光る泥だんご

English Reference, Bruce Gardner
Japanese Reference

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HAIKU

Disease-preventing fox god ... by Issa

霜がれや胡粉の剥し土団子
shimogare ya gofun no hagashi tsuchi dango

frost-killed grass--
whitewash peeling off
the mud dumpling



nakamura sakuo comment :

1819 the most sad year of Issa.
His daughter was affected by smallpox.
As the general custom, he prayed to the fox god, offering the mud dumpling.
If the sickness would be recovered, the mud would be painted whitewash.
But she died.

sakuo renku

剥がれて吾が子　あの世へ旅立つ
hagarete wagako anoyo he tabidatu

peeling off
she has gone to the other world

　©　Look at more haiga by Nakamura Sakuo HERE !

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tsuchi dango kyô mo kogarashi kogarashi zo

mud-dumplings--
today too,
winter wind!


u no hana ya kodomo no tsukuru tsuchi dango

deutzia in bloom
children make
mud-dumplings

Issa
Tr. David Lanoue


Seen in light of the smallpox background, the children are not just playing around, it seems! Maybe they are making offerings to pray for their siblings.


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***** Fox (kitsune) Japan

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Winter Ascetic Practises

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Winter Ascetic Practises (kangyoo)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Winter
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

Purification rituals of all kinds are common in Japan, from a simple shrine visit to a severe austere standing naked in prayer unter a cold waterfall or throwing buckets of water over your naked body in the temple ground.

Some of these acitivities occur as the last part of a winter ascetic retreat. Some are counted as "Spring asceticism" according to the Asian lunar calendar, some are part of a "Naked Festival" (hadaka matsuri).




Ascetic practises in the cold
winter ascetic pracitse, kangyoo 寒行（かんぎょう）
kan gori, kangoori 寒垢離 (かんごり) pooring cold water over yourself


kan segyoo 寒施行 (かんせぎょう) giving alms in the cold season
no segyoo 野施行（のせぎょう）placing food for the animals in the fields
ana segyoo 穴施行（あなせぎょう）placing alms food at the holes for animals
kitsune segyoo 狐施行（きつねせぎょう）placing alms food at the fox hole
. . . CLICK here for Photos !
Usually some red beans and fried tofu (abura age) were placed out for the animals.

kayu segyoo 粥施行（かゆせぎょう） offering gruel to the poor



Shrine or Temple visit in the cold,
kan mairi 寒参 (かんまいり)
kan moode 寒詣（かんもうで）



"naked visit", hadaka mairi 裸参（はだかまいり）
Click thumbnail for more !



praising Amida in the cold,
kan nenbutsu 寒念仏 (かんねぶつ)
Amida Prayer (Namu Amida Butsu)



The Demon saying his prayers in the cold
Oni no Kan Nenbutsu, a famous painting from Otsu.


Even on a tokkuri sake bottle 一升徳利




and on a hyotan 瓢箪 gourd



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way



Waterfall Ascetism (taki shugyoo)


Naked Festivals (hadaka matsuri)


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HAIKU

寒垢離や首のあたりの水の月
kangori ya kubi no atari no mizu no tsuki

midwinter bathing--
his head, the moon
in the water

Issa
Tr. David Lanoue




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寒垢離や赤褌の男振り
kangori ya akafundoshi no otokoburi

ascetics in the cold !
the figure of a strong man
in his red loincloth
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

伊藤雄　Ito Takeshi
http://www.nhk.or.jp/haiku/html/haiku18-2-18.htm

. . . . . The Loincloth and Haiku


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闇を行く寒行僧の白づくめ
yami o yuku kangyoo zoo no shirozukume

only the white
of winter ascetic monks
walking in the dark

Tsukakoshi Shuukin 塚越秋琴
Tr. Gabi Greve




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Related words

***** The Loincloth (fundoshi) and Haiku

***** Naked Festivals (hadaka matsuri)

***** ***** Eihei-Ji Temple 永平寺 and Cold Zen


***** Saijiki of Japanese Ceremonies and Festivals
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