csjr 11 140205 - SOAS, University of London a more diversified way. ... csjr 11 140205 2/14/05 3:17...

CSJR Newsletter

January 2005Issue 11

Japanese ReligionsCentre for the Study of

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Front Cover: Illustration of a scene in the honjimono Sayohime. The maiden, Sayohime is riding onthe giant serpent after she has saved them both from suffering by reciting the chapter Devadattafrom the Lotus sutra. Both, maiden and serpent, manifest as deities of sanctuaries connected withmusic and healing of eye diseases. (Nara ehon, late 17th c., courtesy of the Museum of AppliedArts (MAK), Frankfurt/Main.)

The small image to the left shows pilgrims visiting Sayohime-Benzaiten on the island ofChikubushima at Lake Biwa (Nara ehon, ca 17th c., courtesy of the Kyoto University School ofLetters Library).

For more information please see the announcement on page 4 for the upcoming CSJR symposium:Foundation Myths in Japan.

From the Centre ChairThe beginning of 2005 marks the fifth year ofthe Centre’s active life and of the existenceof the CSJR Newsletter. Looking back at thepast lustrum, we are delighted to report agrowing scholarly interest in Japanesereligions in the UK, and to acknowledge theappreciation that the Centre has received forits role in making Japanese religious cultureknown to the broader public. After itsinaugural conference in December 1999, theCSJR has functioned as a platform ofdiscussion for scholars of Japanese religionin Europe and beyond, hosting researchersfrom different regions of the world to speakat our weekly seminars, and organizing threesuccessful international symposia. It hasbeen overwhelming to see a large audienceparticipating in all our events, and to have anincreasing number of students from SOASand other British institutions actively involvedin our activities. The Centre has alsosupported yearly post-doctoral fellows, whohave enriched our academic life at SOAS andmade it possible to teach Japanese religionsin a more diversified way. We cannot expressenough our gratitude to our Japanesesponsors, who have generously supportedthe range of the Centre’s activities for fiveyears, and to everyone at SOAS who, in oneway or the other, has helped out with thefunctioning of the Centre and the productionof the Newsletter.

To celebrate this lustrum, we have chosen atheme for the current Newsletter issue, whichthe cover already indicates: JapaneseMythological Narratives. This is also the topicof the 2005 CSJR symposium, organized byour current post-doctoral fellow, Katja Triplett.We are looking forward to welcoming inLondon an impressive array of panellists fromEurope, US and Japan, who will discussJapanese foundation myths, and their use inthe past and present, from differentdisciplinary approaches. The symposium isopen to the public and we shall be happy tohear from anyone interested in attending it.

After a quite intense first term of seminars,in which were discussed topics as varied ashuman sacrifice, the Izumo shrine, Dôgen’slife, Shinto pilgrimages and Shugendôactivities, our CSJR lecture series continueson Thursday evenings with another promisinglist of speakers. Please note the increasingnumber of contributions to the postgraduateForum, where PhD students from differentdepartments at SOAS, and other academicinstitutions, discuss the preliminary resultsof their research.

I would like to draw your attention to thededicated section on postgraduate studies inthis Newsletter, which this time includes anoutline of the research project of AnnaAndreeva, PhD candidate at CambridgeUniversity, and the research notes of NaokoKobayashi, who was a graduate of the MAJapanese religions at SOAS (in fact a studentin the very first year of existence of theprogramme) and is now completing her PhDat Nagoya University. It is rewarding to bereminded that many alumni of the MAprogramme in Japanese Religions, which issponsored by the Centre, have continued onto doctoral programmes, at SOAS andelsewhere. We are happy to offer space inthis newsletter to postgraduate students, sothat it may serve as an opportunity for youngscholars to make their research known toother specialists in the field.

I am, as ever, grateful to all the students whohave contributed reports on several eventsrelated to Japanese religion. Theirenthusiasm and appreciation has been verysupportive in our efforts to stage severalevents. In this issue of the Newsletter youwill find reports on the CSJR internationalsymposium The Worship of Stars in JapaneseReligious Practice, the Toshiba lectures onChôgen, and the screening of a film onShugendô.

We look forward to an exciting year, which isthe Year of the Rooster, as the article byJanet Foster reminds us. Happy New Year toAll!

Lucia Dolce

In this issue2 From the Centre Chair

Centre Activities3 CSJR Seminar Schedule

Japanese Religions Forum

4 Symposium: Foundation Mythsin Japan

5 Film Screening: Death andRebirth in the Mountains: TheAscetic Training of ShugenjaPractitioners in Japan

6 Worship of Stars in JapaneseReligious Practice

Postgraduate7 From Past Fellows

9 Medieval Kami Worship: TheIllusion of Medieval MiwaShinto?

11 Role of Reijin Worship inOntake Belief

13 MA Japanese Religions

Information onJapanese Religions

15 Renaissance of JapaneseBuddhist Art and the ExcellentDeeds of Monk Chôgen

16 Report on the Discussion of theReikiki at the Symposium ofJapanese Intellectual History

Japanese Religions and Popular Culture

17 Honkawa Kagura

18 The Year of the Rooster

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CSJR Newsletter • January 2005 • Issue 11

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13 January

Hell in Heian JapanIneke Van Put (Catholic University of Leuven)

3 February

Susa-no-o: A Culture Hero from Korea?James Grayson (University of Sheffield)

24 February

Buddhisms in Japan’s First ColonyJames Ketelaar (University of Chicago)

10 March

Rain-making Rituals and EsotericBuddhism in Medieval JapanMatsumoto Ikuyo (Ritsumeikan University)

21 April

Cartographic Piety: India in the JapaneseBuddhist ImaginationMax Moerman (Barnard College)

ALL WELCOMEFor further information please contact the convenorDr Lucia Dolce ([email protected]) (020) 7898-4217

The Forum, convened once a month in term time, bringstogether post-graduate students, MA and PhD, working onJapanese religions from all academic departments at SOAS.The Forum aims to encourage a multidisciplinary approachto the study of Japanese religions.

Time: 5:00 -6:30 pm

Place: Room G3

27 January Anne Mette Fisker Nielsen, SOAS Religious Idealism and Political Reality:

Young Soka Gakkai

Members and the Komei Party

10 February Katsuji Iwahashi, SOAS

The Realities Surrounding Shinto Priests

3 March Fumi Ouchi, Miyagi Gakuin/SOAS The Human Body in Japanese Medieval

Tendai: Studying Buddhist Vocal Arts and

Original Enlightenment

28 April Mitsu Horii, University of Kent Deprofessionalisation of Buddhist Priests

in Contemporary Japan

5 May Anna Andreeva, CambridgeMount Miwa: At the Crossroads of

Medieval Kami Workship?

Centre Activities

CSJR SeminarsSOAS, Thornhaugh Street Russell Square, WC1H OXG

5.00pm-6:30pm Room G3

Japanese Religions Forum

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Centre Activities

Foundation Mythsin JapanCSJR Workshop 20059-10 June 2005

Venue: SOAS, University of London

Foundation Myths in Japan is an interdisciplinarysymposium on foundation narratives that link existingreligious traditions to events in the past such as ‘origins ofa shrine or temple’ (shaji engi) or ‘tales of the origin ofdeities’ (honjimono). These narratives describe supernaturalevents (miracles), cosmic realms (heavens, pure lands) andsuperhuman characters (deities, saints). In addition, theycomprise a rich corpus of hagiographies of eminentreligious figures, often credited with having founded thereligious group that employs the narrative.

Shaji engi and other foundation stories serve not only tolocalize religious groups in space and time, but alsofunction as living archives of cultural remembrance. Whilecomparative studies of myths have classically engaged withpsychological factors, the latest research refigures mythsas “memory stores” for groups such as families or nation-states, and also as sites of cultural remembrance. Thesites, in which a group saves the data of its past and sostores its cultural memory, can take the form ofmonuments, works of art, or narratives.

To date, the study and interpretation of Japanese myths hasbeen typically presented under the psychology of religionrubric. It is anticipated that the application of the “memory”research model will open a new and exciting field ofexploration.

To this end the CSJR symposium will assemble aninternational team of scholars to present new readings onwell-known foundation myths, such as those found in theKojiki and Nihongi, as well as in medieval engi. Participantswill explore early modern treatments of myths and examinethe self-projections of new religions and their foundationnarratives.

The key topics which will be addressed in the symposiumare as follows:

• Are there recurrent patterns found in the formation and use of Japanese foundation myths?

• How do foundation myths function in the maintenance of Japanese tradition, e.g. in earlymodern Japan?

• How do religions and religious movements actually work with foundation stories in contemporary Japan?

List of Speakers:

Prof. Abe Yasuro (Nagoya University)

Dr. John Breen (SOAS)

Prof. Bernard Faure (Stanford University)

Prof. Hayashi Kumiko (Tachibana-joshi University, Kyoto)

Dr. Matsumoto Ikuyo (Ritsumeikan University Art ResearchCenter, Kyoto)

Prof. Barbara Ruch (emeritus Columbia University)

Prof. Tokuda Kazuo (Gakushuin-joshi University)

Prof. Melanie Trede (Heidelberg University)

Dr. Katja Triplett (SOAS)

For registration and further information, please contactthe project coordinator, Dr. Katja Triplett (CSJR Post-doctoral Fellow) email: [email protected].


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Illustration of a scene in the honjimono Sayohime.(Nara ehon, ca 17th c., courtesy of Museum of Applied Arts(MAK), Frankfurt/Main.)

Pilgrims visiting Sayohime-Benzaiten on the island of Chikubushima at Lake Biwa.(Nara ehon, ca 17th c., courtesy of the Kyoto University School of Letters Library.)

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Centre Activities

CSJR Film: Death and Rebirth in theMountain: The Ascetic Training ofShugenja Practitioners in Japan

Jon Morris

The 2004 series of CSJR seminars culminated onDecember 9th with a screening of ‘Death and Rebirth in theMountains: The Ascetic Training of Shugenja JapanesePractitioners’. This was a great opportunity for all thosewith an interest in Japan to see the mysterious andgenuinely unique Akinomine (Autumn peak) practice atHagurosan, one of the 3 mountains at the heart of theDewasanzan district of Yamagata-ken, an area famous forShugendô mountain asceticism. Mr Kitamura Minao, adocumentary film maker and anthropologist, took on thetask of recording the Akinomine after Reverend ShimazuKôkai, the head of Hagurosan Shugen honshû, decided tohave it recorded for posterity. The 90 minute film wasintroduced and explained by Gaynor Sekimori of TokyoUniversity and the ethnomusicologist and senior Shugenpriestess Fumi Ouchi of Miyagi Gakuin/SOAS, both of whomwere participants in the ritual.

Mr Kitamura, who himself has participated in the Akinominetwice, has paid tribute to the sacred environment ofHagurosan with this film. Dewa Sanzan is an area of rarenatural beauty, and as the film began with dawn over thepanorama of mountains and mists, I remembered the deepstillness of the place. For Haguro shugenja the mountainsbecome the spiritual womb in which they can be reborn torealisation of their inherent Buddha nature. Before enteringthe mountain the participants undergo a funeral ceremony,and then move to the rituals for the beginning of their newlife. The Akinomine takes them through a processencompassing each of the ten realms of rebirth, ending atthe stage of attaining Buddhahood. This film documentseach stage of the journey in a way surely not possible inwriting, leaving the audience with a sense of the spirit ofplace integral to the practice.

There was a large audience filling the Khalili Lecturetheatre, and Dr Sekimori and Dr Ouchi took questionsreflecting a wide range of interests and unanimousappreciation of the film. The Akinomine incorporatesinfluences from Japanese esoteric Buddhism (especiallyTendai), kami worship, and Taoism. It preserves a medievaltradition which itself is part of a far older lineage ofmountain religion in Japan. There were several questionsregarding which parts of the practice and liturgy could beidentified as stemming from a particular school. DrsSekimori and Ouchi explained that some parts of the liturgycan be shown to be of Tendai origin, some, such as therecitation of the Hannya shingyô (Heart Sutra), beingcommon throughout Japanese Buddhism. Other (particularlysymbolic) aspects are drawn from kami worship. Taoistelements are present but less easy to point to, as they are

part of a tradition already intermixed with the others. Themagical steps (henbai) that shugenja perform as a rite ofkekkai, however, certainly are of Taoist origin. Anotherquestion brought out the extent to which participantssupport the practice by bringing candles or incense. Thefilm and discussion addressed the motivations of Akinomineparticipants. There was an interesting discussion of thesense of affiliation or identity of the Haguro shugenja, whonormally only participate actively in Shugendô for theduration of the Akinomine. Many audience members wereimpressed with the physical endurance of participants, whopractice hiking, fasting, chanting for long periods and asmoke lodge!

This event was a real highlight of my own year at SOAS. Itreminded me that Religious Studies is about things that aremysterious and meaningful, and that we can go and seekthem out. This film will surely widen interest in theAkinomine. In principle, anyone wishing to participate canapply to the Hagurosan daisendatsu (chief priest). VisualFolklore, Mr Kitamura’s company, has released a double CDrecording the liturgical chanting performed during theAkinomine, and I am hopefully among the first in line to buya copy. It is clear that the work of Drs Sekimori and Ouchihas done much for the understanding of Haguro Shugendôboth in Japan and internationally; for this and theirpresentation at SOAS we owe them a sincere vote ofthanks.

Jon Morris is a postgraduate student completing an MA inBuddhist Studies at SOAS


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Centre Activities

CSJR Symposium 2004

The Worship of Stars inJapanese Religious PracticeTullio Lobetti

On the 16th and 17th of September 2004, the CSJR hosted

a symposium on The Worship of Stars in Japanese

Religious Practice. Its aim was to provide an

interdisciplinary forum for the study of pre-modern Japanese

religious practices related to constellations and planets. Co-

ordinated by Dr Meri Arichi, our post-doctoral fellow for

2003-04, the symposium was made possible by the

generous support of the Daiwa Foundation, the Sasakawa

Foundation and the Japan Foundation.

The theme of the first session, chaired by Dr. Lucia Dolce,

was the Worship of Stars Through History. Professor

Hayashi (Aichi Gakuin University) was the keynote speaker.

He presented a paper about the relationship between the

Tokugawa Bakufu and Onmyôdô (a range of magical

religious practices initially performed by government officers

called onmyôryô that also included astronomers). He

pointed out how, despite the fact that most of the Tokugawa

Shoguns were not interested in astronomical phenomena,

the work of astronomers and diviners continued throughout

the Edo period, and that they were also summoned by the

bakufu in some exceptional circumstances, like solar

eclipses. The Tokugawa Shogunate also expanded the work

of astronomers from performing rituals and divination to

include the production of calendars for use by commoners.

In the next paper, Classical and Early Medieval Ise: A Star

Cult?, Dr. Mark Teeuwen (Oslo University) examined the

correlation between Ise shrine and the cult of stars in the

classical and medieval periods, taking into particular

account the work of Yoshino Hiroko, one of the few scholars

who has proposed a theory against the conventional idea

that imperial jingi rituals were a refined version of clan

rituals. The hypothesis proposed in this paper is that these

rituals were consciously constructed to reflect Chinese

cosmological views, and that the polestar had a central role

in that kind of symbolism.

The closing paper for this session, The Stars of Tokugawa

Japan, was presented by Dr. John Breen (SOAS). He

examined the characteristics of almanacs and calendars in

the Edo period, when they were generally used to determine

the propitious or unpropitious periods of the year, and their

relationship to the religious praxis of individuals. Dr Breen

proposed the study of calendars as a new kind of method

for examining an otherwise largely overlooked aspect of

Tokugawa popular religion.

The second day of the symposium, chaired by Professor Tim

Barrett, was focused on the Personification of Stars, and

began with a presentation by Dr. Lilla Russel-Smith

(Independent Scholar) about the central role that Dunhuang

played in passing modes of representation from India to

China. Dr Russell-Smith took into account the

anthropomorphic representation of planets and Tejaprabha

Buddha, and pointed out that this kind of iconography is

still in use today.

This was followed by Dr. Tsuda Tetsuei (Tokyo Bunkazai

Kenkyujô) who analysed the representation of stars in the

context of Heian Esoteric Buddhist Art, focussing on the

fact that, although travelling monks imported the first such

images from China in the late Heian period, entirely new

images were created for the purpose of worship. The

images never had a central role in any major Buddhist

school, but they were used as icons in rituals aimed to

promote the originality and superiority of a specific school in

regard to the others.


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The afternoon session, on Stars Rituals in Context, was

chaired by Professor Brian Bocking. Dr. Meri Arichi (SOAS)

discussed the relationship between the seven shrines of

Hie and the seven stars of the Northern Dipper (hokuto

shichisei). Her presentation clearly showed how in the

medieval period the kami worshiped at the seven shrines of

Hie were identified with their relative Buddhas and

Bodhisattvas, and also with their relative stars, and how

this was mainly due to the influence of Tendai Buddhism

and honji suijaku.

Dr. Gaynor Sekimori (Tokyo University) extensively discussed

star rituals and beliefs in Nikko Shugendô and the meaning

of the numerous star shrines (hoshi no miya) located

around the Nikko area. Her paper clearly outlined the non-

uniformity of the traditions introduced by Nikko shugenja

during the course of history, probably due to the fact that

star rituals were introduced as a part of the personal

knowledge of particular shugenja, rather than through an

organised form of transmission.

Finally, Dr. Timon Screech (SOAS) examined the various

ways in which “artificial skies”, that is planetaria and

various reconstructions of Vulture Peak, were imported from

western countries or constructed in Japan during the Edo

period, and the peculiar kind of attraction they held for

people.

The final discussion segment raised a number of questions,

particularly about the perceptions of both the ruling classes

and commoners of astronomical events in the medieval and

pre-modern periods. The answers clearly suggested that,

while in the medieval period the study of stars was meant

mostly to provide a comprehensive cosmological picture, in

the Edo period it turned out to be more a practical science,

mainly utilised for the production of calendars. This also

shows how the interest in stars, although in different forms,

passed uninterrupted throughout both the medieval and pre-

modern periods. As a further development, it seems clear

that the study of stars-related phenomena, like calendars,

can provide a new and valuable method of analysis of

religious belief in Japan throughout history.

Tullio Lobetti, holder of the CSJR studentship, is a PhD

candidate at SOAS. His research is on Ascetic practices in

contemporary Japanese religious context.

Report on CSJR Post-doctoral year at SOASMeri Arichi

For the academic year 2003-4, I was fortunate to receivethe Post-doctoral fellowship from the CSJR. Although I hadbeen at SOAS for several years beforehand as an MA andPhD student, working as a staff member gave me a chanceto experience life at SOAS from a different perspective.

One of my tasks as a fellow was to assist teaching at bothundergraduate and MA levels. I gave classes on Japanesereligion to first year students taking John Breen’s “Aspectsof Japanese Culture” course, and several classes for LuciaDolce’s BA “Japanese Religion: An Historical Overview”, aswell as MA “Religious Practice in Japan: Texts, Rituals andBelievers” and “East Asian Buddhist Thought”. Theseclasses, except the first year course, were small, and moresuited to a seminar style than a formal lecture. My previousteaching experiences, as an art historian, relied heavily onimages, and I wanted to encourage students to approachsome topics through images and discuss them; but I foundthat it was not always easy to engage students in informaldiscussion about images. The experience was rewarding,though, as I learnt a lot by trying to present topics in variedways. I hope that this experience can be useful in future.

Apart from teaching, I enjoyed participating in the Centreactivities, especially the stimulating and inspiring weekly


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seminars by visiting scholars from other universities inBritain and Europe. I was also happy to be able toparticipate by presenting an aspect of my PhD thesis at oneof the seminars in February. The series of lectures byMatsuo Kenji in autumn 2003 was thought-provoking,providing a rare opportunity in Britain to consider themethodological aspect of Japanese scholarship of medievalBuddhism. All of these activities showed the importance ofthe CSJR as a catalyst for the intellectual exchangebetween SOAS and other institutions, as well as bridgingJapan and Britain.

During the summer break from teaching, I had anopportunity to join the International Dunhuang seminar,organized by the Silk Road Foundation. Three weeks ofintensive lectures and field trips to Buddhist sites in Chinawith 40 scholars, mainly from the United States, was anextremely exciting and rewarding experience. We visitedBuddhist caves at Longmen, Binglinsi, and Yulin, attended asymposium at the Lanzhou University and visited museumsbefore reaching Dunhuang. In Dunhuang we stayed at theAcademy’s Guest House for two weeks. It was a greatprivilege to visit caves every morning with guides RoderickWhitfield and Ning Qiang, two of the world’s foremostscholars in Chinese Buddhist art. Afternoons were equalityinteresting with lectures by Robert Sharf, Wu Hung, RongXinjiang and other Chinese scholars. For me, the mostimportant aspect of this trip was to witness the source oficonography for Japanese Buddhist art. The similaritiesbetween the textiles in the Shoso-in and the painted robesof bodhisattvas at Dunhuang, or between the wall paintingsof the Byodo-in and the decorative schemes of screen-likepanels in the caves, reminded me that both Japan andDunhuang were recipients of the Tang metropolitaninfluence at the periphery of a vast international culture.The experience was certainly invaluable for consideringBuddhist art in an East Asian context. Something whichimpressed me during our stay in Dunhuang was the role ofthe Dunhuang Academy in encouraging international co-operation in scholarship, and also the fine balance struckbetween conservation and tourism, which is not a problemunique to Dunhuang, but a world-wide concern.

My year ended with a symposium “The Worship of Stars inJapanese Religious Practice”, held at SOAS on 16-17September. Organizing the symposium was a major task, assecuring grants from various organizations had to be donewell in advance. I am grateful to the Great Britain SasakawaFoundation, the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and theJapan Foundation for their financial assistance. TwoJapanese scholars, Hayashi Makoto from Aichi GakuinUniversity and Tsuda Tetsuei from the National Institute forCultural Properties, Tokyo, and also former CSJRpostdoctoral fellow Gaynor Sekimori, now of TokyoUniversity, came all the way from Japan to give mostilluminating papers. Mark Teeuwen from Oslo University,John Breen and Tim Screech (SOAS) and Lilla Russell-Smithalso participated, and Lucia Dolce, Tim Barrett and BrianBocking chaired sessions despite their busy schedules. Iam glad to report that the symposium attracted a largeaudience, not only from SOAS but also from otheruniversities, thereby proving the validity of the topic whichhad not been addressed in any co-ordinated way previously.We learnt a lot in two days, but I think it is fair to say thatthe symposium drew attention to the fact of how little weknow about the relationship between astronomy/astrologyand Japanese religions/culture, and highlighted the need forfurther research. A plan for the publication of symposiumpapers is on the way, so watch this space, as they say! Iwould like to thank Lucia who, as the Centre Chair and as afriend, encouraged me to pursue this topic, and helped mein every stage of planning and organization. I could not havedone it without her. I am also very grateful to Janet Foster,the Centre Assistant, who helped me cheerfully withendless tasks from designing the programme and posterdown to stuffing envelopes and photocopying.

My year at SOAS was extremely busy, and it passed veryquickly. I enjoyed the experience enormously, gained a greatdeal, and hope that I made a small, but positivecontribution to the activities of the CSJR. I shall be teachingfor the Japan module of the Asian Art Diploma course at theBritish Museum from April 2005.


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The Vairocana from the Longmen caves in China may have been the prototype forthe Daibatsu at Nara. See: The Renaissance of Japanese Buddhist Art and theExcellent deeds of Monk Chôgen on page 15 of this issue.

© M

eri Arichi

© M

eri Arichi

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Postgraduate

Research Report:

Medieval Kami Worship:The Illusion of MedievalMiwa Shinto?Anna Andreeva

Studies of kami worship in medieval Japan have recentlybeen gaining attention from both Japanese and Westernscholars. The esotericization of the kami realm in themedieval period is currently one of the most tantalizingtopics in the field of the Japanese religions, and a fewtraditions of medieval origin, such as Ise Shinto, WataraiShinto and Sannô Shinto are now being thoroughly explored.

This is also supposedly the case of Miwa Shinto, a form ofesoteric kami worship, which is thought to have emerged inthe late Kamakura or Nanboku period in the vicinity ofMount Miwa in the southern Yamato region. Along withGoryû Shinto at Murôji and Unden Shinto in the Katsuragimountains, it is assumed to have been one of the ShingonShintô traditions based on the honji suijaku theories andthe ritualism of the Two Worlds Mandalas. One of the Miwadocuments, Miwaryû jingi kanjô shojû shiki, dated as 1266,contains what is presumed to be the earliest record of theinitiations into kami-related matters (jingi kanjô).

The abundance of texts which supposedly preserved andrepresented ‘Miwa Shinto’ (or rather, Miwaryû Shinto) leavean impression that some sort of such tradition existed. Agood number of ‘Miwa Shinto’ records, once considered tobe secret, can now be freely seen in several volumes of theÔmiwa jinja shiryô. One should not, however, be temptedinto thinking that all of them were composed in Miwa, farfrom it. An initial investigation of the colophons of the Miwatexts in Ômiwa jinja shiryo and Shintô taikei, proved that itis difficult to identify the emergence of such a tradition froma single source or the actual routes of its dissipation.

Some of the alleged Miwaryû manuscripts are preserved inthe library of Kôya University; others are hidden in theHasedera, and some are thought to have derived from theTendai lineage at the Saikyôji temple in Shiga prefecture.Their veracity presents a tantalizing problem for one whoattempts to inquire into the origins of medieval MiwaShinto. Initial research of the actual manuscripts, at leastthose few preserved at Kôya, shows that many of them canonly be traced back as early as the Edo period.Unfortunately, to date no Japanese scholars haveattempted to conduct an overall assessment of theauthenticity of the Miwaryû textual corpus. My own findings

more or less confirm the urgent necessity of a basic studyof the manuscripts, which are thought to have belonged tothe ‘Miwaryû tradition’.

The term Miwa Shinto itself raises several questions. In1486 Urabe Kanekuni in Kanekuni hyakushu kashô citedthe Miwa Kyôen lineage as being among the four mostprominent movements of Shinto. This certainly informs usabout the existence of some Buddhist activities aimed atthe worship of kami in the Byôdôji temple by the 15thcentury. Other historical sources, such as Kôfukuji daijôinmonzeki zôjiki, written by Jinson, the princely abbot ofDaijôin, of which Byôdôji was a branch temple, describe theactivities in question as the Shingon transmissions (shingondenju). It remains a great problem as to what exactly isinvoked by the term ‘Miwa Shinto’, what the term medievalMiwa Shinto attempts to define, and whether the so calledMiwa Shinto was not actually a creation of the early Edoperiod.

Why would Miwa, which by the medieval period was locatedquite far from the whirlpools of political and cultural powers,become the centre of secret esoteric worship?

It is thought that the religious activities in Miwa had beencarried out as early as the beginning of the third century.From the records in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki it is knownthat the area of Miwa was an important location for theearly Yamato kingdom and was a site of residence of thedeity Ômononushi, who appears in the accounts of thedivine marriage between the snake deity and Yamato totobimomoso-hime, a daughter of the local ruler. Mount Miwaalso became a site of enshrinement of the deity of theIzumo descent, Ôkuninushi, supposedly some time aftersubjugation of the Izumo area by the early Yamato kingdom.Both deities are thought to have played an important role inthe construction of the sacred space of Mount Miwa, whichis envisioned in Nihon shoki as the residence of the firstYamato imperial lineage with particular connections toemperor Jimmu.

Mount Miwa is often referred to as the sacred mountain(shintaizan). The Ômiwa shrine, located at the mountain’s


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Omiwa Shrine

© Anna Andreeva

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foot, claims its origins as the family shrine of the Ômiwaclan sometime before the Nara period. Even at present itdoes not have a main sanctuary (honden), but only adedication hall (haiden). Around it there are several sesshaand massha branch shrines, whose divinities have a specialrelationship with the Ômiwa deity. Among them are smallershrines, such as Himuka and Kuebiko, but also the moreimpressive Sai and Hibara shrines. Some legends claimthat Hibara, one of the Ômiwa sub-shrines, was constructedon the site of Kasanui no mura, which is depicted in Nihonshoki as a “former Ise” (moto-Ise). According to the entry ofthe reign of emperor Sûjin, Kasanui mura was the sitewhere the imperial ancestral deity Amaterasu wasworshipped by Toyosukiiribime, before her sacred body(shintai) was transferred to Ise.

The Ômiwa shrine, as the ichinomiya of the Yamatoprovince, along with its temple, the Miwadera jingûji, was animportant site of pilgrimage in the sacred landscape of theSouthern Yamato region. The multiplex literally stood at theintersection of several old roads, like Yama no be no michiand Kamitsu michi which led from Kyoto and Nara toYoshino and Katsuragi in the south, Hasedera and Murôji inthe east, and further, to Iga and Ise. The pilgrims fromKyoto and Nara on their way to Hasedera, an old templededicated to Kannon and Murôji, which also had areputation as a “Koya for women” inevitably made a stop inthe vicinity of the Ômiwa shrine before proceeding to otherplaces of worship. The original jingûji of the Ômiwa shrine,Miwadera, was constructed before Hôkan 1 (770) for theprotection of the Ômiwa deity, and was also dedicated tothe Eleven-Headed Kannon, which might have been animportant reason for the Hasedera pilgrims to pay a visit toboth Miwadera and Ômiwa shrines. Several records of theHeian literary sources, such as Makura no sôshi and Genjimonogatari, mention the town of Tsubaichi (thought to havebeen established by prince Shôtoku in the vicinity of MountMiwa) and the fact that it was a necessary spot to make astop before proceeding to Hasedera.

In the early medieval period the development and spread ofmultifarious honji suijaku theories prompted the interest ofShingon monks in the religious complex of Miwa and itsparticular relationships to other important sites of worship.

The arrival of Kyôen (1145?-1223), some time at the end ofthe 12th century, is thought to have coincided with thebeginning of the esotericization of the kami realm in Miwa.The emergence of Miwa bessho, a separate hall of worship,possibly sponsored by financial aid from the Kôfukujitemple, shifted the status quo within the Ômiwa shrine-temple multiplex. By the early 13th century Miwa besshorapidly developed into a bigger temple, Byôdôji, and tookover the position of the Ômiwa shrine’s jingûji fromMiwadera (Daigorinji). Legend has it that Kyôen wasinvolved in the formation of esoteric kami worship at Byôdôji(Miwaryû Shinto) and at Murôji temple (Goryû Shinto).However, the historical records, such as Miwa shônin gyôjô,present little information about his role in this process.

The Saidaiji monk Eison (1201-1290) is another importantfigure who is thought to have contributed to thedevelopment of medieval esoteric kami worship in Miwa.From the entries of Eison’s dairy, Kongôbusshi Eisonkanshin gakushôki, it appears that in the 1240s he wasinvited to the hinin juku in Miwa to perform installation ofthe Monju statue. Eison’s interest in the religious complexof Miwa was also connected to the movement to restore theBodhisattva precepts. It is known that in the 1260s Eisonvisited Miwa with the intention of borrowing the hand-writtencopy of a book by a famous Kôfukuji monk Jôkei whomEison respected as his predecessor in the studies ofVinaya. Over the years Eison conferred the Bodhisattvaprecepts onto many people in several settlements situatedaround the Mount Miwa. In 1285 he restored the formerÔmiwa jingûji, Miwadera, and renamed it Daigorinji. Thistemple was made a branch temple of Saidaiji whereasByôdôji remained under the control of Kôfukuji. Thecompetition of the two monastic lineages is thought to havebeen the cause of the emergence of the two initiallyseparate traditions of Buddhist worship dedicated to theÔmiwa deity, Miwa myôjin.

During the Mongol invasions and period of disintegration ofimperial power, Eison and the Saidaiji lineage, like manyother Buddhist lineages, took a particular interest to theGrand Shrines of Ise. It is well known that Eison visited Iseat least three times and was involved in communicationwith the Arakida priests of the Inner Shrine. He alsoestablished the Kôshôji temple in the vicinity of Naikû,where a number of Saidaiji monks could reside. It can beargued that the Saidaiji lineage attempted to create severalsites of Ise worship along the route of pilgrimage to theimperial Grand Shrines. Daigorinji, a part of the religiouslandscape of Miwa, revived by Eison in 1285, appears tohave been one of them. It is assumed, that one of Eison’sdisciples situated at Kôshôji, if not Eison himself,composed a text known as the Origins of the Great Deity ofMiwa (Miwa daimyôjin engi).

This text could be considered an early example of medievalkami worship in Miwa and appears to have been compiledas early as 1318. Its contents are rather fascinating: thetext consists of several chapters which include the theoriesof assimilation of Amaterasu and the Miwa deity, based ona rather unorthodox interpretation of the Nihon shoki; theessential unity of the Hie deity and Miwa myôjin; theenvisioning of the religious landscape of Miwa as theembodiment of the Two Worlds Mandala; as well asextraordinary claims of prevalence of the Ômiwa religiouscomplex over other powerful religious centres such as Ise,Hie, Murôji and Hasedera. The question of who wouldbenefit from the appearance of such a text, and why, is oneof the most important which springs to mind. Ratherinterestingly, some of the Nanboku period recordspreserved at the Ômiwa shrine, suggest a connectionbetween the Ômiwa kannushi lineage and the Southerncourt of Emperor Go-Daigo, located in Yoshino.


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The authenticity of the engi, of course, is a matter ofdebate. The original manuscript, owned by MiyachiNaokatsu, the Miyachi bon, from which the Miwa sôsho andthe Shintô taikei versions of Miwa daimyôjin engi derived,has proved difficult to access. My own findings whilstworking with the engi manuscript preserved at the Naikakubunko suggest that at least one part of the engi could havebeen added during Meiji 10.

My current research aims to present an annotatedtranslation of the Miwa daimyôjin engi along with theargument on the nature and construction of the esoterickami worship developed around Mount Miwa and willhopefully provide some much-desired answers to many ofthe questions about the origins of the medieval Miwaphenomenon.

Anna Andreeva is a PhD candidate at the University ofCambridge. Her research is concentrated on the activities ofthe Ritsu lineage in the Kamakura and Kenmu periods, andone of the examples of medieval kami worship, MiwaShinto.

Anna Andreeva will be presenting her research at theJapanese Religions Forum at SOAS on 5 May. All welcome!

Postgraduate

Research Report:

The Vital Role of ReijinWorship in OntakeBeliefNaoko Kobayashi

The worship of Mt. Onatke in Nagano prefecture has continuedfor more than 200 years after Kakumei (1718-1786) andFukan (1731-1801) opened the mountain to the public. Today,although mountain worship has gradually declined in Japan,Ontake belief continues with comparative success. It isestimated that there are 800,000 believers and more than1,000 organizations which worship Mt. Ontake and the OntakeOgami (the Great Gods of the Ontake).

There are several reasons why the Ontake cult has been sosuccessful. The most important, however, seems to be thestrong belief in the reijin of Ontake. The title reijin is given toascetic practitioners and devotees of Ontake who have died.It is a way of honoring the devotion they displayed during theirlifetime. In my research, I discuss what reijin worship is andthe role it plays for believers and the continuation of theOntake cult.

Devotees enshrine the reijin in the reijin-hi (stone monuments)on Mt. Ontake. They regularly visit the reijin-hi, hold religiousservices in front of it, and interact with the reijin through theoza séance, a shamanistic ritual in which one ascetic getsanother ascetic to possess the reijin.

The reijin is the lowest ranking in the hierarchy of the Ontakedeities. The gods on the highest level are the Ontake Ogami,and there are also several subordinate gods on the secondlevel. The gods on the top two levels were never humanbeings. However, reijin gods of the third level, were actual


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Devotees enshrine the reijin in reijin-hi on Mount Otake.

The author returning from climbing Mount Miwa.

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people who died. Therefore, many devotees hold religiousservices for the reijin, and hope that the same would be heldfor them in the future. In the case of a serious ascetic ofOntake, the goal would be to be designated a reijin and beentered onto a list of successive reijin in the Ontake beliefsystem.

The stone monument called reijin-hi, is very important to thedevotees as a symbol which praises the achievements of theirpredecessors. It is made of soft stone produced in Shizuokaor Sendai, and inscribed with the name of the reijin on thecentre. Unlike a tomb, it does not contain the ashes of thebeliever, and the Ontake believers usually have both a tomband a reijin-hi. Some believers prepare it before their death,and others have it made by their successors after death. It isthought that there are more than 20,000 reijin-hi on Mt.Ontake, and each ko (devotional association) of Ontakebelievers has its own place for reijin-hi nearby.

The reijin-hi has two significant functions. One is that thereijin-hi becomes a yori-shiro (the spirit abode) of a deceasedOntake believer. It is thought that Ontake believers can go toMt. Ontake and serve the Ontake Ogami in the next worldafter dying because their reijin-hi is on Mt. Ontake.

The other important function of the reijin-hi is that, in that itserves as a vessel for the yori-shiro, followers can use it as ameans of communicating with the spirit. Almost all of the koof Ontake go first to visit reijin-hi when they arrive at Mt.Ontake. Moreover, a lot of believers hold services for thereijin-hi even during heavy rains and thundershowers. Asthough before a tomb, a glass of water or sake is placedtogether with flowers and food as an offering. Sticks ofincense are lit, and sutras are chanted in front of it. Somebelievers talk to it as though to an actual person, “I’m comingto see you,” “Have you been lonely?” and so on.

The oza séance is another essential ritual for Ontakebelievers. Through it, many of the devotees are able tocommunicate with ancestors who worshiped at Mt. Ontakewhilst alive. It is a shamanistic ritual in which one practitioner,called maeza, helps another practitioner, called nakaza, to

possess the reijin. The maeza controls the spirits, while thenakaza becomes the medium between the spirit and thebeliever.

Usually both practitioners sit face to face. The maeza recitesspells and draws the nine magic syllables (kuji) ; throughthese actions the reijin possesses the body of the medium.After the reijin possesses the medium, the maeza askshim/her the name of the reijin. The reijin answers and usuallyfirst acknowledges the service and the daily training of thebelievers, and then promises to protect them from diseases,accidents and other bad things. As soon as the oracle startsspeaking, the believers prostrate themselves. Some join theirpalms together, and others express their thanks many timesin a low voice.

During my fieldwork I observed, for example, a woman whohad just lost her brother. An Ontake ascetic acted as themaeza. After the reijin possessed the nakaza, he stated thather brother was fine and in training near the Ontake Ogami inthe next world. When the woman heard this, she started tocry. She said that she was relieved to know that her brotherwas fine in the other world.

Moreover, the reijin of the eager ascetic, like a previousleader, sometimes scolds the believers for being lazy aboutthe service and training. After listening to the scolding oracle,many reflect on their attitude toward the Ontake belief anddecide to behave more earnestly. Thus the oracle of the reijinhas a great influence on the believers’ way of religious life andguides them to a deeper devotion.

In conclusion, the worship of reijin serves to tie the devoteesto Ontake belief. Reijin worship, therefore, plays a vital role forthe continuation of Ontake belief. The reijin is the deity closestto devotees because of having been an actual person beforedeath, and communicates with them during the oza séance. Inaddition, many devotees inherit the Ontake belief from theirparents and relatives. Therefore, when they meet the reijin infront of the reijin-hi or during the oza séance, in fact they meettheir deceased parents and relatives again. In this way thereijin facilitates a form of ancestor worship, and iscomparatively easy for Japanese people to accept. Moreover,the chain of successors, from the believers to the reijin,perpetuates Ontake belief. As long as Ontake believerscontinue to worship the reijin, Ontake belief will continue.

Naoko Kobayashi is a Doctoral Candidate at NagoyaUniversity. A SOAS alumna, she obtained the MA JapaneseReligions degree in 2000.


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In the Oza seance, the maeza helps the nakaza to possess the reijin.

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Postgraduate

PhD Research at SOAS onJapanese Religions

Chi Ho Ivan Hon, Japanese and Chinese intellectuals viewson state and religion in mid 19th- early 20th (Prof. Bocking,Study of Religions)

Satomi Horiuchi, Contemporary Japanese Christianity:Ancestors, rites and graves (Dr Dolce, Study of Religions)

Yoshiko Imaizumi, The Meiji jingu (Dr Breen, East Asia)

Tullio Lobetti, Faith in the flesh: body and ascetic practices incontemporary Japanese religious context (Dr Dolce, Study ofReligions)

Yukiko Nishimura, Worship of Avalokitesvara in Japan (DrDolce, Study of Religions)

Fumi Ouchi, The vocal arts in medieval Japan and Tendaihongaku thought (Dr Dolce, Study of Religions)

Anna Schegoleva, Ghosts in Japan: re-constructing horror inmodernity (Dr Dolce, Study of Religions)

Philip Swift, Ghosts and spirit possession in Japan’s newreligions (Dr Martinez, Anthropology)

Carla Tronu Montane, A sociology of the Christian mission toJapan (Dr Breen, Dept. of Japan and Korea)

MA Japanese ReligionsDissertations 2003-2004Horiuchi, Satomi Ancestral Rites in Japanese Christianity:

History and Attitude of the Dead and NewJapanese Christian Movements

Ipgrave, Michael Dialogue Between Tenrikyo and Christianity, with Special Reference to the Theme of Divine Parenthood

Lobetti, Tullio Walkers of Holy Grounds: A Theoretical Analysis of the Peculiarities of the Kaihogyô Practice of Mt. Hiei in the Context of Japanese Mountain Asceticsm

Mizon, Sally From Yantra to Divine Meditation: The Meaning and Function of Japanese Buddhist Images

Naito, Kenichi Japanese New Religions in Brazil: Anxieties and Strengths of Japanese New Religions

The SOAS MA Programme inJapanese Religion is the firstEuropean taught graduateprogramme devoted to thestudy of Japanese religions.The degree provides anoverview of Japanesereligion, both past andpresent, and supplies thetools of analysis for furtherresearch in the field. Thedegree comprises fourcomponents: three taughtcourses and a dissertationand may be completed in onecalendar year (full time), or intwo or three calendar years(part-time).

The programme centres around the course Religious Practicein Japan: Texts, Rituals and Believers, which presentsreligious phenomena in Japan in their historical context anddevotes attention to specific themes relevant for theunderstanding of the social aspects of Japanese religion andthe influence of religion upon Japanese culture.

Students have the opportunity to select other courses,depending on their specific interests and previousknowledge, in order to gain a more comprehensiveunderstanding of the characteristics of Japanese religion.Options include the study of Asian context, contemporarydevelopments outside Japan, and methodologies for theanalysis of religious phenomena.

Please note that two new courses directly related toJapanese religions have been recently created for theprogramme: East Asia Buddhist Thought is a thematic coursewhich every year explores one major form of JapaneseBuddhism, studying its specific doctrinal tenets, textualcorpus and characteristic forms of worship, and the influencethat it exerted on the culture of Japan; Directed Readings inJapanese Religions is a guided independent research projectwhich enables students to conduct an in-depth study of onespecific topic in Japanese religions.

A previous knowledge of the Japanese language is notrequired for entry in the programme. However, students witha sufficient knowledge of Japanese and an interest inapproaching primary sources will be able to take Readings inJapanese Religions. In addition, the degree offers languagecourses in modern Japanese. Students on the programmewill benefit from seminars, discussion groups, guestlectures, and international workshops organized by theCentre for the Study of Japanese Religions.

Application forms are available from the Faculty of Arts andHumanities, SOAS.

For further information on the programme see the SOAS webpages or contact the Director of Studies, Dr. Lucia Dolce,Room 334, ext 4217, email: [email protected]


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Yukiko Nishimura spoke on ‘Revisiting the Study of the Cultof Avalokitesvara in Japan’ Postgraduate Forum, SOAS, 14October.

Anna Schegoleva gave a talk on ‘Place for Imagination: IkaiPortrayed in the Ghost Stories of Japanese Youth’Postgraduate Forum, SOAS, 11 November.

Katja Triplett gave a lecture on “The discourse on wa orharmony in contemporary Japanese religions and society” atInternational Conference: Religious Harmony: Problems,Practice and Education, Yogyakarta and Semarang, Indonesia.September 28; spoke on “Human sacrifice in Japaneselegends” at the Centre for the Study of Japanese ReligionsSeminar, SOAS, London. October 10, 2004. Publication:Menschenopfer und Selbstopfer in den japanischenLegenden. Das Frankfurter Manuskript der MatsuraSayohime-Legende. Studies in Modern Asian Religions 2,Munster: Lit-Verlag, 2004.

Understanding BuddhismAsia House presents six lectures sponsored by The BagriFoundation

Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre

7th February - 14th March 2005

Admission Free

Thursday 17th February 7-8pm

Zen as the Practice of “Ordinary Mind”

This lecture will point to ways in which Zen thought andpractice, from Japan with roots in China, urges us to look forour Buddha Nature directly and in our everyday experiences.Because this is not easy to achieve Zen teachers havestressed meditation as the best means to realise theimmanence of Buddha Nature.

Professor Martin Collcutt (Professor of East Asian Studiesand History, Princeton University). Dr John Carpenter (SOAS),Chair.

Further details available: www.asiahouse.org

Members Research RelatedActivitiesMeri Arichi gave a talk on ‘Seven Stars of heaven and SevenShrines on Earth: Hokuto Shinsei and the Hie-Sanno Cult’ atthe CSJR symposium, Worship of Stars in Japanese ReligiousPractice, September 17th, SOAS.

Brian Bocking spoke about ‘MAP [Mysticism for AcademicPurposes] revisited in the light of "Experience" ' at the 50thanniversary conference of the British Association for theStudy of Religions, Oxford, September 2004; gave a talk on'New Directions in the Study of Shinto' at the Theology andReligious Studies Senior Seminar, University of Leeds,November 2004.

John Breen gave a paper on 'The stars of Tokugawa Japan' atthe CSJR symposium, Worship of Stars in JapaneseReligious Practice, September 16th; lectured on 'Yasukuni: asociological approach' at the Department of Religiousstudies, Stirling University, October 18th; presented aseminar paper on 'Tokugawa orientations: calendars and theircommentaries in pre Restoration Japan' at the HistoryDepartment seminar, Rice University, Houston, November 18;was presider and discussant on the panel 'Negotiating theboundaries of religion in modern Japan', at the AmericanAcademy of Religion annual conference, San Antonio,November 21; spoke about 'On Iemochi’s pilgrimage to Kyotoand the Komei administration' at the joint JRC/INALCOsymposium, SOAS, December 11th.

Lucia Dolce chaired the opening session of the internationalsymposium, The Worship of Stars in Japanese ReligiousPractice, SOAS, Sept 16-17; gave a lecture on "Nichiren andEsoteric Buddhism" at the Institute of Oriental PhilosophyEuropean Centre, Taplow Court, 6th November 2004; a talkon "Praying to kami and buddhas: illness and religiouspractice in Japan," for the Asia House exhibition Asia: BodyMind Spirit, 4 November 2004; took part in the London-Paris Seminar in Japanese Humanities, SOAS, 10-11December, 2004

Carla Tronu Montane was a participant in the Research Tripof the Japanese Folklore and Culture Research Association.Met with groups of Hidden Christians; visited places relatedto their history and religious practice (museums, shrines,memorial monuments, etc); attended a session of Oratio Kaiwith the Ikitsuki Hidden Christians, and a symposium on thepresent situation of Hidden Christians and current relatedtrends in Japanese research, Japan 30 October to 1November; attended the Annual Conference of the ChristianCulture Research Association at Sophia University, Tokyo. 5December.


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Information on Japanese Religions

The Renaissance of Japanese BuddhistArt and the Excellent Deeds of MonkChôgen

Miriam Chusid

This year the Toshiba lectures in Japanese art, organized bythe Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts andCultures in association with the British Museum and theJapan Society, had the great honor of presenting Dr John M.Rosenfield, professor emeritus at Harvard University and oneof the foremost scholars in the field of Japanese art historytoday. Professor Rosenfield gave a series of three lecturescollectively entitled The Renaissance of Japanese BuddhistArt and the Excellent Deeds of Monk Chôgen, which wereheld at the British Museum on November 12 and Nov. 15,and at Blackfriars’ Hall in Norwich on November 18th.

The monk Chôgen (1121-1206) possibly played the mostvital role in the reconstruction of Tôdaiji (the “Great EasternTemple”) by raising funds and coordinating the buildingefforts for the entire complex after a fire nearly burned it tothe ground in 1180. Professor Rosenfield’s lectures shedlight on this venerable character and effectivelycommunicated the importance of the rebuilding project, howthe temple was rebuilt, and how Chôgen consolidated anincredible amount of resources in order to carry out what wasperhaps the largest scale production in Japan at that time.

The first lecture, Rebuilding the Great Buddha of Tôdaiji,began by introducing Chôgen and his operative of overseeingthe rebuilding of the Daibutsu (Great Buddha), the centralcomponent of the temple’s construction. First built in theNara Period (710-794) at the behest of Emperor Shômu(r.724-49), Tôdaiji originally stood as the symbol of politicalauthority and the unification of the Buddhist order. Thetemple’s emblematic power centered on the Daibutsu, animage of Vairocana (J: Dainichi), which Shômu requested tobe gilded in gold and copper and housed in a hall of animmense scale unparalleled in Japan.

Professor Rosenfield explained that Chôgen, a Pure Landfollower, led most his life as a hijiri (itinerant monk) whopreached to the lower classes before his appointment tohead the rebuilding project. Chôgen also claimed to havevisited China on three separate occasions, being among thefirst to travel there to further his religious education.Professor Rosenfield argued that Chôgen’s experienceworking with the lay population led him to become anexcellent fundraiser. He founded several provincial templesthat not only served as bases for his fundraising activities,such as exorcisms and other religious services, but also theyacted as a gesture to secure the salvation of those whomade contributions of either funds or materials for thetemple’s rebuilding.

The Daibutsu has been rebuilt three times over the course ofhistory and the one that exists today is the product of theeighteenth century. Professor Rosenfield tried to recreatewhat the Daibutsu may have looked like under the auspicesof Chôgen. He first looked at images of Vairocana from the

Longmen caves in China, which Chôgen may have beenacquainted with, and compared them with relief carvingslocated underneath the petals of the Buddha’s lotus seatthat have survived since the Nara period. He also comparedarchitectural plans that revealed the size of the Daibutsu, andother eighth century sculptures from which it could have alsobeen modeled.

The second lecture, Portraits of Chôgen, focused on thesudden revival of descriptive realism that had been lostduring the eleventh century. Professor Rosenfield arguedthat the rebuilding of Tôdaiji gave impetus to recreate theNara style of sculpture that was reflective of Chinese stylerealism, but with added vitality that could capture theessence of the object, the sitter in the case of portraiture.He compared several sculpture-portraits of influential peoplewithin the Buddhist community and two in particular that wereboth made at the time of the sitter’s death: the first of thepriest Ganjin (688-763) made in the Nara period, and theother of Chôgen. He maintained that although both showelements of realism, Chôgen’s portrait shows insight into hischaracter. He is ever mindful of reciting the nenbutsu whilehandling his beads, even though his body appears to be weakand feeble.

The rain did not keep people away from the third lecture inNorwich entitled, Salvation in the Pure Land of the West.Professor Rosenfield spoke of Chôgen’s Pure Land devotionand the ways in which believers aspire to an auspiciousrebirth. He also expounded upon how Chôgen organized theconsiderable amount of labor involved in the reconstructioneffort, including the transportation of timber and otherbuilding materials brought to Nara from Western Honshu byship via the Inland Sea and local rivers. At the end of therebuilding project Chôgen conducted a massive ceremony toensure the salvation of some 12,000 people, all of whomcontributed in one way or another to the reconstruction ofTôdaiji.

Professor Rosenfield lectured with wit and enthusiasm; hecaptivated a diverse audience (at one point becoming soengrossed himself that he paused and took off his glasses toask if the audience was still there) and revealed a great dealabout a character who influenced the course of Japanesehistory.

Miriam Chusid is an MA candidate in Japanese Art History atSOAS.


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olce

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Report on the Discussion of the Reikikiat the Symposium of JapaneseIntellectual History

University of Kyoto, 31 October 2004

Anna Andreeva

On October 31, 2004, the University of Kyoto opened itsdoors to host the Symposium of Japanese IntellectualHistory. The first day was dedicated to the intellectual historyof the 1930s, whereas on day two there were a number ofpresentations divided into several panels.

One of the panels was dedicated to the emergence of theReikiki phenomenon, a collection of texts which are thoughtto be representative of the Ryôbu Shintô tradition.Researchers Mitsuhashi Tadashi, Honda Atsushi, AkatsukaYûdô and Sekiguchi Takashi presented fascinating papersconcerning various textual peculiarities within the Reikikicorpus and discussed the questions that arose during theirwork on the latter part of the collection.

The Mutsuhashi group’s work on Reikiki is extremelysignificant. The first step towards an understanding of thisimportant collection of texts was taken in 2001, whenHôzôkan published the first part as an annotated moderntranslation. Praise goes to Mitsuhashi Tadashi, MorimotoSensuke, Hara Katsuaki, Mori Mizue and Kadoya Atsushi fortheir invaluable contributions towards this publication.

At the recent Symposium in Kyoto, Mitsuhashi Tadashipresented his ideas on the phenomenon of Reikiki. Hediscussed the textual structure of several Reikiki versions aswell as the texts’ relation to esoteric ritualism in the form ofkanjô initiations. Another important point was made as towhat extent Shugendô practitioners might have possiblycontributed to the formation of the Reikiki tradition. Thediscussion of kami imagery and the construction ofmandalas, which appear in the Reikiki texts, was veryimpressive.

Honda Atsushi’s discussion of the sacred mirror of the TwoGrand Shrines of Ise, as seen in the Reikiki collection, wasbased on an analysis of Amaterasu kôtai jingû chinza shidaiand Toyuke kôtaijin chinza shidai, the two texts that appear inthe first parts of several Reikiki versions. His presentationfocused on the relationship between Reikiki and Ise Shinto aswell as that between Reikiki and the concept of the sacredmirror seen in other textual sources, such as Ruijû jingihongen.

The transmission of the Reikiki corpus in the esotericBuddhist environment, as well as the process of formationand transition of the Reiki kanjô, were discussed byAkatsuka Yûdô. The idea of the correlation of the elements inShingon praxis to the Reiki kanjô was the starting point ofAkatsuka’s argument. This was followed by a discussion ofthe process of the Reikiki transmission as seen through thetext Jingû hôhei jinbutsu itchi shô, and the Reiki kanjôinitiation as described in the “Private Account of theInitiations in Kami-Related Matters” (Jingi kanjô shiki) byTenkai. A number of transmission lineages, such as those ofSanbôin, Saidaiji and Murôji, were mentioned in regard to the

dissemination process of Reikiki ritualism.

The presentation by Sekiguchi Tadashi, dedicated to theenvisioning of the audience of the Reikiki texts, was the lastof this panel. Seen through the analysis of the non-officialhistorical dates, shinengô, which appear in the privatecommentaries on the Reikiki, such as Reikiki shishô, writtenby Ryôyo Shôgei (1341-1420), the existence of groups ofpeople who were actually on the receiving end of the Reikikiinitiations, becomes, if not clearly visible, than at least morediscernable.

A number of important discoveries about the nature oftransmission and the significance of the whole phenomena ofReikiki were made during this single session of the KyotoSymposium. It was regrettable that this session was poorlyattended. Surely, the members of the Reikiki research groupwould have appreciated the friendly advice and support offellow academics, especially now that the work on thecollection is at a crucial stage.

The complexity of the task undertaken by these researchersis testimony to their diligence and expertise. The fact thatsuch work is being successfully done and is in good progressis significant for many scholars of Japanese Religions, both inJapan and abroad. The recent discussions raised by theReikiki research group at the Kyoto Symposium will surelycreate a ground for the emergence of the next annotatedReikiki volume.


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Honkawa Kagura

Akiko Yanagisawa

Honkawa Kaugura is unique to Honkawa village, deep inmountains of Kochi Prefecture in Shikoku. Honkawa Kagurahas been performed annually for over 400 years, from theend of November to the beginning of December.

In 1980 Honkawa Kagura was designated a NationalImportant Intangible Folklore. Because of Honkawa’sremote location, the kagura performed there is close to anoriginal form. It comprises dances accompanied by music(cymbals and percussion). Dancers, chanting incantations,wear five different types of masks, which depict mountaingods. Some of the masks date to 1687, and one in theform of a monkey is unique to the region.

The performance serves as a means to invite the gods todescend, and commune with the village people. Throughdance the space is purified, and the gods are welcomed.The petitioners then engage in a celebration in which theydrink sake and dance with the deities. This is followed byprayers, and a dance-ritual for sending back the visitingdeities.

The Honkawa Kagura Group will be touring the UK from20th May to 4th June, as part of the Asian Music CircuitTour, a major promoter of traditional Asian music in the UK.Performances will include workshops on stage design andmusic, and an explanatory lecture about kagura, by Shintopriest Noritake Kanzaki, who is also an ethnologist. Thetroupe will be appearing on 22 May at the BathInternational Music Festival and at other venues in the UK.

Dr Lucia Dolce (SOAS) will speak on Japanese religion aspart of this event.

For information about other venues and activities, pleasecontact Ms Akiko Yanagisawa ([email protected])

CSJR Film Screening: Death and Rebirthin the Mountain: The Ascetic Training ofShugenja Practitioners in Japan.

A Report from a Member of the Audience.

Terumi Toyama

A most interesting and exciting documentary film on theAkinomine retreat of Haguro Shugendô! The film was inJapanese but Dr Sekimori’s simultaneous translation andexplanations enabled the audience to understand the filmeven though many did not understand Japanese. Thediscussion that followed was very lively and rewarding,continuing for around 25-30 minutes, and at the end therewere still people who wanted to ask even more questions.The audience seemed to have enjoyed the film very muchand were clearly excited by its content. There was greatinterest in the ideas, beliefs and practices of HaguroShugendô itself, as well as in its relationship to otherreligious groups. Questions were also asked about feelings,impressions and views of "insiders" and "outsiders" in thisgroup. The evening was an inspiring experience for all.

Terumi Toyama (SOAS) is a BA student in Art andArchaeology and the Study of Religions.


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Japanese Religions and Popular Culture

2005: Year of the Rooster

Janet Leigh Foster

As the Year of the Monkey swings away to the beat oftemple bells tolling throughout Japan, the Zodiac Roosterstruts onto the celestial stage to herald 2005. The roosteris tenth in the twelve-year lunar cycle of the Asian Zodiac inwhich each year is named for an animal. Like its namesakethat proclaims the dawn, and symbolizes procreation, theYear of the Rooster (toridoshi) portends to be fruitful anddynamic.

The rooster is synonymous with affluence; much of therelated iconography for this year will depict it with a basketthat is overflowing with money. The zodiac rooster’sconnotation as a harbinger of wealth is also evident in thedays and hours it governs. On rooster days in November,Japanese merchants flock to the Tori-no-ichi festival, topurchase rakes (kuma-de), lavishly decorated with emblemsof good luck and fortune. Thought to attract prosperity,merchants display them at business establishments. Asfortunes increase, so do the sizes of the rakes.

The correlation between the rooster and merchants is alsoreflected in the hours it governs. The rooster rules the timebetween 5 and 7 in the evening, when the marketplaceclears. Merchants, their cheeks still glowing from the ricewine (sake) consumed with lunch during the previous hours of the monkey, return like birds to their roosts.

Chickens and eggs symbolize generative forces, and aresometimes displayed as icons at shrines dedicated toShinto gods. They are also presented as offerings, either aseggs set out before the deity, or as kagura, a ritual ofsacred entertainment for Japanese deities. In the kaguraChicken Dance (tori mai), the creator gods, Izanami andIzanagi, are represented by dancers clad in elaboratechicken costumes. They spread their wings and circlearound a heavenly pillar, in a metaphor of Japan’sfoundation myth.

The rooster is associated with the sun, and appears withinthis context in another pivotal event, which took placeduring Japan’s mythological age. According to the Kojiki, achorus of chickens sang in accompaniment to the goddess,Ame-no-uzume and her troupe of Female Monkey Dancers(sarume) when they danced to lure the sun deity,Amaterasu, out of the cave in which she had sequesteredherself. The world had been in darkness until the revelryignited Amaterasu’s curiosity. When she peeked out of thecave, the sun shone once again.

Shrines dedicated to Amaterasu sometimes display an iconof the rooster, because of its connection to the sun, butthere is another Shinto deity, Koto-shiro-nushi , thought tohave a fondness for chickens. The Koto in the deity’s namesounds like kotoba, which means word in Japanese. Ratherthan being based on a textual reference, it is possible thatthis correlation is based on the rooster’s candor.

People born in the Year of the Rooster are noted for theirflamboyance and penchant for being outspoken. They bodewell in professions where their debating skills can be put togood purpose, like the media or academia. The rooster’sfrankness can lead to conflicts, but the offended partyneeds to carefully weigh the advantage of a retort. Theembodiment of yang energy, the rooster can be volatile. Itsdynamism is best employed to constructive ends, likebuilding a business, or involvement in humanitarianundertakings.

The kanji for the zodiac rooster is a pictograph of a bottle ofsake. Although the rooster does love a good party, it is sodesignated because sake is symbolic of fermentation. Long-term projects can come to fruition in the Year of theRooster. The rooster is, however, a stern taskmaster withno tolerance for slackers.

Since the rooster heralds the dawn, the start of 2005 isdoubly symbolic of regeneration. The enigma of the Year ofthe Rooster is that while it serves as a metaphor forbeginnings, it also stands for completion of long-termprojects. From New Years’ greeting cards to votive plaques(ema), and colorful statuettes, images of chickens will beabundant in Japan this year, serving as a reminder that thehen that appears to be resting on her nest, is actually atwork, hatching her eggs. Happy Rooster!

Janet Leigh Foster, Assistant to the Centre for the Study ofJapanese Religions, is a graduate of the MA JapaneseReligions course at SOAS. She is a freelance journalist andfine- arts photographer. (www.janetfoster.co.uk)


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© Janet Leigh Foster

The kanji for the Zodiac Rooster is apictograph of a bottle of rice wine (sake).

Images of the Rooster will be abundant in Japan this year.

csjr 11 140205 2/14/05 3:19 PM


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The CSJR wishesyou a Happy Year of the Rooster!

Photo by Anna Andreeva

Year of the Rooster votive plaque (ema) from Ise Jingu.

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Centre websiteCentre for the Study of Japanese ReligionsSchool of Oriental and African StudiesThornhaugh Street, Russell SquareLondon WC1 0XG

[email protected]/Centres/JapaneseReligions/

Chair Dr. Lucia Dolce, [email protected]

ExecutiveProfessor Brian Bocking, [email protected]. John Breen, [email protected]. Lucia Dolce, [email protected]

Associate membersAnna Andreeva, [email protected] Chi Ho Ivan Hon, [email protected] Horii, [email protected] Lobetti, [email protected] Nishimura, [email protected] Anna Schegoleva, [email protected] Carla Tronu Montane, [email protected] Triplett, [email protected]

Centre AssistantJanet Leigh Foster, [email protected]

Newsletter editorsLucia Dolce and Janet Leigh Foster

For information on the Centre and updates on events,please consult the Centre website.To be added to our electronic mailing list, and to send usyour comments, news and announcements, please e-mail:[email protected].


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Centre for the Study of

Japanese Religions

SOAS • Russell Square • London WC1H 0XG • Email: [email protected]

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