THE SHAMANIC AND ESOTERIC ORIGINS OF THE JAPANESE MARTIAL ARTS

TENGU THE SHAMANIC AND ESOTERIC ORIGINS OF THE JAPANESE MARTIAL ARTS

Tengu and a Buddhist monk, by Kawanabe Kyo¯sai. The tengu wears the cap and pom-pommed sash of a follower of Shugendo¯.

Now is the time to show the world those arts of war that I have rehearsed for many months and years upon the Mountain of Kurama _________ Words spoken by the Chorus in the No play ‘Eboshi-ori’ by Miyamasu (sixteenth century) They refer to the tengu training given to Ushiwaka Who later became the famous young general, Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune

TENGU The Shamanic and Esoteric Origins of the Japanese Martial Arts

By

ROALD KNUTSEN

TENGU The Shamanic and Esoteric Origins of the Japanese Martial Arts By Roald Knutsen First published 2011 by GLOBAL ORIENTAL PO Box 219 Folkestone Kent CT20 2WP UK Global Oriental is an imprint of Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints BRILL, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, and VSP. www.brill.nl/globaloriental © Roald Knutsen 2011 ISBN 978-1-906876-24-1 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

Set in Bembo 11 on 12 by Dataworks, Chennai, India Printed and bound in England by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, Wilts

This book is dedicated to Patricia for always being with me

Contents

Plate section facing page 132 Foreword List of Figures List of Plates List of Maps 1. Introduction 2. The Tengu 3. About Shamanism in the Present Context

• Shamanism • Examples of shamanic practices 4. Communing with the Gods

• The Drum and Mirrors • Shape-Shifting and Therianthropes • Initiatory Dreams 5. Origins

• Summary • The Three Han Commanderies, the Samhan • Kibi and the Yamato Settlement 6. Cultic Symbols

• • • •

The Deer Cult and the Tree of Life Iron Smithing Griffin Symbolism Armour, Weapons, and Divine Protection

7. The Transition from the Griffin to the Hawk and Crow 8. The Shaman and his Drum

• The ancient Sword Kashira

xi xix xxii xxiv 1 9 12 15 19 28 31 32 34 36 37 39 41 43 43 48 48 49 51 57 64

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CONTENTS

9. Shamanism and the Japanese Context

• Mastery of Fire and Internal Heat • Shape-shifting 10. Transition from the Ancient to the Medieval Period

• Attraction of the Mountains • En-no-Gyo¯ ja • The Proto-yamabushi 11. Introduction of the Buddhist Mikkyo¯

• The Hijiri Experience • Zao¯ -gongen 12. Were the ‘Protectors’ the Proto-Yamabushi?

• Sacred and ‘protected’ Mountains • The Zenki and Goki figures 13. Comparisons 14. An Alternative Origin for the Tengu 15. Apparitions

• • • • •

The Appeal of Marishi-ten Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune and Kurama-yama The Bishop’s Valley Yamabushi and Tengu in the early-Muromachi Period Tengu as Mounted Infantry?

16. Tengu Weapons and Other Items 17. Dai-tengu and Sho¯-tengu in the Iconography

• • • •

Shugendo¯ Honzon and Kurama Shinkage-ryu¯ Densho¯ Dai-tengu Figures: Sho¯-tengu Figures Two Final Honzon

18. Messenger of the Deities

66 68 69 72 76 78 81 84 86 88 89 90 96 100 104 108 111 112 113 116 117 119 126 126 128 130 134 138

• Huginn and Muninn, Messengers of Odin, and the Yatagarasu

• Observations 19. Bugei Tengu Iconography

• • • •

The So¯-jutsu Densho¯ (Name to follow) So¯ -jutsu Mokuroku Scroll – Edo-jidai The Shinkage-ryu¯ Tengu Two final Tora-no-maki and Densho¯

20. Marishi-ten and ‘Divine Assistance’

• • • •

Winged Therianthropic Figures The ‘Caped Wings’ Tentative Conclusions In-yo¯ -kigaku – The Interpretation of the Yin-yang in the Tao

140 141 144 145 148 150 152 155 158 159 161 164

CONTENTS

• • • •

ix

21. Tengu Revisited

166 171 175 177 183

Endnotes Glossary Bibliography Index

189 203 233 237

Tengu and the Ko-ryu¯ Influence of the Yamabushi The Okuden Levels The Lessons to be Drawn from the Tengu Figures

Foreword

T

engu have been one of my personal interests since I was first introduced to them some forty-five years ago. At first, like many others coming fresh to Kendo, I understood them to be fanciful creatures that appeared from time to time in fictitious stories from the extraordinarily rich Japanese folklore, a broad subject that also intrigued both my wife and myself. Soon, our insights were developed by various senior Kendo and Bujutsu masters who took the trouble, unusually, to explain something of the tengu’s significance in the warrior tradition. It became clear to us that these figures were a rather different kind of tengu from the tricksy ones who inhabited the imaginations of the usual secular or Buddhist strata of the Heian and medieval Japanese society, both high and low. Why should we find these therianthropic creatures, partanimal and part-human, interacting with deadly serious bugei masters in matters of the greatest importance to the study and understanding of the Arts of War? Here, emerging if only partially glimpsed, were beings who did not conform to the creatures of the common folklore and were not the creations of the Buddhist priests intent on demonizing that which they did not understand and, more significantly, could not control. These far more secretive tengu brought with them echoes and characteristics from a very distant past and, as it soon became apparent, evolved quite apart from their fanciful cousins of the folk beliefs. Of course, there was confusion between the two; this confusion giving rise to the centuries-old misconceptions and the tengu’s comic image in most quarters in the present day. Perhaps these fancies were deliberately introduced or fostered by the early bushi themselves? Who can tell? But the fact remains that the almost hidden tengu of the early bugei passed on and taught the clearest theory of tactics and strategy to warriors of the highest calibre, the absorption and mastery of which often decided if the warrior and his clan lived or were annihilated on the killing grounds of the Muromachi age (1392–1573). Why was it that the denigration of these tengu was solely in the hands of the annoyingly humourless priests

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and the especially high-ranking, self-important, stiff-necked Buddhist prelates, and of little concern to those of Shinto when the two existed close side-by-side? Why were many of these tengu, both in the folklore and the bugei, indistinguishable from the strange yamabushi of Shugendo¯? And, setting aside for the present a number of other questions, where did they come from in the first place? It is against this background that my interest developed. Perhaps it will be difficult for some to accept that without the foundation of close connections with Japanese culture and lacking access to much of the language except through translation, no ‘foreigner’ can possibly penetrate such an obscure subject. I can understand this viewpoint, of course; all I can state in reply is that my personal approach started from a broad interest in folklore of every type and especially ancient and early-medieval, and the realization that much of this folklore and attendant religious beliefs, was linked to the ancient tribal migrations across and from the Eurasian steppe. In addition, over the past forty or more years I have visited and travelled extensively throughout Japan and have taken every opportunity to broaden my knowledge. Furthermore, the structure of ‘traditional’ Kendo and that of the ko-ryu¯ disciplines in particular, have changed comparatively little since the end of the Edo period. As I have said, it was curiosity about these unusual beings that drove me to delve deeper and finally inspired this study. To find these tengu described (and dismissed) on the one hand as mere imps and forest goblins irked me, to say the least, when on the other hand it was clear that very many hard-headed masters of strategy took them very seriously indeed. These two aspects, almost diametrically opposed, only found common ground in the mundane fact that most tengu – long-nosed or hawk-faced – were popularly visualized as resembling, or clothed like, yamabushi. This, in itself, was an oddity that required examination. Ranged on one side, then, were the Buddhists with their stories of tengu impudence, first appearing in collections dating from the mid- or late-Heian; on the other side were the deadly serious tengu of the bugei, acknowledged masters of the Arts of War and instructing warriors in a huge range of highly original interpretations contained in the great Chinese military philosopher Sun Tzu’s Ping-fa, or ‘Art of War’, written sometime around the fourth century BCE. oOo My regular military service with the Colours was in Egypt and Libya with sufficient time to read the general histories of the whole region from the Near East to the Far East and especially Japan. In the 1950s, China was still closed to foreigners, and so, like a number of others interested in oriental art and history, I turned my attention towards medieval Japan. Friendship and guidance from the late Basil Robinson of the Victoria and Albert Museum was invaluable and soon resulted in what proved

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to be a very fortunate introduction to that brilliant specialist in arms and armour, H. Russell Robinson, of the Royal Armouries. Over the following five or six years I spent many study sessions under the latter’s often abrasive tutelage to increase my understanding of many aspects of samurai culture and especially their use of polearms. It was Russell Robinson who first explained the close connection between Japanese folklore, the sankaku-shinko¯, as it is largely termed now, and the warrior development from its obscure origins to its zenith in the late sixteenth century. He also provided me with the incentive and determination to establish proper contact with Japanese Kendo as it reappeared following the Allied Occupation (1945-52). One of Russell Robinson’s firmly held opinions was that the Japanese weapons culture stemmed or originated far to the west in the region of western and central Asia covered by what was anciently Royal Scythia. It was from the peoples who inhabited the area of north-eastern Iran in the late Persian Empire that came significant early spear, sword and arrow-head forms that can be traced as they spread away from the region eastwards across the northern side of the Gobi then were carried further and down through the Korean peninsular to finally reach ancient Japan. Not only can this be seen in the iron weapon design forms but also in the construction of armour that may even have originated in plate and lamella form in Roman times. Together with this weapons technology, based partly on superior iron-smithing, came expertise in the use of the weapons by mounted warriors and, even more significantly for the present study, the rich strata of ‘folk beliefs’ that clearly were present in these historic times across the broad swathe of the Eurasian steppe. Early in the 1960s another fortuitous contact came in the form of regular correspondence with an American Professor of Korean and Japanese history, Dr Benjamin H. Hazard, Ph.D., who at that time held the rank of go-dan in Kendo (now nanadan Kyoshi), who proved of immense importance to the understanding of proper Kendo here in Europe – a debt that should be freely acknowledged by all present students. Dr Hazard was put in touch with us through his Iai mentor, Tanaya Masami Hanshi, and Yano¯ Ichiro¯ Hanshi, the latter remaining a staunch friend until he passed away. I also remember with gratitude the wide-ranging conversations I had with Donn Draeger and his invaluable introductions that have proved so productive over nearly four decades. The significance of the ancient Chinese ‘Seven Military Classics’, which include the writings of Sun Tzu and Sun Pin, was explained to me in the mid-1970s and 1980s during several visits to traditional Kendo in northern Kyushu, although I had long been familiar with the former’s Ping-fa through my earlier studies in ko-ryu¯ Bujutsu. My mentor was Dr Kuroki Toshihiro, Ph.D., Professor of History at Saga University and nanadan Kendo, who considered it very important that if proper Kendo was to be established abroad, meaning in Europe, then there

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must be a deep understanding of the roots from which these warrior traditions sprang. Kuroki sensei, along with Dr Hazard, hugely helped in these studies, the former holding the firmest belief, based on his own researches, that these earliest roots came from the sankaku-shinko¯, in particular that these can still be seen in the weaponed dances that form part of many matsuri, or festivals. These, in turn, led to development by the proto-yamabushi of, for example, the use of the long stave into So¯-jutsu, the art of the spear. Confirmation of this came from another dai-sensei, Arai Shigeo¯ Kyoshi, hachidan Kendo, in his personal teaching to myself and my wife over a period of seventeen years. I feel that it is important to acknowledge these early influences on our careers in Kendo because of their significance for my associated Japanese studies. In trying to come to grips with the earliest beginnings of the bushidan it became apparent that one had to read in some depth the earliest Japanese chronicles that date from the early eighth century and try to relate these often distorted ‘records’ with Korean and TransBaikal tribal ‘history’ as it entered and was absorbed in ancient Japan. I am also indebted to one of my former Kendo students, Tienshen Egan, for her considerable help in finding literary sources and analytic discussion over at least two decades. The writings of Dr Carmen Blacker, and correspondence with her, also had great significance in understanding something of the esoteric background, without which I am convinced the rest comes to naught. I have the greatest admiration for Dr Blacker who not only studied metaphysical Japan academically but also, uniquely in the 1950s, took the trouble to visit almost alone many remote mountain locations. I, too, have followed in part many of her steps off the beaten track and have encountered over my last two visits echoes of the deep impression she left behind in at least two centres of Shingon and Shugendo¯. It was she who suggested that I should try to find the hidden cults associated with the strange yatagarasu and possible secret levels followed by some yamabushi that existed certainly to the end of the Sengoku-jidai. Returning to the question of the origin of the tengu, I have considered the possible source of these particular folk beliefs. After all, from most viewpoints these are very strange therianthropic creatures. The first suggestion commonly advanced suggests that they came originally from China or even India. Their supposed ability to fly is associated with shooting stars and dragons. They might also have come from the fertile imaginations of early-medieval priests who sought to explain things beyond their ken in terms of symbolic creatures. Such symbolism was often fanciful to an extreme, but colourful and satisfying to all. The earliest Chinese Buddhist attribution dates from around the tenth century. A century or so ago an early Western folklorist who lived in both China and Japan, Marius de Visser, seemed certain that these tengu were known much earlier than that. So where else should the researcher

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look? There seemed to be no route in the prehistoric connections that may have reached north to Japan from South-east Asia and Polynesia. There might have been some trace in the suggested migration of tribes from north-eastern Siberia into Sakhalin and Hokkaido. The ancient chronicles, the Kojiki and the Nihon-Shoki, were written down primarily to legitimize the Yamato ‘right to rule’ rather than with any strict regard to historical accuracy. Whilst they recorded in some complex way the ancient deity-myths, their lasting function was to underpin the emerging shrine-Shinto with a mythical or semi-legendary deity pantheon based largely on the conflicting sankaku-shinko¯ and to some extent in opposition to the emerging Buddhist teachings that came from China and now rooting in late Yamato Japan. Here and there were remembered in part a small number of events that had occurred centuries earlier during the period of the first tentative incursions into the Yayoi territories. Some of these kept alive vivid memories of various traumatic events. These usually concerning the main Puyo¯-Kayan incursions from the Korean peninsula that eventually led to the usurpation of the archipelago by the aggressive technologically powerful Puyo¯ chieftains who soon established their hegemony and founded the Yamato rule. A much more likely origin for the tengu creatures seems to lie with these usurping ‘horseriders’. Not only can we discern traces in the folk beliefs but we can also take these back to the ancient beliefs prevalent amongst the peoples of Central Asia. These tribes roamed the enormous area of the central steppe and we shall call them here by the Chinese appellation of the ‘Hsiung-nu’ despite the fact that they were very far from a cohesive people. However, disparate as they were, some of these tribes were truly nomadic and travelled vast distances from east to west and back again - from the Danube to the coast of the Sea of Japan, carrying with them or absorbing many influences and materials from the rich and more stable cultures they encountered. Their paths encompassed the ancient Silk Roads, the great highways of cultural exchange. The loose confederation of nomadic tribes that we term the Hsiungnu came into contact in ancient times with numerous peoples whose territories, if that is the correct description, lay just north of the Caspian Sea, eastwards past the Aral Sea and as far as Lake Balkhash, north of the Tien-shan mountain chain. Amongst these peoples were the Alans and the Sarmatians (Scythian) to the west; the Parthian tribes of northern Iran to the south; the Sogdians of the Upper Oxus River; and the tribal groups in the Ferghana region south of Balkhash. All of these peoples added to the important martial technologies that eventually reached the Korean peninsular and then Japan in the centuries at the beginning of what we call the Christian era. One good example, referred to earlier, was the appearance in fourth-century Japan of the lamella body armour and the ovoid plate helmets that may well have originated in the region of the Saka and Alans on the southern margins of the Russian

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steppe. The single-edged straight longswords favoured by the Sassanians are mirrored in ancient Japan, brought by the martial Puyo¯ horseriding tribes as they swept east and south from the Sungari through the satellite Chinese ‘states’. These same peoples carried with them from the nomadic Turkik tribes the strong ancient beliefs and practices of shamanism together with a wide range of symbolism connected with these beliefs in the Upper World of spirits. These Turkik tribes were centred particularly in the area of the Altai mountains of northern Mongolia and southern Siberia, home of the earlier Pazyryk culture in the latter half of the first millennium BCE. Once these ‘foreign’ beliefs reached Japan and intermingled with those of the earlier hunter-gathering Jomon and the largely agrarian Yayoi settlers, they seem to have been rapidly absorbed. The Jomon tribes had spread through the archipelago since the end of the last Glacial period around 10,000 BCE, and had lived on the rich game in Kyushu and most of southern and central Honshu¯, possibly even fusing with the prehistoric settlers who probably crossed from north-eastern Siberia into the northern islands before the rising seas swallowed a possible land-bridge. These tribes later became known as the Yezo¯ or Ainu. The Yayoi culture, characterized by wet-rice cultivation and many animistic religious beliefs, may have reached Japan as the result of the violent strife during the Chinese Warring States period, the fourth and third centuries BCE, when many desperate refugees sought safety across the seas to the Ryu¯kyu¯ islands and southern Japan. The Yayoi period, approximately covering the six centuries from 300 BCE to 300 CE, added many what are termed ‘Earth’ deities to those already established by the Jomon, now retreating to the jumbled mountain regions. This process of amalgamation eventually gave rise to what is now termed the incredibly complex sankaku-shinko¯, or ‘mountain religion’ that included ancient Shinto and was further complicated as shrines dedicated to these vastly numerous deity spirits began to formalize some of the beliefs in the seventh and eighth centuries. Despite the present ultra-modern veneer of Japan, these ‘primitive’ customs still underlie this ordered society everywhere. When the Puyo¯-Kayan ‘land-takers’ commenced to usurp and dominate the less organized Yayoi farming communities in earnest in the fifth century, their own beliefs, some of which were similar to those they found, underwent the same age-old characteristic process of ‘Japanization’ but we can still clearly discern these in a ‘Heavenly’ pantheon in Shinto. The Puyo¯ leaders, in deciding to leave their homelands west of the Sungari, brought with them a number of subservient and enslaved groups who had their own ancestral beliefs that eventually enriched the sankaku-shinko¯, but the Puyo¯ leaders adhered to their own mythology and took steps to establish their solar pantheon, thus reinforcing their ‘right to rule’. It seems quite possible that most of the shamanic practices prevalent amongst the Turkik tribes within the Hsiung-nu also reached

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Japan with the usurpers and eventually became an integral characteristic of the proto-yamabushi. The predecessors of these mountain warriorshaman first appear to have withdrawn from direct subservience to the Yamato chieftains, probably surviving because they were few in number and small groups were spread out over several widely separated mountain regions. Presenting no actual threat, they escaped the usual extirpation meted out to others by the Yamato. Soon these proto-yamabushi coalesced in the role of armed ‘protectors’ to the many Taoist magicians and later Buddhist ascetics who increasingly sought solitude in the same wilderness. Here, again, my early studies, guided by Professor Kuroki and others, suggested a hitherto seemingly unexamined area where the concept of the tengu may have been directly linked to the mythical griffin, described as living in the remote eastern part of Scythia by the great Greek historian, Herodotus. This creature, thought to be a winged eagle-headed lion, the ‘protector of its young and gold’, attacker of horses, has given rise to many interesting and long-lasting myths across the entire Eurasian landmass and its image metamorphosed in time to become associated in part with the raven and the crow and to warriorshamanic symbolism. In the year 2000, Adrienne Mayor published her deeply interesting study, The First Fossil Hunters (Princeton U.P.) and its impact was a revelation, particularly in her linking the lateCretaceous Protoceratops fossils of the northern Gobi with the ancient myths of the griffin. Many shamanic symbols from Central Asia appear in Korea and Japan and noteworthy are the distinctive pommels, or kashira, found on the hilts of some straight swords dating from the fourth and fifth centuries CE where the griffin imagery is unmistakable. In the process of ‘Japanization’ we also find the curious threelegged crow, the yatagarasu, and its associated mysteries that are still to be found today in the important group of Kumano shrines and deep within Shugendo¯, where it is also conflated with lasting beliefs linking crows with the yamabushi and the secretive cult of the Central Asian war-goddess, Ma¯ r¯ı c¯ı ( Jap. Marishi-ten). Of course, the tengu traditions are indeed mixed and it is probable that a number of ancient beliefs became fused together even before they reached Japan. Nevertheless, the warrior and shamanic characteristics to be found in the tengu of the martial culture, the bugei, set these creatures completely apart from any Buddhist imaginings and the folklore. This argument rests on the totally different nature of the function that these tengu performed in the martial philosophy of the Muromachi and their deadly serious role in transmitting the highly secret understanding of the Art of War. Throughout my studies, and expressly here in this thesis, I have been constantly reminded of Sun Tzu’s opening dictum in the Ping-fa, that: ‘War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it

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be thoroughly studied.’ The tengu of the bugei, descended from the Altai and within the keeping of the ‘wild’ yamabushi, cannot be dismissed as mere ‘imps’ or ‘goblins’. Most of the authorities, academic or highly placed in the warrior tradition, and I would like to acknowledge the insight provided me by the late Yuno¯ Masanori Hanshi, have now passed away, but I hope that they would, collectively, approve of this study although I am certain they would advance constructive criticism and suggest further pathways. Amongst many others, connected with Kendo within our Renmei, who have helped and encouraged, I particularly wish to thank Phil and Kinyo Jupp, Steve and Naomi Phillips, for the necessary translations from often difficult Japanese; Roger Dean for his unflagging moral enthusiasm over many years. Also, I must not forget the background support on the computer side and reading my text by Ric Bithell without which the project might have remained dormant and for the great help given by Denise Knutsen, my daughter-in-law, with the editing. To my publisher, Paul Norbury, I am deeply grateful, especially for his faith, (or should that be indulgence?), in my manifest eccentricities. I express my debt to those Kendo masters of high rank already mentioned and many other Kendo friends across Japan. Above all, I thank my wife for her unfailing support in the Kendo do¯jo¯ and bringing my feet back to terra firma when necessary, which is probably quite often. Thank you all. Roald M. Knutsen, Lewes, East Sussex, England

List of Figures Frontispiece Tengu and a Buddhist monk, by Kawanabe Kyo¯sai. The tengu wears the cap and pom-pommed sash of a follower of Shugendo¯. Fig. 1 Hawk-headed tengu from the Taisha-ryu¯. Fig. 2 Haniwa figure of a female shaman. Fig. 3a The Yatagarasu or Three-legged Sun-Crow from Koguryo¯. Fig. 3b Go¯-o¯ho¯-in. Paper talisman with many yatagarasu forming the kanji characters for the Kumano Hongu taisha, Wakayama-ken. Fig. 4 Two ‘Tree of Life’ crowns (left and centre) and antler crown decoration. Fig. 5 Hsiung-nu archer with antlered cap. Fig. 6 The development of the kuwagata horns and mabesashi plate from the ancient ‘tree of life’ crowns found across Central Asia reaching southern Korea and Japan during the Kofun period. Fig. 7 Griffin motifs in Puyˇo-Kayan sword kashira. Left: Single head. Right: Double head. Fig. 8 A shamanic rite based on a Yayoi period incised ceramic shard in the Museum of the Archaeological Institute at Kashihara, Nara-ken. The shard clearly depicts a birdcostumed shaman. It is echoed in the Roman tessellated pavement mosaic found at the Brading Villa on the Isle of Wight, where a shaman is unmistakably represented wearing just such a headdress. Fig. 9 Skull of a protoceratops (male) based on fossil remains found in the Gobi (left). Conjectured living protoceratops (right). Fig. 10 Ascetics entering a trance state. Fig. 11 Various Bura from Inner Asia and Japan. Fig. 12 More detailed reconstruction drawing of the Gion Kofun kabuto¯ (sixth century). Fig. 13 Bura symbols from Inner Asian drums and Yayoi Japan. Fig. 14 Ritual lustration basin, Asuka Kashihara Museum, Nara-ken: c. seventh Century and Yayoi and Turkik turtle bura. Fig. 15 Modern logo depicting two yatagarasu for the Kumano HoguTaisha, Wakayama-ken.

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figs 16 and 17 Kami-no-sumo¯ – wrestling with the kami in order to ensure that the Ta-no-kami intercedes to give an abundant rice crop. Fig. 18 Wooden statue of the ‘founder’ of Shugendo¯, En-no-gyo¯ja (thirteenth century). Fig. 19 A Founder Ascetic, a Votive Image and a Yamabushi. Fig. 20 Statue of No¯jo Taishi, the founder of Haguro-san, Ko¯taku-ji, Yamagata-ken. Fig. 21 Zensho¯, founder of Hikosan, and the hunter Fujiwara Ko¯yu¯, Hikosan Jingu¯, Fukuoka-ken. Fig. 22 Edo period woodcut representation of a tengu-yamabushi. Fig. 23 Dignitary seated with bird-headed attendant (Chinese: late Han, second century CE). Fig. 24 Three flying demons, thought to possibly represent Chinese tengu. Fig. 25 Spectacular Honzon. A large honzon replete with Shugendo¯ tengu figures including the sun, new and full moon symbols, the go¯ma blazing up in the centre, two dai-tengu and many (fifteen in total) sho¯-tengu. Fig. 26 Dai-tengu from a ko-ryu¯ Densho¯. Dai-tengu seated on a campstool dressed in yoroi-hitatare and carrying a saihai, the paper whisk used for signalling on the battlefield. Fig. 27 Honzon depicting the Eight Great Tengu masters. Fig. 28 Honzon of winged dai-tengu barring the mountain path. Fig. 29 Fudo¯-Myo¯-o¯ as a tengu. Honzon showing Fudo¯-Myo¯-o¯ in the guise of a winged tengu standing on the back of a bounding fox. Fig. 30 A splendid and animated representation of Marishi-ten from the Kurama Shinkage-ryu¯ densho¯. Fig. 31 Winged tengu instructing in So¯-jutsu (the Art of the Spear) from unidentified So¯-jutsu densho¯. Fig. 32 Top: Yamabushi instructing in So¯-jutsu. Middle: Tenguyamabushi instructing with yari. Bottom: Beaked sho¯-tengu instructing in kenjutsu. Fig. 33 Yamabushi-tengu from Taisha-ryu¯ densho¯. A portrait of a determined and serious winged dai-tengu dressed as a yamabushi, about to draw his tachi with a strong ‘earth-to-sky’ Iai-jutsu technique. Fig. 34 Tengu from the Shinkage-ryu¯ tora-no-maki. Fig. 35 Taoist symbolism of ying and yang (jutsu and ri in the Bugei) expressed by the sun and the new and full moon with or without clouds (top left). The seven stars of the Big Dipper (top right). The Shingan-ryu¯ tora-no-maki shows how the sun and moon symbols, but with the addition of the yatagarasu and a running hare, have respectively and associated with tengu kenshi. Fig. 36 Shu-ha-ri expressed by some Kenshi using the metaphor of the stages of growth from a small seedling to a great tree.

LIST OF FIGURES

xxi

Fig. 37 Marishi-ten, the female war deity, expressed with Buddhist attributes (as Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯) seated on a running fox; and a woodcut illustration of a wandering yamabushi, fully armed and carrying his oi, or portable altar (Edo period). Fig. 38 Small selection of figures from a Tora-no-maki. Line illustrations of various kata forms with longswords and (here) a naginata, ¯ -tora-no-maki, possibly the Kashima Shinto-ryu¯ from a ko-ryu¯ O (Shinpu or Shinto-ryu¯ ?) (sixteenth century). Fig. 39 Yamabushi-tengu kabuto¯ and menpo¯. From the latter half of the sengoku period and throughout the Edo period, warriors liked to indulge their fantasies by adding grotesquely decorated helmets and face protectors to their armour.

List of Plates Plate 1 Tengu swordsman from menjo¯ of Taisha-ryu¯, early-Edo¯ period. Plate 2 Tengu instructing Ni-to¯ swordsman. Shinkage-ryu¯, early-Edo¯ period. Plate 3 Another tengu giving instruction. Shinkage-ryu¯, early-Edo¯ period. Plates 4 and 5 Two views of a female shaman in the late-Yayoi period, wearing antlers, a feathered headdress and holding a bronze do¯ taku ‘bell’. Suggested reconstruction in the Hyo¯go-ken Archaeological Museum, Harima-shi. Plate 6 A yamabushi performing ritual ‘tengutobi’ (run and leap) with sleeves flying. The technique of tengu-tobi is preserved as a standing jump accompanied by ‘drawing sword’ (Iai-jutsu) in the Hasegawa Shigenobu- ryu¯ transmission, late-Muromachi period, amongst several other traditions. Plate 7 The famous and spectacular Nachi Falls, Wakayama-ken. This 133m cascade is often called the ‘Three Sword Falls’. It has been thought sacred throughout Japanese history. Plate 8 Remote mountain cave in the Yoshino region, anciently the refuge of a Taoist gyoo¯ja hermit in the sixth or seventh century. Plate 9 Early-Yamato period sword hilt, the kashira displaying a griffin head, intaglio. Plate 10 Griffin head, intaglio, on early-Yamato period sword kashira. Plate 11 The imposing Zao¯-do¯ hall in the Kimpusen-ji temple, Yoshinoyama, Nara-ken, The temple complex is the ‘home’ of the Yoshino branch of Shu¯gendo¯. Plate 12 Statue of Zao¯-gongen in characteristic threatening posture. Plate 13 Small wayside shrine to En-no-Gyo¯ja, the supposed founder of Shu¯gendo¯. Yoshino-yama, Nara-ken. Plate 14 Statue of Zenki crouching at the foot of En-no-Gyo¯ja., Kiyomizu-jinja, Yoshino-yama. The ‘protector’ is armed with a large axe. Plate 15 Statue of Goki crouching at the foot En-no-Gyo¯ja. He graspss in his hand a sacred gourd to sustain his master if required.

LIST OF PLATES

xxiii

Plates 16 and 17 Two armoured winged tengu displaying unusual sword postures. The lower tengu is drawn with what appears to be a ‘winged cape’. Shingan-ryu¯ tora-no-maki, mid-Edo¯ period. Plates 18–20 Kashima Shinto¯-ryu¯ swordsmen demonstrating different postures. Kashima-jingu, Ibaragi-ken, (1976). Plate 21 A self-portrait of the famous kenshi, Miyamoto Musashi. EarlyEdo¯ period.

List of Maps Map 1 East Asia and Japan. Map 2 Puyo-Kayan ˇ Routes from Korea into Japan; also the conjectural movements from Silla to Suwa to Kashima, Hitachi-no-kuni. Map 3 Western Japan showing Kibi and Asuka.

Map 1 East Asia and Japan.

LIST OF MAPS xxv

SETO

S

K HI

OK

U

HARIMANADA

TSURUGI-SAN 1893 m

(OKAYAMA)

KIBI

DAISEN 1729 m

ICHIZUCHI-SAN 1982 m

NAIKAI

OYAMAZUMI TAISHA

– IZUMO-OYASHIRA

AW AJ

I

ATAGO-YAMA 924 m

HIEI-ZAN

NARA

KURAMA YAMA

NACHI TAISHA

KUMANOTAISHA

ISE JINGU

N

Scale

15 (1:800,000)

0

30 m

WESTERN JAPAN showing KIBI and ASUKA

HATAKEYAMATAISHA

YOSHINO

ASUKA

– HORAIJI

SUWA-KO

Map 2 Puyo-Kayan ˇ Routes from Korea into Japan; also the conjectural movements from Silla to Suwa to Kashima, Hitachi-no-kuni.

IYO-NADA

MIYAJIMA

– SUO NADA

HIDE-HIKO YAMA 1200 m

H U–

BI W AKO

O AT M IN YA AS B

KY – US

xxvi LIST OF MAPS

xxvii

.

LIST OF MAPS

SUN G A RI

R

ˇ PUYO

MU 286 RO NG

286

– (HOKKAIDO) – YEZO

PA

U

NI

ACH I

H

-KO

O

S

HIT

SILLA

(WA) KAYA

H

N

-NO

47 E EK

CH

HO

C OK

5

ˇ KOGURYO

SUWA

4 c.

FJUI-SAN BIWA-KO

KASHIMA

UMO

TSUSHIMA 5c .

IZ

KIBI ASUKA

OKU

KYU– SHU–

SHIK

Land of Kumanu

5 - 6 c.

Map 3 Western Japan showing Kibi and Asuka.

N

ˇ -KAYAN ROUTES PUYO from KOREA into JAPAN also the conjectural movements from Silla to Izumo to Suwa to Kashima, Hitachi-no-kuni.

1

Introduction

M

arius de Visser considered that the tengu was a creature older than Buddhism. A century ago he wrote:

In my opinion there existed, long before Buddhism came to Japan, an original Japanese demon of the mountains and woods, having the shape of a bird.

He continues that later this ‘demon’ was identified by Buddhist priests with the Garuda, the Indian supernatural bird.2 He may have reached this opinion based on the earliest entry in the ancient Japanese chronicles to mention the ‘Celestial Dog’, interpreted by W. G. Aston as meaning the tengu. This is in the Nihon Shoki (Ch.XXIII) for the year 637 CE, during the reign of the Emperor Jomei. The entry reads: 9th year, Spring, 2nd month, 23rd day. A great star floated from East to West, and there was a noise like that of thunder. The people of that day said that it was the sound of the falling star. Others said that it was earththunder. Hereupon the Buddhist Priest Bin said: ‘It is not the falling star, but the Celestial Dog, the sound of whose barking is like thunder.’

Aston notes: The Classic of the Mountains and Seas (a very ancient Chinese book) says: ‘At the Heaven-gate-mountain there is a red dog, called the Celestial Dog. Its lustre flies through Heaven, and as it floats along becomes a star of several tens of rods (sic) (10 feet) in length. It is as swift as the wind. Its voice is like thunder, and its radiance like lightning.’ The Celestial Dog is a group of seven stars near the zodiacal constellation (Cancer). Giles says that it is in Argo. The interlinear Kana has Ama no Kitsune, or the Celestial Fox.

2

TENGU The Celestial Dog, or Tengu, of modern Japanese superstition is a winged creature in human form with an exceedingly long nose, which haunts mountain-tops and other secluded places. It is a favourite subject with artists.

This Japanese reference, heavily embroidered with Chinese superstition, sets the tone for most of the Buddhist ‘demonization’ of the tengu that was to emerge four centuries later. While this lies firmly in the realms of fantasy it demands a more rational and objective examination of these so-called ‘mythical’ creatures. It is the aim of the present study, knowing full-well that the roots lie outside written history and the ægis of the support material normally demanded, to try to suggest a rational development pathway that may explain the extraordinary importance given these tengu in underpinning much of the core martial inspiration of the medieval Japanese warrior. For far too long even serious mention of these beings has been limited, at the very most, to a paragraph or two, or worse, a mere footnote by scholars, they being described as ‘impish forest spirits’ or ‘goblins’ – mythical imaginings hardly worthy of serious study even by folklorists. A few researchers have noted the very clear differences between the mythic tengu of religious superstition and the spiritually ‘tangible’ tengu of the warrior culture. oOo I have personally been interested in the tengu for more years than I care to remember, coming to them from my experience in the old Kendo traditions and the good fortune to train under a number of ‘old-fashioned’ Japanese master swordsmen whose interests lay deeper in their cultural background than we usually encounter in the present day. When, at length, I began to probe deeper than mere curiosity I soon reached the same opinion as the great folklorist quoted above. Marius de Visser came to Japanese folklore with a background based on the similar traditions found in Chinese culture. He collected and collated many stories and legends, not only concerned with the tengu but also tanuki (badgers), kitsune (foxes), inu (dogs), neko (cats), etc., from the oral traditions of the late-Meiji period and from numerous written sources dating back to the Heian era (784–1181). While the tengu accounts are of great value, they mainly deal with those legends seen from the Buddhist viewpoint and almost entirely missed the second, equally large, corpus of material connected to or pertaining to the warrior traditions. Such of these latter tengu traditions that were noted were amalgamated with the Buddhist folklore and their proper place unrecognized. I have referred to this lacuna elsewhere in my published works but I think it worth repeating since it was an important opportunity lost when so many well-educated former samurai master-swordsmen might have provided posterity with a veritable treasure-house of warrior traditions. However, this missed chance is entirely understandable when one considers that very many

INTRODUCTION

3

former swordsmen had been dispersed after the 1877 civil war and had often fallen on hard times in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, quitting forever their ‘archaic’ heritage due to the pressing need to survive in the new order. Those masters who did resume the ‘Ways’ after their revival and introduction into the late-Meiji education structures at the very end of the century, such as Kendo, Naginata-do¯ and other martial systems, were still jealously proud of their traditions and without proper introductions may well have viewed enquiries into matters concerned with the bugei ‘inner teachings’ as presumptuous, even impertinent, particularly if they came from a ‘foreigner’. Those classical masters of the ko-ryu¯ who re-started at the same time, if, indeed, they had ever ceased practice in the short twenty-year hiatus period, would have held the same views, I am quite sure. The collector, de Visser, would have needed perseverance together with the correct and vital high-level introductions, to pose the right questions. That was more than a century ago when these tengu traditions were still alive; how much harder it is now in the early years of the twenty-first century when the Japanese background has so completely modernized and such archaic things of the past are regarded as relatively unimportant and passé. Around the end of Meiji, as noted above, there may have been many former kenshi with a deep fount of knowledge of the tengu beliefs within the then surviving ko-ryu¯ traditions; now, after a number of conflicts, particularly the disaster of the Second World War and the huge change of direction imposed by the Allied Occupation in that war’s aftermath, many older ko-ryu¯ teachers - the third or fourth generation after their samurai forefathers - are now passing away. Their sons, in their turn, only remember some of the oral teachings, probably increasingly neglecting those pertaining to the female war-deity, Marishi-ten and her ‘messengers’,3 until in the present day, questions regarding these matters are generally met with blank looks and even a slightly embarrassed degree of humour.4 It is a sobering thought that since 1877, the last Japanese civil war, and the present day, more that ninety per cent of the ko-ryu¯ active in the feudal period have become extinct, and that is in all traditional budo¯.5 Returning to de Visser’s conviction of the antiquity of these tengu beliefs and the later writings of that other major authority in the field describing the ‘projections of the other world’ in Japan, Professor Carmen Blacker, and her experiences during prolonged personal research studies and travels in Japan during the 1950s,6 I would add here something of my own feelings whilst wandering in a number of these once tengu-infested mountains. My encounters have been limited to brief visits to Hidehiko¯yama in Kyushu, the Tama River mountains adjacent to the Chichibu National Park, a visit to Daisen in Tottori-ken, and deeper experience of the Yoshino-Kumano region in southern Nara and Wakayama-ken, all famous for their associations with both the Shugendo¯ yamabushi and

4

TENGU

the tengu. Like Professor Blacker, who recounts a strange encounter on the steeply forested slopes of Kurama-yama, north of Kyo¯to, I feel that anyone having a serious sympathetic interest in medieval Japan cannot escape such deep personal feelings, it matters little whether they be objective or subjective. They stem from what may be the subconscious primordial beliefs inherited from our own ancestors in the unexplained powers of nature. These feelings lie at the roots of ancient animism and are beliefs that coloured the foundation of many pagan religions for long ages before the rise, whether we like to admit it or not, of the more ordered but equally influenced great theologies of the past two millennia. The steep mountain slopes of Kurama-yama can be descended following some narrow tracks boasting many raised tree roots that are extremely hazardous for the unwary. These paths plunge down the north-western side and one leads towards the ancient Kibune-jinja a thousand or more feet below. A third of the way down through the thick cedar forests, one comes on the wide ‘shoulder’ known, since the late-Heian period at least, as the So¯jo¯-ga-tani, the Bishop’s Valley. Two small shrines stand to one side of this clearing and the place is revered as the site where the youthful Ushiwaka, later better known as Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune, just entering his ‘teens, was instructed in the Arts of War, the bugei, by a dai-tengu ‘archbishop’ and his attendant sho¯-tengu. When my two Kendo friends and I stood there, some years ago, we could not help hearing the loud and continuous racket emanating from the canopy high above. This was undoubtedly the harsh noise made by many crows, but mixed into the discordant croaking of these karasu was the unmistakable knocking of hardwood on wood, a familiar noise that those who train in the classical bujutsu would instantly identify. It was a sound that must have been recognized by many kenshi down the centuries. Once the onwards steep descent is commenced these distinctive noises recede and are eventually lost, despite the continuation of the thick forests; neither are they heard in any other similar cedar forest beside the ancient shrine in the valley foot. Were the perpetrators merely karasu – I did not actually see one – or were they karasu-tengu? It should be noted it was here that Professor Blacker experienced a similar incident in these Kurama wilds thirty-five or more years before.7 As I mentioned above, this has been my experience, too, at other locations associated with these ‘mythical’ creatures; it is through these feelings that it becomes a relatively easy matter to understand something of the medieval mind. To the great majority of people living in those now distant times, the world inhabited by the spirits was parallel to our material one. To the kenshi, and their ancestors, beings such as these forest ‘demons’ were tangibly present even if invisible to the eye. (See Map 1.) Within this study we shall examine the vexed question of the earliest esoteric influences that seem to have overlaid the ‘primitive’ beliefs found

INTRODUCTION

5

by the first Yayoi farmer settlers who arrived and established themselves on lands on the margins of the aboriginal Jomon tribal territories. The latter appear to have been hunters living on the teeming game in the mountains and often flooded marshlands bordering the untamed rivers, people who doubtless deified the awesome powers of nature, probably associating these powers with memories of the fancied prowess of their own ancestors. The chief change that must have arrived at the time of the first Puyo¯ ‘Land-taking’ settlement that took place in the fourth or fifth century8 was the immediate conflict between the old deities, or the tribal chieftains of the Yayoi and the numerous aboriginal leaders, who resisted, often violently, the imposition of the newer sets of beliefs aimed at establishing paramount rule by the aggressive Puyo¯-Yamato9 usurpers. The seemingly docile Yayoi farmers were soon reduced to something approaching serfdom, whereas the mountain tribal groups resisted the increasingly dominant Yamato and their claims to ‘paramount chieftaincy’ government for the best part of the eight or nine centuries before they, too, were ‘pacified’. If Marius de Visser’s thinking is anything to go by, it suggests that it is in this period of dramatic change imposed by the first Yamato chieftains that we might look for the circumstances that led to the appearance of the tengu. The first problem to be faced in examining the tengu and their possible origins is that we have no reliable written evidence and very little archaeological ‘proof ’. Anthropologist historians are divided on the whole question of the origin of the dominant Yamato tribes and there is a tendency to see the Yayoi as a cohesive people who established themselves in the archipelago somewhere between 300 and 250 BCE. As they appear to have brought agriculture and particularly wet-rice culture with them, the supposition is that they originated in China and may have been fleeing the violence of the Warring States period by way of southern Korea or the Ryu¯kyu¯ archipelago. A second strongly argued view is that the Puyo¯ usurpers originated as one of the eastern tribal groups of the nomadic Hsiung-nu, so troublesome on the northern borders of the Chinese Empire during the Chin and early Han dynasties. If this was the case then the region of origin might have been as distant as southern Siberia in the Altai mountain range. There are pros and cons for both viewpoints but here we are concerned with one particular characteristic and that is that the later tengu in the bugei have always been associated with the conduct of warfare, the protection of warriors and of those recluses who took up their abodes in the mountain regions in order to practise their Taoist and Yin-Yang dha¯rani through extreme asceticism. These ascetics were soon seen by the fifth or sixth centuries as sorcerers or magicians. This was long before the introduction of Buddhism into Japan from the Korean peninsular and in accord with de Visser’s proposition that the tengu were already present ‘in the mountains and woods’.

6

TENGU

The second argument that the Yamato tribes, using the descriptive noun in its widest sense, were horsemen originating from the steppes of Central Asia10 is supported by the view that successive Chinese campaigns against the Hsiung-nu in the second and first centuries BCE, eventually forced one tribal group of nomads to gradually move east into the plains of northern Manchuria, now the Northern Territories of China, finally to cross from their supposed territory west of the Sungari river and begin, consequent to the Chinese or other military pressures, to migrate down into what is now North Korea and on towards the three weak Han ‘Commanderies’,11 in the centre and south of the peninsular. Once there, the chieftains soon established their dominance, based on their utilization of superior iron-smithing technology for their weapons as opposed to the ‘Commanderies’ use of bronze and inferior forged iron, and set up their own possibly fluid states. It should be borne in mind that the three Chinese ‘Commanderies’ were in a weakened condition when the socalled Puyo¯ migrants began to arrive in the middle of the third century CE. The aggressive newcomers established first the ‘state’ of Paekche on the western side of the peninsular, then usurped Kara (or Wa, the descriptive name given to these ‘chieftaincies’ in the Chinese Wei Chronicle) in the centre, and possibly Silla in the east. (See Map 2.) The Puyo¯ tribes were very different to the agrarian peoples they found in the southern part of Korea. In Kara were established a number of small tribes, part of the Wa ‘kingdoms’12 that also formed the ‘Yayoi’ Wa in northern Kyushu and, possibly, in Kibi (most of present-day Okayama-ken). The incoming Puyo¯ first established Paekche, although some authorities believe they may already have had cousins in control there, probably around 286 CE, and continued later to annexe smaller Kara (Wa), while elements crossed the Straits of Tsushima into the Japanese peninsular about a century later (tentatively around 360-370). The Puyo¯-Yamato tribes formed the second wave led by warrior chieftains over the next seventy years, intent on carving out for themselves territories already farmed by the Yayoi, or ‘Yamatai’, some of whom were also originally from Kara. Finding an already strongly established Kibi ‘state’, possibly founded by immigrant chieftains, cousins of the Puyo¯, who had arrived in the Japanese peninsular in the early years of the third century and established themselves as the successors of the Yamatai rulers, and fierce resistance, they were obliged to bypass the Chugoku region and eventually in the mid-fifth century, reached the mouth of the Kumano river and eventually fought their way through the mountains to their final objective, the fertile Yamato basin between the Kumano massif in the south and present-day Nara. Tentatively, the Puyo¯ chieftains actually reached the fertile Yamato plains in the time of the high-chieftain Inkyo¯ who ruled as the second of the ‘Five Kings or Wa’ from around 412.13 These Puyo¯ tribes do not appear to be particularly numerous, but they were highly mobile and warlike, having superior iron weapons,

INTRODUCTION

7

particularly long swords, and were powerful archers. They brought with them, in the course of their migration from the eastern steppe, numbers of enslaved tribes, acquiring others in their progress south. Whilst there are several more detailed histories describing the political upheavals in the ancient Korean states and the Wa ‘kingdoms’ in both the former and Japan, it is proposed here that one of the ‘free’ smaller tribes that accompanied the Puyo¯ were shamanic in nature and, furthermore, were in some way useful to their masters as specialist warriors. It is this small, non-enslaved, tribal group that may, if they actually existed, have later become the proto-yamabushi. More importantly, it is this group, too, who brought with them from the Altai their totems: the hawk and the crow (or raven), the griffin, and the antlered stag, although the latter may have been the totem of the ruling Puyo¯ clans. (See Map 3.) Returning to the Wa ‘kingdoms’14 that were established before the arrival of the Puyo¯, these were described early in the third century CE in the Chinese chronicles of Wei (the Wei-chih),15 and at that time were reported to be ruled by a strong shaman-queen named Pimiko or Himiko. The tribal peoples under her hegemony were known as the Yamatai, the name also, of her own ‘kingdom’ (not to be confused with the later Yamato). Some authorities are of the opinion that the Yamatai confederation and the kingdom of Kibi existed side by side, and in the course of time Kibi succeeded the former.16 Magical religious and shamanic ritual undoubtedly existed amongst the Yayoi, or perhaps we should identify the late-Yayoi peoples with the Yamatai in the last period of their clear existence? This would be the century-and-a-half roughly covered by 200 to 350 CE. ‘Queen’ Himiko (or Pimiko) certainly had a very significant shamanic role in communicating with the deities, and myths concerning the early Puyo¯-Kayan landings are recounted, though grossly misplaced in time, in the Kojiki and Nihon-shoki chronicles. These two chronicles were written down in the early-eighth century,17 with authorities agreeing that the various incidents related were cobbled together mainly with the objective of reinforcing the Puyo¯ hegemony claims. The accounts concerning the struggles with the violent ‘deity’ Susa-no-wo, and the rituals performed by the Puyo¯-related ‘general’, Takemika-dzouchi, must surely confirm this. Even allowing for considerable distortion over the passage of centuries in such oral transmissions, nonetheless we are given a suggested interpretation that must have been coloured by the actual beliefs and rituals current in the early-seventh century at least and probably earlier. The Puyo¯-Yamato ‘Reciters’, like their counterparts, the ‘Lawmen’ in Norse Iceland, were required to precisely memorize all the past history, the names or titles of important personages, significant events, and the laws promulgated by the paramount chieftains over long centuries.18 There is the suggestion here that the shamanic practices established in ancient Japan came from two sources. The first was originally, or

8

TENGU

adopted from, the Chinese, filtered through the post-Han ‘commandery’ that became Kaya (or Wa) and thence was practised in the Wa ‘states’, in the case of Japan this probably meant Kibi; the second was the shamanic ‘magic’ employed in the confrontations between the later-Wa and the indigenous native Jomon tribes who threatened the peaceful Yayoi farmers with destructive incursions from their mountain domains. Many of these ‘confrontation’ myths are found in these early chronicles, albeit twisted and glossed to reinforce the usurping Puyo¯-Yamato chieftains ‘right to rule’ and leading directly to the ‘legal’ establishment of a unified Imperial regime. In truth, they are myths that attempted to explain the turbulence of the four-sided transition struggles that took place successively between approximately 250 and 700 CE. Later, we may examine these early accounts regarding the use of shamanic ritual in more detail since it undoubtedly was deeply imbedded in the beliefs of the Jomon, the Yayoi and the later Puyo¯-Kayan-Yamato, and coincidentally led to the strange mountain-dwellers who were definitely not descendants or connected with the remnants of the turbulent Jomon survivors. oOo Finally, a note on the various linked proper names used in connection with the Puyo¯. It seems to me that it would be helpful to enable general readers to distinguish between the successive settlement movements affecting ancient Korea and Japan that ended with the final establishment of the Yamato state in the seventh century. Puyo¯, on its own, refers to the tribal movements south towards Paekche. Puyo¯-Kayan refers to the moves to control Kaya in the south of Korea bordering Silla. Puyo¯Kayan-Yamato refers to the later movement to usurp various regions in Japan before the final settlement in the Nara plain. It also embraces the so-called Yamato claims on Kaya as a ‘colony’, whereas the opposite may be nearer the truth. Finally, Puyo¯-Kayan-Kibi refers to the chieftains who established their own hegemony in the Chugoku after conquering the Yamatai rulers at the end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth century. Any other combinations that might have been missed in this summary should be self-explanatory.

2

The Tengu

Fig. 1 Hawk-headed tengu from the Taisha-ryu¯. A splendid hawk-headed tengu in full yamabashi costume illustrating a densho¯ of the Taisha-ryu¯ presented in the latter half of ¯ bushi Kansuke. Several the seventeenth century to a Nabeshima-han samurai named O of the swordsman’s important densho¯ survive in excellent condition and are conserved in the Saga Daigakuen. All are illustrated by a very professional artist. The Taisha-ryu¯ was founded by Marume Kurando¯-dayu¯, a leading student of the famous bugeisha, Kamiidzumi Nobutsuna, originator of the Shinkage-ryu¯. This, in turn, came from the Kage-no-ryu¯, founded by Aisu Ikkyo¯, in the late fifteenth century. Unfortunately, the Kage-no-ryu¯ did not survive Bakumatsu in the late-nineteenth century, but it was known to have contained many techniques inspired by transmissions from the tengu as otsukai of Marishi-ten.

10

I

TENGU

n my understanding, there is an obvious distinction to be made from the earliest references to the tengu that they were divided into two groups. The first group are the dai-tengu, or, rarely, the konoha (lit: tree-leaf)-tengu, generally described as being human in form although sometimes with some therianthropic attributes; the second group are the sho¯-tengu, usually clearly therianthropic and often depicted as smaller than the former. The dai-tengu always exercise control over the latter, clearly being of higher rank and often directing their actions. In the main, the characteristics of these beings in the Japanese archipelago can be traced back to the symbolism associated with certain shamanic practices in Central Asia. With regard to the origins of these separate groups of tengu, one modern authority19 argues for a Chinese location, whilst I suggest it was mainly to be found in the Altai region in Southern Siberia, but it is quite feasible that both theories are partially correct. Sugihara Takuya, advances the viewpoint that since there do not exist written descriptions of these beings before and even after the earliest legends were recorded, the only effective pathway to dealing with this ‘pre-history’ is through the iconography.20 He argues that behind an image or a symbol there is a vast amount of social information, some of which can be revealed by deduction using archaeology, anthropology and philosophy. It is these cross-discipline sciences that are required in this approach. Perhaps the reader will agree with this as it is a methodology that has been widely employed in other serious modern studies, for example, understanding the development of the ancient and medieval Arts of Warfare linked to technical advances in weaponry; just one case in point. A great deal can be confidently inferred from close examination of graphic art backed by archaeological finds. In the past such disciplines were rarely inclusive but tended to be advanced by scholars who generally function in their own specialized academic fields. While Sugihara examines the Chinese origins, which we shall discuss below, my own endeavours have been towards tracing the Central Asian pathway that eventually reached the Japanese archipelago sometime between the third and fifth centuries CE. Here, I shall put forward the hypothesis that the mountainous Altai region, in the main, lying between the junction of the Russian and Trans-Baikal steppe, provided the shamanic background beliefs that were directly linked to martial skills transmitted down into Korea with the earliest tribal migrations and illustrated by shamanic totems that were based on bird and deer cults. Related to these totems, the later Puyo¯-Kayan warriors brought these beliefs and practices with them when they first began to establish themselves in Japan in the later-Kofun period of the late sixteenth century. By degrees, the whole shamanic background became ‘Japanicized’, a peculiar characteristic of Japanese culture at every level since the sixth century at the very least. Added to this we have the impact and assimilation

THE TENGU

11

of the earlier Yayoi and Yamatai beliefs and, without doubt, some of the indigenous animistic practices of the mountainous interior. Because we are dealing with matters that greatly concern the state, whether the state be a confederation of tribal chieftaincies, or its progress towards establishing a paramount ruler, or eventually the creation of an Imperial bureaucracy, matters concerning the gaining of support of the deities and of war are, of necessity, deeply important and often in the hands of a very few individuals who have the private ear of the ruler. It is part of my thesis that a small subject clan of shaman-warriors, not by any means an enslaved group, were brought east and south with the migrating Puyo¯ and later employed in Japan. Such a specialized, dispersed, and numerically small group gradually became redundant in the eyes of increasingly powerful chieftains who must, in the course of time, have sought to gather to themselves these ‘divine’ skills and rely on their own military judgement. A candidate for these shamanic-martial ‘advisers’ might be found in the rather nebulous and probably dispersed group named as the Yama-be, one of whose functions seemed to require them to act in the mountains, hence their name, possibly to give advance information to their Puyo¯-Yamato masters about unrest amongst the indigenous ‘Yemishi’ tribal groups with whom they undoubtedly came into contact. These same Yama-be do not appear to have been submerged into the free or enslaved population levels or into the emerging warrior be, or ‘guilds’, which might argue for them coming into Japan with the first tentative landings in Japan from Paekche in the early fourth century, simply to disappear from the later chronicles around the fifth or early-sixth century.21 The question is: ‘Were these our proto-yamabushi and tengu?’ Both of these groups retain their clear shamanic and warrior reputations, reappearing in almost inseparable roles during the Heian period, the tenth to twelfth centuries. From the late-Heian period onwards, there appears a clear division between the tengu vilified and ‘demonized’ by the Buddhist establishment, and the warrior-tengu who were reputed to possess great skills in the Arts of War. These warrior-tengu were soon described as the otsuki or ‘messengers’ of the female war-deity who, from the middle of the Muromachi period in the mid-fifteenth century, provided dynamic instruction emanating, it was believed, from Marishi-ten herself, in the most secret aspects of the bugei. At this stage these tengu were inextricably linked with the warrior cult of Marishi-ten and to certain aspects of Shugendo¯, remaining so in progressively lessening degree right to the end of the Tokugawa era, and vestigially in some ko-bujutsu to the present day.

3

About Shamanism in the Present Context

T

his study commences, perhaps, at the wrong end; at a point in history when we can see many tengu drawings or images that directly pertain to the arts of warfare, the bugei to use the proper Japanese term. These images could not be seen prior to the violent end of Bakumatsu in 1877 but now many are in the public domain. The important point is that these are not tengu drawn as part of some quaint folklore but presented in the bugei with the most serious intent. They were drawn either by master-swordsmen themselves, or under their close scrutiny, as aide-memoires for the most deserving students of those same masters – to be jealously guarded and handed on to their posterity. These tengu were thus a visual reminder so that the iconography later informed the hardheaded master and his successors of teachings that were firmly believed to have been revealed directly by the female war deity, Marishi-ten. The Chinese martial philosopher, Sun Tzu, in his famous treatise on the Art of War, the Ping-fa, dating from the violent period of the Warring States in China, 453-221 BCE, came directly to the nub of his work in his opening verse: War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied.22

Commenting on this opening premise from two-thousand-fourhundred years ago, a General of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, Tao Hanzhang, wrote: The basic thesis of Sun Tzu’s Art of War is to try to overcome the enemy by wisdom, not by force alone. Sun Tzu believed that a military struggle was

SHAMANISM IN THE PRESENT CONTEXT

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not only a competition between military forces, but also a comprehensive conflict embracing politics, economics, military force, and diplomacy . . . (his) attitude towards war is one of extreme prudence, earnestness, and seriousness.23

At this point the reader will realize that Sun Tzu’s work has exerted a huge influence on military thinking far beyond the Chinese Empire over many centuries. It follows, therefore, that these ‘mythical’ creatures called tengu, when they appear in the above context, deserve serious study far removed from any images or tales conceived within folklore. They cannot be lightly dismissed as ‘goblins’, ‘imps’, mere figures of fun or, at best, quaintly mischievous and often darkly comical. It is to be hoped that the present text, whilst far from definitive, will help set the record straight. The mastery of the military arts in the late-Muromachi period in Japan was little concerned with folklore, however it was coloured by Buddhist doctrine or by the diverse beliefs of the majority of the population. The bugeisha were hardened fighting men, pure and simple, who had been brought up from at least their early ‘teens with the ever-present threat or direct experience of deadly combat. Between 1480 and the end of the following century, Japan was riven by violent internecine conflicts, both large and small; conflicts that resulted in the destruction of the old moral principles of duty and obligation towards the clan head that had been the strength of the great warrior families. With the decay that accelerated after the Great O¯ nin War (1467-77), the warrior values weakened to the extent that the provincial lords, with minimal check from the Ashikaga Bakufu, vied with each other for power and territory, their vassals often seeking the main chance to usurp their masters. This period, known as the Sengoku-jidai, following the ancient Chinese precedent, was further defined as the time when ‘the weak pulled down the strong’ – gekokujo¯. The bugeisha were ‘strategists’, men who best served their masters by becoming experts in understanding and applying the principles contained in the Sonshi, as the Japanese knew Sun Tzu. This deep understanding was notoriously difficult to acquire; a master of the bugei might devote his entire life to such study and still not fully achieve this goal, and that lack of depth might on the battlefield very probably lead directly to the downfall of his lord’s family and to his own death. Truly, these were matters of life and death, but they were not only that; the understanding had to remain locked away in the successful strategist’s mind. His solutions were in every sense, military secrets, at all costs not to be divulged to anyone – even his lord – other than to proven, deserving students. While we possess a reasonable corpus of these tengu drawings, the secrecy concerning their meanings applies as much today as ever it did over six centuries ago. The questions to be examined here are where

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these tengu originated, what tangled threads can be unravelled to show their origins or their metamorphosis into the strange winged part-animal and part-human figures we find in the bugei tora-no-maki? We have no explanatory writings to interpret what we see; we know that they illustrate something important about the classical battlefield use of various weapons, but beyond that – nothing. We can also surmise, and are probably absolutely correct in our assumption, that the masters responsible for these images had spent many years as warrior ‘apprentices’ before the secret meanings were revealed to them, and then only by degrees. As if to emphasize the secret nature of the illustrated interpretation of the bugei, the drawings of the tengu nearly always place the creature in the ‘senior’ or ‘teaching’ role. No explanations are given, as pointed out above, the only captions are ambiguous titles to each ‘form’ that give nothing away to the uninitiated. The figures themselves may represent any point at the beginning, the middle, or the end, but we, on the ‘outside’, have no real inkling of the meaning. All we know, because this much has been revealed, is that the tengu are the ‘messengers’ sent by the female war deity, Marishi-ten, to reveal and impart these secrets to the ‘headmaster’, usually the founder though not always, of the ryu¯ tradition. At once we realize that in whatever manner we choose to describe these matters, whether it be intuitive understanding or the result of trial and error, we have to look at the question from the point of view of these medieval warriors. These men must have looked back to the origins of these skills and realized that once they had honed their practical understanding, the ‘inner knowledge’ was yet to be acquired. There were chiefly only two paths open towards achieving their goal. The first was to study the esoteric practices of the Shingon or Tendai Buddhism; the second was to undertake a period of great privations in the manner of, or with, the Shugendo¯ yamabushi. The former, whilst containing many aspects of severe ascesis, required before becoming, at the very least, lay-monks, a luxury that was open only to those of substantial rank. The second ‘way’ must have been more attractive. Rigorous hardships were commonplace to these men, the difficulty was having, perforce, to travel beyond the borders of their lord’s domain without any protection as masterless men, ro¯ nin, in order to train very hard and, often, to test their skills against redoubtable opponents they might encounter. They would sustain this wandering life style until they were certain that they had glimpsed the underlying truths, a process that might mean years devoted to hardship following the yamabushi ‘paths’. We need to examine the background to this end objective; without this we cannot place the therianthropic tengu in any sort of proper context and they will remain vaguely ‘folklorish’, their place lost in history.

SHAMANISM IN THE PRESENT CONTEXT

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Since we are dealing with deliberately obscured or secret matters, we cannot expect to find any clear cut history, only tenuous threads that may or may not tell us much and may even prove to be false trails. We shall find that understanding is inextricably mixed with religious beliefs, convoluted cultural influences from the most ancient times, and above all with the development of shamanism as it entered Japan two thousand years ago and underwent the process of ‘Japanization’ common to everything that was and is absorbed in the archipelago. SHAMANISM This is an emotive subject that at once raises doubts in many peoples’ minds as to its validity due to its present popular association with the ‘alternative cultures’. Very few devotees of the modern ‘martial ways’ have more than a cursory knowledge of the deeply hidden layers and would dismiss as fantasy any assertion that the foundation roots of a large number of their practices are to be found in ancient shamanism. Nonetheless these roots are what we are seeking here and precisely the ‘path’ that leads to the inner mastery of the bugei, the goal of the medieval strategists. ‘The shaman establishes contact with the supernatural world.’24 In this statement by Hultkrantz we understand that shamanism has everything to do with the spirit world and that this ethereal world can be reached through the medium of the shaman who is a professional and inspired intermediary. As to the nature and purposes of shamanism most authorities are agreed that it has four important aspects: 1. There is the ideological premise that the spirit world exists and therefore can be contacted. 2. That the shaman is an actor who, on behalf of his clients, can effect this contact. 3. That this contact will manifest itself through the shaman’s guiding spirits. 4. That during this ‘contact’ the shaman undergoes extreme ecstatic experiences.25

In the present study we are not concerned, on the one hand, with questions as to whether or not belief in a spirit world would predicate a religious conviction that such a level exists; or, on the other hand, that it is simply conceptual. We are concerned with tracing the ‘belief system’ that in Japan ultimately expressed itself in the phenomenal influence of those beliefs on the understanding and interpretation of the Arts of War during the late-Muromachi period, the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is predominantly from the eastern part of the Eurasian steppe, the region that in ancient times was known as Scythia, that we find all the

16

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four constituents that were carried east and down through the length of the Korean peninsular to finally be grafted onto the already present animistic beliefs on the Japanese archipelago. Some of these elements can be found in such Shugendo¯ rituals as pole climbing and mounting ladders composed of up-turned swordblades barefoot; both harking back directly to ascending the cosmological World ‘Pillar’ or the seven-branched World ‘Tree’, concepts recurring in many shamanic cultures. We have the ancient shaman’s bird costume that in Japan gradually metamorphosed into a variety of bird related symbols; the central importance of the drum in ‘inviting’ the deities to preside over important functions, both religious and secular; and in Shinto, the presence of the horse. There are several others that could be added to this list. The shaman was not necessarily a cultic leader but acted as the medium, or as Hultkrantz observes, the ‘actor’ able to ‘open the door’ for the chieftain or ruler wishing to communicate with the deities. In order to accomplish this ‘opening’ the shaman usually entered a trance state often induced by severe ascesis that enabled him to ascend to the spirit world. Only the shaman was born with or developed the ability to do this so that he could serve his master on the ecstatic level. Either through his inherited gift or through undergoing a voluntary regimen of extreme ascesis can the shaman accomplish this ‘crossing’. Carmen Blacker suggests that the gift is bestowed usually by a single spiritual being who afterwards becomes the shaman’s guardian or guide.26 The therianthropic tengu of the bugei is not the powerful deity, Marishi-ten herself, but reduced to being a ‘messenger’ despatched by her to her followers. The tengu is a ‘guide’ nonetheless. Like the Japanese race, itself, shamanism is complex and clearly of ancient origin. While we can trace the shamanic traits from Central Asia we must realize that the Altaic-Tungusic forms met and mingled with others already present in the archipelago. These were the beliefs of the prehistoric Jomon tribes and, of themselves, probably contained yet more ancient elements carried from Polynesia, Melanesia and Southeast Asia. The first Yayoi settlers brought with them wet-rice culture and their own sets of Chinese beliefs. These were then added to by further pre-Puyo¯ settlers arriving from the Han Commanderies in Korea. From Siberia came other Tungusic cosmological beliefs by way of tribal movements through the northern islands of Sakhalin and Hokkaido. Hori Ichiro¯, a noted authority on the native Japanese sankaku shinko¯, examines the close relationship between the early miko¯, often shamanic rulers and important ritualists, and her equivalents not only in Korea and the Ryu¯kyu¯ island chain but also amongst the Ainu in the extreme north.27 Carmen Blacker presents this complexity of early influences succinctly in The Catalpa Bow.28 Suffice it to say that these complex

SHAMANISM IN THE PRESENT CONTEXT

17

Fig. 2 Haniwa figure of a female shaman. Gumma-ken, Japan (sixth century). Found ¯ ra-gun. Height: 37.5 inches (National Museum, Tokyo). Oizumi-machi, O

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streams were overlaid by the introduction of Buddhism in the late-Yamato period and by the huge impact of the esoteric Buddhist sects from the beginning of the ninth century. However, prior to the advent of Buddhism in the sixth century we can see the vertically structured cosmology that entered from the north and the Altaic concepts that preceded them, brought by the Puyo¯-Kayan usurpers. From the south came the horizontal cosmology that gave prominence to female shamans. These later female adepts are exemplified by the lateYayoi ‘Queen’, Himiko or Pimiko, ca. 200 CE, who is believed to have ruled the Yamatai federation, probably based in Kibi;29 and the chieftainess, Jingo¯-ko¯go¯. There can be little doubt that these two were actual living personages and powerful leaders. Gradually, however, the male-dominated Puyo¯-Kayan paramount chieftains established their hegemony and their vertical cosmology paved the way for that of Buddhism which assimilated many of the native kami as bodhisattva. The horizontal structures became absorbed into the sankaku shinko¯ with a discernible difference that can be detected between the two – the ‘Heavenly’ kami and the ‘Earth’ kami - to the present day. This background is very significant, of course, but we are examining here the threads that manifest themselves in the shamanic ascetic practices that had the objective of attaining supranatural mantic powers for the recluses of the late-Kofun to the Kamakura period, a time span of six hundred years. Some of these Altaic shamanic skills, later tempered by contact with the Taoist, Yin-Yang, and Buddhist ascetics who resided in the remoter mountain fastnesses, eventually manifested themselves in the communities of mountain dwellers some of whom became the proto-yamabushi and, by the late eleventh century, the formalized sect known as Shugendo¯. There is a distinction to be made between these two groups which is important to the present argument. The proto-yamabushi in the late-Yamato and through the Nara period, as we shall later discuss, fulfilled a martial role where they seem to have attached themselves as ‘protectors’ to these ascetic hermits. It is probable that small remnants of the ‘barbarian’ Emishi tribes were still present and presented a serious and very real threat to the defenceless recluses, hence a need for some sort of protection. By the late-Heian, when Shugendo¯ was formalized, very many yamabushi were already formidable warriors and large numbers swelled the Genji forces in the Gempei struggles of 1181-85. On the other hand, by this time many others exhibit a religious bias that was a blend of the native beliefs and esoteric Buddhism. The surviving shamanic traits of the proto-yamabushi, coupled with their developing warlike skills and linked to the Marishi-ten cult, were soon submerged and became secretive, only manifesting themselves in the warrior tengu beliefs in the late-Muromachi. From the beginning of the Kamakura period, and with the exception of

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brief appearances in the Nambokucho¯ upheavals between 1333 and the end of the fourteenth century, these warrior-yamabushi are to all intents and purposes ‘lost to history’.30 Shamanism, itself, is very well documented, but we are not so much concerned here with the broad picture, whether or not Japanese shaman can be argued to be true shaman and such questions, but rather to discuss certain aspects and practices that reached Japan nearly two millennia ago. It is these aspects that convinced many warriors that the pathway to understanding and being able to express, in practical terms, the Arts of War, lay in following the methods and customs of the yamabushi. Through years of ascesis many of these bugeisha attained deep intuitive insight into the underlying meanings to the principles attributed to two Chinese martial philosophers in particular, Sun Tzu and his relative, even grandson, Sun Pin, ca. 380-316 BCE. EXAMPLES OF SHAMANIC PRACTICES Presented here are various descriptions connected with Japanese shamanism that relate to the bugei as well as the tengu. Birds and Bird Costumes

The shaman’s ability to ‘fly’ is symbolized in many cultures by wearing a feathered cap and a tasselled or feathered coat. These items have been extremely important symbols since prehistoric times up to the recent past. Ancient Japan is no exception, witnessed by the two incised pottery sherds in the Kashihara Museum collection, Nara prefecture, and the reconstruction of a female shaman displayed in the Hyo¯go Prefectural Museum. (See Plates 4 and 5.) The raven, the crow, and the hawk are found throughout the whole northern hemisphere land mass and are historically linked to the acquisition of knowledge. For example, there are the two ravens belonging to Odin, the all-powerful Norse shaman-king, named Huginn and Muninn, who daily flew out at dawn and returned to report all they had learnt across the world. Mircea Eliade quotes from the Rg-Veda the passage that: ‘Among all things that fly the mind is the swiftest’, and from the Pañcavimsá Brahman¸a: ‘Those who know have wings.’31 The crow and the hawk in the form of the warrior-tengu fulfil exactly the same role. Whilst this concept can be traced back to the early encounters with Taoist beliefs there can be little doubt that the origins are far more ancient. Perhaps one of the best known hawk images is that of HorusHarakhty, the Horus of the Eastern Horizon, the deity of the Dawn Sun in ancient Egypt. But this association of the hawk with the dawning day and the sun was well-known in Mesopotamia long before arriving

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Fig. 3a The Yatagarasu or Three-legged Sun-Crow from Koguryo¯. Bronze (sixth century), Pyongyang Museum, North Korea. (From Alan Colville, ‘Charismatic Shaman Symbols of the Past and Present’.)

Fig. 3b Go¯-o¯ ho¯-in. Paper talisman with many yatagarasu forming the kanji characters for the Kumano Hongu taisha, Wakayama-ken.

in pre-dynastic Egypt and doubtless spread to the tribes of the eastern steppe far beyond the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea with the wandering nomadic tribes over the past six or seven thousand years. This takes us far from our remit so we shall not elaborate. In many accounts of magicians, shaman, and even early Christian saints, we find references to claims of flight. The eponymous founder of Shugendo¯, En-no-Gyo¯ja (En-the-Ascetic), was reputed to possess the

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ability to fly and it was commonly believed throughout the medieval period that all yamabushi possessed this attribute. Eliade discusses the Chinese Taoist belief in the shamanic origin of magical flight, ‘Flying up to Heaven’ where the Taoist magician is described as a ‘feathered scholar’ or ‘feathered guest’.32 One of the trance-inducing methods in many cultures was the dance, and the ecstasy so produced and accompanied with prolonged rhythmic drumming became a classic path to ‘journeying in spirit’, thus making the dance the shaman’s ‘flight’ and the drum his ‘horse’. It is notable that a bird features on a number of haniwa figures and that these particular haniwa are identified by most experts as representing shaman. Later we shall examine the cultic figure of the three-legged ‘sun-crow’, the yatagarasu, but suffice it to say here that this strange crow was a guide sent by a deity just as much as the warrior-tengu was a ‘guide’ or ‘messenger’. While it is more than likely that the yatagarasu and the hawk developed out of the griffin totem from Central Asia, they were predatory birds well-known to the Puyo¯-Kayan invaders and their griffin attributes were lost in the process of assimilation in Japan. Metal Smithing

One of the most significant advantages that the Puyo¯ possessed over the tribes they encountered as they migrated east across the Sungari River was their superior weaponry. There can be little doubt that working with iron ores was a strong shamanic tradition amongst the Altaic and Tungusic peoples. The smith’s mastery of fire and his perceived magical ability to transmute the base iron-sand into strong keen-edged blades, far better in quality that the mostly bronze weapons the Puyo¯ faced, made them important and, above all, probably free men. A Yakut proverb quoted by Eliade says: ‘Smiths and shamans are from the same nest’.33 It is an interesting fact that throughout the medieval period in Japanese history, from the early eighth century to the close of the Edo period, eleven-hundred years, the swordsmith has always been accorded a status in society approximating the warrior though not actually being one. His art was also closely connected to Shinto, evidenced by the wearing of formal court costume at certain stages of blade forging. Many warriors, some of high rank, and even the Emperor Go-Toba, ruled 1275-87, were redoubtable smiths.34 The Trans-Baikal proverb quoted above continues that ‘the smith was the shaman’s brother’. He had no fear of spirits and the shaman, being the smith’s junior, could not cause his death because the smith’s soul was protected by fire. The smiths who came to Japan with the Puyo¯-Kayan chieftains set up their forges in or by certain sacred sites, if Michael Gorman’s interesting observation, if correct, that the ‘entrance’ torii at the most ancient shrines was used not just for demarcation between

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the sacred and the secular but as a special ‘gantry’ where the ‘sacred’ horses were shod.35 Here, we have an example of the close connection between the horse, pre-eminently a funereal animal, and the shaman’s drum. Both ‘horse’ and drum are the ‘horses’ that carry the shaman on his journeys to the spirit world, that is when he ‘passes through death’. Whilst ironsmiths and shamans possess ‘mastery over fire’ where they are one and the same person they are doubly empowered. This belief spread from Inner Asia both to the east and the west, being documented amongst the ancient Germanic tribes as well as in Japan.36 The use of fire here, as in the Saito¯-goma, is to purify, especially at initiatory rituals, in healing, and to please the deities. Returning to the many references of bugeisha of high standing studying and becoming notable swordsmiths and metal workers, one of the most famous was possibly Miyamoto Musashi, d. 1645. The connection between the yamabushi’s powers of healing and fire is well-attested. The metalsmith was often an armourer and his shamanic power permitted one such smith to engrave with great skill a whole series of sacred bura around a helmet found in the Gion kofun in Chiba prefecture. This direct smith-shaman connection is proven by the possible presence of the figure of a man mounted on his horse, an important personal tyn-bura that not only suggests that the helmet was worn by a warrior-shaman but that he may also have been the actual smith. The tyn-bura had the greatest significance to all true shaman and represented his life-force. This helmet, I believe, provides the clearest direct link with the Central Asian Buryat shamanism. Finally, whilst on the subject of the sword and the drum, Charles Haguenaur is quoted by Eliade observing that neither were instruments belonging to female magic.37 The fact that they were employed by the miko in Japan indicates that they were already part of the paraphernalia of sorcerers and shaman. Eliade notes that ‘the attraction exercised by the magical powers of the opposite sex is well-known’.38 In passing, it is worth noting, too, that the Japanese descriptive nouns for swords – tachi and katana – derive from the Altaic. Psychotropic Fumes

Aromatic fumes of many kinds have been used to induce a trance-like state in a similar way as the consumption of alcohol. The inhalation of mild hallucinogenic drugs burnt on the embers of a fire, coupled with rhythmic chanting, dance and incessant drumbeat, must have been known since as long ago as the Palaeolithic period. Herodatus and Strabo note that the use of wild hemp to induce shamanic trance was familiar to the Thracians and the Scythians. Such shaman were known as ‘those who walk in smoke’. Describing the funeral customs of the Scythians, Herodatus speaks of hemp being thrown on heated stones ‘and all

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inhaled the smoke’. Mircea Eliade sums up with: ‘one fact, at least, is certain; shamanism and ecstatic intoxication produced by hemp smoke were known to the Scythians . . . the use of hemp for ecstatic purposes is also attested among the Iranians, and it is the Iranian word for hemp that is employed to designate intoxication in Central and North Asia’.39 The Iranian word for hemp is bangha and is now widely current amongst Arabic-speaking peoples. The word also came to describe the pre-eminently shamanic mushroom, Agaricus muscarius, in a number of Ugrian languages of Central Asia.40 However, narcotic intoxication is thought to be different from true trance and was considered a debasement of it. Eliade describes this as the ‘easy way’ whereas the ecstatic inducement of trance through severe ascesis was the ‘difficult way’.41 The Turkik nomads like the Baraba, the Yakut and the Buryat peoples, periodically moved their animals in a cycle of migration that allowed the natural pastures time to recover. This timeless cycle across wide areas of the great western and eastern steppe has been in motion for thousands of years and has inevitably brought successive tribes and peoples into contact. The three great highways of the fabled Silk Road would have ensured that the psychotropic plants became familiar to the shaman as well as to the warrior seeking martial ecstasy prior to battle. When we examine the severe practices of the yamabushi prior to their emasculation resulting from the Meiji religious reforms before1873, we find the second of the ‘penances’ undergone was named the ‘Penance of Hell’. This entailed those undertaking the mountain ‘entry’ to be secluded in a windowless hall where they would be required to continually recite dha¯rani exhortations to Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯, parts of the Hannya Sutra, the Heart Sutra, and probably other dha¯rani directed to the presiding kami. One of the objects of such seclusion was to learn and master the techniques of breathing, the a-un-no-kokyu¯, that later became an important practice within the bugei. This rhythmic breathing utilizing controlled abdominal inhalation through the nostrils and exhalation through the mouth was also employed in Buddhist contemplative jo¯-in postures of ‘concentration’ and ‘emptying the mind’, deriving from ancient Brahmanic teaching and eventually reaching Japan with the Chinese Taoist ‘magicians’ in the late-Yamato period. Whatever the origins of smoke inhalation and its objectives, the custom continues not only in some sections of religious practice, but also in the traditional bugei. Whether employed by the quasi-shamanic healer in the sankaku-shinko¯ or within the surviving and secretive ‘inner core’ of yamabushi, or by groups of usually elderly masters of the bugei; the process is essentially the same. In the present day, those undergoing this ritual seclusion enter a windowless hall, one that is a little larger than the average room but not as cavernous as a prayer hall in a temple. Inside, they will seat themselves on thick mats, just as the Muromachi warrior habitually did as it remains

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a position of ‘readiness’. To the accompaniment of the chanted dha¯rani and sutra, two hibachi, braziers, are carried to their designated places in response to orders given by the sempai, or senior. In medieval times such a person overseeing the various ‘penances’ would have been termed a ‘do¯shi’, a ‘guide’, and was often a forceful character, even a martinet. On the order: ‘Kamidoko-e-yakumi’ attendants – nowadays – carry in the first hibachi filled with glowing embers and place it on the senior, or upper, side of the hall. The second hibachi is summoned with ‘Shimodoko-e-yakumi’ and placed on the lower side. The orders mean ‘spices to the front’ and ‘spices to the rear’ respectively. The braziers, are respectively kamidoko-e-hibachi and shimodoko-e-hibachi. Onto the embers are thrown a mixture of spices, nowadays made up of flaked red pepper, rice bran and the dried leaf of a plant described by Carmen Blacker as ‘rather smelly’.42 This plant is named in Japanese the dokudami (or Latin Houttuynia cordata), and is native to Japan, Korea, southern China and South-east Asia. It has a fishy smell but the Japanese make a type of tea from it called dokudami-cha. In olden times the mixture that was cast onto the embers may well have contained wild hemp, both dried flowers and leaves, known in Central Asia as ‘Parthian Incense’. The wild hemp was probably introduced into Japan as long ago as the Jomon period (‘Jomon’ referring to this aboriginal people’s ‘corded’ pottery, i.e. bound with twisted hemp cord). It was certainly known to the earliest Yayoi settlers who probably entered by way of eastern China. The plant grows commonly in several parts of Japan, especially Kyushu, and may have been synonymous with ‘nanban-ibushi’, or ‘southern smoking’. When this mixture smoulders it gives off a pungent thick smoke that at once attacks the throat resulting in violent coughing and often nausea. A single small smouldering twist of the red pepper, alone, will clear any room of people, a prank once well-known to irreverent students. In describing her own experiences in Japan, Carmen Blacker reports that after about four minutes the door would be opened and fresh air allowed to clear some of the fumes. The process would be repeated again and again within the komori-do¯, the ‘place of seclusion’, periodically throughout the day. Some participants elected to remain in the hall but others forced to quit. Carmen Blacker’s description confirms the experience recounted to me by the leader of a group of quite elderly high-ranking Kendo masters some thirty years ago. I was informed that it was almost exactly like the ‘penance’ undertaken by the yamabushi ascetics of former centuries with the repetition of the chanted sutra and dha¯rani, abstinence from fortifying food during the daylight hours, and the choking smoke, of course. It is hardly surprising that some adepts experienced mind-changing visions associated with trance.43 My informant, then in his mid-eighties, annually undertook a form of prolonged seclusion at a mountain temple near the Tosho¯-gu¯ where lies the tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu at Nikko¯

SHAMANISM IN THE PRESENT CONTEXT

25

in Tochigi prefecture. This seclusion, or ‘entry’, followed closely the first six stages of the Shugendo¯ penances. Perhaps not as severe as those undertaken in the medieval ‘Entries’ but hard enough for any group of men, each more than four-score years of age. Their objective was to seek yet deeper understanding of the gokui,44 through various processes of ecstatic experience. To some extent the privations and inner purpose of this form of ascesis is contained in the very name given to this fume chamber, komori-do¯. While this can be translated as ‘a place of seclusion’ it also draws on ‘komori’, a place for infants, even of re-birth. When the ascetic emerged after undergoing this penance he often yelled out an explosive ‘Wa!’, thought to be the first cry uttered by a newborn child. This cry is termed ‘ubugoe’. The shout of ‘Wa! Wa!’, according to one of the senior gu¯ji, or priests, at the great Kashima-jingu, was supposedly uttered by those recalcitrant ‘barbarian’ chieftains who refused to submit to the victorious Puyo¯Kayan general, Takemika-dzouchi, after their defeat by him near this ancient sacred site. They were brought before him and their heads struck off. The heads were buried in a great tumulus a short distance to the east.45 This semi-mythical general, together with his brother general, has been revered by many as the patron of warriors, in fact in all forms of the traditional bugei to the present day. The two leaders are reputed to have fought their way across Honshu¯ from the Idzumo region in present day Shimane prefecture, through the mountains to Suwa-ko, and thence to Kashima on the Pacific coast, ‘pacifying’ the indigenous clan chieftains they encountered, until fighting this final battle. It is also possible that Futsunushi may be an alternative name for Takemika-dzouchi, as the name suggests ‘flashing points of light’, thus linking it to ‘the deity of the dawn’. The whole account in the Nihon-shoki of the first landings in Idzumo is redolent of shamanism and the use of magic ritual and, however distorted when written down, must surely contain some element of truth. Takemika-dzouchi and his brother general are also closely connected as patron kami of the Imperial family and enshrined, too, in the great Kasuga-taisha in Nara. The former deity’s emblem (or ‘guide’) is the antlered deer, a totem that will be discussed later in its martial context. The ancient shamanic connections with this ‘smoke penance’ can be summarized as follows: • • •

•

The rite is extremely ancient and shamanic in nature. It appears as a rite in the earliest recorded yamabushi mountain ‘entries’. It is connected to concepts of purification and rebirth in all the esoteric sects and echoes practices thought to have been performed in this connection in the Udo¯-jingu in south-eastern Kyushu.46 While not precisely a method used for inducing true trance it is nevertheless found in Altaic and Scythian shamanic practice.

26

TENGU •

It is connected with acquiring the techniques of deep abdominal breathing considered important in the bugei in order to calm the mind during combat, amongst other benefits. This was known as developing ‘fud¯oshin’, a steadfast mind.

Drumming

Essentially, the drum was important to the Altaic shaman as his ‘horse’ and we shall examine this separately further on. In this ‘spirit’ context, the use of the drum had been present in Japan as far back, at least, in the earliest myths concerning the sun deity, Amaterasu, and her ‘ritual enticement’ from the cave, recounted in the Nihongi. In Buddhist ritual the drum is frequently employed to accompany the chanting of prayers and the holy sutra; in esoteric Buddhism there is a similar use but also with ‘journeying in spirit’. Shugendo¯, perhaps drawing on the wider beliefs of the sankaku-shinko¯, makes use of drumming to engage and attract the presence of the deity whose aid is being sought and for inducing spirit contact. In folk festivals of every type the drum has an important religious function, sometimes seeming to dominate and submerge everything else.47 The same ancient connection seems to be present where the taiko is employed in the traditional bugei do¯jo¯ (still found sometimes in Kendo and other traditional systems such as Naginata-do¯ and Bo¯-jutsu) to ‘invite’ the presence of a deity who will, it is believed, then preside within the drum until finally ‘invited’ to withdraw. The taiko was always used for signalling on the field of battle but, again, the underlying calling for support from a deity was there. Probably developing from the earliest military use of the drum it was employed in more peaceful situations and did not possess the same spiritual connotations; for example, in the Edo period and probably for centuries before, the drum beat summoned the samurai to their daily duties. The drumming employed in Shinto has similarities to that of the bugei in calling the attention of the deities but the rhythms are far more varied and complex.48 Vestiges of the shamanic drumming remain embedded in the formal Court musical accompaniment of Bugaku and Gagaku performance seen at major shrines like Kasuga, Itsukushima, Izumo-o¯-yashira and so on. Mircea Eliade notes on the use of the Yakut and Buryat drum that the drumming at the beginning and end of the séance, intended to summon the spirits and ‘shut them up’ in the shaman’s drum, constitutes the preliminaries for the ecstatic journey. There are direct connections in Central Asian shamanic use of the drum with the World Tree. In relation to the totem ‘bura’ of the Kashima ¯o-kami, Takamika-dzouchi-no-kami, the antlered stag is thought by several authorities to be of MongolianSiberian origin. In some of these still extant tribes the shaman’s drum is called the ‘black stag’.

SHAMANISM IN THE PRESENT CONTEXT

27

While the drum amongst the Altaic nomads is the vehicle by which the shaman ascends to the spirit world, in Japan, at least during historical times, the drum seems more to have been used to summon the deities. This is quite apparent in Shinto, the sankaku-shinko¯ matsuri, and the yamabushi rituals. In the latter, the drum beat certainly initially summons the deity, but it is open to debate whether the incessant drumbeat rhythms, given at varying volume and tempo, also carry the spirit of the ‘shaman’ drummer to accompany the deity. I suspect that the deity is drawn to the ceremony by the drumbeat but do not rule out the instrument being intended, in some cases, to assist in inducing ‘trance’ travel.

4

Communing with the Gods

I

n this chapter it is my intention to provide the reader with a wider understanding of the mantic background that is inescapable in the later bugei. There are a number of leads that reinforce the thesis that a great deal of the kuden, the inner or secret oral teachings in the martial ko-ryu¯, were derived from very ancient shamanic practices preserved and transmitted for many generations by the warrior groups. Backing this preservation of shamanic warrior skills is the reality of the armed struggles against the aboriginal Kumasu or Emishi that were briefly documented throughout the first chronicles as well as references to ‘pacification’ in the provincial histories known as the Fudoki. The invading Puyo¯-Kayan chieftains who came to Japan in earnest in the fifth century, already possessed a fearsome martial reputation and brought these warlike skills with them. Arriving in Japan, they found a wild mountainous country where the only land suitable for cultivation was either on the narrow small plains beside the ocean, which were subject to flooding from the fast flowing rivers and seas, or along the bottoms of the wider valleys. Some of these flatter areas were already partially drained and tilled by the many small Yayoi communities, some of whom had been coalesced into a loose federation and known as the Yamatai. At the end of the third century this ‘federation’ had been ruled over by a line of female shaman-chiefs who were accorded the title of ‘Queen’ in the Wei-chih Chinese chronicle but elements were by now probably absorbed into the strong state of Kibi. The stronger newcomers soon reduced the surviving Yayoi population almost to slavery but had to wait until their own strength increased sufficiently before they attacked and overthrew the rulers of Kibi. The thorn in the side of all the Puyo¯Kayan and now Yamato chieftains was the ever-present threat posed by raids launched from the mountain regions that comprised over seventy per cent of the island archipelago. While some of the Emishi chieftains

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29

had made peace with their new masters, many others had not and many attempts were made either to ‘pacify’ these ‘demon-kami’, as they were termed, or to destroy them.49 Martial strength was, therefore, a necessity and it is recognized that amongst the groups crossing to Japan with the usurpers were a number of warrior clans, such as the Monono-be (soldiers and armour-makers), the Kume-be (soldiers) and, importantly, the Yuge-be (bowyers), and the Kaji-be (metal-smiths). It is suggested here that another specialist but small group also came with or preceded the main body of the invaders. These were the Yama-be, never prominent, composed of shaman-warriors drawn from somewhere in the Trans-Baikal steppe in the region of the northern Gobi. It was in the interests of the initially numerically weak Puyo¯-Kayan chieftains to deal with the aboriginal incursions and this may have been one of the tasks performed by this group, spread out across the whole sphere coming under the control of the invaders, and giving them the appellation ‘Mountain Corporation’. In the light of the martial skills soon to appear with the appearance of the proto-yamabushi ‘protectors’ as early as the seventh century, this hypothesis might well be close to the truth. Two other specialist groups seem to have also accompanied the usurpers and performed important functions in the new ‘state’. These were the Imi-be (or Im-be) and the Ura-be. The former were originally ‘Abstainers’ who took on themselves the afflictions of the people but later became ‘priests’ in Shinto; the Ura-be were ‘Diviners’ who performed magical rites interpreting the cracks in burnt tortoise shells in order to foretell the future. Both of these groups, in their later roles, had connections with what had been shamanic functions and with the esoteric, if nebulous, Yama-be. In support of this supposition, we find that one of the duties of the clan-heads of certain warrior groups, during and after the Muromachi period, was to perform rituals, often containing ritual sword-dances, at some shrines that were connected with driving away malicious kami and purification. These functions probably date back a very long time, even to the Yamato period. At the great Kashima-jingu, for example, where the ¯ -kami is Takemika-dzouchi-no-kami, it was a branch of the Urabe clan, O as they later became known, who carried out these formal duties. The Urabe diviners later became the ancestors of the Kashima-han, a branch of which formed the Yoshikawa-ke from the late Heian period to the present day. Another semi-aristocratic warrior clan with similar functions at the Ise-jingu was the powerful Kitabatake until their destruction towards the close of the Sengoku upheavals. The extraordinary connection of the small Kashima-han in the Muromachi development of the bugei, totally disproportionate to elsewhere in Japan, can be traced back, although with some lacunae, to at the very least the Nara period, according to some surviving documents preserved in the archives of the Kashima-jingu.50 oOo

30

TENGU

The shaman’s claimed ability to ascend to the abodes of the deities in order to receive revelations meant that he could gain supranormal advantages for his tribe or himself. He was able to achieve these ‘travels to the realm of the gods’ by means of dreams and induced trance. When we come to a much later period in the development of the bugei, these ‘out of body’ experiences are described as ‘dream visions’ from a number of deities and foremost amongst these is Marishi-ten. These ‘dream visions’ are also the product of ‘trance’ experiences, suggesting a change from true shamanic methods to one that involved severe ascesis. In fact, these ‘divine dreams’ had become identical with the methods employed first by the Taoist recluses and later by the esoteric monks who sought such ‘enlightened’ experiences by undergoing possibly more focused privations. Such written descriptions that survive where the bugeisha sought to describe how they achieved their inspiration always suggest the preliminary stages came through ‘following the yamabushi paths’ whilst the final intuitive understanding was the result of their secluding themselves from any normal contact in some remote part of a shrine in order to put their ‘divine inspiration’ into a proper perspective. In other words, to give shape and substance to the ethereal and express the transmissions in a material form, this longish seclusion period was very necessary. Trance was a central part of the shaman’s ability. It remained so when we examine the roots in Japan but also absorbed other influences in its process towards becoming ‘Japanese’. Much later the warrior, intent on mastering the arts of war, realized that to acquire this secret knowledge, he needed to undergo the methods, now largely forgotten, of the Altaic shaman. Intuitive knowledge was the product of hard-won skill in practice with weapons, but it was the trance-induced vision that triggered the final inspiration. Trance was a necessary, nay, vital, part of obtaining what appeared to be divine power. This aspiration did not only apply to the medieval warrior, it was an aim for the Taoist and Yin-yang magicians and, a little later, central to the attainment of Buddhahood in the emerging esoteric Buddhist sects. We have seen the ‘spiritual power’ thought to be possessed by the metal-smiths whose divinely gifted skills were so important for the success and protection of the fighting man, particularly their powerful chieftains, but it was through direct appeal to the deities and in particular those beings associated with war, that effective divine patronage and protection was to be achieved. In this patronage and protection, deities like Takemika-dzouchi and Futsunushi were and still are invoked in the classical martial entities,51 and by the beginning of the Nara period the cult of Marishi-ten became increasingly important to the emerging warrior group. It was the shamanic trance that provided the ‘key’ that unlocked the portal leading to divine understanding.

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31

Trance could be induced in various ways, all used by the magician recluses, the esoteric solitaries and an integral part of the emerging yamabushi experience that later so directly influenced the warrior bugeisha. Sleep deprivation was one of the obvious methods, the use of hallucinatory substances or strong drink another. These provided a simple ‘easy’ pathway, but more extreme methods involving long periods of repetitive chanting, especially of the dha¯rani spells, to the accompaniment of various rhythms of drumming; intense contemplation, visualization by memorizing the divine image or name characters of the patron deity thought to be the ‘guide’; dancing; repetitive immersion in icy cold water; day after day spent ascending and descending the ardu¯ mine or ous sacred mountains, especially those found in the Yoshino-O Kumano regions; breathing control; isolation; forced denial of food or water; experiencing fierce heat; penetrating cold – all were there to be utilized either separately or in combination by the determined seeker. Most methods derived from the Central Asian steppe and all were welltested ways to alter the state of consciousness leading directly to ecstasy and the ‘soul-journey’. If the shaman or ascetic survived without irreversible psychological and health damage, this led, he was convinced, to supranormal powers. THE DRUM AND MIRRORS The two pre-eminent adjuncts to the ancient shaman’s special abilities were the drum and the mirror. The former seems to have provided the incessant low-key rhythm that accompanied chanting and underpinned the entry into a trance state. The voice of the drum, as in many other cultures, has always been an important part of Japanese ritual besides its more obvious value in signalling during warfare. It is the mirror that contains a mystery. Many bronze mirrors survive from ancient China, Korea and Japan, and clearly have ritual usage. The polished face is, naturally, the reflective surface, whilst the back is thickly moulded with complex figures and designs often in high relief. They were held in deep awe as sacred objects, very precious and denoting high status. Experts in the field of ancient Far Eastern art centre their main interest on the bronze moulded imagery. Here, our study will be limited to the observation that on some Korean and early Japanese artefacts, the animals portrayed closely approximate the crudely presented animal motifs that decorate the Altaic drums. This may suggest that the decorated backs were utilized for shamanic visualization. Frequently, we find that the moulded band surrounding the central field has snake or serpent-like creatures, or alternatively griffin-like beasts in similar positions. The mirror is said to assist the shaman to ‘see the world’ and to concentrate. It is the ‘soul-shade’ that contains the spirit.52

32

TENGU

SHAPE-SHIFTING AND THERIANTHROPES In many cultures we have prehistoric and early historic images of priests and shamans. It would be difficult, of course, to differentiate between the two groups. In many cases they are clearly wearing animal guise. Quite apart from the rest of the world, such costuming for ceremonial or shamanizing is found right across the whole of the Eurasian landmass. The animal costume, be it skins or feathered, is intended to identify the wearer with the deity, both in his eyes and those participating in the ceremonial as observers. It is the shaman’s supposed ability to cross between the species that often characterizes his skills; it is also these therianthropic part-animal, part-human images that we so clearly find in the later martial tengu of the bugei. oOo From prehistoric cave paintings that suggest empowerment rituals designed to enhance or even ensure success in war or the chase, to the figures found on the bronze dotaku bells of the Japanese dolmen period, it is clear that the ritualist was attempting to enlist assistance from divine animal helpers.53 Some animals appear more often than others. On the dotaku, for example, it is the deer and sometimes a fish. On the shaman’s drum we find the fish, the boar, birds and a turtle. However, with this instrument we are certainly crossing the threshold to the spirit world. The adoption of a particular animal guise suggests that the shaman is no longer a mere human but has, in his trance journey by means of the drum, become a spiritual partner of his animal guide. He will probably be mentally unstable and certainly a figure of awe just as one possessed was viewed with apprehension in many medieval cultures. Such a ‘ritualist’ was ‘different’, the fear in which they were held both gave them an impressive reputation for power within their community but it also set them apart.54 It is this awe tinged with apprehension that attached to the proto-yamabushi that made them different and led to a lasting belief amongst the population that they possessed preternatural skills. Probably from the first transition from recluse mountain ‘protectors’ to shamanlike lone wanderers in the dangerous abodes of the deities, it was inevitable that they would become synonymous with the warrior-tengu. The reputation of the hermit sorcerers and their priestly successors who sought out the remote caves (Plate 8), deep clefts between giant boulders, who often existed in rags sewn with leaves to keep at bay the inclement storms and the winter snows, who ate wild vegetables, nuts, and berries, and chanted wildly their awesome dha¯rani day and night, their voices cracked and harsh, must have made many a simple villager sore afraid. Day and night some deep valleys would have echoed with garbled incantations or the names of some fearsome deities repeated over and over again. When that same gyo¯ja strode into the village, staff in

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33

hand, long sword slung at his hip, the wild yamabushi or the half-naked hermit were both humoured and shunned. Those touched by the deities – any deities – who vanished into the deep forests to undergo the harshest of self-imposed austerities, must have had a serious psychological impact on the simple peasant folk. These gyo¯ ja truly ‘saw’ ghosts; their posterity, the bugeisha, often ‘saw’ them, too.55 Through this fearful catalogue of asceticism, and by no means a complete one it should be added, the aim was to gain spiritual power through ridding the mind of impurities, to become one with nature for the Taoists; or for the religious hermit-monk it was to become one with the Buddha; the warrior sought that final revelation, that intuitive understanding that would bring his years of hard training to a pitch far above and beyond all others. For the religious hermit, he probably gained an inner strength, peace and a simple belief that set him apart. The Taoist sorcerer gained a reputation that would remain with him and advance his status should he return to the normal world. The self-questioning warrior bugeisha possibly gained a certainty that he understood the transmissions that were surely revealed to him directly from Marishi-ten. This may not have been exactly the trance state of the ancient shaman but who can really tell? The methods were similar and the supranormal enlightenment the same. The therianthropic visualization of the tengu may have been a way to hide away the teaching by making it more remote and impenetrable to the uninitiated. Always in the bugei we come across Sun Tzu’s dictum that ‘all warfare is based on deception’.56 It is a constant recurring belief within many classical ryu¯ that knowledge only comes by slow degrees. At first it must be taught, demonstrated and practised, gradually the physical aspect of movement is controlled by the mental processes and then memory takes root; the leap to full understanding is always intuitive and sometimes takes a lifetime to manifest itself. The master swordsmen of the Muromachi age knew that they had little time; they needed to obtain their reimu, or divine revelation, sooner rather than later. These were truly matters of life and death and only the mastery of ‘deception’ ensured at least a partial success. There is an interesting account still current concerning one of the matches fought by the famous early-Edo period swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi. He faced an opponent in what was probably a temple Lecture Hall. At the beginning of the match, Musashi suddenly produced a shuriken, a dart-like blade, from behind his head where it was hidden in his hair, and threw it so that the blade pinned his opponent’s hakama to the f loorboards. Naturally, this left the opponent momentarily at the young master’s mercy. ‘Foul!’ went up the cry to which Musashi observed: ‘You should have been prepared for anything; this is, after all, war!’ Whether or not this story is true is of no consequence, although some Kendo masters still hold this action against the victor.

34

TENGU

Whilst we may consider the logical explanations of these ‘visions’, we have many reports or hints that vividly describe the experience of dream inspiration, and of manifestations that appeared in the mind’s eye of the ascetic, including masters of the bugei. These images include ‘seeing’ snakes, large spiders, concentric rings that appear to oscillate, strange changing shapes, vaguely remembered ill-formed animals, tengu, and the terrifying face or figure of Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ or Aizen-myo¯-o¯, even Zao¯-gongen. These subconscious images may be the product of altered awareness triggered by the sustained self-torture of ascesis – the whole process of experiencing the metaphysical ‘death and rebirth’ commonly reported amongst the Altaic shaman several hundred years before. In part, they may constitute the only way in which the ascetic could later describe his ‘f light’ or ‘vision’. How else was the hardened warrior, for example, to rationalize the sharp insight into the arts of war that he had experienced? INITIATORY DREAMS I have referred to descriptions of the ‘revelatory visions’57 above, all of them in one way or another expressing kamigakari, or ‘divine possession’. The men who coined these expressions, and many probably originated far back in the heyday of the mountain recluses, were warriors who had subjected themselves to sustained and prolonged suffering with the express intention of achieving what was later known as satori. These were bugeisha who had forsaken their usual clan duties to seek permission that would allow them to take to the yamabushi paths. The process of ascesis that ensued undoubtedly opened their minds as did the experience of their solitary life on these testing paths which either weakened or strengthened their bodies. Their experience was every bit as arduous as that of the ‘marathon monks’ described by John Stevens.58 From time to time during their ascetic journey, these bugeisha probably immured themselves in some temple or shrine to undertake yet more severe ascesis such as ordeal by strict fasting and praying before a go¯ma fire that continued frequently for days and nights, even as long as nine days, according to Stevens.59 This withdrawal to ‘polish the heart’ was no sinecure, let it be understood. For many days, following strictly the yamabushi customs of ‘entry’ these men were almost constantly on the move. Anyone who has travelled through the mountainous areas ¯ mine leading to Kumano of Japan will understand that the Yoshino-O mandala routes, for example, require each rearing obstacle to be scaled and descended directly head on. There is no seeking an easy way round by lesser paths and often these heights soar up to more than five or six-thousand feet without any sign of softening by erosion. Routes such as these, habitually followed by the yamabushi and some kenshi would seriously tax the strength of a fit young man today. Add to this periods

COMMUNING WITH THE GODS

35

of virtual starvation and the brutal exhortations of the do¯shi guides, often backed with freely applied blows from their staves, and the reader may get a glimmer of understanding. Such ‘entries’ for the yamabushi took place successively throughout the year – spring, summer, autumn and winter – some periods being longer than others. It is no wonder that after a final period of such seclusion, with little rest permitted, accompanied by long hours of prayers interspersed with martial practice, some, if not all of the bugeisha finally returned to the world with the conviction that they had experienced ‘go¯-muso¯’, their ‘dream vision’. Carmen Blacker, in discussing these mantic revelations, writes: ‘All these experiences, therefore involve contact with a particular divinity, with whom the shaman (or recluse60) lives henceforth in a special relationship and who is the source of his enhanced power.’61 That divinity, for the bugeisha was certainly the ancient female war deity, Marishi-ten, and it was her messengers who were the guides.

5

Origins

O

f necessity, in examining the origins of the tengu we require some background description of the region and its history, so far as it is understood, in those distant times. This is to clarify the political structures that first existed and how they finally changed after the firm establishment of the Puyo¯-Yamato State; also we need to establish a proper context over the half-millennium time-span we have to consider. Within this context we shall focus on what are understood to be the uses of shamanic ritual to propitiate the deities and to attract their favourable support, the form that these rituals may have taken, and their impact on military matters. At the same time, we should look into something of the technological spread and development of arms and armour, enquiries that may shed light on the close connection between shamanism and warriors as the ancient period progressed towards the medieval. There are other matters to consider but these ones should suffice for this opening discussion. oOo Initially, I shall focus on the Central Asian and early Korean ‘pathways’ in order, as I have written above, to clarify the geographical setting and the peoples who lived and moved within it. Reference to the earlier maps would be useful at this point. During the upheavals attending on the Chinese Warring States period, the ‘barbarian’ tribes of the western and eastern steppes began to pose an increasing threat to the Chinese borders, so much so that when the First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di, finally defeated his rivals and the Qin seized supreme power, amongst other affairs of state, he commenced the construction of the vast Great Wall. This was ostensibly to keep the various nomadic Hsiung-nu tribes out but also to define the empire.

ORIGINS

37

The nomadic tribes were both Turkik and Mongolian in origin, some tribal groups wandering in cycles the entire length of the steppe from the Danube almost to the Pacific coast in the east just as they do to the present day. Their main centre, if there was one, was north of the Gobi Desert and in the Altai mountains of southern Siberia and often identified as the ancient Pazyryk culture although this had largely passed by the period we are considering. Already various Chinese rulers had mounted punitive expeditions against these nomads, the armies usually composed of soldiers drawn from the dregs of society, but after the Han seized power in the earlythird century BCE a number of more serious campaigns were waged in the region enclosed on the north by the huge three-sided bend of the Huang-Ho river, known as the Ordos, and to the south by the Great Wall, into the arid Gobi Desert, and east to where there were signs of a Hsiung-nu imperial powerbase forming.62 Briefly, the intermittent Chinese military pressure was such that some of the more settled nomadic tribes slowly began to be displaced. One of these tribal groups was the Puyo¯ despite their being allied in some manner to the Chinese. The Puyo¯ were separated from their Chinese ‘allies’ by a hostile nomadic people, known as the Murong (or sometimes rendered as ‘Mugong’). Attacks from these Murong eventually drove the Puyo¯ to abandon their northern Manchurian base area west of the Sungari River in 286 CE, cross the river and migrate south-eastwards into the region controlled by the Koguryo¯ in the mountainous area around the Yalu River.63 While the migrating peoples seem to have been related to the tribes living in Koguryo¯, sharing a similar language and state-founding myth, they were nonetheless enemies and the Puyo¯ soon bypassed them to move into the Chinese Commandery of Lelang, populated on the eastern side by the Okcho. This region lay east of present-day Seoul in the Han River basin. The Puyo¯ may have found it difficult to reach this far if the Koguryo¯ had not, themselves, been weakened resulting from war with the Wei from China in 245. It was after this war that the Okcho were placed by the Chinese under the control of Lelang. It is possible, too, that knowing that the Puyo¯ were sometime allies of the Chinese empire their passage went unhindered as they made their way southward. SUMMARY The Puyo¯ confederation of horse-riding warriors had moved east from the Trans-Baikal steppe into what later became north-eastern Manchuria, now the Northern Territories of China, and crossed the Sungari River64 to sweep down at the end of the third century CE towards the relatively weak Han Commanderies established in central and southern Korea, reaching them a quarter of a century or so later. They brought with them great numbers of slaves to carry out all the tasks that these

38

TENGU

warrior-nomads felt beneath them, and also acquired a number of useful small groups as they progressed who appear to have remained free whilst serving the needs of their Puyo¯ masters. One or more of these small ‘tribes’ may have come from the Altai and brought with them iron working technology directly useful for warfare. A Chinese description of the Hsiung-nu was ‘those who draw the bow’ and it is directly from them that, centuries later, we find the warrior skills with the bow developed to an almost unimaginably high degree amongst the Japanese bushi. However, it was not only skills in fashioning and employing arms and armour that accompanied these nomads but also a number of distinctive magico-religious characteristics. These traits were deeply shamanic in nature and variously designed to draw from the deities success in warfare and the chase, and also protection of the person in battle. As the migrating tribes crossed into what is now northern Korea they entered the territory of Koguryo¯, to the inhabitants of whom they may have been related, and may well have skirted the territory around its eastern borders in the first decades of the fourth century CE.65 From there, they passed through or skirted the Wei-controlled Lelang and into Taifang, finally reaching Samhan in south-central Korea where they seized control and formed their own state of Paekche. Some authorities surmise that Paekche may already have been in existence in the Han River plain, around modern Seoul, but moved further south when the second wave of the migrating tribes arrived around 352. Gary Ledyard argues that the second wave, coming seventy years after the first, was more influential in the establishment of the Puyo¯-Paekche state. Again, the Paekche inhabitants also shared their mythology and blood descent with the newcomers and from the archaeological viewpoint some similarities have been pointed out between the tomb structures found in the Han River basin and those found further south and in Japan. However, it is quite possible that the incoming settlers of the Puyo¯ tried to legitimize their hegemony by incorporating and re-arranging elements of the mythology, even adding invented ‘traditions’, just as the Yamato rulers did later within the Kojiki and Nihon-shoki chronicles at the beginning of the eighth century in Japan. Significantly, the Puyo¯ brought with them their Altaic language and customs which can be traced significantly in Korean and less so, but still present, in Japanese. Naturally, Korean and Japanese acquired many elements of Chinese, too, but it is in the open syllable structures that philologists can trace the roots. Gina Barnes suggests, also, that the theoretical location of the Tungusic homeland was somewhere in Southern Siberia and the language group may have become established in the peninsular during the Korean Bronze Age, reaching the Japanese archipelago with the spread of wet-rice culture.66 It is probable that the forerunners of the Puyo¯, displaced south by their northern cousins’ migratory pressures, had already established two

ORIGINS

39

smaller ‘states’ at the southern end of the peninsular in what had been the six minor tribal groups known as the Samhan. It should be noted that the tribes inhabiting Paekche are thought to have been related to the Puyo¯ although the two sides were antagonistic towards each other. The Paekche, like Koguryo¯, had been attacked and much weakened by the Chinese Wei forces during the third century. THE THREE HAN COMMANDERIES, THE SAMHAN The Samhan tribal groups in the south of the peninsular were named Mahan, Bianhan (or in Korean: Pyo¯han), and Chenhan (Korean: Chinhan), with Mahan probably the most northerly, Pyo¯han in the south-west, and Chinhan in the south-east. When the swift advance southwards of the Puyo¯ horseriders passed through the well-organized state of Koguryo¯ it did not halt but overwhelmed the former commandery of Mahan: first the northerly district of Pyo¯han then all the south-western region in the mid-fourth century, naming their area of settlement Paekche. About this time, the strongly organized state of Koguryo¯, seeing their Chinese neighbours weakened by a dynastic transition, waged a full-scale war across its borders and drove the Chinese out after the latter had held this area for four hundred years. The Puyo¯ had by this time unified the tribes in their part of the peninsular, having conquered and annexed Kaya, and seized their opportunity by making war on their northern neighbour. The king of Koguryo¯ was killed and Paekche extended its territory further north. In the south-east of the peninsular was established the strong state of Silla in the middle of the fourth century, replacing Chinhan. Powerful and politically stable, Silla seems to have established a close relationship with the Izumo-Yayoi tribes in western Japan on the Japan sea coast, and became a potential thorn in the Puyo¯-Kayan-Yamato side right through to the eighth century.67 There is the possibility that the Puyo¯ pressure from the north caused some elements of southern tribal chiefs acute concern, even fear, and they accordingly assembled seaworthy boats to cross the Tsushima Straits, probably not as one mass exodus but spread over a period of years. This was in the third and early fourth centuries. On arrival they either joined their earlier cousins, the Yayoi, some tribal units of whom formed a number of chieftaincies known to us through the Wei Chronicles as the Yamatai, or sought to carve out their own lands. At the first these landings may have started with small tribal groups attempting the hazardous voyage of about eighty miles in little better than sturdy canoes capable of carrying men and horses,68 but soon the newcomers’ wish to become settlers turned into something more ambitious. These movements gave rise to a number of ‘Land-taking’ myths, some of which centred on the ‘Heavenly Grandson’, Prince Ninigi, and his ‘general’, Takemika-dzouchi.69

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If we accept that there might be an element of truth in these mythical accounts and allowing for dating distortion and ‘massaging’ by the eighth century chroniclers aimed at supporting the Yamato chieftains’ ‘right to rule’ claims, without doubt the early incursions were accompanied and reinforced with powerful magical rituals designed to intimidate and overawe the inhabitants. Such rituals would demonstrate the great power of the invaders’ deities over the less powerful kami70 of the Yayoi and Yamatai. The two chieftain-‘generals’ were later deified and their cults, both with antlered deer totems, were at length established, after what may have been a bloody campaign that followed a course right across central Japan to Kashima and Katori, respectively, on the Pacific coast of Hitachi province, now Ibaraki-ken, and Chiba-ken. These ‘generals’ became, in the due course of time, important ‘house’ deities protecting the Imperial blood line as well as the tutelary kami of warriors, especially swordsmen, horsemen, wrestlers and archers. One question remains, though, about their legendary landing place, and that centres on whether it was in Kyushu or in Izumo on the shores of the Japan Sea? In this early period in the first five-hundred years of our own Christian period (CE) when there seems to have been much intrusion and settlement, the two main areas of focus appear to affect the coastal areas of eastern Kyushu moving towards and through the Seto-Naikai, or Inland Sea, and the Idzumo region of present-day Shimane-ken. The former region shows that the eventual settlement area was in the northern part of the island around Saga, but later newcomers seemed to have established themselves to the south around Kumamoto where many kofun survive. A further area of invasion and settlement was on the Hakata plain, an area already settled by elements of the ‘Wa’.71 The second region was around and to the east of the present Idzumo-o¯-yashira shrine in northern Shimane-ken. Archaeological excavations at several sites in the whole of the Shimane plain that stretches into western Tottori have produced a large number of important Yayoi artefacts. The coast adjacent to the ancient Idzumo shrine, built later, of course, may have been the locus of the ‘general’s’ bridgehead and a number of important settlement myths and legends follow implying that the newcomers negotiated a relatively peaceful solution and recognized at least some of the territorial rights of the original rulers. This suggests that the newcomers were possibly related to the Yayoi incumbents, but it is also likely that part of the agreement was military where the newcomers were able to coerce the threatening aboriginal mountain tribal chieftains into submission and ‘pacify’ or destroy those who resisted. In the first chronicles most, if not all, of these hostile native chieftains are described as ‘malevolent deities’ but it is a fact that in this region of the western and central Chugoku stretching broadly in a band down to the southern coast of Kumano, now Wakayama-ken, the original kami enshrinements seem to be largely

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41

‘Earth Kami’ whereas, with some major exceptions, the shrines east of the Chugoku and Kinki house the ‘Heavenly Kami’. However, this is a difficult division to prove with any certainty as the permanent shrine structures hardly existed before the eighth century and were, doubtless, deeply influenced by the Yamato need to reinforce their legitimacy by claiming the divine right to rule. It is likely that Shintoism, itself, even in its most archaic recognizable form, did not emerge until the last century or two of the Yayoi period, It is interesting, in tracing the supposed line that the two ‘generals’ followed in their progress eastwards to ‘pacify’ the mountain tribal groups, that we find a number of important Shinto establishments at key points. Notably, these are the Earth-kami enshrined at the four shrines composing the great Suwa-taisha and the major centres around Kashima-jingu and Katori-jingu. When the early usurping chieftains coming from Korea into eastern Kyushu, now Miyazaki-ken, found the conditions for settlement unfavourable, (this has always been regarded as a poor region), they discovered that there were better and more fertile lands beyond the Inland Sea and accordingly, by degrees, began to migrate east. This progress was of necessity slow and they probably stopped for long periods, years even, in order to grow and stock supplies of rice. It is possible, for example, that ¯ mishima in the Inland they settled temporarily on the large island of O Sea under the protection of a local powerful chieftain, later deified by ¯ -yama-zumi-no-kami, and revered as the ‘protector’ of the his title as O Imperial family and Japan in general. A great shrine was later built on the island in his honour and, significantly, received a huge amount of martial offerings in the form of arms and armour from at least the Nara period onwards. ¯ mishima was that an Another probable reason for the long pause on O earlier Kayan incursion had successfully established its hegemony over the former main chieftaincy of the Yamatai in the area now identified with Okayama prefecture and adjacent areas on the northern coast of the Inland Sea. This Kayan ‘state’ was known as Kibi and proved a serious impediment to the ‘Heavenly’ chieftains’ progress through the sheltered island-strewn waters. It is also possible that some of the allied tribes elected to make their way, again by degrees, around the southern coast of Shikoku rather than face the hazards of having to fight their way past Kibi territory. KIBI AND THE YAMATO SETTLEMENT Research suggests that the chieftains from Kaya established their hegemony in the third or fourth century after the decline of the Wa. From archaeological remains found all over the Kibi region, the invaders who conquered the Yamatai ‘kingdom’ clearly came from Korea and their

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ancestral links can be traced back to Central Asia. Michael Gorman, in his study The Quest for Kibi, suggests that by the fourth century the Puyo¯ had overrun the whole south-west and south of Korea, that is Paekche and Kaya, and that it is then that the Puyo¯-Kayan-Yamato annexation began in earnest about 369 CE or in the following century. ¯ mishima managed to bypass Kibi and finally The migrating tribes on O landed on the south-eastern Kumano (Kumanu in the early Chronicles) coast at the mouth of the Kumano-gawa in present day Wakayama-ken. The site may well be that occupied now by the small town of Shingu, attested by two important shrines, one large and the other small.72 After gathering their strength, the Yamato tribes found local guides from a tribe whose totem seems to be the Yatagarasu, or Three-legged Crow, and they advanced up the Kumano river, apparently meeting some stiff tribal resistance and in the course of the fighting a significant number of their warriors fell, until they emerged at last to seize rich lands around present-day Asuka already tilled by many Yayoi farmers. This region from the Yoshino-Kumano mountains north towards Nara was known as the province of Yamato. Eventually, sometime in the sixth century, Kibi, the thorn in the Yamato side because of its convenient maritime connections with Kaya, was invaded and annexed to finally fall under the sway of the paramount-chieftains directly descended from the Puyo¯-Kayan rulers.73 The Yamato had now achieved their aims but did not feel safe until well into the seventh or eighth century.

6

Cultic Symbols

T

he foregoing is a brief outline of the conjectured course of events between the third and seventh century and due to the paucity of written material is subject to considerable argument. One of the main problems is the state of denial on both the Korean and Japanese academic sides, partly because of the former long-standing historical and political differences between the two countries; the former claiming that Japan was eventually ruled by the Puyo¯-Kayan ‘kings’, and the latter, citing the Nihon-shoki especially, claiming the reverse was true. In the early- and mid-twentieth century both sides’ claims were vigorously contested or simply ignored. A further problem is the reluctance of the authorities in Japan to permit archaeological excavation and evaluation of the designated Imperial tombs. There can be little doubt that were these mounds opened the Korean origins might well be there for all to see. Archaeological finds throughout Japan provide us with an interesting picture of the late-Yayoi and Kayan overlap and an idea of the importance of shamanism to the rulers and their warriors. Naturally, one would expect this to be the case since a large part of the chieftains’ power lay in their perceived ability to call on support from the deities and in the military capabilities that supported their position. Some of these interfaces with the supranormal powers are covered by many authorities but here we shall examine a few that hitherto seem to have been overlooked or buried in academic publications difficult to access by the general reader. THE DEER CULT AND THE TREE OF LIFE Taking these aspects in no particular order, the first to be considered here is the cult of the antlered deer. This seems to find its origins in the

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Fig. 4 Two ‘Tree of Life’ crowns (left and centre) and antler crown decoration.

Altai region and the Trans-Baikal steppe, spreading in the Migration Period with the griffin-hawk symbolism both to the east and the west, and is clearly demonstrated by many archaeological grave finds from countless Scythian kurgan 74 and artefacts first dating from long before the Christian era to the establishment of the Puyo¯ supremacy. The deer cult reached Japan very early and seems to have been closely connected to the deer totems that probably accompanied, or even identified, the ‘general(s)’ who established their final bridgehead settlement at Kashima in Hitachi-no-kuni, modern Ibaragi-ken. The antlered deer image was strongly associated in the early myths with Takemika-dzouchi-no-kami, the great deity of the Kashima-jingu. From this relatively remote location on the Pacific coast,75 the cult that had been adopted by the ruling Nakatomi clan, travelled with them back west to become firmly rooted in the great Kasuga-jingu in Nara, the antlered deity becoming one of the most important of the tutelary protectors of the newly established Imperial line. This becomes more interesting when we consider that the deer ‘cult’ falls firmly into the category of the ‘Earth kami’ as opposed to those deities claimed as ancestors of the Imperial blood line who are described as ‘Heavenly kami’. However, by the eighth century these difficulties were resolved and Takemika-dzouchi-no-kami, and his association with the deer symbolism, came under the umbrella of the Heavenly kami. The antler76 totem first appears on the helmets, or kabuto¯, of Puyo¯Kayan armour very early in the eighth century, but developed long before from the elaborate headdress or crown worn probably by chieftains of some of the nomadic tribes and later found in a number of Korean and Japanese burials. On these spectacular ‘crowns’ the deer antlers are stylized to take the form of the ‘Tree of Life’ with its seven branches and includes two side ‘antler’ plates, each with five tines.77 The Sano¯ Futagoyama burial in Gumma-ken, north of Tokyo, revealed a crown twenty-seven centimetres in height that varies somewhat in displaying five ‘Trees’ with nine branches (including the finial at the top).78 This may be a local anomaly, as other crowns from Japan, Korea and

CULTIC SYMBOLS

45

the Central Asian steppe conform to orthodoxy. Kidder also illustrates a Scythian gold crown made possibly for the Roman trade in the first century BCE where two antlered stags confront a leafy Tree of Life.79 The concept of the Tree of Life may have originated in Central Asia and, like the griffin-raven symbols, soon extended far in both directions and was absorbed into many cultures. It occurs again in Scandinavian mythology as the World Tree and in Christianity in the Tree of Jesse. Amongst the Altaic tribal shaman, ‘climbing the tree’ signified the ascent to heaven and was, according to Kidder, closely linked to horse sacrifice, since it was in heaven where the shaman offered the soul of the sacrificed steed to the resident spirits.80 One of the oldest beliefs, widespread amongst the Mongol and Turkik tribal groups, and particularly amongst the Hsiung-nu nomads, was known as Tengrism.81 In the ancient languages of the Saka, the Buryat and the Tuva, ‘Tenger’ had the meaning of ‘sky’. Across the whole steppe from the Danube to the Sea of Japan, ancient beliefs in the sky deity incorporated many familiar elements found in the present discussion: shamanism, totemism, animism and ancestor worship – all clearly present in ancient Japan from the Yayoi onwards. The deity, Tengri, is known by a number of alternative renderings, such as Tengeri, Tangara (Great Lord), Tängere, Tingir, Tangri, Tangra, and Tanri. As a belief system, Tengriism is based on the belief in an enormous World Pillar or Tree that connects the Three Worlds – the Underworld, the Middle World and the Upper World. Thus, in the Mongolian languages, ‘Tenger’, the ’Sky’, has the wider meaning of harmony between the three worlds, particularly between the earth (middle) and the sky (upper or spirit world). Again, these beliefs spread in the mythologies, travelling west through the Scythian steppe and probably onwards through Hungary to the Scandinavian north and were at length absorbed into Christianity and other major belief systems, lasting recognizably intact in some regions to the present day. Dare one suggest, from the phonetic point of view at least, the possibility that the Japanese tengu, as a concept, sprang originally from the southern Siberian beliefs that the World Tree was the home of bird spirits? Amongst the Yakut and other tribal groups in this remote region, ‘Tengri’ or its various tribal renderings, contains a suggestion of ‘lofty’, or ‘luminous ones’, ‘white light’, ‘shining’, but also ‘Lord’, ‘Chief’, ‘Master’, and often ‘Father’. The eagle was the symbol of this deity.82 In passing, can we detect here a connection with the Puyo¯-Yamato martial deity, Futsunushi-no-kami, the ‘brother’ deity of Takemika-dzouchino-kami, where ‘Fu’ contains the meaning of a ‘sparkling point of light’ and ‘the coming dawn’? This concept, in itself, provides us with a direct link to the female war-deity, Ma¯r¯ı cı¯, or Marishi-ten (Marishi-sonten) in Japanese, the deity of the approaching dawn, who will be discussed later. Suffice it to say here that in the bugei there is a centuries old entrenched custom amongst warriors where martial practice commences

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well before the first light reaches the eastern horizon and continues until full daybreak. This is termed asageiko, (lit. ‘morning practice’). The formal rei, or ‘respect bow’ towards the kamiza, or ‘god-shelf’, at such early training should always be performed before the first hint of light in the eastern sky. According to the Buryats, the world has a multitude of spirits (ten¸gi), both evil and good. These spirits number altogether ninety-nine including fifty-five good spirits in the west and forty-four evil ones in the east.83 The term ‘ten¸geriner’, also amongst the Buryats, refers to the higher spirits, those who ‘’live in heaven’.84 oOo

Fig. 5 Hsiung-nu archer with antlered cap.

A drawing (see Fig. 5) of a Hsiung-nu archer on horseback in the act of loosing an arrow depicts him wearing a headband with four upward projections. The outward two on either side are drawn short with points and the inner pair are much longer and bend backwards resembling stylized horns, This form of head-dress is also found in a more ornate form is some kurgan burials. When these horns appear on Japanese armour in the early- to mid-Heian period, the tenth to eleventh century, the antlers are becoming greatly stylized and begin to be secured to the mabisashi, or peak, or the front plate of the hachi, helmet bowl; additionally they are often riveted to a small ornamental plate bearing a moulded representation of a fierce demonic face. These horns are now termed kuwagata and from the Gempei Wars (1181-85) become more and more elaborate, larger and decorative, losing sight of their original significance completely by the late-Edo period.85 Originally they would have identified the warrior’s protection by the Deer deity. Before passing on to other subjects, a number of armoured figures survive amongst the earthenware haniwa, some of them showing helmets with upstanding horn-like attachments.86 These all date from the mid- to late-Kofun period, the fifth and sixth century.

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47

Fig. 6 The development of the kuwagata horns and mabesashi plate from the ancient ‘tree of life’ crowns (see Fig.4) found across Central Asia reaching southern Korea and Japan during the Kofun period. The two side ‘horns’ on these spectacular crowns, reflecting the ancient Puyo¯ -Kayan beliefs based on a powerful martial deity whose emblem was a white antlered deer, gave rise to the first kuwagata in the early-Heian period. These were riveted to the front of the kabuto¯ attached to a plain front plate that, itself, soon was embellished with the face of a demon (oni). These development stages are suggested here progressively from top to bottom. The kuwagata continued to metamorphose, often drastically changing, sometimes simple and later more often complex, throughout the centuries until Bakumatsu but where the ‘horns’ are present, even in late armour, they usually remain true to their original concept. (Montage after Sasama Yoshihiko, Nihon Ko¯chu-Bugu Jiten.)

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IRON SMITHING Iron working had reached the archipelago from southern Korea towards the end of the Yayoi period but it was the more advanced technology of the Puyo¯-Kayan and Silla immigrants that enabled them to impose their increasing hegemony. There have been many finds throughout Korea of a wide range of straight and hooked spears, different types of arrowheads, and long single-edged swordblades. All are thought to have developed from Saka and Sarmatian origins in the region of the eastern Russian steppe from about the eighth century BCE onwards.87 Many similar weapons found their way into Japan as witnessed by numerous examples in museum collections. Of particular interest are the comparative studies published in academic journals dealing with archaeological finds down the length of the Chinese and Puyo¯ controlled regions, also Silla in Korea, and in Shimane and Tottori-ken in Japan, presumably arriving with warriors from Silla, and the Puyo¯ weapons recovered in Hyo¯go and Okayama-ken, and in the Asuka region of southern Nara-ken.88 The steady increase in the sword-smithing skills gave the Puyo¯-Kayan usurpers, and soon the Puyo¯-Yamato, very considerable advantages in confrontations with the shorter inferior weapons of their opponents, the Yamatai, and when fighting the indigenous mountain tribes. Russell Robinson believed that the Puyo¯ chieftains brought families of expert iron workers with them from their homelands beyond the Sungari river and that these smiths were closely connected with the shamanic-warrior tribal groups. The argument for this rests on the surviving religious customs, largely Shinto, that remain amongst swordsmiths forging important weapons, and the fact that the swordsmiths, the medieval yamabushi, and Shinto priests were permitted to wear swords, despite not being, ‘officially’, samurai. Furthermore, all three groups were permitted to wear formal eboshi during religious rites. This clearly links them with the embryonic elite warrior groups from the most ancient times. That these customs existed from time immemorial, plus the fact that the latter two groups were able to pass through the domain seki, or barriers, without let or hindrance, are indicative of the ancient links and the possibility of a common source in the remote past. GRIFFIN SYMBOLISM Turning specifically to the development of tsurugi, or long swords, we find that the earliest kashira, or pommels, widely found in both the Korean states overrun by the Puyo¯, from Silla, and in Japan had fine griffin-head decoration, realized intaglio. (See Plates 9 and 10.) The first examples of these are a single head in profile, usually gazing to the left, but later we see doubled ‘affronted’ griffin heads that became more and more stylized in the course of ‘Japanization’ until finally, by the

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49

Fig. 7 Griffin motifs in Puyoˇ-Kayan sword kashira. Left: Single head. Right: Double head. Many such kashira have also been found in tombs in southern Korea. (Fudoki-nooka Museum, Matsue-shi, Shimane-ken).

sixth century, they metamorphose to grotesque ‘demon faces’ or purely decorative fretted metalwork. The same demonic faces later appear on the front plate of the mabezashi of helmets, as noted earlier, the ‘horn’ kuwagata secured from either side. As the intaglio griffin kashira develop, the ‘beaks’ become shorter and more hawk-like, resembling very closely the later iconography of the sho¯-tengu. For all intents and purposes, the front part of the griffin-hawk heads are as we find the tengu being drawn from the twelfth century onwards; the only minor differences may be in the artist’s treatment of the plumage.89 The griffin kashira were a token of the divine protection in combat gained from the deities and symbolized by the shaman-smith when fashioning these fine weapons. Later, in medieval times, we frequently encounter sword blades engraved, amongst a range of other symbols, with Sanskrit bonji, also tsuba bearing the nine bars of the kujiho¯ exhortation to Marishi-ten for her protection in battle. Deeply chiselled representations of Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯, the ‘Defender of Buddha’s Law’, on blades are another example. An additional symbol of the protection afforded by the female war deity was the engraving on swordblades of the seven stars of the Big Dipper (part of the Great Bear or Ursa Major) which developed in Northern China and was used on weapons favoured by the Taoist warriors in their dha¯rani incantations. This symbol is also known in Japan.90 ARMOUR, WEAPONS AND DIVINE PROTECTION The development and fashioning of body armour also spread through Central Asia. The construction of protective equipment with laced or

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TENGU

riveted lamella plates might even be traced back to very ancient times amongst the Mediterranean nations. It is a simplification to point to Chinese forms as the sole original source; much more likely are the armours coming from the Saka or Sarmatian expansion across the steppe, or even as far back as ancient European times. However, this is a subject that is outside the scope of this volume. Closely associated with the development and use of arms and armour is the shamanic aspect; warriors in many cultures, if not all, have felt a necessity of seeking divine patronage and protection so that they can go to war convinced that their invisible deities fight alongside them against their adversaries. The same is true of the chase. A number of modern studies examining the origins of warfare show that spiritual appeals have been made in one way or another from the Palaeolithic age onwards.91 It is argued that the Palaeolithic cave art found in many ancient sites across the globe was associated with rituals designed to support both hunting and warlike actions. Principal amongst these shamanistic exhortations was the use of the drum, a method that has survived in Japan in Shinto and Shugendo¯ ritual, and assimilated to a greater or lesser degree in some Budo¯ traditions. The earliest use of the drum in Japan in this context seems to have originated in Central Asia and was brought to the archipelago in the manner discussed. Whilst there was doubtless drumming in use amongst the indigenous tribal groups and the Yayoi, certain characteristics of military drumming are distinctive and remain so to the present day. From the introduction of shamanic drumming intended to draw down the attention and patronage of the deities, battlefield signalling was developed as an extension of the original aim. Additional to the ritual use of the drum, we also find sword ‘dance’ where the weapon underscores, for example, the ‘driving out’ or ‘expulsion’ of recalcitrant minor spirits. In Kenbu, specifically, the ‘dance’ forms, which may employ katana, naginata, or yari, were historically used to gain the support of the deities or the spirits of the ancestors either before a battle or to celebrate victory. One suspects that, unfortunately, a great many of these sword rituals are now lost, while in the case of Kenbu, the dance is not necessarily precisely defined, as in the bugei kata, but performed intuitively in most cases according to the nature of the ceremony. The same comment might be applied to the use of the bow in a number of ‘cleansing’ rituals. In some of these, we have records of an ‘empty’ bowstring being ‘twanged’ to drive away malicious spirits, or of arrows actually being released. Such arrows may have been the ‘turnip’headed whistling signal arrows often aimed at the enemy commander at the commencement of the preliminary engagement of a battle in order to forecast the outcome. Both sword and bow are directly linked to controlling the unseen, but palpable, spirits, friendly or malevolent.

7

The Transition from the Griffin to the Hawk and Crow

I

n 2005, during a visit to the Kashihara Archaeological Institute in Nara-ken, I was able to take a close look at the superb collection on display. The museum covers the full span of human occupation of the southern Nara basin from prehistoric times to the beginning of the Nara period in the eighth century. One of the most interesting exhibits displayed reconstructions, based on interpretations of incised pottery finds, of possible religious rituals towards the close of the Yayoi period. The first of these incised sherds depicts a warrior wearing a feathered head-dress armed with a round-topped medium-sized shield on his left forearm and brandishing a short-handled ge, or ‘crow-bill’ axe, in his right. The museum reconstruction suggests that this was part of a war dance similar to those found amongst many tribal communities across the world. Such mock warfare performed before a tribal force embarks on war is usually designed to gain the approval and support of the wardeities. In Japan, dance was used in many different ways to attract and entertain the deities. Kuroki Yoshihiro, in his study of the scientific origins of the bugei,92 thought that the use of polearms evolved in ancient times from the ritual dance. It is certainly the case that kenbu, sword dance, has clear links to ritual empowerment amongst the classical warrior groups. We shall return to this subject further on. In passing, the ge as a form of weapon, may have originated in ancient China, but this is not certain as very similar examples of such bronze hand-axes are known from Middle Kingdom Egypt, across Bronze Age Europe, and found as far afield as Celtic Ireland. The second sherd shows what can only be interpreted as a therianthropic figure, part-man and part-bird, calling on the deities with two

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Fig. 8 A shamanic rite based on a Yayoi period incised ceramic shard in the Museum of the Archaeological Institute at Kashihara, Nara-ken. The shard clearly depicts a birdcostumed shaman. It is echoed in the Roman tessellated pavement mosaic found at the Brading Villa on the Isle of Wight, where a shaman is unmistakably represented wearing just such a headdress. This shaman is closely associated with two griffins and a small mountaintop temple. (Drawing reconstruction by the Author. Photo of Brading mosaic detail courtesy of the Oglander Roman Trust, Brading, Isle of Wight.)

THE TRANSITION FROM THE GRIFFIN

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Fig. 9 Skull of a protoceratops (male) based on fossil remains found in the Gobi (left). Conjectured living protoceratops (right). It is easy to understand how these skeletal remains gave rise to reports of the winged griffin. The adult protoceratops, although dying out at the end of the Cretaceous, was about the size of a large Asian lion, the latter being common in northern Persia and the region east of the Caspian to as far as the Altai Mountains in ancient times. (Drawings by the author.)

supplicants deeply bowing in front of him. The shaman wears a hawk mask and a lozenge decorated cloak that, with arms raised, suggests the wings of a bird. In the shaman’s hands are grasped three splayed white feathers. A third scene depicts a ceremony offering gifts to the deity with two bronze dotaku suspended from the branches of a sacred sakaki93 tree.94 Adrienne Mayer observes that from at least ancient Greek times the griffin had been thought to live in Central Asia in a region identified as the southern Altai bordering on the northern edges of the Gobi desert and western Mongolia. She points to the paleological finds in this remote area of fossil remains of the small lion-sized dinosaur, the protoceratops, a relation of the larger Triceratops; both animals living in the Cretaceous period at the end of the Mesozoic age. Below the grassy uplands lie the arid wastes of the Gobi, a region of constantly shifting soil and sand whipped by violent winds. Confirming classical reports like that of Herodotus in his Histories,95 recent scientific exploration has found whole bonefields of fossils with many near complete remains of the protoceratops – anciently described as a four-legged bird-animal with an eagle’s or hawk’s beaked head, wings and a body comparable in size to a small lion. Not only that, this strange ‘bird’-reptile was frequently discovered in association with clutches of its eggs and in or around these ‘nests’ were gold nuggets and precious stones. From this we can easily understand reports that these ‘griffin’ were fiercely protective of their young and guardians of golden hoards.96 The adult protoceratops, alive,

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would have measured between six and eight feet in length. A related animal, whose remains are also found in this area, was the parrot-beaked psittacosaurus; smaller at four to six feet in length and standing possibly four feet in height. Such is the state of preservation of many of these fossil remains that fine details of their muscular structure, including blood vessel grooves, can easily be discerned.97 It is easy to visualize the impact of such finds on the ancient tribal peoples and why these ‘winged’ powerful beasts imprinted their image on the art across the entire steppe, especially that fashioned in gold. The griffin motif spread both east and west, in the latter to appear quite clearly and realistically on pottery, metalwork, jewellery and Roman mosaics.98 The actual protoceratops and psittacosaurus fossils lie in an area from the Gobi in Mongolia west to the Kazakh steppe, the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea. The interpretation of the griffin, in visual terms, gradually altered towards the hooked-beaked birds of prey used for hunting across the entire Russian and Trans-Baikal steppe, at length becoming, in religious and martial symbolism, the raven with down-curled beak as well as the hawk.99 The griffin/hawk image first made its appearance on the steppe in the Migration Age although one might consider the hawk representation of Horus, the Egyptian sun deity, as taking it much further back. David Rohl argues that the sun deity hawk originated in Mesopotamia as long ago as five-thousand years BCE.100 The two main impetus given to these Altaic symbols came from the Royal Scythian pressure westwards and the Hsiung-nu movements towards the east; both tribal confederations believing that this was a totem that gave protection to warriors and horsemen, a potent acknowledgement of the power of the unseen world and the ancestral deities. The shaman was clearly recognized as one who, after undergoing severe solitary training often involving ferocious ascesis, was able to call on, communicate with, and even visit the deities. The shaman often was born of shaman ancestors. He or she became a very important person in these tribal societies, remaining so in a number of ways right through the medieval period and even, in the case of Korea, to the present time.101 As Carmen Blacker has demonstrated, the last female shamans exist in many country areas in super-modern Japan. Often the shaman was thought to be able to change his or her shape; this shape-shifting is frequently suggested amongst the therianthropic figures seen in prehistoric rock art in many places across the world. Over the past two-thousand years in both Occidental and Oriental art, Christian and Buddhist, we can find these therianthropic representations of devils and demons. There can be nothing unusual in this since man has always tried to visually bridge the gulf between the physical and the spiritual world. The shaman in the ‘primitive’ societies and the priest in the ‘civilized’ world essentially met this need. The shape-shifting portrayed graphically in the prehistoric cave paintings of France and Spain, and in South African or

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Fig. 10 Ascetics entering a trance state. This is an extremely rare and interesting woodcut (left) depicting the shaman-tengu in the process of entering a trance state characterized by projectile vomiting. This nausea, or bleeding heavily from the nose, is a frequently reported occurrence in a number of cultures and first represented in a Palaeolithic cave painting in Southern France but also reported in Southern Africa and South America. According to Henri Joly, Legend in Japanese Art,102 the tengu were thought to have wilfully broken the precepts of the Buddha and in consequence they do not belong to either heaven or earth, besides which he (the tengu) is sick three times a day as a penance. One can only comment that here we have a good example of the early Buddhist tengu ‘demonization’. The caption to this eighteenth century woodcut describes the tengu as ‘ a mountain oni (demon) at Kansachi-shu¯’. In the comment (bottom-left of the figure), there is the kanji for ‘tongue’. The ‘vomiting’ or ‘bleeding’ interpretation is modern.

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ancient Australian aboriginal rock art, expresses the shaman’s ability to become something very different from the experience of those attending such ritual ceremonies. It is his ability to enter a trance-like ‘other world’ condition, to vocalize sounds and voices from the ‘spirit world’ to deliver messages from the spirits, and give voice to the thoughts of the ancestors. To reach this ‘altered state’ the shaman often uses a variety of natural trance-inducing, hallucinatory drugs and while it is not usual, we can also observe the shaman figure projectile vomiting, in whatever animal or strange guise into which he is shifting. Images like these have been identified by researchers such as Jean Clottes and Lewis-Williams103 and, for Japan, in the image of the crouching tengu figure illustrated by Miyamoto Kesao.104 A more recent book discussing shamanism within the European context should be consulted by interested readers. The authors are Miranda and Stephen Aldhouse-Green.105 It is not the intention here to define or elaborate on shamanic practices in any detail, except where these practices directly concern this attempt to trace the origins of the Japanese tengu. There is a need, however, to explain and clarify those rituals and practices that eventually reached Japan in the kofun and, possibly, the Yamato periods. At the outset we are faced by the same problems that met the Russian ethnologists who researched the shamanism in the early and middle decades of the last century still practised by the Siberian nomadic peoples and, as yet, untainted to any significant extent by modern contact. Although these researchers were partly hampered by the Soviet authorities, a great deal of observation and evaluation was completed and the results are of significant value here. Suffice it to say, the shaman absolutely believed in the supranormal powers that he had largely inherited from past generations. We cannot quantify the origins of these powers beyond the probability, by the very nature of the nomadic life, that they remained imbedded in the ancient oral traditions or belief-systems. Only here and there can we state positively that this or that object has direct links to the shamanic beliefs of fifteen or twenty centuries ago. It is my belief, however, that it is in the magical and shamanic practices of the Altai region of Central Asia that we can trace the roots of the Japanese tengu.

8

The Shaman and His Drum

S

eminal research in the middle of the twentieth century was carried out by an indefatigable Hungarian scholar named Vilmos Diószegi. Unfortunately Diószegi died106 before much of his work was published but subsequently the Akadémiai Kiadó printed papers by a number of researchers in the field, edited by M. Hoppál and the late Vilmos Diószegi.107 Hoppál writes in his Introduction that the shaman’s drum is of the greatest significance and this statement is elaborated later by another contributor, L.P. Potapov, who makes the point that while we possess practically no written material, the drums of the Turkik-speaking nomads of the Altai region are ‘decorated’ with many strange figures called bura. These bura are without doubt very ancient indeed. He points out, too, that the bura figures are interrelated with the totemistic images and structure of the clans.108 Another contributor looks at the foundations of one of the Turkic tribes, the Buryat, and, interestingly, mentions that the tribal name for a shaman amongst these people is bo¯.109 Is this bo¯ cognate with the common medieval Japanese suffix added to the names of many yamabushi – bo¯ ? This same suffix can be found in the names of many tengu. Amongst the several Baraba Turkik tribes, the Buryat being one, the shaman’s drum was regarded as his ‘horse’ and he ‘travelled’ or ‘rode’ the drum (horse) during communication in his trance state.110 The most important figure, or bura, painted on the drum was a representation of a man riding on a horse, or a saddle animal, the cured skin of which was stretched to make the drumhead. Potapov discovered that it was possible to identify several tribes from the different hides. These skins included Altai maral, reindeer, roebuck, elk or foal. This observation may become significant when we consider that deerskin is preferred and widely used in the soft leather linings of Japanese armour and for the hilt coverings of

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Fig. 11 Various Bura from Inner Asia and Japan. Top: The decorative bands engraved on two Puyo¯-Kayan helmet bowls found in Japan. Sixth century (after Sasama Yoshihiko). Centre-top and detail of band around the Gion Kofun kabuto¯. Sixth century. (Based on drawings by Kidder and Sasama.) These reconstructed figures depicting strange animals, flying creatures, fish and a turtle are of great interest and clearly related stylistically to the Inner Asian bura, some of which are illustrated here and elsewhere. Attention is drawn to the ‘equestrian’ f igure ( fourth from the right on the band) which seems to represent a tyn-bura similar in intent as the brief selection shown in Nos. 4 – 6 (below right). The tyn-bura symbolically represented the soul-spirit of the shaman and, as such, this suggests that the kabuto¯ from this kofun belonged to a powerful shaman-warrior. Bottom left: ‘Animal’ images similar to ‘shapes’ reported seen by shaman in the early stages of entering the trance state: 1. Teleut, after Ivanov, 1954. 2. Teleut, after Dyrenkova, 1949. 3. Teleut, after Ivanov, 1955. Bottom right: Tyn-bura from Turkik shamanic drumheads: 4 – 6. Teleut, after Dyrenkova, 1949 Source: Vilmos Diószegi, Shamanism in Siberia, pp.107 and 112.

bamboo practice ‘swords’, both the older fukuro-shinai first developed in the sixteenth century and the shorter tsukagawa of shinai since the midEdo period. It is understood that the warrior’s soft deerskin gloves with printed surface designs, and the upper decorative panel at the top of the breastplate in armour, were also always made from deerskin,111 at least as far back as the Heian period. It may be argued that the warrior tribes of the Puyo¯ or the accompanying warrior-shaman were identified by the deerskin and this provides a linking connection with the later Puyo¯Yamato reverence for the deer as a sacred animal.

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Fig. 12 More detailed reconstruction drawing of the Gion Kofun kabut¯o (sixth century). (After Sasama Yoshihiko.)

Whilst these Barabic tribes of the steppe had been converted to Islam since the eighth century, their shamanic practices continued unabated and were undoubtedly deeply entrenched pre-Islamic survivals. The figure riding the horse, always at the topmost part of the drumhead, was of the greatest significance to the shaman and termed by these tribes the tyn-bura. This represented the ‘shaman’s soul’, his ‘life-soul’, and as such, its significance was never revealed to anybody.112 The other bura represent various spirits or deities, each associated with the clan, that were visited by the shaman. In time, these individual spirits may have merged and become less significant. The question is examined by Diószegi and Potapov113 but may help to explain the antlered stag that was the totem of Takemika-dzouchino-kami and the Nakatomi clan tutelary deity since at least the early Puyo¯ movements into Kaya and across to Japan. Some of these Baraba Altaic bura are found on a number of ‘decorated’ do¯taku dating from the late-Yayoi-Yamatai period, with some clear examples on bells excavated in the Idzumo region, Shimane and western Tottori-ken. A whole group of these figures are also to be seen famously engraved around the bands reinforcing a helmet bowl dating from the kofun period.114 and found in the Gion kofun, Kisarazu-shi, Chiba-ken. The grouping and variety of these bura found in Korea and Japan suggest tribal clan groups. These bura include deer, damselflies and wild boar. Returning to the Baraba symbols, we find a significant number of frog images entirely similar to the various types found on the shaman drums from the Talent, Shor, Kumandin and Khakas tribes. In the illustration of a frog represented on an Altaic Kizhi shaman costume collected by Anokhin in 1924, Diószegi comments that there is a considerable difference between the Turkish Baraba type and those of the last named tribal group.

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Fig. 13 Bura symbols from Inner Asian drums and Yayoi Japan. (Drawing by Author, 2002) Top: Face of a deity from a do¯taku, c. third century CE, Shimane-ken (Drawing by Author, 2002.) Centre: Left: Damselfly Centre: Two deer and wild boar from do¯taku, Shimane-ken. (Drawings by Author.) Right: 1 and 2: Deer bura from Altai Region Turkik drum motifs. (No.1 Baraba Turkik after Stralenberg, 1730, and No.2: Altai Kizhi after Anokhin, 1924.) Bottom: Left and Left Centre: No.3: Altai Kizhi (after Anokhin, 1924) and No.4: Baraba Turkik. (After Stralenberg, 1730.) Nos.1 – 4 in Vilmos Diószegi, Shamanism in Siberia, p.45. Centre Right and Right: Deer and Inoshishi, Yayoi d¯otaku, Shimane-ken. (Drawings by Author, 2002.)

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Fig. 14 Ritual lustration basin, Asuka Kashihara Museum, Nara-ken: c. seventh century, and Yayoi and Turkik turtle bura. Top: Plan of this remarkable find. Below: Large turtle from Yayoi Do¯ taku, c. third century (Shimane-ken). (Drawing by Author, 2002.) Seven Turkik bura from shamanic tribal drums. 1. Baraba, after Dyrenkova, 1949. 2. Teleut, after Ivanov, 1955. 3. Khakas, after Ivanov, 1954. 4. Teleut, after Ivanov, 1955. 5. Shor, after Ivanov, 1954. 6. Shor, after Ivanov, 1954. 7. Khakas, after Ivanov, 1954

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The frog or turtle image can also be traced to China and through Korea, probably metamorphosing from the simpler early amphibian-animistic totems to the latter in the course of assimilation within different cultures. It seems certain that the identification with shamanic ritual holds true as these ceremonies were intimately connected with purification, particularly lustration with water, a constant in ancient purification ceremonial in China, Korea, and Japan. The direct connection with Yayoi-Yamatai ritual is evidenced by a frog-turtle bura centrally engraved on a d¯otaku handle flange displayed in the Okadayama Fudoki-ga-oka museum near Matsue-shi, Shimane-ken. The final Altai bura proof must surely be demonstrated by the spectacular discovery in 2000 of an entire purification site on land intended for use as a new car park belonging to the Asuka Kashihara Museum, Nara-ken. This very important discovery (illustrated in Fig. 14) has revealed a complete lustration complex and provided an acceptable theory to the meaning of a huge stone slab with several conduit channels deeply chiselled in the surface situated high on the hill above. It is thought that when this frog-turtle basin was used for ritual, a miko¯ priestess probably knelt in the basin facing the incoming flow of water and performed a purification rite using a frond of bamboo or a leafy branch taken from a sacred sakaki bush. It is conjectured that water was dipped from the upper trough and poured over her head and shoulders, a ritual repeated three times if we go by later ceremonial, the ¯o-harai. Supplicants may have witnessed the proceedings from a tier of stone stepped terraces a few yards further down and may have also received some sort of mass lustration during the ceremony. The site has been dated to the end of the kofun period when Buddhism had already been introduced and partially established by the Yamato rulers. The date accepted for this remarkable structure is around 656 CE. Returning to the Gion kofun helmet bowl,115 it is certain that the engraved bura were directly connected with the warrior groups and the shamanic beliefs. (Refer to Fig. 12 above.) Careful examination of the lower horizontal f lange to which would attach the mabisashi peak, and the middle horizontal strengthening band, shows that there are displayed a total of ten irregular sized oblong panels. Within these ten panels are engraved eleven bura. The lower ‘mabesashi’ band, from left to right, has: 1. An elongated winged and horned quadruped; 2. A fish,116 3. Three running birds; 4. A tyn-bura of a shaman-spirit astride a horse; 5. A large fish; 6. A large winged biped (possibly a bird); 7. A pregnant inoshishi (wild boar) depicted with its young in the womb. The upper band, from left to right, has: 1. A long eel-like fish and a smaller fish; 2. A wolf or inoshishi quadruped; 3. A terrapin or turtle; and 4. A winged bird-like figure. The conclusion to be reached, I suggest, was that this helmet belonged to a high-ranking shaman-warrior by reason of the figure riding a horse. It might be felt that despite arguments refuting those theories advanced by Gari Ledyard117 that the Puyo¯ were without doubt horse-riding tribes

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from the Trans-Baikal steppe, this particular helmet with its unmistakable bura goes a long way in support. There is just one more strand of ‘evidence’ regarding horses that occurs in the well-known myths surrounding the intemperate actions of Susa-no-wo against his sister, Amaterasu, later deified as the Sun goddess, but more probably originally a shaman-queen, perhaps even Pimiko, ruler of the Yamatai. Susa-no-wo, in the course of his attempts to intimidate Amaterasu by powerful magical ritual, is recorded as ‘flaying a piebald colt of Heaven and flinging the hide (or the corpse) into Amaterasu’s hall’.118 The Russian ethnologist, Potapov, in discussing the Old Turkik names for the tribal animals, interprets the term ‘aq-cˇayal’ as ‘a sacred skewbald horse’.119 Skewbald and piebald are the similar terms for an irregularly marked particoloured animal. Sacrificial animals were nearly always one colour amongst these Altaic tribes. The skewbald was held sacred and its hide was used in covering the shaman’s drumhead. To flay a horse in the reverse manner, from the head towards the hooves, was to insult the deity of the tribe and rendered any counter-sacrifice impure, hence the obvious terrible ritual slight directed against the shaman-queen and her people. The slaying of this horse in such a manner was probably intended to ‘kill’ the tyn-bura of the queen and so ‘slay’ her ‘spirit’. It is little wonder that this traumatic event was remembered and recorded some four centuries afterwards. So vivid are the accounts of the ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ struggle that they have a degree of the ring of truth.120 There is an interesting link between the evident ritual ‘sorcery’ involved in Susa-no-wo’s horse sacrifice, as recorded in the Kojiki, and the fact that amongst the Baraba Turks and other southern Altai tribes, the sacrificial horse was slaughtered in such a cruel manner that its blood was not spilt. The animal had its backbone forcibly broken; it was then flayed and the hide hung on a pole.121 This rite was called the ‘tigir ta¯ji’, the ‘sacrifice to heaven’ and usually offered to the sky deity, Tengere Kaira Kan, ‘Merciful Emperor Heaven’.122 The flaying was done starting at the feet and proceeding to the head. The hooves, tail, and head were left in place. This method sometimes varied and the hooves, tail, and head were cut off. Lastly, no commentators appear to have sought the origin of a title jealously handed down in very old warrior-samurai families. This describes senior retainers as uma-jirushi samurai, usually translated as meaning ‘horse-leading’ retainers or ‘a standard-bearer’. Whilst both descriptions seem to be valid, the former suggests a more menial rank, even for one leading his lord’s mount. The second is more satisfactory, however Kendo masters that I have known, descended from such very old families, feel that the rank goes very far back to or even before the Nara period, perhaps to the ‘horse-riding’ Yamato?

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THE ANCIENT SWORD KASHIRA There have been many finds of iron swords dating back to the Puyo¯ invasion of the Chinese Commanderies in Korea and the thrusts across the Tsushima Straits into the Japanese archipelago. Weapons accompanying burials between the third and sixth century frequently have kashira and tsuka, hilts, fashioned in gilt bronze. Finds suggest that these originated in the Korean peninsular. While some authorities believe the long-bladed single-edged blades were modelled on Han period weapons from China, it can also be argued that they first came from the sword types favoured in Persia during the Sasanian Empire.123 Indeed, the very name given to the single-edged Japanese sword, katana, derives from the Tungusic language. Many of these kashira feature a ‘bird’s head’ intaglio that, on stylistic grounds alone, resemble the Central Asian griffin. We have already touched on this subject above pointing to the commonly found protoceratops fossils found in the neighbourhood of the Altai mountains. The Altaic swordsmith’s interpretation of the bony fringe on the protoceratops’ shoulders or the skeletal elongated shoulderblades (scapula) was that these were in some way the remains of feathers, but on some of these kashira we see three such curled f langes, and must conclude that in ancient times these may have been considered wings. The fact remains, though, that whilst a small number of these ‘griffin’ pommels have been recovered in the Lo-yang Commandery, they are not, from the iconographical standpoint, representations of dragons of Chinese origin. This is not to say that the Chinese interpretation of the same protoceratops-griffin images were not interpreted, in the Chinese cultural context, as dragons; they may well have done so, but the progress of these griffin kashira southwards and into Japan saw few or no such changes. Through the rapid process of assimilation in the Japanese archipelago the unfamiliar griffin soon became hawks or karasu, still retaining their original function as totemic tribal or shamanic symbols and, undoubtedly associated with the descendants of the hypothetical shaman-warrior ‘clan’ that was present at all stages of the migration and final land-taking between the fifth and seventh century. Now we find the hawk and the crow closely connected to shamanic-religious practices. There is, for example, the mysterious three-legged crow known as the yatagarasu, the ‘sun-crow’ in China, whose mysteries are deeply entrenched in several important ‘Earth-deity’ shrines, such as the Kumano-sanzan in Wakayama-ken and the Kumano-taisha in northern Shimane-ken. A three-legged crow? Myth tells us that it was a yatagarasu that guided the ‘Empress’ Jingo¯-ko¯go¯’s ships to attack Kaya in her supposed expedition in the fourth century. It was a yatagarasu that offered to guide the Puyo¯-Yamato warrior chieftains and their men northwards through the dangerous Kumano massif to finally reach the Nara plain.

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Fig 15. Modern logo depicting two yatagarasu for the Kumano Hongu-Taisha, Wakayama-ken.

Jean Herbert, like Carmen Blacker, also believed that the yatagarasu was central to an ancient and important cult. Some traditions even regard this strange ‘crow’ as ‘a great master of esotericism’, however my own investigations have added nothing more to the mystery.124 This yatagarasu totem was, without doubt, the bura of a group of indigenous tribes in these regions of central and western Japan but are ‘comically’ largely imbedded in the ancient mythology. The symbol is now used, believe it or not, as the ‘brand’ logo of the Japanese Football Association! C’est la vie! Already in some of these early Japanese griffin kashira we can see the original griffin being conflated with the hawk through a shortening of the beak and it is this image that remained constant when we meet with the first tengu representations after the Heian period, some five centuries later. The original bura was now thoroughly and comfortably assimilated into the Japanese psyche. When the final waves of the Puyo¯-Yamato finally established themselves as the ruling power, they adopted a completely different type of sword and the intaglio kashira disappear; however, it is interesting, intriguing even, that at this late kofun period of the sixth and seventh century, the ‘specialist’ shaman’s role seems to have been taken away and the mantle assumed by the chieftains and paramount ruler, rather like Henry VIII becoming the ‘Defender of the Faith’ in England. The shamanic duties devolved to the newly established Shinto gu¯ji in their splendid freshly built shrines and certain important ritual ceremonial was carried out by the leaders of the warrior be, or ‘guilds’. The former shaman-warriors, possibly to be identified with the Yama-be or the Yama-otomo,125 withdraw completely, but with no mention of the savage eradication favoured by the Yamato rulers in ridding themselves of potential threats by simply annihilating the opposition.

9

Shamanism and the Japanese Context

I

n the above discussion it has been suggested that part, at least, of the origins of the tengu characteristics, later embedded in Japanese folk beliefs, entered Japan from the late-Yayoi period in conjunction with the land-taking process that culminated with the establishment of the final Puyo¯-Yamato hegemony. Accompanying the Puyo¯ chieftains in this period between the fourth and sixth centuries, was a conjectural specialist shaman-warrior group, small as it may have been, that fulfilled an important function in its ability to communicate with a number of the warrior and indigenous deities through shamanism. This ability was expressed by the spirit figures, called bura in the Altaic home lands, which we find on a range of cultic artefacts. These symbols were recorded, too, in the semi-mythical ‘history’ of the Yamato rulers in the earliest written chronicles, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, of the early eighth century. Whilst no one believes these ‘histories’ are in any way reliable, just occasionally events are so vividly recorded that the remembered ‘fable’ may have recalled the fading memory of an actual happening; for example, the case of the reverse f laying of the piebald horse by a violent chieftain later deified as Susa-no-wo. Vilmos Diószegi, the Hungarian ethnologist, to quote from his summing up of the results of his comparative analysis examining the significance of these bura on the Baraba Turkish drums, writes: . . . we can assume that the Baraba Turkish shaman also went all over the upper and the lower world during shamanizing. In the course of his wanderings he passed through the junction of the roads of spirits and got into the upper sphere by climbing up the sky-high tree. The shaman rode

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his zoomorphic life soul in the empire of the spirits, where also spirits had saddle animals, and his scout was a bird. In the lower sphere, too, the shaman was assisted by spirits: his body was protected by a mythical aquatic animal, and the vessel filled with the libation intended for the underworld spirits was carried by a frog.126

At this point it would be useful to examine just what is meant by ‘shamanism’ and to clarify the application of the term in the Japanese context to the proto-yamabushi and, by association, the tengu. One of the foremost recent authorities on shamanism was Mircea Eliade who, in his writings, clearly defines the requirements to justify the appellation ‘shaman’.127 However, some experts have questioned whether or not this term should be applied in the Japanese context. Carmen Blacker is quite definite in accepting its application to the various groups in Japan who practise ecstatic behaviour.128 Certainly the yamabushi of early medieval times did so and, so far as I can discover, so did certain elements within the later bugei. A shaman possesses the power to communicate directly with spiritual beings. In other words, he is able to ‘travel’ between the physical and the spiritual world. To do this, he enters a state of disassociated trance. Those able to thus communicate fall into two main groups in Japan. The first is the shrine maiden known as the miko,129 who, in her trance state, often aided by dance, was used by the spirits to make their communications known. She was a vessel, a primary transmitter. The second is the ascetic who is primarily a healer of the sick and capable of banishing malevolent spirits. Such a person acquires his or her power through undergoing a severe and prolonged regime of privations and ascetic practices. Carmen Blacker points out that the miko invites the spiritual beings from their world to ours; whereas the ascetic travels from our world to theirs. It is the latter’s soul that bridges the gap through employing symbolism.130 The shaman is one who receives a supernatural gift from the spirit world.131 This gift is bestowed by a single spiritual being who afterwards becomes the shaman’s guardian or guide. The shaman is able to travel by means of his drum, for example, through the ‘three worlds’ – the underworld of sick and kidnapped people possessed by malevolent spirits; to ‘spirit travel’ to experience things not limited by physical geography in the physical world; and to enquire in the upper layers of the spirit world knowledge of hidden matters. In order to do this, the shaman is aided by helping spirits; hawks, crows and, in our study, by tengu. These spirits are given to him as ‘guardians’ or ‘messengers’ at the time of his initiation.132 The tengu, for example, as a ‘messenger’ from the initiate’s spiritual ‘master’, dons a feathered cloak, understood to be wings; wears a small distinctive cap such as the tokin of the yamabushi; and also often carries a feathered fan which confers invisibility. Later in the medieval

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bugei ‘invisibility’ induces ‘indecision’ amongst enemies as one of the ‘Four Poisons’. In his trance state, the shaman is believed to have risen to the tops of tall trees, there to communicate with the spirits who have, themselves, descended to the same place; put alternatively, the shaman is able to ascend the ‘Cosmic Tree’, the ‘World Tree’ we have already encountered on the ancient Korean and Japanese crowns. This World Tree with its roots in the Underworld and its crown in the highest heaven, is the axis of the cosmos, the source of ever-renewing life. This is the route of the shaman’s journey, one made to the very centre of the cosmos. Furthermore, the shaman must also be capable of allowing his body to become a vessel for possession by the spirits. It is this ability, call it intuitive understanding of the ‘truth’, that I believe was one of the main objectives of many Muromachi kenshi; a state of altered or heightened awareness that permitted the tengu ‘messenger’ to deliver its message. This goal of being able to intuit was accomplished during the warrior’s final reimu, the last period of ascetic training designed to sharpen and ‘free’ his creative inner mind. MASTERY OF FIRE AND INTERNAL HEAT The shaman, through his ecstatic condition, is able to master fire. Not in real terms, of course, but he has the ability to internalize and raise his own body heat, a condition recorded in a number of ancient cultures and described in the myths and legends that surround many heroes. Eliade points to this creation of internal ‘fire’ as a particular characteristic of shamanism,133 and Carmen Blacker writes that the self-generated heat signifies that the mystic has passed beyond the ordinary human condition and now participates in the spirit world.134 In Japan, one particular ascetic practice is the repeated immersion of the shaman-mystic’s body by slowly descending into a tank of icy cold water. The special tank, often found within or close to many shrines, is called a mizugori,135 and is usually furnished with some steps to enable the ascetic to descend slowly. Even in the depths of winter, onlookers often observe that the shaman is positively glowing with warmth, despite the fact that each immersion may be repeated up to thirty or more times whilst intoning small sections of the Heart Sutra. Whilst this particular form of ascetic practice is undoubtedly extremely ancient in origin, it also demonstrates the conf lation of esoteric Buddhist beliefs with both Shinto and the mountain beliefs manifested in Shugendo¯. If we can draw a comparison, the ‘turtle’ basin at Asuka, directly linked to lustration, may be considered a sixth or seventh century forerunner of these mizugori, although it is probable that some of these ‘holy’ tanks may have been in place well before the present main shrine buildings were constructed. We must also bear in mind the many waterfalls were

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considered sacred to a number of kami, the most spectacular being the Nachi-taki in Wakayama prefecture; all used down the ages by ascetics and pilgrims, alike. Plate 7 shows the Nachi Falls. A case in point is the mizugori that lies behind the main honden at the Izumo-o¯-yashiro at the foot of the slope where the Storm deity, Susano-wo, is enshrined. While this cistern is within the shrine boundaries, it is not enclosed in the main compound. The same applies to the position of the mitarashi below the Kashima-jingu, the upper shrine on Daisen, and the Kamo¯su-jinja. I suspect that there are many hundreds, if not thousands, of other examples throughout Japan.136 The concept of the internalized ability of the ascetic to generate very noticeable body heat, as it is found in Japan, is linked to the symbolic cosmic flames surrounding such formidable bodhisattvas as Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ and others, including the strange fierce manifestations of Zao¯-gongen. However, we also find the same phenomenon in the warrior traditions far to the west in ancient Ireland. The hero, Cú Chulainn, is described in the Ulster Cycle in a manner that directly points to the results of shamanic initiation. In his battle frenzy, apart from several other terrifying aspects, his body became so heated that three vats of water poured over him boiled before he was sufficiently cooled. In this state of furious possession, he was dangerously uncontrollable, his body and face fearfully contorted.137 We can see close similarities to Cú Chulainn’s description in the fierce deities and the Ni-o ‘guardians’ that appear in countless entrance gateways to temples throughout Japan, China and Korea. SHAPE-SHIFTING From the late-Yayoi to the final establishment of the Yamato hegemony we encounter the shamanic phenomenon of shape-shifting, which is directly linked to the therianthropic images already discussed. An unusual example of this is to be found at certain shrines where the visitor comes across an open-air Sumo¯ do¯jo¯ which is used in ceremonies known as hi-no-sumo¯ when there is a symbolic planting of rice in a field set aside for this sacred rite adjacent to or within the shrine. Whilst this is usually performed in the fourth month, it can be as late as the fifth day of the fifth month, the time of the Boy’s Festival. At the Tsu-no-mine jinja, in Tokushima-ken, at the rite of ‘offering’, the sumo¯ matches are ¯ mishima O ¯ yamazumiheld on the sixteenth of April whilst at the O taisha, Ehime-ken, the ceremony is on the fifth of May. However, these ‘matches’ are very different from what one might expect. In front of a large crowd of onlookers and the officiating Shinto priests, a single sumo¯tori, not necessarily a professional but more likely a farmer from the local community, faces the invisible yama-no-kami, who has been invited down to the shrine, in a series of three matches. The wrestler, often a

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Figs 16 and 17 Kami-no-sumo¯ – wrestling with the kami in order to ensure that the Ta-no-kami intercedes to give an abundant rice crop. This rite is performed annually at many shrines throughout Japan at the Rice planting Matsuri in April or May. ¯ mishima-taisha, Ehime-ken.) (O

man of mature years, formally struggles with his ‘deity’ opponent, his efforts both strenuous and in earnest, winning the first bout, drawing the second, but always defeated in the third. The matches are judged by an umpire, shinpan-kan, dressed appropriately in kimono, hakama, stiffened kamishimo,138 and a formal eboshi, just as they are in Sumo¯ in the present day. Donn Draeger, a noted researcher of the bugei, observed: ‘Grappling methods used for combat are as old as man on the Asian continent; and this is no less true in Japan. Japanese mythology recounts grappling combats between deities to determine divine authority for leadership of the land.’ He continues that it wasn’t until the ninth century (CE) (that) ‘primitive grappling methods came under the purview of the warrior class’.139

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Draeger’s observation that grappling with the spirits was not purely Japanese illustrates the point made by a number of historians and ethnologists that there were several different influences in the ancient development of Japan; some coming north from Polynesia through the Ryu¯kyu¯ islands, others from India by way of China, and others, as we have seen, from Central Asia.140 On the beautiful, if remote, Oki-shoto¯ island group about thirty miles out in the Sea of Japan immediately north of Shimane-ken, a large ritual sumo¯ matsuri is held each year, clearly in honour of the deities to ensure good yields from the fields. To the west of these islands where a number of ancient festivals are preserved, lies the coast of south-east Korea, formerly the region of the Kingdom of Silla. Some of these apparently non-Altaic manifestations were the strange Hayato¯ tribal ‘guardians’ who, amongst other ritual ‘duties’, protected the Yamato high chieftains and later the Imperial rulers in their palaces. These Hayato¯ donned a kind of white or red ‘dog’ mask when they accompanied their masters and made continuous barking sounds as the cortège proceeded. Such processions were only ‘spiritually’ protected, it seems, by these ‘dog-men’ when the ruler left the palace by the northern gate. The Hayato¯ were apparently an indigenous tribe living in the south-east part of Kyushu in Hyu¯ga and Osumi-provinces as they used to be, present-day Miyazaki-ken. Their bura or totem was certainly a dog. They also performed funerary song and dance at the site of the deceased ruler’s kofun for a period before and after the burial. There are many references to their actions, and sometimes their rebellions, in the first chronicles. It is clear from a number of these notices that the rulers regarded the Hayato¯ as beings living partly in the physical and partly in the spiritual world.141

10

Transition from the Ancient to the Medieval Period

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efore coming to the semi-historical period it would be useful to take an overview. Readers who wish to understand the successive waves of tribes entering Japan after the ancient Jomon period to the final imposition of Yamato rule in the seventh century, together with the basis of Shinto and the sankaku shinko¯, or mountain beliefs, and so on, will find several valuable titles in the Bibliography. Throughout the ancient period we have seen that the successive tribal movements originating in different parts of the east Asian mainland first carved out their own enclaves, then entered into a period of settlement, finally passing to a phase of aggressive ‘land-taking’. Over these early centuries from the mid-Yayoi at the beginning of the first millennium CE to around the seventh century, we can easily see that these incoming cultural influences went through a process of assimilation and, characteristically, became ‘Japanicized’. Just why this should be the case was significantly influenced and encouraged by the physical geography of the archipelago. The mountain regions filled almost eighty per cent of the total land mass, leaving relatively narrow lands suitable for the cultivation of rice. Communication by land was difficult in many areas and the best routes were by water, especially through the relatively sheltered Inland Sea. When the Yayoi immigrants arrived in the third century BCE, they established their scattered nucleated farm settlements on the constricted flat alluvial plains and partially drained some areas of the marshy hunting grounds long used by the aboriginal Jomon wildfowlers. The clearing and draining of the wetlands displaced those native tribes by one means or another back into the nearby mountain tracts. By the third century CE some of these tribal Yayoi groups had developed so far as

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to form six or so ‘states’, although they were probably little more than collections of neighbouring village communities. These groups were described in the third century Chinese Wei Chronicle as forming the state of Wa and were under the rule of a powerful female chieftain named Pimiko. The Wa states’ inhabitants are also called the Yamatai. The precise location of these federated ‘states’ is still not clear but it is thought that possibly two of them may have been in southern Korea in a region known as Kaya. The ‘capital’, or most important ‘state’ through the presence of the ‘queen’, may well have been in present day Okayama-ken, possibly where Kurashiki is sited beside the waters of the Inland Sea. At this stage the spiritual beliefs of the aboriginal Jomon tribes were probably totally animistic, based on the need for successful hunting, their empowerment against their warlike neighbours, and the hope for conducting successful depredations against the Yayoi farmers. The Jomon worshipped the elemental deities residing in their mountains, very possibly practised human sacrifice and, in the more ancient period, probably some form of cannibalism, although this is not proven. Pimiko, or Himiko, the strong female chieftainess of the Yamatai, was a formidable shaman with the clearest antecedents deriving from the Altai in Central Asia and Korea, but here one should read Carmen Blacker’s, The Catalpa Bow, for her analysis of these spiritual pathways that led directly to the sankaku shinko¯ that we find underlying all indigenous Japanese culture. In the third and fourth century CE, the pressure of migrating peoples from northern Asia began to be felt in southern Korea and the stronger Korean state of Silla, causing some powerful chieftains, believing in a ‘Heavenly’ pantheon of deities, to cross the Tsushima Straits and establish bridgehead controls over areas such as Idzumo in western Honshu¯, where the changeover appears to have been relatively peaceful and accomplished by some sort of ritual ‘magical’ contests. The Yayoi inhabiting this region seem to have been more advanced technologically than elsewhere and may already have known the newcomers, even to the extent of blood-links between the ruling chieftains. The incoming warlike chiefs settling in Idzumo (Shimane-ken) immediately set about ‘pacifying’, or subjugating, the disparate and unruly Jomon mountain tribes known as the Emishi, and soon struck directly along the northern Chugoku coast of Honshu¯ to veer south-east through the Hida Sanmyaku into the Japanese Alps to Suwa-ko.142 After what appears to have been a check at this point, they continued onwards to cross the Bandai (Kanto¯) ‘reed-plains’ and finally establish a powerbase on the Kashima peninsular then, for all intents and purposes, a long narrow island on the Pacific coast bounded inland by Kita-ura and other lakes. Once there, they completed their bloody ‘pacification’ and established a measure of military control over the remaining Emishi. A second thrust may have

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accomplished a similar result along the southern coast of the Inland Sea and down the western coast of the Kumano peninsular. The Puyo¯, in the meanwhile, had crossed from Paekche and overrun Kaya, the recent home of their cousins, above, and soon large elements under a clan headed by a rival high-chieftain braved the Straits and began seizing lands in northern and eastern Kyushu. Either because they met resistance or found the lands poor, the main group of these usurpers travelled by degrees eastwards through the Inland Sea or along the southern coast of Shikoku, to reach Kumano at or near to presentday Shingushi. From there they struck north following the Kumano River to its upper reaches through the mountains to settle finally on the Nara plain, first at Asuka, eventually giving their name to the province, Yamato. In the seventh century, the Puyo¯-Yamato rulers turned on their cousins, independently ruling in Kibi, and soon after completing their conquest established their hegemony once and for all. Each successive tribal wave to the islands brought its own beliefs and deities which, because of a basic natural affinity, became easily assimilated to absorb characteristics already entrenched amongst the bulk of the prehistoric population. As we have seen, these deity structures divide into the ‘Earth kami’ deriving from the Jomon and Yayoi, and the ‘Heavenly kami’ introduced by the Puyo¯-Kayan warrior tribal leaders. While in the course of time there was a blurring of the demarcation between the earth and sky religious beliefs, the division can still be detected in many westversus-east shrine dedications in western and central Honshu¯. Importantly, though, the native population subscribed to the sankaku-shinko¯ and held in common a deep reverence bordering on fear of the vast and virtually impenetrable forested heights. Any traveller, even today, following the tracks or highways through regions like the YoshinoKumano massif, cannot help but understand just how formidable and forbidding these un-eroded once volcanic mountains can be as they rear at acute angles towards their serrated ridges. To add to the awe in which these wastes were held, there was an all-pervading ancient belief that when a person died, his or her soul took up its abode in the mountains. It logically follows that the spirits of the most famous deceased powerful chieftains of all the disparate race groups, remembered in the tribal or group legends and myths, became uji-gami (or ubusuna-gami) and continued exerting their interest in the fortunes of their descendants from their spiritual abode. By the end of the Yamato period the enriched folklore focussing on these forbidding places and fuelled by terrible accounts of the dangerous and malevolent Emishi tribes, gave an image that they were peopled by uncontrollable ‘demon-deities’ who were able to control the forces of nature, particularly storm and fire, who sent down destructive deluges or caused blight on the vital rice crops, starvation and ruinous flooding through the overflowing of the raging mountain rivers and streams.

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These ‘deities’ were everywhere and could not be seen or propitiated except by those initiated into the occult arts. In an attempt to find protection from the raiding of the Emishi doubtless some settlements sought to placate them with gifts. Everywhere, the lowland groups used prayers, exhortations, gifts and purification ceremonial inviting the participation of the mountain deities or their more tangible counterparts, the chieftains, all in an attempt to secure prosperity. It is significant that the earliest holy places were at the foot of the mountains where the tilled land met the abrupt heights. It was only over the course of three or four hundred years that the warriors protecting the interests of their chieftains gradually drove the Emishi back deeper into the interior and finally cleared, or ‘pacified’, whole areas. Only then could the first shrine structures be safely built higher on the slopes and probably not until the middle of the ninth century that the remoter heights, by now sacred to the numinous yama-no-kami, were reached. We have also noted that the Puyo¯-Kayan usurpers, their chieftains largely worshipping the ‘heavenly deities’ that came from their Central Asian homelands and intermixed, to some degree, with Chinese deities, brought with them a small tribal group of shaman-warriors who, themselves, came from the Altai Tungusic-speaking nomadic tribes. The function of these ‘shaman-warriors’ may have been to communicate with the ‘yama-no-kami’, probably to placate them, and to aid the policy of ‘pacification’. It may be, then, that the Yama-be and the Yama-otomo groups, apparently never significantly numerous, used their shamanic skills to oppose the Emishi deities and subvert them. They may also have been able to offer their shamanic healing skills to gain the trust of the harried and certainly suspicious tribal chieftains. These same shaman carried with them the successors to their former bura in the form of the ever-present mountain taka and karasu, hawks and crows, familiar enough creatures to the mountain dwellers. Added to these feathered ‘spirit’-creatures was the strange yatagarasu, the three-legged crow, found as the totem of a whole group of major shrines from Idzumo to the three major religious centres in southern Kumano.143 All the mythical accounts of these creatures are directly linked to martial events and, significantly, as ‘protectors’ or ‘guides’ of important high-chieftains. However, their direct links to the ‘great sky deity’ of the Altai tribes, Tengri, must not be ruled out. Buddhist doctrine, (Bukkyo¯) came to Japan, according to Japanese tradition, in the year 585, but, as pointed out by Allan Grappard,144 it had already been known in the archipelago for a long time before that, brought by kikajin, or immigrants, from China and Korea. It may even have first been introduced in Kyushu, but the Yamato court adopted the system when it became obvious that Buddhism represented a cultural system that could no longer be ignored and would enhance the Yamato

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state now forming under continental influence. The introduction was not without an armed struggle between the powerful warrior be, the Nakatomi and the Monono clans, who supported a state based on nonBuddhist principles. These clans were opposed by the Soga clan and the disturbed situation was finally resolved through the decisive action of Nakatomi-no-Kamatari in assassinating the leader of the Soga-uji in 643.145 Kamatari introduced sweeping reforms and the renewed state was henceforth modelled on the bureaucratic organization of the Chinese T’ang system. The old beliefs followed by many of the provincial rulers existed side by side with the new but, as always in Asia, Buddhism did not seek to destroy the old deities but to assimilate them, smoothly presenting them as bodhisattva, or aspects of the Buddha, himself, and protectors of his Law. Buddhism appealed to the sophistication of the ruling family and its court, whilst the general population, in so far as they took any interest in these high matters, felt no unease or threat to their traditional beliefs. The old kami could exist alongside the Buddha without conflict. The untamed fierce deities were placated with splendid newly-constructed shrines, some even becoming ‘protectors’ of the Buddhist temples, mixing freely with ancient Indian deity-bodhisattva who had, in their turn, become one with the Buddha. Alongside Buddhism from China, even preceding it, came other belief systems such as Taoism with Yin-Yang dualism and Confucian doctrines. And also, significantly, access to the influential military classics of the Chinese empire. Although one suspects that the warrior leaders were already familiar with the principles expounded by Sun Tzu, even if in lecture form rather than from written sources reaching Japan from Paekche, Kaya and Silla.146 ATTRACTION OF THE MOUNTAINS In parallel to these religious innovations and as they took root with the ruling courtier class, there seems to have been a strengthening of the old beliefs, a resurgence and expansion of the revitalized Shinto,147 now culturally influenced by the formal gagaku and bugaku, music and dance, forms available from China and other parts of South-east Asia. Also, we can see the more esoteric warrior-dances of the bugaku were clearly based on Central Asian shamanic empowerment and protection rituals. Over the course of the eighth century the gulf between the rulers and the ordinary levels of society, peasants or townsfolk who followed the sankaku-shinko¯, widened. Whereas in the earlier period reverence to the sacred places may have been in general localized with many movable sites depending on agricultural needs,148 now we can detect a broader compass to the deities of Shinto, for example. To take just one instance of this, the Grand Shrine

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at Ise was now the main centre for the veneration of the female Sun deity, Amaterasu-o¯-mikoto, the head of the ‘Heavenly’ pantheon. Her shrine performed many ceremonies that reinforced the Yamato kings and afterwards the elevated Imperial line. However, we now encounter an interesting mystery. Despite opposing arguments, Tsukushi Nobuzane, in his anthropological research indicates that the so-called ‘Sun Goddess’ was neither the ancestral deity of the Imperial line, nor female. ‘A local ¯ -kami (great deity of Ise) cult in the Ise region centring around an Ise O next to the present mitarashi (purification place) at the edge of the Isuzu River, a certain Takimatsuri-no-kami (waterfall-celebrating-deity) had been worshipped since ancient times. The sanctuary never had, or has, shrine buildings.’ The local cult was usurped by the Court for political reasons and nationalized around the sixth century.149 The mountains were ever-present; inviting or repellent simply because of their formidable reputation as the abode of the dead and the gods, themselves. Their energy could be channelled for empowerment by those brave enough to venture in and had little fear of the unknown. The hermits could find in these heights many suitable places for their rituals; deep grottoes beside foaming water cascades, strange shaped rocks, huge ancient trees, rocky ledges overlooking plunging chasms, solitude where the summer sun would beat down and engulfed in winter by deep snows, and everywhere untamed Nature in the raw. These gyo¯ja, or ascetics, some migrating to Japan from China and Korea,150 spent their days chanting over and over again the powerful Kujaku Myo¯-o¯-ju, or Peacock Sutra, or the Hokekyo¯, or Lotus Sutra, for example; others the strange dha¯rani, (brief magical phrases) of the Heart Sutra: Gyate-gyate-haragyate-harasogyate-bochi-sowaka-Hannya-Shingyo¯.

Carmen Blacker observes that in Japanese these words are meaningless but going back to the original Sanskrit their sense is : ‘Gone, gone, gone beyond, altogether beyond, what an awakening, hail.’151 Others simply practised prolonged austerities whilst chanting exhortations to the Taoist deities as they stood under the icy waters of a cascade (takigyo¯). The Nachi-taki in the south of the Kumano massif was one such place. Some mystics, with darker objectives, believed that through shouting out dha¯rani mantras or simply endlessly reciting the names of native or Buddhist deities, they would gain control of the invisible forces everpresent. Then, with the introduction of esoteric Buddhism, there is a strong trend towards a cult centred on Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯, with dha¯rani incantations calling for the deity’s protection such as: No¯ma-ku-san-man-da-ba-sa-ra-da-sen-da-ma-ka-ro¯-sha-da-so¯-ya-ta-yaun-ta-ra-kan-am.152

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The forms of the accompanying severe austerities were endless. Lastly, we have the exhortation that accompanies the Shingon and Shugendo¯ Juji-no-ho¯ , the most powerful dha¯rani that is part of the ‘Nine Syllable’ spell so trusted by warriors right through the medieval period and still found deeply embedded in the kuden to the present day. This incantation or spell is often associated with the Kongo¯ -kai, the Diamond World mandala, the northern end of the ¯ mine-san complex mountain circuit starting at Yoshino-yama and O and leading south into Kumano; its aim is to give protection from all enemies and to ward off malevolent spirits, The chant often accompanies a series of nine hand mudra¯, or seals, to reinforce the abjuration to Marishi-ten: rin-pyo¯-to¯-sha-kai-jin-retsu-zai-zen This dha¯rani with its associated mudra¯, or without either addition, is to be found in a most interesting tradition of Iai-jutsu where the nine lines of the configuration are actually made as sword cuts.153 This is the Shiten-ryu¯ Kio¯ me-no-waza Iai, from the Nagasaki region in far western Kyushu. The Kongo¯ -kai mandala is ‘masculine’ whilst the Taizo¯ -kai, the Womb Word mandala, is ‘feminine’ and is centred on the esoteric pathways through the southern part of the Kumano massif culminating in the Kumano-sanzan, the important shrines of the Hongu-taisha, Nachi-taisha and the Hatakeyama-taisha. Whilst some of these practices were similar to the mantic rites of initiation performed by the Altaic shaman, by the eighth century there was a distinct shift in Japan towards rituals that were more religiously formalized in character. The aim, as always, was to attain extraordinary spiritual powers or, in some cases no doubt, human nature being what it is, to gain a reputation for having these powers. ˉ JA EN-NO-GYO Entries by these ‘sorcerers’ into the mountain regions seem to have begun, as we have seen, in the mid- to late-Yamato period, but it was probably En-no-Gyo¯ja (see Glossary) born, according to tradition, in 634, whose name became known in the Court circles, and whose supposed practices made these dangerous and lonely ‘withdrawals’ more attractive, if only in a reduced and shorter form. According to the Enno-Gy¯oja Hongi,154 this Taoist recluse first took up seclusion on Mino¯yama in Sesshu¯ province, now Hyo¯go-ken, at the age of twenty-five.155 From there he is said to have found solitude in the Katsuragi mountains before finally withdrawing into the nearby Yoshino mountains at the northern end of the Kumano massif. The Yoshino region, often referred

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Fig. 18 Wooden statue of the ‘founder’ of Shugendo¯, En-no-gyo¯ja (thirteenth century).

¯ mine-san, eventually became the locus for one of the numerically to as O largest traditions of Shugendo¯, but that is some four centuries after the period we are considering. Plate 13 shows a shrine to En-no-Gyo¯ja. Nowadays these mountains are sprinkled with many small settlements, some offering travellers the luxury of onsen, hot springs, where heated volcanic waters surface through the faults just below the surface. Fourteen hundred years ago these were almost inaccessible places and the few clusters of dwellings were reached only with the greatest difficulty by rough paths, in some cases remaining so until a mere fifty or so years ago. Into these remote valleys, hemmed in by an unforgiving terrain of immensely steep mountainsides, all mantled by dense forest, penetrated and eventually settled other small groups and their families. A number of these families claim their descent from the two ‘protector-servants’ of En-no-Gyo¯ja, named Zenki and Goki. We shall discuss

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these two ‘individuals’ later but suffice it to say that whether they actually existed or not, they represent another group of mountain dwellers who possessed skill with a variety of weapons and were willing, like the recluses themselves, to undergo almost unimaginable privations in order to hone and increase their abilities. We must keep in mind that this same ¯ mine region still harboured remnants of the ‘barbarian’ Emishi,156 who O were increasingly desperate, no doubt. The rigours of the forced labour corvées must have driven numbers of wretchedly poor peasants, descendants of the Yayoi but now virtually enslaved and devoid of hope, to abscond south into these wastes. To be recaptured and returned to their masters was a fate that slaves or those bound by servitude avoided at all costs. The construction of many of the huge kofun that rise from around Nara, in Kibi, and elsewhere must have required the hard labour of many thousands of men, not for weeks or months but for years. In fact, these truly vast engineering projects must, in the end, have nearly drained the Yamato state.157 Many of these fearful individuals, lacking hunting skills and starving, may have succumbed, but others, hardier and more resourceful, probably turned to banditry, preying on travellers, the ubasoku,158 the small settlements, and giving rise to the appellation ‘akuto¯’, or ‘evil parties’ or ‘groups of evil men’. The increasing power of the Yamato warrior clans and the deliberate assertions by the paramount chieftains and their proclaimed imperial king to be the protector of their subjects through the aid of the deities, stripped the true shaman of their past spiritual value. The High Chieftain, now styled Emperor, needed to reinforce his shamanic role by gathering to himself many rituals and demonstrating the support of the deities. This was one of the factors that led to the first chronicles being written and, as we have seen in the case of the Ise shrine, the hijacking of a minor deity and even altering his gender so that he, now she, became the female progenitor of the Imperial line. The antlered stag, long the sacred bura of the warrior chieftain ‘generals’, Takemika-dzouchi, now became completely identified with the ‘great deity of Kashima’ (Kashima-daimyo¯jin) and his alter ego, Futsunushi, the ‘great deity of Katori’ (Katori-daimyo¯jin). Building on the myths surrounding the ‘land-taking’ centuries before, a whole refreshed distorted mythology was created to carefully ensure that the ‘great deity of Kashima’ became the divine tutelary ‘protector’ of the Imperial line, now moved from Asuka north to Nara. This deity was housed in the newly constructed Kasuga-taisha in Nara where his mitama remains today. Futsunushi-no-kami, here named Iwainushi, was enshrined as the second ‘protector’, at the same time. In the mid-sixth century our putative Altaic shaman tribe, the Yamabe, had disappeared; the question is: ‘Where did they go?’ The answer must be that, hypothetically, they retreated into the mountain wastes to seek refuge from any vindictive vengeance that might ensue after their defection. The early chronicles and subsequent Japanese history afford

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many examples of groups with the potential to become a threat, even far into the future, being hunted down and extirpated. No further mention of the Yama-be is made in the later parts of the chronicles written down from the eighth century onwards but at the same time no record is extant claiming their violent suppression. That they were freemen is suggested by the fact that they existed in small widely distributed groups and their absence was completely overlooked or ignored. As the Taoist ubasoku began to seek out the forested heights they were endangered by men in more desperate condition than themselves. A starving and armed man would kill for a single rice ball and the rags on his victim’s back. He might also murder out of frustration of finding nothing of any conceivable value at all. These strange ‘hermit-madmen’ were most in need of protection. If the legends surrounding En-noGyo¯ja are anything to go by, this need for some sort of shielding was given by the ‘mountain men’ who we have mentioned above. These are the ferocious ‘Jenquis and Goquis’ collectively described by the Jesuit fathers, Frois and Guzman, in the late sixteenth century,159 and whose prototypes appear in menacing postures crouching at the feet of their master, En-no-Gyo¯ja, in just about every representation of him from the eleventh and twelfth century onwards. THE PROTO-YAMABUSHI In my mind there can be little argument that these two somewhat malevolent characters, for want of any better descriptive names, called Zenki and Goki, are the figurative proto-yamabushi. Even a brief appraisal of medieval Japanese esotericism shows that from its first appearance in the literature and iconography of the Nara period onwards there were different trends amongst those individuals who entered the jumbled heights. When the actual yamabushi, themselves, first appear they are already divided into two groups. On the one side we find those adepts who take care of the spiritual needs of the villagers in their locale, offering prayers of intercession to the deities, visiting and administering to the sick, and the like. These men performed their shamanic calling sometimes in association with the miko, the shamanic sibyls found in the now permanent shrines; with the blind itako,160 girls and women who acted as mediums interpreting dreams at the same time practising exorcism and healing; and the gomiso¯, women who employed their shamanic skills to examine the past and the future. Others took to wandering long distances following the difficult mountain trails, absorbed in offering prayers to the yama-no-kami, ridding the open spaces of ‘snakes’,161 probably opposing those evilly disposed ‘demons’ they encountered, undergoing at times severe ascesis such as fasting, reciting long prayers under ice-cold waterfalls or whilst seated close to roaring sacred bonfires, living a lonely existence out of their own choice. This group certainly carried arms,

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a particular set of which became fixed in the popular folklore and we shall discuss further on. Yet another group began to appear in the late Heian period. These were groups of peasants, farmers and the like, who formed pilgrimage ‘societies’ known as ko¯ with the purpose of seeking out the holy places in the wilds and offering prayers through one or more of their company who had shown skills in entering a self-induced trance state and in so doing apparently uttering messages from the deities. These ko¯ pilgrims continued to grow in popularity throughout the medieval period and continue to the present day. Whilst all these varying individuals generally possess greater or lesser shamanic characteristics, it is the armed wandering proto-yamabushi who interest us here. Their hypothetical presence in a number of regions throughout Japan appears to coincide with the disappearance of the Yama-be, or if the reader prefers, the descendants of the ancestral shaman-warrior tribe who originated in the Altai region. They largely exhibit the same characteristic practices of those ancient shaman over just about the known full range. The main regions of their activities, to judge by the later association of these districts with both the Shugendo¯ yamabushi and the tengu folklore, were around Daisen on the border between Shimane-ken and Tottori-ken; in the mountains forming the Hide-hiko¯ range in north-eastern Kyushu; in the Kanto¯ district centred on the sacred twin-peaked mountains of Tsukuba-san; throughout the northern mountains from the Kanto¯ to the Dewa-sanzan, Gumna-ken to Yamagata-ken; and the entire Yoshino-Kumano massif, of course. All these mountain groups have the closest links in both geographical names and in the popular folklore with the tengu and always the latter are inseparably linked to the yamabushi. These are only the main centres, as I have pointed out; there are many many more.162 We have already observed that the transition from the relatively unstable Yamato rule came over a period of a century or more, first with the Asoka settlement, accomplished after overcoming in battle the resistance of the inhabitants of the region, which saw the adoption of Buddhism from China, and culminating with the establishment of the new Imperial power-base at Nara. This period began to change many customs amongst the common population. The heavy burden of the forced corvée was slightly reduced as agriculture flourished, at least in those areas suited to rice crops, and the practice of constructing the burial mounds ceased. The ruling families, centred on the Imperial Court, became more and more distanced from the commoners with the former’s preoccupation with pursuing formalized Buddhism and the latter’s all-important cyclic links to the farming calendar and reliance on the old deities. If anything, these ancient ties may have strengthened, particularly as the first permanent shrines were constructed and dedicated to those deities long believed to bestow good fortune on the various communities at large. Even so, the yama-no-kami continued to be invited down to the

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fields in the spring and resided in the sacred honden until after the harvest when they received the gratitude of the people and returned again to their abodes. Many festivals may have been gradually enlarged and entrenched even deeper in the annual cycle of the countryside whereas in the growing towns and centres like Heijo¯-kyo¯, now Nara, because of the requirement for the Emperor and the kuge, nobles, to still perform the old rituals where the great deities were exhorted to bestow their benign protection to the Imperial House and State, Shinto flourished beside the new Buddhist temples.

11

Introduction of the Buddhist Mikkyˉ o

T

his was the situation that obtained until early in the ninth century when two priests returned from China and immediately set to work introducing the esoteric Buddhist mikkyo¯.163 These priests were Dengyo¯ Daishi164 (767–822), better known as Saicho¯, who brought the esoteric doctrines that became the basis of Tendai-shu¯ Buddhism, establishing them north of the new capital, Heianjo¯ (Kyo¯to), at the Enryaku-ji on Hiei-zan in 806. The other was Ku¯kai (774–835), who, in 816, retired to the southern mountainous area of Ko¯ya-san and built the temple of Kongo¯bu-ji, teaching the doctrine of Shingon-shu¯. A brief resumé of the mikkyo¯ may help to understand the complexity of the influences that had another direct bearing on the appearance of the tengu. Saicho¯ was a young man when he was ordained as a priest at the To¯dai-ji in Nara but he rejected following the usual customary way of rising in the priesthood with the crowd, preferring instead to go up to Hiei-zan by Lake Biwa and seek out the hermits and wizards who secluded themselves there. These men were typical of those we have already discussed who practised their varying forms of spiritual discipline far removed from the world below. John Stevens165 observes that these recluses subsisted on herbs, wild mushrooms, nuts and wild vegetables, covering themselves against the weather with robes of bark and rushes. At length, after years of study memorizing the scriptures, Saicho¯ joined a f lotilla of four ships to make the perilous voyage to China. Beset by gales and high seas, only two of the vessels actually landed, separated by a long distance, Saicho¯ reaching an island in the Chusan Archipelago (near the mouth of the Yang-tse-kiang) called Ningpo¯,166 later a famous landfall for the Japanese ‘Tally’ ships in the medieval period. He embarked

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on a short period of just nine months intensive study with a number of Chinese Buddhist masters, and gathered a collection of sacred writings, before returning to Japan with these precious texts. He found the Emperor, Kemmu, now aged sixty-six, in poor health and, through prayer, effected his revival. As a reward, he received Imperial permission to found his Tendai Hokkekyo¯ as an independent sect. Wisely, perhaps, his temple was constructed on Hiei-zan as a ‘guardian’ of the new Imperial city below. Another priest who sailed and survived in the same four vessel f lotilla bound for China was Ku¯kai (774–835).167 He also studied at Ningpo¯, although for a briefer time, under the Chinese Buddhist masters, returning to Japan with Saicho¯ also with a great many holy texts, but there was evidently some friction between the two which eventually led to a rift. This break was caused, it would appear, over the reluctance of Ku¯kai to loan scriptures to Saicho¯. Before travelling to China, Ku¯kai had also sought the mountains to spend much time in meditative austerities. At last, under the patronage of the Emperor Saga, successor to his brother, Heijo¯-tenno¯,168 in the year 812 or 813, he was allowed to build his temple at Ko¯ya-san, guided there, so tradition says, by a hunter named Inukai and receiving permission from the kami of the mountain, commenced the construction in 819. There, he established the Shingon sect which was to become a great influence on all the esoteric sects including the nascent Shugendo¯.169 The official approval given by the Court made the mountains more attractive and fashionable; throughout the three centuries of the ensuing Heian period, with the capital now firmly established by the Kamo¯ River, an increasing number of pilgrims ventured on the arduous trek to Yoshino and Kumano in order to visit the hitherto out-of-reach holy places, both the burgeoning temples and the shrines. Only the most fearsome and inaccessible tracts remained for the oldtime hermits. Amongst the many esoteric bodhisattva venerated in these temples, pre-eminent was the fierce Defender of Buddha’s Law, Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯, who offered his adherents protection against evil and spiritual power. This deity, of Indian origin, now held great appeal to the many recluses, some of whom may have been drawn into the Shingon sect, thereby regularizing their status. He also bestowed his protection and merits on the wild proto-yamabushi and to the elements in the emerging warrior class. The former, by this time, must have brought their beliefs and practices into a form that already resembled the blend of sankaku-shinko¯ with the Buddhist mikkyo¯, soon to become Shugendo¯. For all these disparate elements, constant meditation on the name or image of this all-powerful ‘Guardian’ bodhisattva, continuous rapid recitation of the Heart Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and other exhortations, gave his followers unrivalled arigatami: virtue, sanctity and power.170

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THE HIJIRI EXPERIENCE The popularity of the esoteric sects after their introduction early in the ninth century was spread by means of tales concerning the miraculous powers bestowed in the mikkyo¯, stories extolling the lives and actions of numerous holy men some of whom entered the mountains in order to pursue their spartan path towards the Buddha. These accounts were not necessarily couched in abstruse language for the clerics alone, but presented in short homilies that were intended to make lively and inspiring reading for the laity at large. Two of the largest collections of tales were the Konjaku Monogatari, possible written about 1075 by one Minamoto-no-Takakuni, and the Dainihokoku hokekyo¯kenki, usually named the Hokkegenki, extant c.1040.171 Both sets of stories drew in some cases on each other and both contained other tales taken from earlier sources172 even going back to the time of Prince Sho¯toku (48th Emperor: 764–770). Drawing on the Hokkegenki (I : 11), we have a short account that concerns a recluse residing in Yoshino named Giei when, late at night ‘a sudden breeze rose and the atmosphere changed. Many demon deities in various shapes and forms, including those of deer, and those with the heads of cows, horses, and birds, gathered in the front yard. They all brought incense, f lowers, fruit, on other foods in trays as their offerings . . . ’ By ‘front yard’ is meant the small area just utside the hijiri’s grotto or retreat. We find this sort of dream-vision frequently in these tales. The tale of the hijiri Jakuren on Mount Hira (I : 18), describes him finding a cavern in this mountain which is located north of the holy Hiei-san and on the western shores of Lake Biwa. This ‘grotto (was) covered with brush and moss’. It was very small but ‘extraordinarily attractive. A large pine tree spread its roots over the grotto and extended its branches in the four directions screening the area in front of the cave.’ The conditions in which these determined hermits existed must, even in those distant days, have been impressive but horrific. Like many of the recluses in other cultures, for example the Desert Fathers in Egypt in the first centuries of the Christian era, extreme ascesis often meant being plagued by biting insects, attracted in some cases by the filthy, unwashed body of the recluse, and embarking on the progressive reduction of proper nourishment to the point of actual starvation. Jakuren is described in the tale as a ‘most unusual hijiri’, reduced to mere ‘skin and bones wearing moss for clothing’. Such subsistance that he had, chief ly ‘fruit and nuts’, was brought to him by ‘animals including deer, bears, monkeys, and birds’. Another hijiri named Ninkyo¯ lived for many years on Mount Atago (Tale I : 16), situated north of Kyo¯to and famous for tengu. He is described as having no proper clothes but wearing just ‘torn paper’. On occasions he covered himself with a coarse cloth and a broken straw

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cape, the sort worn by peasants, at other times he was wrapped in a deerskin. He also ‘endured the penetrating winter cold’ of winters on the mountain. For days at a time he ate only a bowl of gruel whilst at others he went for ‘several nights’ with only a cup of tea to sustain him. Such rigorous starvation austerities were recounted of another hermit, Yo¯sho¯, first residing on Hiei-zan (Tale II : 44) who became a novice at ¯ mine, the age of eleven in 879. Later, he travelled south, possibly to O to find a remoter place where he would be less disturbed. He reduced what he ate by stages until he partook of ‘only a grain of millet a day’. His apparel was a robe made from vines ‘and completely lost interest in food and clothes for ever’. He was described by another priest, Onshin, as a ‘bloodless and fleshless hermit with a strange bony frame covered by unusual hair’. Finally (in the year 901), he disappeared without trace. Whether this tale is accurate or not, there is an inconsistency here in that Yo¯sho¯ was believed to have withdrawn to his spartan existance for more than fifty years, since he was thirty. Again, we find in the Hokkegenki (Tale II : 70) a curious account that describes an ascetic’s experience of ‘death’ and ‘re-birth’, two plain results of such cathartic asceticism occurring through deep trance. The priest Renju¯ ‘passed away as the result of a serious illness’. His spirit travelled to the ‘Land after Death, passing through deep gorges, valleys and soaring mountain summits, having no birds but where he listened to a few cries of terrible demon deities’. Eventually, he encountered an old and ugly female demon living under a large tree. The story concludes with Renju being guided back to his home by two ‘Heavenly Boys’. Despite the length of his trance ‘travels’ he had only been away from his ‘dead’ body for one night, revived, ate some food, and thenceforth devoted himself to reciting the Lotus Sutra more than ever. Renju’s experience of shamanic ‘death and re-birth’, albeit prsented as a phenomenon induced by his deep Buddhist devotions, was, at this extreme, universal and timeless. We shall take just one last tale from the Hokkegenki (II : 74), centring on the recluse Genjo¯ living on Yukihiko-yama (884 m) in Harima province, now western Hyo¯go-ken. In common with other ascetics, we find him described as never wearing silk or cotton clothing , only those made from paper or bark. Neglectful of such as he had, he ‘never rolled up his clothing’ when fording streams or rivers, allowing the skirts to drag in the water. He went hatless in rain or sun. Observing strict precepts all his life, he hardly took any food after noon. Presumably performing his devotions day and night, he never relaxed nor lay down to rest. Whilst on Yukihiko-yama, Genjo¯ undertook the Buddhist ango, or ‘summer retreat’, which lasted a hundred days, existing on only ‘a hundred grains of millet’. One must speculate if this figure means a hundred grains a day or one grain? The former would hardly keep body and soul together. During one winter he is said to have eaten only a hundred citrons.

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He was able to converse in a friendly (familiar) manner with wild boars and deer, even playfully running with bears and wolves. Genjo¯ remained on this mountain until he died. ˉ -GONGEN ZAO Returning to En-no-Gyo¯ja, even if he may have been more than marginally apocryphal, his reputed acquisition of spiritual strength was thought to have given him the ability to conjure up ‘deities’ who may have been able to help in the salvation of sentient beings. One such ‘deity’ appeared who resembled the bodhisattva, Jizo¯, later thought to be helpful in summoning up old ghosts,173 but the magician rejected him as too mild. A second deity, terrifying in aspect, ‘rose from the earth’. This was Zao¯-Gongen, glaring with demon-quelling rage, stamping with his right foot raised, and grasping a vajra thunderbolt in his right hand.174 Zao¯Gongen’s image is to be found in many temples,175 both those dedicated to Shugendo¯ but also Buddhists of the Shingon-shu¯. Fittingly, his most famous wooden statue, one of the three aspects of the deity, is preserved in the great wooden Zao¯-do¯ prayer hall of the Kimpusen-ji temple at Yoshino-yama, the spiritual home of the Shugendo¯ yamabushi.176 This statue is rarely exhibited to the public gaze. (See Plates 11 and 12.)

12

Were the ‘Protectors’ the Proto-Yamabushi?

W

e shall now return to these two intriguing ‘assistants’ of En-noGyo¯ja and the Taoist mystics who practised taimitsu177 – geomancy and sorcery – deep in the mountains. The two rough ‘protectors’ of En-no-Gyo¯ja undoubtedly represent a physical personification of the foresters and hunters who attached themselves for whatever reason to these recluses. There seems to be little reason for them to do so since these mystic hermits had clearly renounced the material world and could provide no reward either in kind or gold and silver. To judge by the later role given to the two ‘protectors’, they were more like ‘enforcers’ of their master’s will; rough hardened men who bullied those placed under them mercilessly in order to drive them to perform the exhausting austerities demanded by their ubasoku of the shingyaku, novices and pilgrim groups alike. There are strong echoes of this in the modern traditional martial do¯jo¯ where if a student comes to practise then, whatever his condition, he will be required to do so, and that properly. In later descriptions of some of the Shugendo¯ yamabushi ‘entries’ into the sacred places, especially those where the shingyaku are guided and instructed through the rigorous ten stages of initiation, the ‘Zenki’ and ‘Goki’ ‘enforcers’ appear to be initiates of the sect and hold sendatsu rank. Sendatsu usually means ‘one who is already initiated’, a religious leader or master, depending on his experience, but it can also have the added meaning of a ‘guide’. They perform their harsh duties under the leadership of a more senior initiate, possibly one who has ‘entered’ the mountains many times. Whether or not at this stage the ‘opening’ of these remote places was regularized to the extent when Shugendo¯ first appears historically is not at issue, only the need to real-

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ize that these harsh and uncouth ‘protectors’ already display many characteristics that we later recognize. Possibly the epithets ‘harsh’ and ‘uncouth’ may be the opinions of those more polished Shingon and Tendai priests who soon populated the new temples sacred to both sects. That they behaved in a very rough fashion might well have been a necessity and, in any case, offering protection to some of these earlier hijiri, or ubasoku, cannot have been easy, to say the least. But whatever is the truth of the matter, we can be certain that the period of development in opening these wild places must already have been in motion at least two centuries before Saigo¯ or Ku¯kai made the mikkyo¯ Buddhism attractive and opened the floodgates. Local guides who knew the mountains and their trails well were of the greatest importance. However, we should realize that at this early stage these ‘Zenki’ and ‘Goki’ should not be seen as men filled with religious zeal in their own right. They should not be confused with the various types of hermits they ‘protected’. It was only later as the mountain men began themselves to practise the religious austerities that they become recognizable as shugenja or, to use another descriptive term, ‘kenja’ a wise man or sage. This is, of course, not to say that they didn’t practise their ancestral shamanic and healing skills; what they did retain and develop were their ancestral skills with weapons. We might even confuse the issue by calling these protoyamabushi by the term ‘proto-yamaho¯shi’, a mountain-monk or priest, a later Buddhist term. Another factor is that we should note that some of the teachings associated with the female war deity, Ma¯rı¯cı¯, ( Jap. Marishi), had been introduced into Japan during the reign of the Empress Suiko who occupied the Imperial throne from 593 to 628. Many Taoist and YinYang works connected with the war-deity’s cult were brought to Japan, one of the principle being the Marishiten dha¯rani invocations or spells.178 As this deity proved an important influence on the later bugei and on some branches of the emerging yamabushi, we must suppose that she had become well-known to some at least of the Taoist and Yin-Yang ‘wizards’, who may well have been instrumental in introducing her, and appealed to the proto-yamabushi, themselves. SACRED AND ‘PROTECTED’ MOUNTAINS Taking an overview, the hijiri were already practising their occult austerities in many places throughout Honshu¯, Shikoku and Kyushu, by the seventh and eighth century, if not a century earlier. They were present, for example, on Ibukiyama, Atago-san, Daisen, Ho¯rai-san, Tateyama, Hakusan, Hide-hiko¯-yama and Ontake,179 and their ‘protectors’ were there, too. Miyake Hitoshi, in his study of Shugendo¯,180 supplies to

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Fig. 19 A Founder Ascetic, a Votive Image and a Yamabushi. According to legend, Yorimochi, a hunter living in Tamatsukuri, chased a wolf deep into the wilds of Daisen mountain, Ho¯ ki province (now Tottori-ken). The bodhisattva, Jizo¯, appeared before him, reproving him for his intention to take the wolf ’s life, causing him to repent and take ordination as a Buddhist priest with the name of Kinren. After this he remained secluded in Daisen venerating Jizo¯ who was also known as Chimyo¯ Gongen. This event is reputed to have occurred in the eighth or ninth century.

some of these sacred mountains the names of the hermit founders who ‘opened’ them and appended to most of these famous centres are the legendary names of the associated dai-tengu, so far as they are known. Other names are listed at the end of this section. Daisen

A hunter named Yorimichi, who resided at Tamatsukuri, pursued a wolf into this rugged mountain complex but the bodhisattva Jizo¯ appeared to him, saving the animal. Yorimichi repented and became a Buddhist priest taking the name Kinren. Chimyo¯-Gongen was the main object of veneration at Daisen. This imposing mountain group, known as the Mt Fuji of west Japan, lies in the former Ho¯ki province, now Tottori-ken Legendary daitengu: Ho¯ki-bo¯.

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Fuji-san

Haguro-san

TENGU

Opened by Matsudai. (No further details available.) Located on the border between Kai and Suruga provinces, now Yamanashi and Shizuoka-ken. Legendary dai-tengu: Darani-bo¯ Said to have been opened by No¯jo Taishi, reputed to have possibly been the youngest son of the Emperor Sushun (ruled 588–592 when he was assassinated), Prince Hachiko. He was aided in his severe ascesis with support from a local ‘hunter’ named Orimachi Jiro¯. No¯jo Taishi was described to be part-man and partanimal (therianthropic), having a large prominent nose, heavily browed eyes, an elongated mouth, pendulous ears, a black (hairy?) body and a rasping voice. One can only comment that such a strange-looking person may well have taken to the mountains to seek some sort of spiritual peace. The mountain is one of three that form the Dewa-sanzan, formerly in Uzen province, now Yamagata-ken.

Fig. 20 Statue of No¯ jo Taishi, the founder of Haguro-san, K ¯otaku-ji, Yamagata-ken. (Photo, Gaynor Sekimori.)

WERE THE ‘PROTECTORS’ THE PROTO-YAMABUSHI?

Hakone-san Hakusan

Hide-hiko¯-san

93

Founded by Mangan. (No further details.) Located in Sagami province, now Kanagawa-ken. These rugged mountains in Central Honshu¯ were said to have been opened in 717 by a priest named Taicho¯, and enshrine Myo¯ri Daibusatsu. The Hakusan range stretched along the borders of Echizen, Kaga, Hida, and Mino provinces, now Toyama, Gifu and Ishikawa-ken. In Kyushu. The founder, Zensho¯, is depicted in a surviving painting accompanied by Fujiwara-no-Ko¯yo¯, a hunter who aided him. The painting is preserved in the Hiko¯san-jinja and is said to date from the early-sixth century, which seems a trifle too early. This mountain group lies between the meeting of three old provinces, Chikuzen, Buzen and Bungo, now Fukuoka and ¯ ita- ken. Legendary dai-tengu: Buzen-bo¯. O

Fig. 21 Zensho¯, founder of Hikosan, and the hunter Fujiwara K ¯oyu¯, Hikosan Jingu¯, Fukuoka-ken.

94

Ibuki-yama

Ishizuchi-san

Katsuragi

Nikko¯-san

¯ mine O

Ontake-san

Tateyama

TENGU

There are no details to hand of the founder but the deity of this mountain is described in the Nihon-shoki as ‘a violent, rampageous deity who transforms into a large snake’. (Surely this is the totem, or bura, of a dangerous local aboriginal chieftain?) Ibuki-yama looms over the battlefield site of Sekigahara (1600) and ¯ mi and Mino was formerly on the border of O provinces, now Shiga and Aichi-ken. Opened by Jakusen in the time of the Emperor Ko¯ken (749–758). The mountain, about sixthousand feet in height, lies centrally in the old province of Iyo, now Ehime-ken. Founded by Karakuni-no-Horotani. Protected by Zenki. The mountain lies at the southern end of Kawachi province as it borders Kii, now Osaka and Wakayama-ken. Legendary daitengu: Koten-bo¯. The temple at this famous location, later the burial place of Tokugawa Ieyasu, was founded by the priest, Sho¯do¯, with the help of a mountain dweller from Kobugahara which lies south of Lake Chu¯zenji. Protection given by ‘Zenki’. Formerly, this was Shimotsuke province but is now Tochigi-ken. The most famous of sacred mountains for the yamabushi, opened by En-no-Gyo¯ja, himself, according to tradition. Aided, as we have seen, by Zenki and Goki. Lies on the northern part of the Yoshino-Kumano region in former Yamato province, now Nara-ken. Legendary dai-tengu: Zenki-bo¯. The name of the ‘opener’ is not known, however this famous mountain has always been associated with Shugendo¯ rites. It lies on the southern arm of the Hida-Sanmyaku on the border of former Hida and Shinano provinces, now Gifu and Nagano-ken, and rises to over ten-thousand feet. Believed to have been opened by a local landowner named Saeki Arikawa. When this man

WERE THE ‘PROTECTORS’ THE PROTO-YAMABUSHI?

Togakushi-san

95

pursued a white hawk into the wilds of Tate yama, Amida Buddha appeared to him in the guise of a mountain kami and saved the hawk. Standing over nine-thousand feet, Tateyama lies towards the northern end of the Hida-Sanmyaku range, formerly in Etchu province, now Toyama-ken. (See Hakusan, above.) Here, the founder legend speaks of the hermit, Gakumon Gyo¯ja.181 The mountain stands in the extreme north of the former province of Shinano near the border of Echigo, now in Nagano-ken. oOo

Other Dai-tengu associated with mountains in the Legends

Akiba-san: Atako-san Fuji-san: Higo-no-kuni (Province): Hira-yama: Itsukushima Izuna-yama Ko¯myo¯-san: Kurama-yama: Shiramine Takao-yama Tsukuba-san Ueno-yama (Edo):

Sanjaku-bo¯ Taro¯-bo¯ Dha¯rani-bo¯ Ajari Jiro¯-bo¯ Sanki-bo¯ Saburo¯-bo¯ Ryu¯ho¯-bo¯ So¯jo¯-bo¯ Sagami-bo¯ Naiku-bo¯ (?) Tsukuba-ho¯in Myo¯gi-bo¯

These names come from a mid-Edo book named ‘Tengu Meigiko¯’. The name ‘Ajari’ suggests a master of esoteric Buddhism whilst ‘Dha¯rani’ implies ‘one skilled in sorcery or incantation’. Traditionally, there were eight great dai-tengu, but the three best known were Taro¯-bo¯ (Atakosan), Sanjaku-bo¯ (Akiba-san) and So¯jo¯-bo¯ Kurama-yama). Miyake refers to Zenki and Goki as the ‘daemons’ employed by En. He notes that in the ‘opening’ of some mountains it is the hunter who is awoken to religious practice by a manifestation of a yama-no-kami. Also in some of the founder’s names there appears to be a connection with a foreign religious figure. This might imply that before the advent of the Buddhist mikkyo¯ when many priests intent on gaining esoteric experience came to or founded hermitage sites in remote locations, a proportion of the earlier recluses may already have ‘developed’ these regions and, judging by their names, have been of non-Japanese origin; this

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surely could only have been from Korea or China?182 This possibility is not so far-fetched as it might seem since many Chinese priests travelled to Japan to teach in the new mountain orders.183 It is more than likely that the relative newcomers of the Tendai-shu¯ and Shingon-shu¯, in contacting and profiting from those pre-Buddhist ascetics, absorbed some of their esoteric experiences that soon blended in with the mikkyo¯. Shugendo¯ and the Buddhist mikkyo¯ became, and still are, very close in substance; it is only in the yamabushi practices in the sankaku-shinko¯ that we can find noticeable differences. There can be little doubt, too, that many of the ‘Zenki’ and ‘Goki’ characters quickly associated themselves closer to their masters’ beliefs and copied their rituals to become shugenja ‘guides’ in their own right, thus introducing their martial expertise to eventually become almost a martial sect in themselves. All the places identified above became focal points for the yamabushi and for tengu. As we have commented before, other sites became famous in the mid- and late-Heian. It is also clear that the mystical dha¯rani appealed to several different groups, quite apart from the Buddhist esoterists who one might expect to be attracted to the proto-yamabushi by the nature of their beliefs. The latter, mostly wild unlettered men, quickly adopted the practice of reciting the magical spells, often compacting and simplifying the formulæ to garbled strings of sounds with the actual words totally unintelligible except to the initiated, and then only by virtue of memory. This rapid chanting was accompanied by rhythmic drumming and the attraction or propitiation of the deities of the ritual vicinity by calls with the ho¯ra, or conch shells, and with goma fires made from the sacred hinoki wood and aromatic leaves. At the same time, either when or before the Buddhist mikkyo¯ appeared, a wide variety of hand ‘seals’, or mudra¯,184 were employed, sometimes marking important points in the dha¯rani chanting and sometimes in place of the verbalization. All these characteristics are in evidence from the establishment of the Buddhist esoterism but must have been in place to some less sophisticated degree, perhaps, well before the beginning of the ninth century. THE ZENKI AND GOKI FIGURES When En-no-Gyo¯ja first appears in sculpture or pictorially, and this is at the earliest from the eleventh century, he is usually depicted accompanied by his two ‘protector’ henchmen. One of the aims of the Taoist and Yin-Yang dha¯rani was to subjugate, control and gain transferred supranormal powers from the divinities and demons conjured up by these sorcerer ‘wizards’. It was only in the fifth century that the Yamato had landed at the mouth of the Kumano River and then fought their way north through the high mountains to forcibly establish their hegemony at Asoka at the southern end of the Yamato plain. Since these same

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mountains became the home of a few recluse magicians a century or so later, this implies that the threat from the aboriginal Emishi had either been reduced or they had been destroyed, driven out, or ‘pacified’ in this central region by the mid-eighth century or perhaps at the beginning of the Heian period in the following century at the latest. There are many accounts claiming that some of these magicians actually encountered what are described as demons, malignant spirits, or even powerful deities, during their intense voluntary ascetic privations. Whilst these later descriptions attempt to create visual images of these manifestations and bolster the reputation of the devotees, initially they may reflect actual encounters with the surviving kumasu or emishi aborigines. This would serve to explain why the ‘mountain men’, caricaturized as ‘Zenki’ and ‘Goki’ volunteered as armed ‘protectors’ and ‘guides’. By this time, the eighth and ninth century, the aboriginal tribal remnants had also been more or less suppressed in the central provinces, leaving the remaining resistance to the Yamato and later the Imperial Court in southern Kyushu and in the northern region of Honshu¯ covered by Mutsu and Dewa provinces. Doubtless pockets also remained on the mountainous northern and western borders of the Kanto¯, and the final pacification was not completed until the early twelfth century. In the iconography, these two characters are shown with a few minor differences, but an added intriguing ‘twist’ is when they are also depicted with small ‘demon’ horns in a scroll telling the life of En, himself. However, this document is comparatively late (c. twelfth century), and certainly influenced by Chinese Buddhist paintings like that of the ‘Fivehundred Rakans’ referred to later, when the legends surrounding the founder of Shugendo¯ had already turned from legend to myth. In most images, even where the pair are referred to as ‘daemons’, they do not have horns and were clearly not thought of as oni. It is the consistency of the sculptured representations that are the most interesting. Zenki is usually shown sitting tate-hiza, or half-kneeling, just to the right front of his master’s right leg. Occasionally, he is depicted fully kneeling but this is not generally the case. He nearly always wears minimal clothing comprising a tucked-up tunic over which he has a sleeveless haori, jacket, or a sort of cape knotted across his bare chest. His face is contorted into a fierce grimace, his eyes are frequently red and glaring out to either the left or right side, giving the onlooker the feeling that this bellicose fellow is constantly glancing about to detect the threatening presence of enemies. Usually, but not always, Zenki is carved with wavy upstanding hair, rather in the manner of Zao¯-Gongen and some of the fierce bodhisattvas of the Buddhist mikkyo¯ and no doubt the Buddhist conventions have inf luenced the sculptors in fashioning these statues. He is also nearly always armed with a long or short handled ono, or woodsman’s axe, though this is sometimes held by Goki. If he does not have an ono then he is armed with a stout stave or club. At the Kiyomizu-jinja,

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Yoshino-yama, Zenki’s long handled ono had a rustic shaft as though cut and trimmed directly from a bush growing in a thicket, a custom similar to such a short stave being taken from a blackthorn hedgerow by countrymen in the British Isles. Sometimes, also, the parts of his torso that are revealed by his clothing are stained red like his face, a conventional manner of depicting fierceness and aggressive nature or anger. (See Plate 14.) Coming to Goki, he also sits tate-hiza but in front of his master’s left leg. He, too, is often thinly clad, usually with a sleeveless haori that folds over below his obi sash, covering his fundoshi, or loincloth. His eyes glare redly and stare straight ahead at the supplicant but, sometimes to the right or left. Some figures show Goki with his mouth firmly shut with his lips drawn grimly tight; others have him grimacing like his fellow ‘guardian’. His hair falls lank and in loose clumps with curled-up ends rather in the manner of some of the oldest Shinto shishi (kome-inu). Usually, Goki grasps the long neck of a f lask or gourd in his left hand, ready either to drink or to pass to his master. (See Plate 15.) As is sometimes found in Japan, the traditional placing of these figures is poorly remembered and the attendants are transposed to the opposite sides. This is unusual but I have seen the male and female shishi also transposed and several where the male gender is clearly depicted – in stone – on the female ‘lion’. Perhaps such errors are not intentional but ref lect a regrettable unfamiliarity with tradition following the Meiji reforms of the 1870s? That these two personages are still considered important is demonstrated by the fact that there are several shrines dedicated to one or other or to both. At the Zao¯-do¯ in 2008, I observed a longish ritual carried out by two shugenja yamabushi which was intended not only to venerate these minor deities but to feed them or, specifically, Goki.185 The ritual occupied about half an hour and during this time a large number of wooden spatulas inscribed with prayers or the names of supplicants, were burnt in a sacred go¯ma in front of the Kamakura period images. The attention of the two deities was drawn by the very fast prayers, the Heart Sutra, the rhythmic drumming, and the periodic blowing of the hora, conch shell. One story contained in the Hokkegenki collection of tales (II : 79) is of particular interest. The account concerns a very devout priest, Butsuren, who belonged to the Shingon Ansho¯ji Temple in Kyo¯to, built in 848 by Keiun. Butsuren moved to the Kukamidera Temple on Kukami mountain in the far north (Niigata-ken) where he carried out many ascetic practices, reciting the Lotus Sutra continuously in seeking enlightenment. His austerities (over bathing thrice each day) caused his servant to leave him but two ‘boys’ appeared from nowhere and told the priest that they would henceforth help him. One was called ‘Black Tooth’ and the other ‘Flower Tooth’. The account suggests that they were incarnations of Ju¯rasetsunyo.186 ‘These two boys were healthy and strong. They carried

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firewood on their backs, brought water to prepare the baths, picked berries and nuts for food, and carried supplies and ran errands between the mountain and the villages.’ Both boys remained with Butsuren to the end of his life, serving him wholeheartedly. When the priest finally died, they observed the mourning period of forty-one days ‘and then left the mountain’. The indentification with Ju¯rasetsunyo shows a reluctance on the part of the Buddhists to acknowledge that these ‘helpers’ were similar to the mountain men collectively described as Zenki and Goki. In the ‘death and re-birth’ account of the priest Renju in the Hokkegenki (II : 70) recounted earlier, two ‘Heavenly Boys’ escorted the ‘dead’ priest’s spirit back home.

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Comparisons

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e now reach the stage in this study where there is a requirement to trace the parallels between the yamabushi on the one hand, and the tengu on the other. With the very early ‘defenders’ caricaturized as Zenki and Goki we can see elements of both the yamabushi and the tengu. I believe these popular common elements are important and lead us to understanding the influence that the latter had on the bugei. We can also see how the cult of Marishi-ten is reflected by these protoyamabushi ‘protectors’ and developed much further after the warriors came to exercise total power after 1186, the end of the Gempei War, and over the ensuing eight-hundred years.

Fig. 22 Edo period woodcut representation of a tengu-yamabushi.

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Firstly, we need to see a comparison between the traditional yamabushi and the imagined image of the tengu. The following table shows where the two meet in common. oOo Yamabushi Skill with weapons Traditional weapons carried: Swords: tachi, sho¯to¯, bokuto¯ Naginata, yari Kumade (Clawed rakes) Sasumata (Wide forked rakes) ¯ no-kogiri (felling saws) O Ono (axes) Bo¯ (staves) Rope to bind Reside in mountains Perform incantations Alleged shape-shifting Mastery of the bugei Agility Wear distinctive apparel Knowledge of Buddhist scriptures Knowledge of Marishi-ten dha¯rani Mastery of fire (go¯ma) Communicate with deities Alleged ability to become invisible

Tengu Skill with weapons Traditional weapons carried: Tachi, bokuto¯ Naginata, yari (?) (?) (?) Ono Bo¯ Rope to bind Reside in mountains Perform incantations Therianthropic Mastery of the bugei Agility Wear yamabushi apparel Knowledge of Buddhist Scriptures ‘Messengers’ of Marishi-ten Mastery of fire (go¯ma) Clearly, an ability to talk with Marishi-ten Masters of the art of invisibility

These common characteristics demonstrate that both the yamabushi and the tengu were, from the moment they each appear in the written or iconographic record, thought of as almost completely identical. We have already seen that in ancient times and right through the medieval period, the tangible world of humans and the invisible world of the spirits and those levels inhabited by the lower and greater kami and deities, were considered to exist side by side. Perhaps this is underscored by the Chinese and Japanese beliefs in Yin-Yang dualism (Japanese: In and Yo), to be found almost everywhere in the culture. Later, we shall find that it totally underpins the foundations of the bugei super-theory. The medieval Japanese esoterist fully believed that, through extreme

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ascesis, he could both communicate with and possibly control the invisible forces that he visualized as spirits. He was, in this conviction, at one with the Altaic shaman of the distant past and could actually call on these spirits to appear, although we might argue that these appearances were projections in his mind. To use the aphorism ascribed to Tripitaka, the youthful monk reputed to have brought the Lotus Sutra to China from India: ‘Nothing is, but thinking makes it so.’ To the ascetic, this was not the case; he was convinced that he actually saw them. This dualism might be expressed as a product of the severe training that gave the yamabushi that degree of hardness within himself that enabled him to conquer and overcome the most extreme environments he could find. This was on the level of his sentient external being; the tengu was the internalized spirit that he saw. In the later dualism of the bugei, for example, we shall find postures with the sword held on the left side described as being in the ‘light’ (yo¯), whereas postures on the right side were in the ‘shade’ (in). The therianthropic visualization of the tengu demonstrated the heightened awareness of both the deeply expert warrior and the awe in which many yamabushi were held. Everyone believed that these abilities were not only possible but that they actually took place. In the upper levels of the bugei, the expert has stimulated his powers of visualization, or imagination, to the degree that he actually, in his mind’s eye, sees ‘ghosts’. It is important to understand that not only can he ‘see’ the projection of these ‘ghosts’ but he is then unable to control them. Only through his developed total conviction that these ‘phantoms’ actually exist is he able to ‘defeat’ them. This is akin to pure ‘theatre’ where a great actor is able to make his audience feel that they, too, ‘see’ what he sees. The difference is that in the bugei this visual ‘intuitive reality’ is no game of make-believe, it is a matter of life and death. It is no wonder, therefore, that the late-comers into this field, those who were beginning to blur the borders between the Buddhist concepts and the sankaku-shinko¯, saw in the ‘messengers’ of Marishi-ten, spiritual manifestations that they, themselves, could not easily control. The Buddhist mikkyo¯ of both Tendai and Shingon attempted to bridge the gap and absorbed many native kami and turned them into bodhisattva. By doing this, they accomplished what organized religion has so often done; they undermined the ancient native beliefs that were, if we use the Western phrase, ‘idolatrous’, and made them acceptable for their own ends. In Japan, the Buddhist prelates recognized that they had a deeper problem; to eradicate the sankaku-shinko¯ was impossible for it was far too deeply entrenched in the tribal origins of the population. Not only that, these beliefs were of the utmost importance to the well-being and calendrical cycle that the common folk relied on. While deities such as Marishi-ten were partially absorbed, in the popular or the martial mind they remained apart. Marishi-ten, for example, in Shugendo¯ was visualized in the similar way as Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ and depicted riding on a deer, a

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fox, or an inoshishi, wild boar. Buddhism meets sankaku-shinko¯? Many proto-yamabushi in the medieval period, like their shamanic antecedents of just five or so centuries before them (not a long period in Japanese folk-memory, please note), possessed skills in medicine. They understood the properties of many healing herbs and it was considered that they had the ability to drive out the malignant spirits that caused illness in man, his crops and his livestock, with powerful incantations and spells. Through their wanderings, they and the wise female itako and gomiso separately visited the tiny communities in the remote valleys and were welcomed. The priest or monk in his temple, even those based in the mountains, were more remote although some did become mendicants but hardly before the Heian period. The warrior, now emerging in the form we are familiar with from the medieval ages, although preceded by the Yamato and Nara martial structures, found in the worship of Marishi-ten very real advantages since she bestowed on her followers magical protection against their enemies. These warrior groups, and especially the buke families who provided the clan chieftains, soon understood and accepted Marishi-ten as a powerful spiritual ally who aided her favoured adherents by means of her messengers, the tengu. It is curious that the esoteric Buddhist establishment, and particularly the Shingon-shu¯, tried to assimilate the wild and dangerous Zao¯-Gongen into their pantheon, not fully successfully it must be admitted, but were unable to manage the same with the tengu. However, time and time again we find the elusive tengu in the folklore fully associated with the yamabushi and the Buddhist temples, and ever-present in the forests that surrounded them. Do what the Buddhist prelates might to ‘demonize’ the tengu, they continued to flourish in the minds of the ordinary folk and became especially important in the secret teachings of the classical bugei.

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An Alternative Origin for the Tengu

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recent researcher in this field who we have already mentioned is Sugihara Takuya. His studies lead him to conclude that the origins of the Tengu beliefs may profitably be looked for in China, possibly inspired by extra-terrestrial phenomena such as large meteorites seen streaking across the night sky combined with myths reaching China concerning the garuda, winged demons of ancient Indian Vedic and Hindu religious folklore. The garuda was the ‘sun-bird’, an eagle, the vehicle (va¯hana) on which Vishnu flew in the heavens. Sugahara puts forward a well-argued case but my own opinion, based also on examining the garuda images and Chinese paintings of various deities, is that while there may well have been knowledge of these reaching Japan, certainly after the introduction of Buddhism187 and the greatly increased interest there in Chinese culture, the Japanese concept of the tengu does not come from these sources. That is not to say that there were not any influencing Chinese elements though, as we have already seen from the quotation from the Nihon Shoki in my Introduction. My thesis traces the tengu back to the shaman-warriors who may have reached Japan in various forms from the earliest land-taking on through the successive waves of militant tribal settlers to the end of the Yamato period. Classical Chinese art follows a number of strict conventions that suggested ‘approved’ subjects and these are limited in number. The variety and breadth found in the art within these constraints is extraordinarily rich, particularly in the field of visualizing the huge numbers of deities, however, the threads that connect the Inner Asian religious and shamanic beliefs to the yamabushi-tengu figures cannot be ignored.

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Alternatively, it is now becoming well-known that the Chinese were used to seeing Indo-European travellers of every description from, perhaps, the T’ang period onwards, possibly earlier. By Indo-Europeans, I refer to those people with western features rather than those with the flatter facial structures of central and eastern Asia. The trade routes were well-travelled from the earliest centuries of the first millennium and at least three centuries BCE; certainly Marco Polo and his companions were not by any means the first Occidentals to reach Cathay following the Silk routes. In fact, westerners, from north-eastern Persia - Saka, Alan and Sarmatian, the western Russian steppe, from southern Europe, and the Levant, travelled part or the whole way to China and settled in great numbers in the cities that were growing up there, particularly round the trading ports. One recent estimate put the ‘foreign’ population resident in these cities bordering the littoral even as high as a quarter of the total inhabitants around the eleventh and twelfth century. Whether this is an exaggeration or not is a matter for argument, but it does suggest a great deal of cross-cultural contact. Artworks from the west abounded in both China and Korea, some even finding their way, presumably as luxury goods, to Japan in the Nara period. Witness to these cultural contacts are some of the precious items surviving in the Sho¯so¯-in in Nara. While these items are wonderful and it is a marvel that despite the vicissitudes of war they exist at all, it should be remembered that there were thought to be some five or six similar repositories in western Japan that were robbed or destroyed in disturbance or by fire many centuries ago. All this points to Japanese merchants and their protecting warriors who sailed to China encountering strange men with, to them, extraordinarily

Fig. 23 Dignitary seated with bird-headed attendant (Chinese: late Han, second century CE).

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long noses and rather hirsute faces. When we consider that the founders of Tendai-shu¯ and Shingon-shu¯ visited Ningpo¯ at the beginning of the ninth century and that these intermittent voyages continued sporadically through to the end of the sixteenth century, I find it hardly surprising that beings like the tengu should be given their prominent noses or a deep-seated memory of their hawk totem. Did the Chinese artists have contact with the shaman from the Altai – and have been influenced by them ? We know that the nomadic tribes

Fig. 24 Three flying demons, thought to possibly represent Chinese tengu. (Based on depictions from The Five Hundred Rakans painted by Shu¯kijo¯ (1178–84). Drawings by the author.) According to Sugihara Takuya, the three demon-deities are classified into two groups. The one at the top has a bird’s head and upper torso, holding the Hyo¯ho¯-Into¯ (see Glossary). This therianthropic figure has a human lower body but his feet are represented as taloned. The other demons, who flank the first, are human-like but furnished with fleshy bat-like wings and a pair of short white horns on their heads. All three wear red loincloths. Sugihara comments that the two with membranous wings may indicate that they are of higher rank than their feathered associate. In the Japanese folklore that was heavily coloured by Buddhism, there are also two different types of tengu; the lower group have a hawk’s head and body, the higher ranking ones are more human looking. The first of these tengu with a feathered body and wings is almost exactly copied in a work named ‘Tengu-zo¯shi’.

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of the Hsiung-nu were a thorn in the Empire’s side for several centuries and, in fact, during the Han period and after, the Chinese studied carefully and adopted some of the warrior skills that they had encountered. This contact may even be inferred from a late-Han, third century CE, engraving showing a winged figure with a hawk’s head kneeling beside a seated dignitary.188 When we reach the Song period (960–1279), we find, in Chinese Buddhist art, depictions of winged and beaked figures that look remarkably like the iconography we encounter from Japan in the Kamakura period a century later. These figures, depicting three demon deities flying with tiny iron treasure towers grasped in their hands, are from one panel of an enormous religious work, ‘The Five-hundred Rakans’ painted by Shu¯kijo¯ (Japanese reading) in China between 1178 and 1184. The ‘Rakans’ are the disciples of the Buddha and the iron towers are called H¯ogyo¯-into¯.189 Sugihara Takuya elaborates that this enormous painting, large because only five disciples are depicted on each panel, was, according to a monk named Kisho¯ residing on the island of Ningpo¯, the work of two other artist-monks of the Eanin Temple on Ningpo¯, named Shu¯kijo¯ and Rinteikei.190 The subject of these paintings, in a style only found in Chinese Buddhism, may have been found all over the Empire and were popular with the adherents of the esoteric Tendai-shu. The winged demons are visualized as therianthropic beings, one having a beaked hawk’s head, feathered wings and three-clawed feet similar to the Japanese sho¯-tengu; the other two are human featured but horned, and provided with bat-like wings as the dai-tengu. In the style of painting these figures are impish cartoons depicted in an almost identical manner as they appear in Japan. Whether this is purely Chinese in origin is open to question, especially when we examine some of the ‘daemon’ iconography found in medieval Europe.191 However, it is agreed that the lively postures of these flying ‘demons’ is reflected both in the iconography and written descriptions of Japanese tengu.

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Apparitions

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ot until the eleventh century in Japan, with the one exception from the Nihon Shoki already quoted, do we find literary accounts of the tengu, and we have to wait until the Kamakura period for the first iconography. From the outset, nearly all the descriptions present the tengu as mischievous beings who seem intent on playing tricks on humankind at every level but especially on priests. Marius de Visser, in setting out his study of the tengu myths and legends, observes that the tengu constantly try to deceive and mislead the prelates, particularly the most senior. What is interesting from de Visser’s accounts is that the tengu are just behaving like undisciplined adolescents, but are not particularly evil. They are not vengeful like many ghosts and other apparitions in early Japanese folklore. On occasion it is admitted that they even do good. However, Marius de Visser’s study is largely based on the attempts by the medieval Buddhist religious establishment to denigrate and demonize tengu not only in their own eyes but in the popular imagination. Over the course of the succeeding centuries this policy seems to have been largely successful in the area of folklore. The comic long-nosed tengu figures are well-known and to be found all over Japan. Rarely does one come across more serious images connected with shrines or temples, doubtless a survival of the days before the Meiji reforms. Occasionally, the tengu have struck back at the Buddhist propaganda, as we can see in the famous mid-Edo period work by Chozan Shissai, Tengu-geijutsu-ron, first published in 1729,192 but this is far from usual. Western scholars have tended to side-step numbers of early accounts of the tengu activities, probably because they saw them as mere figments of the literary imagination and not as important as the Buddhist-influenced morality tales in, for example, the Konjaku Monogatari, a concept

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arising no doubt from the popularist ukiyo-e woodcut illustrations of tengu by artists like Hokusai and Kuniyoshi in the nineteenth century. A few of the tengu tales in the Konjaku Monogatari are translated but most are edited out as being of little interest or relevance. All in all, the western reader, scholar or general, with an active interest in ‘things Japanese’ can only find the tengu stories dressed up as fairy tales, but very rarely in their proper form or context. To study the original material one must be able to access classical Japanese. Only then can one feel that study is on a level playing field. Just occasionally, in the medieval accounts, we can find hints of another, almost totally different, viewpoint of these beings, and this aspect at its first appearance, indicates beliefs going back to the early Heian period at least since the tengu therein appear with every characteristic fully in place. This separate group of accounts or manifestations of the tengu was almost completely missed by Marius de Visser, despite his breadth of knowledge of Chinese and Japanese folklore, and should be deeply regretted since he was researching and recording in this field whilst the beliefs were still very much alive. This area is, of course, the accounts remembered by the warrior groups and, in particular, those preserved by the master swordsmen of the classical bugei. Also completely missed, or even rejected as irrelevant, were the well-known illustrations of tengu teaching the secrets of swordsmanship contained in a few surviving ¯o-tora-no-maki scrolls already, by the mid-twentieth century, partly in the public domain. In the last century a small number of masters of the bugei, the sons or grandsons of former master-swordsmen, knew of their importance and meaning, but in this highly exclusive field the secrets contained therein could only be revealed to those who had attained a suitably high level, and then were only passed on in oral transmission. There was little or no possibility of proper academic study, the transmission had always been ‘mouth to ear’ between a master and his worthy successor. The last samurai to wear daisho¯, the two swords, lived through Bakumatsu and, even if they were young men in 1877 when they became ‘gentlemen’ as opposed to their former status as two-sworded warriors, few would have attained the level required to receive the information and understanding we are discussing. In due process of time, and especially with the profound social changes that influenced the headlong modernization of Japan down to the present day, swordsmanship had paled to almost a shadow of its former self. From the viewpoint of the modern Japanese of today, and even in so conservative a field as Kendo, understanding of the tengu transmissions and their direct connection with the ancient female war-deity, Marishi-ten, is so remote that it is considered of little or no importance at all. Just a handful of senior masters preserve something of these now distant teachings and, like the master-kenshi of old, this knowledge will probably be lost within a decade or so. Perhaps

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this is a deeply pessimistic view but, unpalatable as it might be, these are teachings that cannot and will never be understood or valued by those lacking the deep foundation of knowledge that can only come from many years of severe training under masters who ‘know’; as always in these traditions, it is far better that the teachings are lost than for them to be passed on, misinterpreted, debased, distorted and corrupted. This is a warrior philosophy that is encountered from as far back as the mid-Muromachi period of the fifteenth century; the integrity of the teaching transmission both in its bloodline descent through the generations of a family or in the purity of its teachings must and will be preserved at all costs.193 To realize that such levels exist or existed is one thing, to ‘reconstruct’ is quite another. oOo We saw that there was the closest resemblance between the emerging yamabushi who, themselves, were the successors to the ‘Zenki’ and ‘Goki’, and the appearance and description of the tengu. In every respect, only with the smallest variation and then in the most minor ways, they were visualized as identical. The proto-yamabushi seem never to have made any pretence to be other than ‘protectors’ or ‘guides’ to the Taoist hermit ‘magicians’ who bravely (or through dangerous ignorance) sought solitude in the wilds. As time passed and the next wave of recluses arrived through the esoteric aspirations of the Buddhist sects to commune with nature, the uncouth ‘Zenki’ and ‘Goki’ had adopted something of the mannerisms and beliefs of their Taoist masters, already having an ancestral background that preserved shamanic practices and, importantly, considerable warrior skills with hand weapons. They knew and had absorbed the sankaku-shinko¯ for a long period at first hand, and developed their spiritual skills through undergoing the same severe privations required by the ‘craziest’ of the hermits. It is no surprise that with the advent of the Buddhist mikkyo¯, these mountain men would accept some of the new practices, too. The term ‘yamabushi’ expressed in kanji correctly means: ‘one who lies on his (left) side in the mountains’.194 That they did not embrace completely the Buddhist mikkyo¯ of the Tendai or Shingon but remained separate, is a matter of little surprise. These men had been fiercely independent and descended from a small group of tribes that had preserved both their shamanic and martial skills; they were hardly likely to change and adopt a more sedate sedentary manner of living. There is a very old and slightly blunt cynical saying in classical Kendo which states, in effect, that: ‘The swordsman reaches enlightenment through hard training; the monk reaches enlightenment sitting on his backside. Both ways take the same lifespan but, (adding the rider) the former is far more enjoyable.’ One can be quite certain that the equivalent sentiment was prevalent in those ancient times.

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With the pressure exerted by the Court seeking always to channel every aspect of society into regular forms, the ‘compartmentalism’ that became so clear later when the Tokugawa bakufu came to power, it was inevitable that these proto-yamabushi should be drawn together as a group and under the control or ‘umbrella’ of some named patriarch. In this case, the legendary En-no-Gyo¯ja perfectly fitted the bill despite being long dead, but we need to remember that this ‘regularizing’ into the main recognizable branches of Shugendo¯ did not take place until the eleventh or twelfth century, five hundred years later than the lifetime of the supposed founder. THE APPEAL OF MARISHI-TEN The female sun-deity, Ma¯rı¯cı¯, developed in China as a branch of Buddhism, possibly deriving from ancient beliefs connected with the horrifying triad of deities, Ka¯lı¯, Durga¯ and Candı¯ in India. The original source may lie much further back into the Bronze Age or Iron Age, spreading, again, from Central Asia, as we can see a very similar IndoEuropean group of three fierce deities in ancient Ireland.195 Be that as it may, her cult spread through China then to Korea and may have been known in Japan by the end of the Kofun period, the early-sixth century. If this is the case, it was probably brought to the archipelago by the Buddhist-influenced Taoist mystics. Whatever the actual spread into Japan might have been, what this deity offered her followers was protection from a variety of threats including the dangers attendant on travel, from bandits and from enemies in general, flood, fire, poisoning, malicious female spirits (da¯kini), and supernatural demons and ghosts (ra¯ksa). Undoubtedly, the dha¯rani-sutra spells chanted or muttered by these hermit-magicians appealed to their attentive ‘protectors’, we can soon discern in the nascent Shugendo¯ as it formed at the end of the Heian period that its two main important characteristics offered protection through appeals to Marishi-ten and the art if invisibility. It was these two benefits that held a great attraction to warriors. The Buddhist mikkyo¯ , on the other hand, was directed to bringing all sentient beings to enlightenment; worthy, of course, but not so appealing to men whose lives were spent with danger constantly at their side. When we come to the Gempei struggles of the late-twelfth century, we find great numbers of shugenja and Tendai so¯hei,196 warriormonks, offering their services to the Minamoto side; bands of them coming from many different centres across Japan, especially from the Chugoku and Shikoku bordering the Inland Sea. There is an interesting modern group of statues at the To¯kei-jinja at Kii-Tanabe, Wakayama-ken, which depict Saito¯ Musashi-bo¯ Benkei, a great hero to the later warriors, persuading his father, the Kumano region Betto¯, or

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Superintendent, Iyo-no-kami Tanzo¯, to give his support to the Genji side. Tanzo¯ told his son that he would hold a cockfight between seven red cockerels and seven white ones, his support would go to the side that gained the victory. The red side represented the Heiji (Taira) and the white, the Genji (Minamoto). The white cockerels won and Benkei gathered the Kumano yamabushi to join his master, Minamoto-noYoshitsune. Whether this legend is true or not is not important; what it does demonstrate is that the proto-yamabushi, hardly known to the historical records from the Asuka period through to the emergence of the buke in the late-Heian, were, by the late twelfth century, a very significant body of men quite prepared to take up arms for a proper cause. Why they had hitherto escaped notice is unclear and probably deserves further research, however the fact remains that they were present in large numbers and quite distinct from the unruly so¯ hei of the Buddhist monasteries. Apart from that, in the subsequent well-documented history of the turbulent medieval period from the Gempei Wars onwards to the more peaceful Edo period before Bakumatsu - seven-hundred years - apart from the occasional mention of these wandering ascetic warriors, they do not appear again in any prominent military role. The so¯ hei caused untold trouble one way or another until violently suppressed successively in the second half of the sixteenth century by Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but not the yamabushi. Significantly, it is at almost the same time that the yamabushi appear in their own right that we have the first reports of the tengu directly linked to the Arts of War at the very highest level. Not only that, and if legend is to be believed, it was the transmission of strategy that they are reputed to convey that was kept as the deepest secret within the Genji, the Minamoto buke. MINAMOTO-NO-YOSHITSUNE AND KURAMA-YAMA Earlier in this study I mentioned that here are two main threads to the folklore of Japanese tengu. On the one side is the lore well-known to the population that is highly coloured by the determined Buddhist attempt to ‘demonize’ and reduce these ‘spirits’ to mere mischievous, if annoying, forest ‘goblins’, not exactly dangerous but, in popular belief, with a liking for playing practical jokes on their betters. On the other side is the thread that concerns us, where the tengu can hardly be described as slightly malicious and become the ‘messengers’ of the female wardeity, Marishi-ten, and transmit the teachings of this deity to a selected few masters of the bugei, the Arts of War. Devious, maybe, in that their transmitted teachings were constantly informed by Sun Tzu’s dictum that ‘All warfare is based on deception.’

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At the same time, we have seen that these same tengu have characteristics identical to the emerging yamabushi, the former the ‘messengers’ of Marishi-ten and the latter her undoubted devotees. In the folklore that surrounds the yamabushi, they are commonly thought of as having the ability to ‘fly’ and to become ‘invisible’. This concept, given form by the fanciful legends that attached to En-no-Gyo¯ja, is perfectly logical in that most yamabushi dressed and looked very much alike. From time immemorial, the proto-yamabushi had functioned as ‘protectors’ to the increasing numbers of religious pilgrims who sought a degree of spiritual fulfilment by undergoing arduous ‘entries’ into the various mountain wastes, and were guided by these formidable men. The home of the tengu was in these same mountains and who was to say when in the exhausted, sleep-deprived state that these pilgrims were often in, that they had not ‘seen’ tengu? They could hear them in the turmoil kept up by the mostly unseen aggressive crows high in the forest canopy; they could see the wheeling and soaring great red hawks and hear their mewing cries – and knew that these same karasu and taka often became the shape-shifting tengu, themselves. They could even see, if not understand, the willingness of many crows to attack and mob the stronger hawks, thus demonstrating their latent tengu characteristics. However, even with the emerging warrior group, the fondness for the rich folklore that was part and parcel of the sankaku-shinko¯ soon appeared with the tengu, and in the case of the youthful Ushiwakamaru, the childhood name given to Yoshitsune-dono before he formally became an adult, has lasted to today! THE BISHOP’S VALLEY Kurama-yama (1880) is one of the wild centres sought by the early ubasoku and associated in the popular mind with the tengu. The centre lies some ten or so kilometres due north of Kyo¯to and immediately west of Hiei-zan. Kurama-dera was originally founded by a Tendai monk named Genchin (?) or Gantei, as the ‘guardian temple’ spiritually defending the northern quarter of Heian-kyo¯, now Kyo¯to, in the year 770.197 The main temple and the various halls stand high on the mountain with a few other sacred sites scattered about the summit. These shrines and Buddhist halls are reached by wandering flights of seemingly randomly constructed steps that in no way intrude on the mountain’s apparent remoteness. In the late-tenth century, the renowned authoress and poet, Sei Sho¯nagon, who was a near contemporary of Murasaki Chikibu, (The Tale of Genji), wrote of Kurama: The road to Kurama is a winding path where distances appear

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to be near but are really quite far. On the northern side, at quite a distance from the main temple sites, a path, dangerous to the feet of the unwary, descends steeply down to a fold in the mountainside where there is a depressed saddle that is named the So¯jo¯-no-tani, or Bishop’s Valley, and despite many visitors seeking out this famous spot down the centuries, it is still a remote and unspoilt place. It was here that the young Ushiwaka-maru, a boy of very high birth and only about ten or twelve years of age, is said to have been given instruction in the art of strategy, heiho¯, by an old ascetic hermit dressed, according to legend, as a yamabushi. This master was aided by a number of more youthful ‘tengu’ followers.198 The title given to this ascetic was ‘Tengu-san’, allegedly translating as ‘Subjugator of Evil’; another name was Sojo-bo¯, said to be the ‘King of the Tengu’. There are two main accounts of this legendary instruction given to the youthful Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune (1159-89). One is in the ‘Heijimonogatari’ dating from the beginning of the thirteenth century, and the other, quoted by Marius de Visser, is the ‘Gigeki’, written about 1220. If the records from this turbulent time at the beginning of the Kamakura period are reliable, Kurama-dera had sheltered a Taoist ‘magician’ named Ki’ichi Ho¯gen during the reign of Go-Shirakawa-tenno¯ (1155– 58), placing two Chinese texts on military strategy within the temple. These texts were named the ‘Liu-t’ao’ and ‘San-lueh’, respectively.199 The boy, Ushiwaka-maru, secretly got hold of these two treatises and made copies which, later, came into the possession of the Minamoto clan and formed the basis of the clan’s secret text on tactics and strategy, known as the ‘Genke-kinesshu’.200 There are three No¯ plays that treat with the young Ushiwaka-maru and one that later dramatizes him when, as an adult fleeing north to escape the murderous attention of his brother, Yoritomo, he is stopped with his small entourage at a highway barrier. In the ‘Eboshi-ori’, written by Miyamasu who probably worked in the Sengoku period of the sixteenth century, the youthful Ushiwaka is faced by a gang of brigands. At one point, the Chorus sing words for the young hero: Now is the time, to show the world those arts of war that for many months and years upon the Mountain of Kurama I have rehearsed.201 In ‘Kwanjincho¯’, when Benkei is challenged and questioned by the leader of Yoshitsune’s pursuers to prove that he is, indeed, a yamabushi, he is asked why he wears a long sword if he is a priest. In reply, Benkei says,

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in effect, that ‘he carries the sword in order to slash away the evil of those who would oppose the Buddha’s Law’. In one of the several legends written by Tsukahara Bokuden’s over-enthusiastic followers is the description of the master during one of his prolonged musha-shugyo¯, crossing over Lake Biwa by ferry when he is challenged by an arrogant ro¯nin as to why, if he is as he claims a swordsman who doesn’t think it necessary to use his swords as his teaching is the ‘Handless Victory Style’, he wears a pair of swords? Bokuden allegedly replies: ‘I carry these two swords in order to cut off the buds of vanity that spring up in men’s hearts, chiefly my own.’ Both these statements reflect the fusion of the Buddhist belief in Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ as the ‘Defender of the Law’, and the ro¯le of the yamabushi as being under the protection of Marishi-ten.202 With these credentials, legendary or not, it is hardly surprising to find that a number of the traditions in heiho¯ claim that their transmission, or original inspiration, can be traced back to Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune. As Donn Draeger, and others in his wake, often pointed out, records in these traditions supposedly dating from before the first quarter of the sixteenth century are extremely difficult to verify. Of course many documents survive within some ko-ryu¯ from even the fourteenth century, but to be certain of the transmission it is important that there is one or more corroborating accounts from an independent source. The kenshi, themselves, were very careful over such matters and many of their descendants are too, but there were always ‘enthusiastic’ students who would make colourful claims. Because of this, authorities in general consider we can only be ‘safe’ in these claims for those transmissions dating from the early Sengoku period, some even being more cautious and putting the threshold around the year 1550. From these dates the tradition must be able to demonstrate the descent of its masters in unbroken sequence. Only thus can the integrity of the transmission be recognized. One tradition that has a better claim to its origin commencing on Kurama-yama than most others, though not necessarily at the time of Yoshitsune, of course, is the Kurama-ryu¯-no-heiho¯, its last but one successor being the late Ozawa Takashi, ku-dan Hanshi,203 but about others one cannot be so sure. One of the doubtful ryu¯ claims the names of Yoshitsune as the so¯-dai and Musashi-bo¯ Benkei as the ni-dai. This is the Kurama Shinkage-ryu¯ (to be discussed further on). It is interesting that claims to trace descent as far back as the twelfth century, even a century or so earlier, are not confined to some traditions in the Heiho¯ but even crop up in modern Budo¯ entities, possibly hoping that the credulous amongst their students will accept the statements as ex-cathedra and brook no dispute.204 While the ‘Heiji-monogatari’ and the ‘Gigeki’ were written only a few years after the events they purport to describe, the Heiji War took place in 1159 in the aftermath of which Yoshitsune’s father, Minamoto–noYoshitomo, was killed, it is difficult to imagine that the accounts of such

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recent and traumatic events could be ‘massaged’ so as to completely distort the truth. Naturally, some ‘softening’ may have taken place to show the Genji, the eventual victors after the Gempei struggle ended in 1185, in the best light, but nevertheless all the leading warrior families were well-aware of the truth. These events were still fresh in the living memory and had not yet passed into legend. From the viewpoint of the present study, the brief account of Ushiwaka-maru’s experience in the Bishop’s Valley, the training instruction certainly extended considerably more than just that one brief encounter but continued over possibly five or six years – a reasonable time to absorb such teaching even for so precocious a budding heiho¯-jin as Yoshitsune. This was before his famous encounter with Musashi-bo¯ Benkei on the Gojo¯ Bridge in Kyo¯to but it is indicative of the skills ascribed both to some yamabushi and to the intangible tengu. YAMABUSHI AND TENGU IN THE EARLY-MUROMACHI PERIOD In 1333, the Ho¯jo¯ Regents, de facto rulers of Japan for a century and based at Kamakura in the Kanto¯, were overthrown by the forces raised in rebellion by Nitta Yoshisada. The ‘Taiheiki’ chronicle written in 1382 describes the momentous struggle between the Northern and Southern Courts and the destruction of the Ho¯jo¯ that immediately preceded this. There is an extremely interesting account in this work concerning how a tengu disguised as a yamabushi one day called the warriors of Echigo province to arms in support of Nitta Yoshisada. While I have described this incident in a previous work,205 it is worth repeating here. Nitta Yoshisada had raised as many men as possible in order to oppose Ho¯jo¯ Takatoki but knew that while his cause was good his armed strength was not. Unexpectedly, a great contingent of the Echigo warriors appeared to join Yoshisada and his brother, Wakiya Yoshisuke, who were preparing for a desperate but suicidal attack on Kamakura. In the words of the chronicle: On the fifth day there came a Tengu in the guise of a wandering monk, calling himself your messenger, who in a single day proclaimed these tidings throughout the province of Echigo.206

The revitalized army immediately met the Ho¯jo¯ forces at Inamuragasaki and defeated them, going on to destroy the final resistance at the To¯sho¯ji temple in Kamakura. As with the earlier attribution that Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune’s outstanding ability as a general, notwithstanding that during the Gempei Wars he was only in his early twenties, was due to instruction from a tengu in the guise of a yamabushi, here, a century-and-a-half later, we

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find a similar close link between a tengu appearance and the widespread belief that they were also identical with the yamabushi. This is a very curious incident that defies a rational explanation. Sources of considerable information are the important painted scrolls and screens commissioned by successful warriors of high rank to record and proclaim their prowess, or that of their forebears, thus adding lustre to the name of their clan for generations to come. Such records are two scrolls, the ‘Taiheiki-emaki’, depicting in many lively, but accurately detailed, line drawings a complex account of the Nanbokucho¯ fighting. This e-makimono dates from the end of the fourteenth century and records the struggle between the rival Northern and Southern Courts. One panel, probably intended to represent the mountains of Yoshino where much of the early fighting took place, depicts sixteen armoured tengu amongst the crags. The artist responsible for these two scrolls is unknown but was clearly a highly skilful illustrator. Again, it is worth repeating my earlier description here. All sixteen of these creatures are hawk-beaked sho¯tengu, armoured and wearing the small ‘tokin’ pill-box headgear favoured by the yamabushi. Ten tengu are winged, six are not. Their weapons are various: two carry naginata, two others have heavy ono, the long-hafted battle axes, and three have drawn swords. One carries a gunbai-uchiwa, or war-fan, which possibly was intended to single him out as the general. This detail indicates a distinction in terms of rank.207 For the purposes of the chronicler, to draw as many as sixteen tengu gathered in these peaks is intended to convey that a large number of these armed beings were believed to have congregated. TENGU AS MOUNTED INFANTRY? Thus far, I have found only a single reference to the tengu in an equestrian situation and this is again in the ‘Taiheiki’ chronicle, quoted by Marius de Visser concerning an incident in 1351.208 In this, there was a confrontation between Ashikaga-no-Takauji and his brother, Tadayoshi. The opposing brothers drew up their forces in preparation for battle the following day but ‘in the midst of the night a troop of about fivehundred horsemen, all fully armed, several times came between the contending forces and drew themselves up in battle formation. Each time the armies were startled, thinking that (these men) were the enemy.’ De Visser comments here that in these legends, referring also to the ‘tengu’ yamabushi in the Echigo incident of 1333, the cavalry was composed of tengu and that it was no longer a fight against Buddhism but a desire by the tengu to throw the whole world into disorder. ‘War was their device just as it was with the Chinese tengu.’ It is not clear what de Visser intended by this final comment. We must bear in mind that Marius de Visser seems to have been examining the tengu from the folklore and Buddhist point of view, and

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not from the warrior traditions. The ‘Taiheiki’ was composed with a strong Buddhist bias. The above extract describes events after Ashikagano-Tadayoshi had fallen out with his brother and even tried to assassinate him. He then went over to support the side of the Southern Court. In the battle at Settsu Mikage, now in Kyo¯to-to¯, that followed this curious night-time incident, Tadayoshi and his ally, Ishida Yorifusa, defeated Takauji and took Kamakura early in the following year, 1352. Tadayoshi was then defeated and captured at the battle of Suruga Satta-yama, now Shizuoka-ken, later being assassinated.

16

Tengu Weapons and Other Items

W

e are now at the threshold of the appearance of the tengu in the bugei iconography, still totally associated with the yamabushi, as direct messengers from Marishi-ten, bringers of expert guidance and weapon skills that were always preserved in the gokui, the inner teachings, of each ryu¯. Earlier in this discussion I listed for comparison the weapons and other attributes held in common by the proto-yamabushi and the tengu. Some of those weapons traditionally carried by the former probably belong to the folklore that surrounded them, deriving in the case of the kumade (rakes), the saws and the ono (axes) from tools required by foresters or those groups who found a living fishing. Tachi (Ken) and Tantˉ o (Shibauchi)

It is evident that through their recognized warrior origins, the protoyamabushi habitually wore tachi, slung swords, as well as the warrior’s heavy tanto¯, sometimes called a shibauchi. We are told that the reason for them being so armed right through the medieval period was that the sword was needed ‘to kill dangerous animals such as snakes or wild boar that they might encounter in their long peregrinations in the wilds’, or, allegedly, to kill themselves should they fail to complete such arduous asceticism of vowing to successfully perform certain ‘circling the mountains’ known as kaiho¯gyo¯.209 Again, the true origin probably came with the necessity of being armed when they withdrew into areas still inhabited by the remnants of the emishi. This leads us quite logically to one of the reasons that these mountain settlers living in the remotest regions like Kumano, around Daisen, in the Hide-hiko-yama, and elsewhere,

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maintained their ancient military skills. Another aspect that requires further study is the fact that during the Muromachi and early-Edo periods, many tengu, of both high and ordinary ranks, have tora-no-tachi saya (sheaths or scabbards) covered with tiger skin. The use of tiger skin in medieval Japanese military equipment always indicates high rank. In Shugendo¯, the shibauchi210 is employed during the saito¯ go¯ma fire rituals. It represents the power of Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯. The term ken usually means a straight sword, often double-edged, which in Buddhist symbolism gives protection and the victory of Knowledge over error. The ‘Sword of Wisdom’, called e-ken, is that weapon carried by Fudo¯ in his right hand and is also termed the chi-no-ken, ‘Knowledge sword’, or go¯ma-no-ken, ‘Demon-suppressing sword’. While it is easy to understand the adaptation of the sword’s symbolism to the esoteric Buddhist concepts, the warrior-shaman in the Yamato period and their successors, the ‘Zenki’ and ‘Goki’, were armed with straight swords as the curved blade form was not introduced until sometime in the eighth century. It is an interesting fact that in the Heijutsu of several of the oldest extant traditions, the wooden practice sword, the bokuto¯, has no sori or curve at all. Each one of these transmissions sprang from the teachings of Marishi-ten and include tengu-sho¯ forms. Naginata and Nagamaki

Both the so¯hei and the yamabushi of the Heian period to the Sengokujidai favoured that formidable polearm, the naginata, with its strongly curved trenchant blade. In the early records onwards to the end of the Muromachi period, the naginata is often referred to simply as a long sword, cho¯to¯, but it was the fighting weapon of choice of both these disparate groups from at least the Nara period in the eighth century. Five examples of wooden proto-naginata are preserved in the Sho¯so¯in repository in Nara. These five are odd-looking weapons with short nakago shafts.211 The long-bladed long- or short-shafted polearm soon evolved into the nagamaki with its very long ‘sword-like’ blade form, also becoming very popular with all types of warriors from the Heian to the mid-Muromachi. The shobu-zukuri-naginata of this period, too, had a very long blade. There is no reason to suppose that in the minds of the warrior groups that these, too, were outside the field of expertise of the tengu. There is an interesting link here between one famous ryu¯-ha of the sixteenth century, the Taisha-ryu¯, and the tengu transmissions from Marishi-ten. This tradition preserves a crudely forged nagamaki that clearly harks back in form to the nagamaki in the Sho¯so¯-in, very different from all later blades. Whilst we shall take a closer look at the Taisha-ryu¯ later, suffice it to say that this tradition also uses in its heiho¯ penetrating kiai, or intense shouts, that mimic the harsh cries of tengu-karasu.

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Bˉ o and Bonden (Kongˉ ozue) or Bonten or Godai-son-no-bei

Other yamabushi and tengu weapons were the long staffs known as the bo¯ or the bonden or bonten. The bo¯ is a simple stout stave, thirty to thirtyfive millimetres in diameter and usually about two or two-and-a-half metres in length. While it is a very useful staff for mountain trekking it is also, in capable hands, an excellent weapon, and as such was treated in a number of the oldest heiho¯ traditions as ‘a yari that had lost its blade’.212 The bonden, or kongo¯zue, is similar in size and also fashioned from a hardwood, usually shiro¯gashi (white oak) or akagashi (red oak). However, the yamabushi capped the end with a square of white woven stuff or thick paper, tied in such a way as to leave a folded ‘fringe’ about eighty millimetres deep at the top. Professor Kuroki Toshihiro, a specialist Kendo historian, advanced the view that the use of the bo¯ and the bonden may have derived from the many forms of folk stave-dances (bo¯-odori) used in the ancient matsuri festivals.213 Throughout the medieval period the bonden was carried by all yamabushi. Specifically, the kongo¯zue is a rounded staff, carved at the top, and carried to represent the unity of the Diamond and Womb realms. There is no difference in its symbolism to the bonden. Tetsu-bˉ o

This is a two-metre staff made wholly or partly of iron. In the hands of a strong and determined man this was a formidable weapon and its use crops up now and again in the records. The iron staff was usually tapered from the fighting end down to the lower handgrip end. Sometimes the lower end was provided with an iron ring, the purpose of this is not clear but the ring-shaped iron ishizuki ferrules found on many types of yari would suggest that it was to allow the weapon to be supported on wall pegs when not in use. While the tetsu-bo¯ was commonly round in section examples are known that are fluted or have six sides.214 Kumade, Rakes and (?) Saws

These rakes generally have either two or three clawed prongs set at right angles from the shaft and were traditionally used in sea warfare to grapple alongside enemy vessels or to entangle an enemy’s armour and pull him down. Whilst they are depicted as part of the traditional implements carried by the yamabushi, I have only seen a wooden one at the Mikomari-jinja between Yoshino-yama and the ‘entrance’ torii on the ¯ mine mountains. track leading up towards the Kimpu-jinja and the O ¯ As the Mikomari shrine is closely linked to the Omine ‘entries’ and the yamabushi, one can understand a connection between this kumade and Shugendo¯ ritual, but the precise meaning is unclear.

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Different from the kumade are the ‘rakes’ also supposedly carried by the yamabushi. These are usually shown as a short horizontal headbar on the top of a staff and furnished with lines of nails all along and round the bar. They are closer in form to the sodegarami, sleeve entanglers, that were used in later medieval times to snag and entwine the clothing of armed and dangerous criminals. Again, the symbolic meaning is unclear, although these implements may have been similarly employed against violent opponents. The saws shown in the folk art are longer and would have been used in forestry. Ono or Nyˉ ubu-no-ono

An axe is often shown carried by Zenki in statuary and by Benkei as part of his range of arms in the traditional iconography. It is a useful tool for foresters. In the mikkyo¯ it symbolizes the act of building in the sense of developing the Buddhist Doctrine. E. Dale Saunders considers, however, that like the yumi, the ya and the ken, it is more the concept of protection, and the divinities who carry these intend to cut away all Evil that menaces the Law.215 Sasumata

Depicted in the folklore as one of the battery of weapons carried by Musashi-bo¯ Benkei, the sasumata possessed a forked blade, each terminating in an outward curving kissaki, or tip. This forked blade resembled a large ‘U’, the nakago, or tang, for insertion into the shaft came from the centre of the ‘U’. These blades had sharp edges on all four sides. The origin may be found in relation to the vajra trident, though here with only two blades. (See ‘Sanko-geki’ below.) The Chinese version is by no means as sophisticated as the Japanese sasumata, having, generally, round sectioned ‘arms’ and furnished with a central spike or blade, again mounted on a long shaft.216 The sasumata is rarely found and I, personally, know of no surviving examples dating from before the close of the sixteenth century. As a weapon or implement used in the Edo period, the sasumata was a rake to facilitate lifting away burning thatch or roof shingles in the event of a conflagration, or as an additional weapon used in the arrest and capture of violent criminals. It is sometimes seen alongside upright racked yari and kusarigama in depictions of the highway seki, or check points, between the various domains. Hashirinawa, Kai-no-ˉ o or Kensaku

This was a thick cord, similar to the woven himo of the samurai, worn around the waist. It served to hold the suzukake, or surcoat, in place. The cord symbolizes the rope grasped in readiness by Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ in

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order to restrain those who oppose the Buddha’s Law. The warrior used this to bind captives. Whereas in Shugendo¯ the Buddhist term ‘kensaku’ is not, usually, specifically employed, it represents the rope or snare with which creatures are caught and bound, symbolizing the saving of all Sentient Beings through the love of the Buddha and the bodhisattva. It is also associated, in esoteric Buddhism, and, by extension, in the bugei, with the hand mudra¯ of ‘jo¯’ – ‘Concentration’, one of the Three Studies – ‘Precepts’, ‘Concentration’ and ‘Wisdom’. These are the ‘three principles’ that characterize the order of instruction in the go¯kui, or secret levels, given by the tengu to the swordsman as transmitted from Marishi-ten. In Kendo in the present day, these ‘principles’ – shu-ha-ri – are expressed somewhat differently: first the student must try to master the basic movements and actions; then he realizes that to do this he must pay closer attention to the underlying forms; and lastly he will come to intuitively understand. The transmissions in the ‘inner’ or ‘secret’ levels, revealed by the tengu, underscore the medieval concept of digesting the teachings and eventually being able to effortlessly put them into action.217 This was expressed by the master-swordsman, Yagyu¯ Munenori, in the Heiho¯ Kadensho¯ as: ‘Leave the teachings, but the teachings remain.’ Shakujˉ o, the Ringed-Staff’, or Rokushakujˉ o (Skt. Khakkhara)

This sistrum, in its smaller version, or when it is a long staff in the larger, is not detailed in the list of mutually carried items above. This is because it is usually carried by Buddhist priests and shugenja, however, as the bonden is shown in one case at least in the hands of a tengu there seems no reason to suppose that it was not part of some tengu equipment. E. Dale Saunders believes this staff to be of Central Asian origin and not to come from a Chinese or Japanese source.218 The shakujo¯ was rung or shaken in front of the outer gates of houses the priest visits because he is governed by the rule of silence. Additionally, he is not to harm any living things so the jangling rings warn off animals of his approach. Various numbers of rings are interlocked at the head, each number symbolizing one or other of the Teachings. It is probable that the six-ringed shakujo¯ carried by the shugenja was employed in expelling demons. In medieval and modern Shugendo¯, the short-handled shakujo¯ symbolizes the abolition of sin and the attainment of Buddhahood. Kyahan or Leggings to Protect the Shins; or Kensaki-kyahan or Suneate

These provide an interesting link with warrior customs. The kyahan are worn by peasants and warriors alike to provide some protection to the shins in undergrowth or in the fields. They are also worn by tengu.

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The farmer/peasant secures the upper and lower himo (ties) above and below the back of the calf; the warrior, yamabushi and tengu always secure these himo neatly at the front. This was the custom when wearing suneate, leg protectors, with armour. It is small detail but invariable in practice. (I suspect that this custom is followed by Shinto gu¯ji, too.) Many tengu in the iconography wear suneate decorated with tiger stripes or actually of tiger skin, an archaic survival from at least the Heian period and indicative of the upper warrior ranks. A peculiarity of the Shugendo¯ kyahan is that they are generally furnished with a pointed extension f lap covering the top of the instep. This detail appears in some cases in the tengu illustrations. In the Shugendo¯ and Buddhist mikkyo¯, the kyahan symbolize the unity of the Diamond and Womb realms. Hoko or Sanko-geki (Spear or Trident)

The term ‘hoko’ has been in common use in Japan to describe any spear other than the naginata or nagamaki from the most ancient times. However, it is included here in this study because while it does not appear as a weapon habitually carried either by the yamabushi or the tengu, it is one of a number of weapons flourished in representations of Marishi-ten and some of the many-armed Myo¯-o¯. The hoko became known as the yari, or so¯, in the Nanbokucho¯ period (mid- to late-fourteenth century). ‘So¯ ’ is the Japanese reading of the Chinese kanji and usually only used in conjunction with the term ‘S¯o-jutsu’, ‘spear-art’ (for war), as opposed to ‘Yari-do¯’, ‘spear-way’, the latter not necessarily for war. Single-edged blades of the tanto¯ form were known as Kikuchi-yari and carried in the late-Heian period but disappear from the historical record for a hundred-and-fifty years. There is no reason to think that they may not have been carried by some yamabushi. Straight yari blades concealed beneath the metal saya, sheath, of the shakujo¯ are also known. The innocuous ringed staff thus became a seriously dangerous weapon. While these two weapons were used in Central and Eastern Asia for hunting, their symbolism derives from extremely ancient times, not necessarily Vedic, Buddhist or even Jain. Anciently, the trident, especially, was connected with fire rituals. In the hands of the Myo¯- o¯ it came to symbolize the routing of the Demons of Evil and the protection and defence of Buddha’s Doctrine.219 Yumi – Bow – and Ya – Arrow

Again, whilst not specifically mentioned in lists of the yamabushi and tengu attributes, the yumi and ya are carried by Aizen-myo¯-o¯ and Marishi-ten in both the statuary and iconography. In the Buddhist

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mikkyo¯, the bow and arrow symbolize chasing away forgetfulness. This defect is described by Saunders as being composed of carelessness (in observing the Buddhist Precepts) and neglect of the Law.220 There are other interpretations, he points out. Hiˉ ogi, a Fan

The hio¯gi is often depicted in both Buddhist-Shugendo¯ statuary and the folklore iconography from ancient times right down to the present day as being carried by both the yamabushi and the tengu. It is fashioned from either thin cypress slats or from feathers. In Shugendo¯ it is employed during go¯ma fire rituals but its original importance was that it symbolized the ability to become invisible and, as such, was carried by Marishi-ten and often by dai-tengu. The feathered hio¯gi may also be a survival of some part of the ancient shaman’s costume, signifying his ability to fly to the spirit world. The belief in the folklore that the hi¯ogi somehow made a yamabushi or a tengu invisible should not be taken literally. It symbolized causing confusion and doubt in the opponent’s mind, thus forcing him into making errors of judgement. The hi¯ogi represents the capacity, in the martial sphere, to make use of the unexpected in both technique and stratagem. In this, ‘invisibility’ is the chief strategy advocated by Sun Tzu in his Ping-fa.221

17

Dai-tengu and Shˉ o-tengu in the Iconography

A

s we have mentioned above, the tengu appear in Japanese literary texts from the late-eleventh century but they do not seem to feature in the iconography until the mid-fourteenth century. As stated earlier, this study focuses on the proposed origins of the tengu set against the introduction of shamanism into early Japan, its metamorphosis and partial assimilation into the Buddhist mikkyo¯ amongst the proto-yamabushi, and finally, the forms of the tengu as otsukai of Marishi-ten in the martial sphere. It is the iconography that is of interest here. ˉ HONZON AND KURAMA SHUGENDO ˉ DENSHO ˉ SHINKAGE-RYU In order to find a wide range of tengu images we must turn to the illustrated honzon, or ‘prayer images’, that are purchased by devotees at some shrines in order to assist them in visualizing the deity during prayer. Some of these honzon are quite spectacular and contain many figures of both dai-tengu and sho¯-tengu. While these images are not strictly within the proper martial compass, they are of a great help in understanding the wide range of visual concepts once current in Japan; at the same time, these images are only partially within the field of the folklore. However, they do form, collectively, a basis for evaluating the tengu visualizations that appear in the tora-no-maki scrolls of a good number of classical ryu¯ha. While they have a clear connection with the Buddhist mikkyo¯, these honzon are to be found at Shugendo¯-associated shrines, but are they linked to the cult of Marishi-ten? A close examination of the symbols carried by the sho¯-tengu, in particular, reveals a number that are directly

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Fig. 25 Spectacular Honzon. A large honzon replete with Shugendo¯ tengu figures including the sun, new and full moon symbols, the go¯ma blazing up in the centre, two dai-tengu and many (fifteen in total) sho¯-tengu; curiously, most of the sho¯-tengu exhibit strong connotations with esoteric Buddhism (Haguro-yama, Yamagata-ken). This honzon will provide the devotee with ‘seven thousand days of protection’. It is a charm against misfortunes related to fire and water. The dai-tengu on the right is named Sanko¯bo¯ and his hawk-headed companion with the staff is ‘Water-tengu’ Danko¯-bo¯. He will banish ill-fortune.

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associated with those borne by the war-deity; the answer to the question must be in the affirmative. The inclusion of the sun and moon symbols reinforces this, too. The first of these honzon is quite large and depicts seventeen daitengu and sho¯-tengu in total, plus the sun and the moon symbols so closely associated with Shugendo¯. DAI-TENGU FIGURES Where dai-tengu are illustrated together, usually in pairs, the figure on the right, beneath the symbol of the sun, has a human face; the left-hand figure has the face of a hawk. This figure stands beneath the symbol of the moon, full and crescent and is, therefore, partially therianthropic. Starting with the humanoid tengu, he stands formally robed and wearing the yuigesa surplice of the shugenja, and the brocaded wallet with a single shoulder strap (material) favoured by Buddhist priests. On his left side is his tachi, or slung sword. In his left hand is held a scroll, presumably a holy sutra, and in his right hand is the hi¯ogi fan. He also wears the ubiquitous ‘pill-box’ tokin symbolizing the crown of Dainichi Nyo¯rai, the cosmic Buddha. His robes are full and suggest those thought to have been worn by Chinese sages. As with many depictions of human-like dai-tengu, this figure has a full beard, partially shaven around his chin, and displays wide-spaced moustaches, brushed out sideways. His nose is prominent, suggesting a late date for this honzon, perhaps stylistically of the Edo period although probably based on a much older tradition. Finally, he wears the square-toed kutsu shoes. In a second honzon (shown later in Fig. 27) there are again two daitengu, both seated at the top, and both with humanoid faces. The righthand figure shows a long full-bearded older man with thick drooping moustaches. He wears the tokin but not a sword. In his left hand he carries a scroll, and in his right holds upright the hio¯gi fan. He is barefooted. The artist has drawn him full face with thick eyebrows, a hard stare and large somewhat hooked nose. Like the first dai-tengu described above, this man has a decidedly non-Japanese or Chinese look. A third portrait from the Kurama Shinkage-ryu¯ densho¯ is different again (Fig. 26). This figure varies from those in the shrine honzon. He also wears formal robes which clearly suggests that this dai-tengu is of elevated rank. He does not have any direct indication in his apparel that he is connected to Shugendo¯ and, in fact, the style of his robes associates him with either court dress or a round necked yoroi-hitatare, generally worn by high-ranking bushi. The latter interpretation is supported by the suggestion that under this wide-sleeved robe he has armour and the oldstyle kote. The wrist ties and the back of the hand pads (kote) can be seen on his right hand whilst his left hand clearly shows the pad extension. At his left hip hangs his long tachi with a tiger skin saya characteristically

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Fig. 26 Dai-tengu from a ko-ryu¯ Densho¯. Dai-tengu seated on a campstool dressed in yoroi-hitatare and carrying a saihai, the paper whisk used for signalling on the battlefield. He wears a tachi furnished with a tiger’s tail saya. (Kurama Shinkage-ryu¯ densho¯, Edo period.) (Courtesy of Ozaki Yoshihiro, Kobe-shi.)

elevated behind his left arm. In his right hand he grasps an upright saihai, or tasselled baton, reinforcing his military role as the saihai was used by generals to give visual instructions on the field of battle. Lastly, he is seated on a folding camp stool and wears kutsu. He is drawn with a heavy and rather gloomy countenance, emphasized by a thick and pendulous lower lip and a wide fleshy nose. He is bearded at the chin, otherwise shaven but leaving two sideburns and brushed out moustaches. Turning to the left hand figures as drawn on the first honzon; this is a therianthropic dai-tengu, but only in his hawk-beaked face. He is dressed very similarly to his companion, again with the Buddhist priest’s wallet and tokin. On his left hip hangs his tachi, here drawn with a rather straight saya. His right hand grasps the shaft of his kongo¯zue. He also wears kutsu. Both dai-tengu have voluminous tied up sashinuki-bakama, suggesting that under their outer robes they have yoroi-hitatare, the bottoms of the trouser legs having draw-strings for pulling them in to the calf below the knee for securing. In the second honzon, the right hand dai-tengu is seated like his fellow. He is also barefooted and grasps his hio¯ gi in his left hand. This dai-tengu is clean shaven but has brushed back stiffened hair and stares out fiercely from hooded eyes and with a down-turned tight-lipped mouth. In this honzon both dai-tengu are seated on a decorated plinth on what may be a pair of tiger skins.

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ˉ -TENGU FIGURES SHO Honzon One

The first honzon depicts fifteen winged sho¯-tengu seated or standing about a go¯ma fire; six are standing and the remainder seated or kneeling. The second honzon has six sho¯-tengu grouped below the two dai-tengu with three of their number standing. For the purpose of discussion, these tengu have been numbered clockwise from the figure seated in the top centre. It must be borne in mind that the tengu here have the specific character of yamabushi whilst exhibiting a number of Buddhist characteristics and are not tengu from the classical heiho¯. Those ‘warrior’ figures will be discussed further on. 1.

2.

3.

4. 5.

6.

7.

The first is a fully seated tengu with a hirsute prominently-nosed face and long hair tied back and kept in place by his tokin. In his right hand across his lap he carries a sanko-sho, three-pronged vajra. The sanko-sho symbolizes the Three Mysteries in Japanese esotericism.222 In his raised left hand he carries his irataka-nenju, a rosary composed of one-hundredand-eight beads which, when rubbed together, symbolize the number of defilements and the aim towards attaining Buddhahood. A standing beaked tengu also with long swept-backed hair, armed with a tachi and grasping a banner shaft upright in both hands. The banner is drawn in the Chinese fringed style. A humanoid tengu with longish nose and small moustaches spaced at the corners of his mouth. Long haired as before. He is armed with a tachi and stands holding upright a sanko-geki, or trident, sometimes known as a Bishamon-hoko.223 Standing beaked tengu with long hair, playing a fu-e, or flute. Wearing a tachi. A humanoid tengu with long hair and tachi, kneeling up on his knees and blowing a raised hora, conch shell horn. The conch symbolizes the act of diffusing the Law and assembles the unseen faithful to hear the predication of the Law.224 The conch is also employed during the recitation of sutra. Humanoid tengu wearing a tachi, seated cross-legged gazing at the go¯ma fire and holding in his left hand a tablet (representing Buddha’s Law?), or possibly for burning as an offering. He has strong bushy moustaches and the usual long hair. A beaked tengu with long hair and tachi, sitting tate-seiza, or halfkneeling, holding up in his left hand a kane, or bell. The transitory sound of the bell symbolizes that impermanence is the essence of all things. A ¯ no-ha Itto¯-ryu¯ was the Kanemaki-ryu¯, the direct forerunner of the O ‘Rolling temple bell tradition’. The kane illustrated in the honzon is the single-pronged vajra bell, one of the five different types employed by the Shingon-shu¯.

¯ DAI-TENGU AND SHO-TENGU 8. 9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

131

Humanoid tengu with long hair and wearing a tachi, sitting tate-hiza and holding a byo¯, or vase that contains the water (or nectar) of life.225 Beaked sho¯-tengu seated but not cross-legged with his hand on the hilt of his tachi. In his right hand he holds up a lotus flower ( Jap. renge). The lotus is one of the oldest symbols in Buddhism and has acquired many symbolic attributes. As the bud emerges from the water it is truly pure, thus symbolizing purity and perfection and, according to some, flourishes or withers according to the life of the believer. Behind tengu no. 9 another tengu is seated but not cross-legged. He has a pronounced forked beard. In his hands he grasps a large ono, or axe. His position on the right side of the saito¯-go¯ma suggests Zenki. The axe is considered to be symbolic of the act of building – developing the Doctrine of the Buddha. However, Saunders comments that the axe is more likely to be connected to the concept of protection. Since the axe is an arm of war, it symbolizes the cutting out of all evil that menaces the Law.226 Human faced tengu with tachi, enthusiastically beating a narrow drum, taiko¯, held up in his left hand. As we have seen, the taiko¯ was employed to ‘invite’ the attention or presence of the deity. Behind the previous tengu, no. 11, is a hawk-beaked tengu grasping the hilt of his tachi with his left hand depressed and holding up a flaming torch in his raised right hand. He may have lit the go¯ma pyre? This is a rather stern human-faced tengu wearing the usual tachi but holding a strung bow, yumi, in his left hand and two arrows in his right. Symbolically, the arrow and the bow chase away forgetfulness, or carelessness in observing the Law.227 The bow and the arrows are also the weapons commonly associated with Marishi-ten. A hawk-beaked tengu, also standing, with his left hand resting along his tachi tsuka. A drawn curved sword, ken, without saya, held resting upright against his right shoulder, the blade having a curious hooked flange at the tip, kissaki. This probably represents the ‘sword of wisdom’, e-ken, and is symbolic of Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯. The last figure is a standing hawk-beaked tengu carrying an upright six-ringed staff, shakujo¯, in his right hand. This shakujo¯ symbolizes the abolition of sin and attaining Buddhahood. It is also used to ward off dangerous animals from the yamabushi’s path.

Note: In many of the illustrations making up the medieval iconography of the tengu, there are sho¯-tengu depicted with clawed bird’s feet, though occasionally this feature is found in dai-tengu, too. In the spectacular honzon we have discussed here, all the figures where their feet can be seen are normal human ones. Numbers 6, 7, 8, 10 and 15 appear to be wearing waraji, or straw sandals. Only three have feet that are unseen as they are positioned behind other tengu. The remainder are furnished with various types of shoes, kutsu.

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Honzon Two

These figures represent the ‘Eight Great Tengu’ mentioned earlier in connection with the famous tengu mountains. Here, we are more concerned with the imagery of the tengu rather than their meaning within Shugendo¯ from the religious point of view. The two main figures are dai-tengu and, interestingly, seem to have been deliberately characterized as more mature than usual, particularly in comparison with Honzon One, above. Both are human-featured, wearing tokin and seated on rocks. The left hand figure supports himself with his left leg extended down to

Fig. 27 Honzon depicting the Eight Great Tengu masters.

1

Tengu swordsman from menjo¯     of Taisha-ryu¯ , early-Edo¯ period.

2

Tengu instructing Ni-to¯ swordsman. Shinkage-ryu¯ , early-Edo¯ period.

3

Another tengu giving instruction. Shinkage-ryu¯  , early-Edo¯ period.

4

5

Two views of a female ­shaman in the late-Yayoi period, ­wearing antlers, a ­ feathered headdress and holding a bronze do¯ taku ‘bell’. Suggested ­reconstruction in the Hyo¯  goken ­ Archaeological Museum, Harima-shi. (­Photos by the Author).

Right: A yamabushi performing r­ itual ‘tengu-tobi’ (run and leap) with sleeves ­ flying. The technique of tengutobi is ­ preserved as a standing jump ­accompanied by ­ ‘drawing sword’ (Iaijutsu) in the Hasegawa ­ Shigenobu-ryu¯ transmission, late-Muromachi period, amongst several other traditions. Below: The famous and ­ spectacular Nachi Falls, Wakayama-ken. This 133m cascade is often called the ‘Three Sword Falls’. It has been thought sacred throughout Japanese history.

7

6

8

Remote mountain cave in the Yoshino region, anciently the refuge of a Taoist gyo¯ ja hermit in the sixth or seventh century.

9

Early-Yamato period sword hilt, the kashira displaying a ­griffin head, intaglio. (Shimane or Tottori-ken).

10

Griffin head, intaglio, on early-­Yamato period sword kashira. (Shimane or ­Tottori-ken).

11

The imposing Zao¯-do¯ hall in the Kimpusen-ji temple, Yoshino-yama, Nara-ken, The temple complex is the ‘home’ of the Yoshino branch of Shu¯ gendo¯. (Photo by the Author). 12

Statue of Zao¯ -gongen in characteristic threatening posture.

13

Small wayside shrine to En-no-Gyo¯  ja, the supposed founder of Shu¯  gendo¯. Yoshino-yama, Nara-ken.

14

Statue of Zenki crouching at the foot of En-no-Gyo¯  ja, Kiyomizu-jinja, Yoshino-yama. The ‘protector’ is armed with a large axe.

15

Statue of Goki crouching at the foot Enno-Gyo¯  ja. He grasps in his hand a sacred gourd to sustain his master if required.

16

Two armoured winged tengu displaying unusual sword postures. The lower tengu is drawn with what appears to be a ‘winged cape’. Shingan-ryu¯ tora-no-maki, mid-Edo¯ period. (Author’s collection)

17

18

19

Kashima Shinto¯   -ryu¯ swordsmen demonstrating different postures. Kashima-jingu, Ibaragi-ken, (1976). (Photos by the Author). Bottom right: A self-portrait of the famous ­ kenshi, Miyamoto Musashi. Early-Edo¯ period.

20

21

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the ground and his right leg folded akimbo. His clean-shaven features are serious and determined. He holds the hio¯gi fan of invisibility in his left hand. To his left sits his companion, a grim featured older tengu who, in contrast, has a luxuriant black beard and moustaches. In his right hand he also grasps the hio¯gi, in his left hand is a rolled up scroll. In attendance to these two severe dai-tengu stand or sit six austerelooking sho¯-tengu. Taking these tengu clockwise from the one at topright: 1. A standing bird-faced figure with flowing back stiffened hair, dressed in a loose kimono and wearing kyahan. He is barefooted. A long bonden is grasped in both hands. 2. Bottom right: A seated tengu with beaked features and flowing kimono. He is wearing the tokin, the only one of the ‘supporters’ to do so. In his right hand he grasps the hilt of a ken, the blade resting across the open palm of his left hand. 3. Bottom centre: A standing human-faced figure with loosened kimono exposing his chest. In his right hand he carries by the neck an unction vase, byo¯, symbolic of being a receptacle of Buddha’s Truth.228 He might have a portable altar, an oi, strapped to his back – a characteristic of the yamabushi. 4. Bottom left: Standing hawk-faced figure possibly wearing a tiny tokin and dressed in a loose but not open kimono. In his left hand he carries a coiled rope and in his right a drawn sword, ken, with a vajra hilt, lowered to his front. 5. Top left: A seated hawk-faced tengu dressed in a full robe and wearing what appears to be a priest’s wallet. His menacing eyes peer out and in his hands he thrusts forward his long bonden staff. 6. Top centre: Partially obscured by the round temple stamp seal is a seated human-faced tengu with flaring black hair. In his left hand he grasps his prayer beads, nenju, whilst in his right hand he holds up a curved sword in the style of Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯. The blade of this sword suggests that the artist intended this blade to have a return edge behind the kissaki (point) in the archaic fashion.

Comment: Altogether, this is a rather forbidding group drawing intended to intimidate the devotee. The impression is of a hard band of tengu initiates who see little humour in the privations of lesser beings and much less merit in softening their own severity. Unfortunately, some of the detail of this honzon has been obscured by the complex shrine seal but it is suggested that the artist drew on a tradition where non-Japanese ‘Caucasian’ features had been observed and noted. These features are very noticeable with the somewhat over-emphasized European noses and the bushy beards. From this it is probable that the original drawing was made in the first quarter of the seventeenth century. From the last

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decades of the previous century and into the early Edo period, there are many examples caricaturing Europeans of various nationalities with sharp, high cheek-boned features and what, to the Japanese, must have appeared prominent noses with long nostrils. Whilst the noses in this honzon are accented, this feature is relatively restrained here. oOo TWO FINAL HONZON To contrast the tengu figures that we will survey in a later chapter, here are two final woodcut representations from the Shugendo¯ iconography. The intention here is to show the close links of the tengu ‘public’ image to the rather forbidding characters that many of the lone hermits must have been, and their identification with the Buddhist Myo¯-o¯, or Guardians. Honzon One

The first of these is the figure of a dai-tengu standing four-square across a narrow rocky pathway, suggesting a mountain track, barring progress to anyone but yamabushi initiates (Fig. 28). This stalwart has fully human features including an emphasized full beard and moustache and

Fig. 28 Honzon of winged dai-tengu barring the mountain path. The tengu is named as Kaba-san but the kanji can be read variously as ‘Kawa-san’ or ‘Kaba-yama’ and ‘Kawa-yama’. This honzon bestows protection from misfortune, but exactly what form such misfortune might take is not specified.

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strong ‘European’ bone structure. These details, whilst slightly exaggerated, add a degree of strength and a suggestion of the strong willpower that makes up an essential part of the yamabushi psyche. He is winged and wears loose fitting robes secured beneath his knees. There is no indication by the artist that he intended this tengu to wear body armour but he does have suneate in place of the usual kyahan protecting his shins and tied over his kutsu, footwear. On his head he has a tokin. His right forearm lies across his stomach but the complex temple seal-print obscures whether or not he is wearing a slung sword. In his left hand he carries a Kongo¯-cho trident ((Skt. Vajra), equipped with a windblown tassel. This trident is often to be found grasped by the guardian Kings but also by priests and ubasoku. There seems to be an anomaly here since in his right hand he has the rosary. Usually, the trident-vajra is emblematic of Aizen-myo¯- o¯, the Protector of the Faithful, and the Diamond World and held in the right hand; the rosary represents Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ and the Matrix World and held in the left. This transposition may have occurred by the artist not ‘reversing’ the image when engraving the woodblock. Honzon Two

The second honzon image places a dai-tengu with a hawk-beaked face and tokin standing on a running fox in the manner of Fudo¯-myo¯- o¯, though with some important differences (Fig. 29). While the tengu is winged and carries a ken, straight sword, with a vajra hilt upright in his right hand, he has, instead of Fudo¯’s rope, a nyo-i-shu, or jewel. The fact that this jewel is held up in the figure’s bent left arm follows strict convention required in Buddhist iconography. It is symbolic of granting all wishes.229 Behind him are the usual cosmic flames. The running fox with snakes encircling its ankles, carries a threepronged sanko-sho vajra, in its jaws. This symbolically represents the ‘Three Mysteries’, the single handle emphasizes the unity and oneness of these Mysteries and is often used in ritual.230 Lastly, this fox, kitsune, carries on his forehead a second jewel, smaller than that held up by the tengu. oOo Quite a number of these tora-no-maki survive, either in private collections or in university libraries and elsewhere in Japan. Many are still preserved and jealously guarded, just as they were down the centuries, in the care of the present heads of these varied bugei traditions. They are interesting in themselves as historical documents, of course, but we have to remember that the tengu who are shown giving instruction were originally drawn from the vivid memory of a dream experience. They were not drawn from life at the time of their inspired ‘revelation’. In this case they were truly ‘divinely revealed’, a transmission that these masters

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Fig. 29 Fudo¯-Myo¯-o¯ as a tengu. Honzon showing Fudo¯-Myo¯-o¯ in the guise of a winged tengu standing on the back of a bounding fox. The tengu, representing Marishi-ten, grasps a straight ken sword in her right hand and a byo¯ in her left. Behind the deity is a halo of cosmic flames. The kitsune, or fox, has a hebi, or serpent, encoiled around each of its four legs and has a triple vajra in its jaws. This honzon comes from Echigo province. Interpretations of the plinth captions are difficult, even ambiguous.

were firmly convinced came direct from Marishi-ten by means, in most cases, of her otsuki, the tengu. I suspect, indeed I am certain, that all teaching has, of necessity, to be practised and absorbed before true understanding can take root deep in the memory. This is a process in the bugei that can take years, even decades. This leads me to wondering at what stage of these headmaster’s careers did they commit to or commission the original tengu drawings to take their places in the tora-no-maki scrolls or later authorized further copies, densho¯, to be given to some of their ablest students? The answer to this question lies in the drawings, themselves, particularly in those scrolls that were produced within a generation or two of the original

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transmission. The scrolls may, to most people, provide a visual catalogue or list of the techniques contained in the ryu¯ ; in their prescribed order and levels, they are, on the surface, only an aide-mémoire as I have said above. However, the tengu-sho¯, either simple listings of transmitted names or of kata forms with accompanying illustrations, are always found in the go¯kui, the ‘inner’ or ‘secret’ levels, never below. Only selected students would understand anything of each ‘form’s’ meaning, the name itself giving nothing away to any outsider. The tengu figures, in their uchidachi, or teaching, roles merely gave the initiate a visual prompt to recall both the meaning of the name and inherent nature of the movement. All these levels of the tradition were practised in strict privacy; outsiders and even the novice ranks, never saw the upper strata of the ryu¯. Here, in these drawings, we have an early form of visual communication, a direct ancestor of the more modern ‘strip cartoon’ used as a medium for instruction. Whilst the drawings, in themselves, are there to be seen, they contain, hidden under the visual surface, a serious attempt to capture the deepest intuitive interpretation of often profoundly liminal dream experiences. Without the benefit of the proper teaching transmission the meanings of the drawings remain hidden much as they might be incomprehensible if written rather than drawn, in cipher; although it is just possible, in their turn, that some intuitive construct may be prompted in the mind of another master. It is to prevent this happening that all these ryu¯-ha jealously guarded their secrets. For the purposes of this study only a small selection of the bugei tengu are described. These will, I am certain, demonstrate the great difference between the warrior tengu representations and those of the Shugendo¯ honzon and the folk or literary traditions.

18

Messenger of the Deities

‘Sarari, sarari,’ with such a sound I shake the red wooden beads of my rosary And say the first spell: ‘Namaku Samanda Basarada Namaku Samanda Basarada.’ The recluse’s words in the No¯ drama, ‘Aoi-no-uye’, thought to have been revised by Zenchiku Ujinobu, ætat 1414–1499 (?). 231

F

rom the first appearance of the tengu in this study I have described them as ‘messengers of Marishi-ten’; the therianthropic beings who transmit the secret teachings of the female war deity to her chosen adherents. Because this was, quite simply, a belief held with total conviction by the medieval bugeisha, we are not concerned here with any modern rationale. These ‘messengers’ were accepted in just the same way as the shaman of Central Asia centuries earlier believed that they possessed the ability to fly to ‘visit’ their deities and return with the divine messages. In these firmly held beliefs we enter the formless intangible borders between the material and the spiritual worlds. The shaman acts as the ‘go-between’ and most ‘revelations’ manifest themselves in a dream state often induced by entering a trance, self-induced or through severe ascesis. Sometimes, but not always, these revelations are visualized through a spirit-animal that is an important symbol of the group or larger tribal community. Such revelations are aided, in some cases, through withdrawal to a remote cave or wild, lonely place, or through the use of fire where, for example, prayers written on slips of wood are offered up in the

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flames, consumed and disappearing before the eyes of the supplicant or his surrogate intermediary. The saito¯-go¯ma is a typical ritual of communication with the deities in medieval Japan as well as in many other cultures. As the twelve centuries passed from the Yayoi down to the Muromachi so the early shamanism at the base of the sankaku-shinko¯ evolved and divided until we have three main belief systems showing different aspects and methods aiming at essentially the same goal. The esoteric Buddhist sects both employed the go¯ma to commune with the bodhisattva and believed in divine apparitions; the Shugendo¯ yamabushi had already assumed the mantle of the shaman of old; both followed ascetic practices that would have been completely familiar to the Taoist recluses or sorcerers of the sixth to the eleventh century; the Shinto gu¯ji, assisted by his attendant miko¯, was totally convinced of his ability to communicate with the kami; and in the course of time, the kenshi - warrior master of the bugei, a hard-bitten practical man - experienced the same deityinspired phenomena. The animal symbols or totems associated with the different groups were transmogrified into ‘divine messengers’, the ‘gobetweens’ sent by the deities to reveal secret teachings to those who merited such singular favours. To some, these were simply ‘messengers’ in animal form; to others they were therianthropes, part animal and part human; and to yet others they were fierce apparitions visualized from the terrifying spirit world. The term ‘otsuki’ is applied in Shinto to a range of animals that are thought to ‘belong to the kami’. The name ‘Otsuki’ is sometimes rendered ‘otsukai’. An alternative term sometimes employed in Shinto and the sankaku-shinko¯ is ‘tsukawashime’. The former term is defined in modern dictionaries as ‘a person waiting in attendance’, or ‘an escort’ or ‘an attendant’, possibly even ‘an aide’, whereas the latter describes more specifically animals associated with the kami. As we might expect in the complex Japanese mix of beliefs some animal messengers become in themselves identified with the kami, even being worshipped as deities in their own right. Almost any creature, large or small, might assume the role of a ‘messenger’ in these esoteric beliefs. At one end of the scale there are horses, cows, oxen,232 deer and buffalo; the former sometimes deified and a few ‘ridden’ by the kami. Statues of horses, oxen or buffalo are frequently to be found, often life size, usually cast in bronze and beautifully modelled. Other otsuki, in descending size although this is of no significance, include inoshishi (wild boar), wolves, eagles, monkeys, foxes, ravens, crows, hawks, rats, weasels, spiders and centipedes. There are snakes, even carp and tortoises. Turning to the Buddhist symbolism, many of the gyo¯ja recluses claimed to have experienced apparitions from both fierce and benign deities, some of whom were in the form of Shinto kami. Zao¯-gongen is a good example but also there are visions of

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the Sun-deity, Amaterasu, Inari-sama and the deity of the roads, Sarudahiko-sama. Whilst these beings patently did not exist in physical reality, nonetheless they may emanate from the possible folk memories of the tribal totems belonging to the aboriginal Emishi, or from visions seen in a dream state, or the product of the subconscious mind stimulated by extreme ascesis. The subconscious combination of all three may well lie behind these phenomenon. Such hallucinations can be achieved in a variety of ways including repeated chanting, dancing and prolonged drumming; the drum is a significant factor in esoteric Buddhism and Shugendo¯ ritual. These, and other methods of inducing trance-states, are often greatly helped with the use of psychotropic substances, either ingested or inhaled in smoke form.233 Jean Herbert quotes an interesting connection between karasu at the sacred island of Isukushima near Hiroshima and the yatagarasu in Kumano.234 Two crows took part in the important Shimameguri-shiki matsuri. The pair were reported to have taught their young the proper form of the ceremonial and then at length returned along the length of the Inland Sea to the Yatagarasu-jinja in Kumano, a subsidiary of the Kumano Hongu-taisha.235 Within the yamabushi/bugei sphere the animal otsuki that are named or illustrated in the iconography specifically are the monkey, the spider, the wild boar and the fox. The serpent also appears in a minor role though with what significance I do not at present know. This is not overlooking the truly therianthropic tengu that have a strong connection with the hawk rather than the eagle, and the crow, karasu; although we must not forget that the tengu also appear in wholly human form. HUGINN AND MUNINN, MESSENGERS OF ODIN, AND THE YATAGARASU During my three visits to the Kumano Hongu-taisha in Wakayama prefecture, I noted with interest a connection drawn by the shrine authorities between the yatagarasu, as messengers and guides in the Kojiki and the Nihon-shoki, and the two ravens of the Norse all-powerful deity, Odin. The names of these two ravens translate as ‘Thought’ and ‘Remembrance’ (or ‘Memory’), respectively. These attributes exactly parallel two fundamentally important concepts within the bugei – ‘sure knowledge’ and ‘intuitive action’. Snorri Sturluson, 1179–1241, in the Edda, describes the two ravens or crows of Odin thus: Two ravens sit on his shoulders and speak into his ear all the news they see or hear. Their names are Huginn and Muninn. He sends them out at dawn to fly over all the world and they return at dinner-time. As a result

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he gets to find out about many events. From this he gets the name ravengod. And it says: ‘Huginn and Muninn fly each day over the mighty earth. I fear for Huginn lest he not come back, yet I am afraid more about Muninn.’236

The great Icelandic historian gives further poetic references in the Edda, mostly kennings. In the Poetic Edda, Sturluson writes in The Lay of Grímnir’, v.20: The whole earth over, every day hover Huginn and Muninn; I dread lest Huginn droop in his flight, Yet I fear me still more for Muninn.237 To Odin was attributed mastery of shape-shifting and great magical powers, frequently described as the product of extreme ascesis. While considered by many to be firmly in the realm of mythology, others believe that he was an archetypal shaman-chieftain, his memory living on in the Germanic and Scandinavian lands being with the passage of time gradually reduced from legend to fantasy. Thor Heyerdahl advanced the view that the Æsir, the people who eventually populated Scandinavian Europe, had their homelands in Scythia and possibly moved west through the Mediterranean, especially Greece and Italy, to thrust up through central Europe during the Migration Period. The name Odin or Woden is cognate with the deity, Varuna, in India, indicating a common Indo-European source. Varuna became Uranus, the Graeco-Roman deity. Besides his ravens, Odin had two guardian wolves, ‘Geki’ and ‘Freke’, who sat at his feet, exactly as Zenki and Goki are visualized crouching at the feet of En-no-Gyo¯ja. Here is a subject for further study, of course, but it does suggest yet again that some sort of tribal memory deriving from the Russian steppe, or further east in the Altai, travelled with the nomadic Turkic tribes in their progress both to the east and the west OBSERVATIONS In the light of the deeply embedded Shinto beliefs in these otsuki in relation to a number of kami, it seems likely that some of these animal associations may correspond to the ancient bura that arrived in Japan in advance of or with the shaman-warriors accompanying the Puyo¯-Kayan ‘usurpers’. Important examples are the antlered stag ridden by Takemika-dzouchi-no-kami, and the inscribed helmet bowl from the Gion tomb, Chiba prefecture. The former can only have come from Central Asia whilst the designs engraved on the helmet bowl are unmistakably similar to the Baraba Turkik shamanic bura already

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discussed. They were engraved on this helmet, probably belonging to a shaman-warrior of high rank, to give him divine protection in battle, just as later the seven stars of the Big Dipper, Ursus Major, and the images of the sun and the moon, and the nine ‘cuts’ of the juji-ho, were inscribed or inlaid into blades, armour, and the battle fan, gunbai-uchiwa, during the Muromachi in order to gain the infallible protection of Marishi-ten and obtain from her geomantic guidance in the conduct of war. As otsuki, the tengu are different for a number of reasons. They are linked solely with the deity of the Dawn, Marishi-ten, whose cult originated in the remote past, possibly in India or Persia although this is by no means certain, arriving in Japan towards the end of the Yamato period at the earliest. The concept of the tengu seems to have developed alongside the protectors first of the Taoist and Yin-Yang recluses and then the early Buddhist esoterists who sought the dangerous mountain solitudes. By the time that these tengu were demonized by the Buddhist establishment in the latter half of the Heian period, for whatever reason, they were already completely identified with the proto-yamabushi and firmly established from the start when these yamabushi were finally organized into the three major Shugendo¯ sects. From the commencement of the Kamakura period to the end of the fourteenth century there appear to have been two divisions within the tengu concept. The first of these were the tengu as masters of tactics and strategy, especially in interpreting and revealing the inner meanings of the Seven Military Classics of China, particularly the Sonshi. The second aspect or division focused on the more practical applications within military ‘science’, itself. It was the first aspect that developed during the Muromachi period into the clear transmissions of the gokui that were ascribed to Marishi-ten and gave rise to deeply original and inspired creativity of some bugeisha. These were the tengu unfortunately missed by Marius de Visser through no real fault of his own, although he was not alone in neglecting to enquire deeper beneath the surface as some of the tengu transmissions may have been known to his contemporary Englishman, Matthew Garbutt, who wrote extensively about the military works of late-medieval Japan. During the first decades of the twentieth century specialists like Bashford Dean and his successor, George C. Stone, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, undoubtedly came across them when they figured on some items in the vast range of unusual pieces of Japanese arms and armour that they indefatigably searched out.238 By the end of the Sengoku-jidai and through the following Momoyama and the Tokugawa periods, we find tengu within the secret kuden of the bugei becoming more and more otsuki in character and gradually within this role we can detect a degree of stereotyping which was not present in the iconography of the sixteenth century. The tengu were also employed for a literary purpose in works such as Issai Chozanshi’s The Demon’s Sermon on the Martial Arts, first published in 1729, where

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the tengu present arguments refuting Buddhist beliefs. At the same time, within this period we find tengu filling an almost Buddhist function as bodhisattva in their depiction in the guise of Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ with overlapping images with a strong Shugendo¯ flavour such as representing either Fudo¯ or Marishi-ten variously standing on the back of a deer, a charging boar, or a fox, often backed by cosmic flames. Such images commonly appear in surviving honzon as aids for devotees to visualize the deity or his otsuki in their orisons. Through deep concentration and repeated prayers before the image there was a chance that something approaching a trance-like state might be attained. Such a state permitted communication either with or from the deity or the ‘messenger’, something akin to the abilities of the true shaman-medium of ancient times. Within the mikkyo¯ such heightened awareness was often attained, as we have already seen, through undergoing severe hardship. The developed otsuki concept may represent a gradual movement away from the original shamanic function of having the rare, sometimes inherited, ability in a self-induced trance state to believe in actually leaving the corporeal body to visit and converse with the deities. This communing with the spirits or kami primarily took place in seclusion and in particular deep in the forests or the mountain fastnesses. The attraction of these wild places to the Taoist and Buddhist mystics, and others, was irresistible and quickly, too, the proto-yamabushi, by association, assumed the same mantle, although the latter’s roots may have gone back far deeper into the mists of time. The ‘messengers’ remained constant and reflect very ancient beliefs, but as the warrior groups felt the imperative to probe deeper and deeper into the truths beneath the surface of the Arts of War, so ‘messengers’ such as hawks and crows became ever more attractive to the most brilliant of the bugeisha. It should come as no surprise that these masters often sought to tread the ‘yamabushi paths’ in the certain belief that through the self-imposed hardships encountered, and even welcomed, they would achieve true self-awareness and ‘open’ their minds to the transmissions of Marishi-ten.

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Bugei Tengu Iconography

T

he first thing that comes to mind when examining the tengu portrayed in the bugei tora-no-maki and densho¯ is that they are often carefully drawn with a strong sense of movement and realism. Many of them have a true feeling of vitality as if sketched from life, itself. Having studied art and amongst other interests, followed a career as an illustrator for forty or more years, I see in many of these drawings the hands and eyes of master swordsmen determined to do justice to their subject, or to direct another more talented artist to carefully render technique and inner meaning as accurately as possible. There are, in such works, and not only Japanese, many subtle details that the observer inexperienced in the arts of war might well miss; the positioning of hand grips or the feet are just two of these. It is the innate suggestion of the deeper understanding of what the master requires from these important scrolls that is the most difficult, yet vital, core that must be conveyed onwards so that the interpretation of the gokui, the inner philosophy, is transmitted in a deeply meaningful way to initiates separated from the original inspiration by many generations. These tora-no-maki were aide-mémoires of the greatest value to each successive headmaster and they were rarely seen by any other eyes. It should be borne in mind that all these traditions were practised and passed onwards orally. Only now and again was anything written down. If anything descriptive was committed to paper, such a document probably was delivered into the hands of the current head and to no one else.239 To put the matter bluntly, these were, to the masters of each tradition within the bugei, matters of the greatest secrecy, never to be divulged outside the ryu¯ except with express permission of the headmaster unless the student had, himself, gained full mastery. In the words of Tu Mu (803-52), a commentator on Sun Tzu’s great work:

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Fig. 30 A splendid and animated representation of Marishi-ten from the Kurama Shinkage-ryu¯ densho¯. Here, this female deity is presented as a male standing on the Buddhist ‘Wheel of the Law’. Note the sun and moon symbols.

‘These are “mouth to ear” matters’;240 or to put it another way, they constitute important military theory and are, therefore, matters of life and death. ˉ -JUTSU DENSHO ˉ THE SO The densho¯ is limited to five forms, although doubtless there were more as most ko-ryu¯ traditions focussed on a number of martial skills.

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Fig. 31 Winged tengu instructing in So¯-jutsu (the Art of the Spear) from unidentified So¯-jutsu densho¯. (Drawing by the author as close as possible to the original.)

As is usually the case, the tengu takes the role of uchidachi, the instructor who initiates the attacks, and the kenshi is shidachi, the ‘one who receives’. (It is unfortunate that the original densho¯ illustrations are so faint that they are impossible to reproduce. Descriptions will have to suffice.) 1. The tengu, uchidachi, human-faced, winged, and garbed as a yamabushi, stands wide-stanced with his left foot leading. His su-yari blade is lowered to below hidari-seigan-no-kamae to a position termed kasumiseigan. The term seigan-no-kamae means to point the sword or spear tip, kissaki, at the opponent’s eyes, rather in the manner of the kenshi, shidachi, here - a posture suggesting calmness of spirit – readiness without physical stress. The tengu’s posture with the kissaki lowered suggests that he intends to employ the ‘unexpected’ in his attack. Kasumi means ‘mist’ or in the case of all kasumi postures; ‘obscured’ in the sense that nothing of uchidachi’s intention is given away but there is a strong sense of tension in his whole posture, a preparedness to deliver his thrust like a coiled spring. The tengu wears sashinuki-bakama, secured below his knees and the yamabushi kyahan. He is barefooted. His face suggests a ‘foreigner’ rather than a Japanese, in clear contrast to the faces of the kenshi in these drawings. He is bearded and moustached. Shidachi employs a long-bladed nage-yari with a wide hadome, parrying bar, in all five illustrations.

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2. The second tengu is dressed in all ways similarly to the first. As uchidachi, he stands in wide left posture in kasumi-gedan-no-kamae, that is, ‘mist lower position’ with his yari. Shidachi is drawn in the hidari-kasumi-seiganno-kamae, evidently as a possible defence against the unexpected attack to be delivered by the tengu. 3. The face of this yamabushi-tengu is drawn consistently with the others. He stands in hidari-seigan-no-kamae, the yari point rather high in this case. The kenshi, shidachi, is also in hidari-seigan but with his yari-kissaki a little lower and, therefore, normal. 4. The tengu figure is drawn in a hidari-kasumi-seigan-no-kamae posture, again like the first figures, with his feet firmly apart and knees (unseen but suggested) by the angle of his lower legs. Unfortunately, the scanning of this illustration has obscured shidachi stands in the fold and stands evidently in an identical posture with his nage-yari. 5. Both uchidachi and shidachi stand in a fairly deep hidari-seigan-no-kamae with horizontally levelled yari, the tengu figure as usual with a shortbladed su-yari and shidachi with the long-bladed nage-yari.

At the end of the densho¯ either the artist or the master has depicted an unusual fierce ‘deity’ (‘avatar’ or ‘bodhisattva’) seated, cross-legged, on the back of an inoshishi standing with its cloven hooves firmly planted. The figure seated on this mount wears extravagantly billowing loose sleeved robes, grasping a sanko-geki trident raised in his left hand, his right hand seemingly holding nothing symbolic but is folded into his lap. The deity’s eyes glare directly out from beneath the upstanding hair often pictured in the gongen figures. This is reflected in the manner that the inoshishi’s bristles are flared and upstanding. It is possible that the ‘deity’ has three faces, although this is not clear from the poor reproduction of the densho¯. On either side of the figure’s head is positioned a flaming cosmic jewel, nyo-i-shu. Comment

This figure, evidently deeply influenced by Buddhist and Shugendo¯ symbolism, is difficult to quantify. The forward-looking face has echoes of Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ but this trident form is that usually associated with an infrequently invoked deity, Muno¯sho¯ (Aparajita), who also is usually depicted with an empty but pointing right hand. However, Muno¯sho¯ is also portrayed in the angry, right leg raised, posture of Zao¯-gongen and, therefore, an image closer to the esoteric Shugendo¯. E. Dale-Saunders explains that the trident symbolizes the dissemination of Buddha’s Word through his three acts – works, speech and thought. Additionally, the three tines may symbolize the three Jewels (tri-ratna): Buddha, the Doctrine and the Community.241

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The implication of this carefully drawn figure is to remind the densho¯’s recipient that the transmissions he has mastered, therefore validating the document of his attainment level, carry with them a deep moral commitment. The transmission of this secret level derives from Marishiten through her tengu otsuki and backed by the power of the pictured deity. The tengu figures, in themselves, reflect the hypothesized origin of so¯-jutsu within the ægis of the proto-yamabushi. Close examination of the tengu figures’ wings, the fact that they are always shown spread, never folded, on any winged figures here and elsewhere, and are drawn here complete with the hawk’s back and tail feathers, might suggest that they have always been intended to represent a winged cape and not an actual imagined therianthropic projection. We shall return to this question later. ˉ -JUTSU MOKUROKU SCROLL – EDO-JIDAI SO This short scroll242 dating from the mid-Edo period is included here not for any images of tengu but because the uchidachi figures are all yamabushi, identifiable by their tokin. The scroll features just five forms without any captioning which would usually give the kata’s name. The yamabushi uchidachi and samurai shidachi figures all wear sashinuki-bakama pulled in and secured beneath the knees. The drawings are all cursively drawn without much detail. Most of the yamabushi are probably intended to be wearing kyahan but not the usual Shugendo¯ type with a triangular front flap covering the instep. All have long straight hair, drawn unbound, and their faces are ‘Japanese’ as opposed to long-nosed ‘Caucasian’. The uchidachi all wear long tachi and long-bladed dirks, although the latter may represent wakizashi at this period. The yamabushi all wield straight-bladed su-yari. The samurai shidachi also wear slung tachi and wakizashi; they are armed with nage-yari provided with wide hadome, each with a single upturned tine. The uchidachi display just four kamae postures, including hidari-seiganno-kamae with the yari blade grasped horizontally; hidari-katsugi-no-kamae; hidari-jo¯dan-no-kamae; and hidari-gedan-no-kamae. The corresponding shidachi kamae are: gedan-no-kamae, two hidari-seigan-no-kamae, and a hidarikasumi-seigan-no-kamae. The question here is whether or not the yamabushi uchidachi represents the headmaster of the ryu¯ or is thought to be the yamabushi otsuki sent by Marishi-ten. A mokuroku may be part of the go¯kui in a ko-ryu¯, or simply a ‘certificate’ awarded when a deshi has mastered a particular level. It is an aide-mémoire. This example clearly links the so¯-jutsu skills to the ancient roots developed by the proto-yamabushi.

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Fig. 32 Top: Yamabushi instructing in So¯-jutsu. Middle: Tengu-yamabushi instructing with yari. Bottom: Beaked sho¯-tengu instructing in kenjutsu. (All three drawings based on poor reference illustrations held in private collections. Redrawn by the author.)

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ˉ TENGU THE SHINKAGE-RYU This famous tora-no-maki has been illustrated many times but rarely have the tengu figures received the detailed attention they deserve. The following observations may, hopefully, be useful. 1. All eight tengu depicted in this scroll are presented as therianthropic and whilst they all have long-nosed human faces and are hirsute, they have taloned hawk’s feet. 2. These tengu are presented wearing the distinctive yamabushi costume but an interesting point is that each tengu is provided with the decorative plate suneate of the type worn by senior ranking bushi in the early- and mid-Muromachi. The artist has carefully detailed where necessary that these shin defences are correctly secured at the front of the ankles – the upper shin below the knee being covered by the folds of the sashinukibakama. 3. In each case the tengu is equipped with a tachi, all of them slung in the usual manner; their long swords are all drawn, of course. It can be seen that in two of the tengu/kenshi parings the human shidachi carry their swords as tachi in the style of katana with the saya thrust through the himo of the hakama (and the obi), edge downwards. This presumably has significance in the meaning of these particular forms, something that does not concern us here. One of the tengu has a hi¯ogi-no-tessen, the ‘fan of invisibility’, at his back, suggesting that the handle is thrust into the himo at the back of his sashinuki-bakama. It may or may not be significant that this particular tengu stands in hidari-gedan-no-kamae, a posture that gives his opponent little, if any, advance information about what move might follow. 4. Returning to the drawn portraiture, all the tengu have pronounced pinched elongated noses, bridged and with large nostrils. The faces are remarkably suggestive of the Caucasian type, despite the obvious caricaturing of the noses. They are also drawn intensely concentrating their gaze on their partner, shidachi. With knitted eyebrows and often frowning. It could be said that these are depicted as aggressive and intently watchful. However, when we examine the human swordsmen we find that they are mostly carefully turned out with drooping moustaches and short chin beards, trimmed to a point. The likeness that runs through all these moustached and bearded human faces suggests that they might be a portrait of the same man who is receiving the transmission from the deity by way of the tengu. Other kenshi here are clean-shaven; some youthful, others more mature.

It has been suggested that the Shinkage-ryu¯ tora-no-maki, or the beautiful illustrations therein, was the work of a professional artist but, as I have pointed out earlier, it was vital to the tradition, itself, that the visualization

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of each form, and especially in the hiden or go¯kui should convey the true essence immediately to any ‘uchi-deshi’ even after the passage of centuries. My personal opinion is that they are the work of an initiated master-kenshi within the ryu¯ and not an outsider.243 One notable feature of the tengu portraiture is the consistently drawn rather prominent ears. These in no manner follow the conventional Buddhist influenced style of portraying demonic spirits. The three figures of ‘demons’ in the various versions of ‘The Five-Hundred Rakan’ have a certain similarity and are, possibly in the Japanese versions of the work, intended to be ‘Buddhist’ tengu, but in the tora-no-maki and densho¯ under discussion these otsuki of Marishi-ten lack any connotation of being ‘devils’ or ‘mischievous’, ‘tricky’ or ‘out-of-control’. They are clearly transmitting secret transmissions and in deadly earnest. Any hint of anything else would have been instantly rejected. We should never forget that the recipient of these ‘divinely-revealed’ teachings depended on their veracity for his very life and honour. Two illustrations are shown in Plates 2 and 3. The use of ‘Western’ visages, the prominent forward pointing noses, the gaunt features with high cheekbone structures, the unkempt hirsute faces, raises another interesting question. It is known by many Kendo historians244 that several prominent bugeisha voyaged with the ‘Tally Ships’ from Japan to Ningpo¯ where they remained while the more prominent merchants travelled to the Imperial capital. It was probably during these months lodging on Ningpo¯ island that these bugeisha met and studied with their Chinese counterparts. These visits were doubtless occasions similar to modern trading fairs. The Japanese masters would have met with numbers of martial experts, Westerners amongst them, and even studied the bugei with them. We have no concrete proofs of this, of course, but as already pointed out, most of the surviving So¯-jutsu betrays clear fundamental influences deriving from the Chinese use of both the spear and the staff; in swordsmanship and the use of staff weapons – and in particular the Lucerne Hammer in Talhoffer’s fifteenth century manuscripts - we can understand the transmission travelling all the way back to Europe as well as enriching the Japanese concepts. There can be little doubt that somewhere in the fourteenth and fifteenth century there was prolonged contact between these martial cultures.245 The ‘westernized’ tengu figures suggest that the ‘spiritual revelations’ many masters experienced were later expressed in these ‘foreign’ figures, thereby adding to their mystery. I am not proposing here that some or many of these Muromachi ryu¯ actually derived from ‘western’ contact but that, possibly, the strangeness of these ‘foreigners’ faces remained imprinted in the subconscious minds of a few brilliant masters and later manifested themselves in the tengu figures. In the late-Sengoku era and onwards to the early Edo period, many western foreigners were to be seen on the streets of Edo, Kyo¯to and Sakai; some much further afield with the Jesuit missionaries. Intuitive revelations experienced by numbers of

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the founders of the great ko-ryu¯ after their self-imposed ascesis wherein, in many cases, they must have had fearsome hallucinations, might well have been expressed, even rationalized, in the form of these ‘foreignlooking’ otsuki. We can only speculate but will examine the processes that produced these ‘visions’ later.

ˉ TWO FINAL TORA-NO-MAKI AND DENSHO Taisha-ryˉ u

Although I have discussed the Taisha-ryu¯ in a previous work,246 it would be appropriate to look at two of the tengu drawings that appear in an early-Edo period series of densho¯ given originally to a Nabeshima¯ bushi Kansuke, around 1670–75. The Taisha-ryu¯ han swordsman, O developed directly from the Shinkage-ryu¯ and the founder, Marume Kurando¯-Dayu¯, was a leading student of Kamiidzumi Nobutsuna, the first master. The Shinkage tradition, itself, came directly from the Kageno-ryu¯, which argues a very strong underlying belief, at first and secondhand, in the powers bestowed by Marishi-ten. It comes as no surprise that there is a strong sense of realism in all the tengu drawings from this almost unique collection of documents.247 The figure illustrated in Plate 1 has a tremendous sense of vitality and authority in his whole posture. His wide-open firmly staring eyes capture the strongest feeling of zanshin-no-ri, ‘awareness’ internalized.248 The form is one of several in the Iai-jutsu go¯kui levels, each interpreting different situations when faced with attacks by enemies armed not only with swords but also spears. Apart from the tengu’s yamabushi clothing, his tokin, and hirsute features, it should be noted that his sword, although turned by his left hand, is actually worn as a katana, edge upwards. Interestingly, the katana blade is drawn in readiness to strike, ‘earth-to-sky’, and about three or four inches clear of the saya. Almost as dramatic as the drawing (Fig. 33) – a superb visualization of a tengu otsuki. Here, again, we have a tengu preparing to draw his sword, ‘earth-to-sky’ with a katana, not a tachi. These upwards Iai-jutsu forms are considered by some masters to date the original inspiration to the transitional period between swordsmen wearing slung tachi, a custom that faded out towards the end of the Muromachi, and the later wearing of katana, blade edge uppermost, during the Edo period. Similar forms are found in the Hayashizaki Shigenobu-ryu¯ and the Hasegawa Eishinryu¯ – both strongly influenced by the Taisha-ryu¯, and probably other traditions. oOo

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Fig. 33 Yamabushi-tengu from Taisha-ryu¯ densho¯. A portrait of a determined and serious winged dai-tengu dressed as a yamabushi, about to draw his tachi with a strong ‘earth-to-sky’ Iai-jutsu technique. The other swords to be seen in this densho¯ suggest, but do not state, the meanings contained in this and, possibly, associated forms. While the illustration is plain, it also acts as a form of visual shorthand that will only be understood by an expert initiate. This tengu is intended to suggest high rank, represented by the tigerskin saya and his kyahan, also covered in tigerskin. This would suggest that the instruction is high level and deeply hidden in the okuden (secret) teaching principles of the Taisha-ryu¯. (Late sixteenth or early seventeenth century.)

Shingan-ryˉ u

This tora-no-maki,249 dating from approximately the early- or mid-Edo period, exhibits the strongest possible influence of Marishi-ten and Shugendo¯. This is abundantly clear throughout its entire length. Illustrated on it are the two tengu figures at the commencement of the scroll that were intended to emphasize the message that this was a secret transmission from Marishi-ten. (see Plates 16 and 17.) Both tengu wear armour and are armed with drawn tachi. The ‘secret’ character of this ryu¯, unfortunately one of the huge number now lost to posterity, lies in the unusual postures of these opposing tengu. The figure on the right stands in hidari-katate-kasumi-jo¯dan-no-kamae and is a fully winged, hawk-headed sho¯-tengu. This is a position that, whilst threatening, conveys nothing of his intentions to his opponent. It is a posture that ‘attacks’ the mind of the opponent, raising questions and doubts, two of the ‘four poisons’ of the bugei. The figure on the left may possibly be intended to represent a human-faced dai-tengu but is

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more likely to be a sho¯-tengu. He stands in hidari-hara-tombo¯-no-kamae, another ‘in-no-kamae’, or ‘shaded’, posture that threatens a horizontal thrust should the opponent step forwards. Such thrusts towards the lower abdomen are difficult to deal with and the evident intention is the only real defence. Without knowing anything of the actual transmission, experience indicates from the slightly braced back body posture of this figure that the kenshi must react to whatever his opponent does. Again, in both figures we have zanshin-no-ri.

20

Marishi-ten and ‘Divine Assistance’

T

he warrior experts in the Arts of War who in the mid- and late-Muromachi period devised a wide variety of inspired bugei systems, many interpreting the Sonshi with an insight not paralleled in any other martial culture, thereby demonstrating their fully developed understanding, found themselves only able to explain their inspirational vision as deriving from the female war deity, Marishi-ten. This was the sole source of their insight, occasionally influenced by the ‘Four Guardians’ of esoteric Buddhism but, at its root, it was Marishi-ten who provided their creativity and transmitted her ‘divine’ interpretations of the Sonshi by means of her messengers, the tengu. It was the latter, in a very real sense, who provided them with the final intuitive understanding that created the inner structures of their ryu¯. Those who, in the present day, have been privileged to reach the intellectual levels of these ko-ryu¯ gokui after prolonged and often severe practice are able to glimpse something of the genius underlying these upper levels. One such master, a famous strategist of the Takeda clan, Yamamoto Kansuke (1493–1561), wrote: In strategy, there are three kinds of people: heih¯o-zukai, heih¯o-sha and heih¯ojin. First, there are heih¯o-zukai. This person understands the purpose of his teacher’s teachings. He does not have many ideas of his own and does not practise much. He becomes a teacher of students. The heiho¯-sha is the person who, besides what he learns from his teacher, adds his own ideas of effectiveness into his fighting and practises very hard. He is a person who, fighting ten times, will win ten times. The heiho¯-jin is the person who does not learn all his teacher’s techniques, but he understands the ones he learns, hence he often distinguishes himself in battle.250

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¯ nin War (1476–77), During and after the eleven year devastating O warfare across the provinces escalated dramatically and became endemic during the disturbed period known to all as the Sengokujidai, the ‘period of the contending states’ which lasted from a little before 1490 to 1600. Some hold that it ‘officially’ ended in 1573 but that is hardly the verdict of history. It is impossible to argue that a deep appreciation and understanding of the deadly serious purpose of warfare was lost on these men. They were practical, hard-headed and battle experienced, far from reliant on omens and superstition; in every way, from what we know of them, these bugei-sha were well aware of Sun-Tzu’s opening dictum that: War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life and death; the road to survival and ruin. It is mandatory that it be studied thoroughly.251

In order to hone their developed skills and once they believed, or their master felt, that they had absorbed enough to be ‘hived off’, many embarked on varying prolonged periods of ‘following the yamabushi paths’. In other words, they undertook wandering through the wartorn provinces, seeking out and experiencing the severe privations of the warrior-yamabushi, voluntarily subjecting themselves to often fearsome ascesis coupled with long hours of private practice, matching their perceived martial skills in challenging other kenshi to uchi-majiri (duelling, but hardly as ‘sport’), and temporarily participating in warfare, if recruited, in the armies of one or another bellicose lord. For many, they merely sought to enhance their name and add lustre to that of their families, though for some the aim was to seek ‘enlightenment’ and announce their own mastery of the bugei. We have seen that the attraction of the cult of Marishi-ten was already one of the motivators that drew the proto-yamabushi together and, in some part, eventually led to the formulation of Shugendo¯; now the same promise of protection against enemies and the ability to become ‘invisible’ became desirable to the warrior. If we look at these two concepts in relation to the bugei, we can understand how significantly important they were in the gokui of many ko-ryu¯. This study has had the objective of presenting the tengu against their prehistoric and recorded background and suggesting the more realistic pathway through various stages until their appearance in the warrior rationale in the Muromachi. The early period proposes that the area of origination lay in Central Asia in the totems and shamanic beliefs of the nomadic Turkik tribes amongst the Hsiung-nu. These same beliefs accompanied the successive waves of aggressive settlers who seized lands in the Japanese archipelago between the fourth and the sixth century, soon becoming strong enough to establish their almost total hegemony.

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With the increasing stability of the new Yamato state the specialist shaman-warriors, at best only diffused and in numerically small groups, were submerged by the developing Yamato warrior clans and vanished into the mountain fastnesses, their remnants soon reappearing in the guise of the rough Zenkis and Gokis to comprise the core of the growing shamanic yamabushi cult. This proposed ‘pathway’, backed by the recurring symbolic iconographic images that closely pertain to shamanism, surely makes more sense than the alternative suggestion that the later tengu were somehow directly related to the Indian garuda or found some sort of origin in Chinese folklore allied to the ‘comets’ or ‘shooting stars’ as explained in the Buddhist symbolic rationalization. On the one hand we have an ‘origin’ based wholly on the fanciful interpretation of natural phenomena backed by pure myth, that does, it is true, account for the tengu of folklore heavily slanted towards the Buddhist ideas; on the other hand, we have a more factual explanation that leads directly to a very different type of being, symbolically imagined or not. One immediate problem in untangling these convoluted skeins which bedevils nearly all studies, is the thick layer of quasi-religious myth deliberately fostered in order to reduce some perceived threat, the nature of which was so well set out by Marius de Visser in his paper published in 1908. This religious bias against the early manifestations of the tengu successfully set them amongst the ‘folksy’ animals of folklore, driving the truth to be found in the hands of some secretive elements of the yamabushi. To a greater or lesser extent the same bias forced these proto-yamabushi to withdraw from active participation in society and become, for more than a thousand years virtually hidden and, when seen at all, continually misunderstood. Colourful myth and legend have so thoroughly overshadowed the truth that even scholars of Japanese martial history, in the main, seem to have avoided the rich layers underpinning the bugei philosophy. Nowadays, to seriously enquire into this area almost evokes polite disbelief and yet the basic facts are plain for all to see. This is a subject where any meaningful conclusions must, of necessity, be empirical in that they are largely based on observation, experience and some oral martial legends passed down the generations within individual ko-ryu¯ traditions. What little concrete evidence we possess is comparative but the attempt here is to trace a logical thread from the mists of the so-called mythical ‘Age of the Gods’ – an unhelpful phrase if ever there was one – to the ‘divine dream-revealed’ visions of these formidable Muromachi bugeisha. However, we cannot dismiss the tengu out-of-hand since they appear in many surviving documents, mostly regarded by latter-day bugeisha and scholars as important. Unfortunately, these same tora-no-maki and densho¯ are, in themselves, couched in obscure ‘religious’ symbolism and language that is largely

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not understood in the present day and, in fact, was intended solely for the eyes of the initiated. WINGED THERIANTHROPIC FIGURES To judge from the very first Japanese iconography the majority of tengu are depicted with hawk’s wings and in some images they possess a full set of tail feathers, too. In some of the more sophisticated images of tengu that feature in the tora-no-maki and densho¯ , where the tengu ‘messenger’ reveals the secret instructions of Marishi-ten, the figure is drawn from the back and in a few of these there is the suggestion that the wings, body and tail comprise a kind of cape that attaches to the tengu just below the collar of his kimono or hitatare. On the other hand, in the eight tengu figures drawn in the Shinkage-ryu¯ tora-no-maki, only two are shown from the rear. Whilst both are undeniably therianthropic, neither possesses tail feathers but in both the centres of their backs are covered by loose flowing ‘capes’ which in one figure appears ‘full’ at the nape of the tengu’s kimono collar. Considering the drawings in the So¯ -jutsu tora-no-maki discussed earlier, these tengu may not be typical of the winged representations and, in this case, the artist may have deliberately provided his figures with winged feathered capes rather than follow the normal conventions. If we examine the sho¯-tengu drawing from the Shingan-ryu¯ tora-nomaki, we can draw two conclusions, disregarding the sword postures, themselves. First looking at the hawk or karasu head with its flowing mane of black hair. This could very well be described as a headmask worn as part of a ceremonial costume rather than an imaginary birdheaded tengu figure. It reminds one of the ‘deity-masks’ worn by some priests during rites involving the gods in ancient Egypt and the full masks worn by namahage in Japan in some matsuri.252 Second, the widespread wings and back feathers are here clearly worn over the fur hisshiki apron which in ‘real’ life often hangs lower than the one indicated here. From under the hisshiki protrudes the tail feathers of the taki-karasu tengu. Whilst the artist may have been economical with his brush technique, he was very accurate in detailing correctly the kamae hand positions so it would be unwise to give him credit for the one whilst criticizing the other. It is hard to believe that where a skilled illustrator had been commissioned to draw these tengu for the ryu¯ headmaster or that they were from the hand of the master, himself, the closest critical attention was not given to ‘getting it right’. These images, after all, are the physical visualizations of a spiritual experience and, like the wide range of expressions used by the bugeisha to describe and emphasize the ‘divine’ inspiration for their particular ryu¯-ha, even the smallest detail drawn

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reflects the ‘dream’ memory. Such details as the weapon kamae and body postures, the positioning of the feet, the hand grips, the precise focal aim of the weapon, the posture of shidachi, and so on, may not yet have completely been absorbed. The significance of such details often only becomes apparent and meaningful years later, but it was imperative that they must be as accurately recorded as possible before memory blurs and fades. Understanding is by no means instantaneous in the bugei, the intuitive interpretations do indeed spring from the mind but can also be triggered by these images. This is one cogent reason why these scroll documents were held so carefully and in such secrecy; the ‘divine’ message depicted in them can provide inspiration to others outside the tradition. The tengu drawings depict transmissions that were important in military tactics, suggesting to the expert many alternative strategies, truly Tu Mu’s ‘mouth to ear’ secrets. THE ‘CAPED WINGS’ While I am not proposing that these wings were somehow capes and donned to emphasize the metaphysical perceptions, it might be as well to remind readers that the more senior ranking warriors habitually wore shoulder-stiffened jimbaori when in armour. These wide-shouldered surcoats with their visually broadened pointed ‘wings’ gave them an imposing mien. There is not so significant a difference between these warjimbaori and the tengu winged cape. Throughout the medieval period, too, the high-ranking warrior and later most levels of samurai wore the special broad-pointed kamishimo outer shoulder costume for official formal duties. These, too, with their deep sleeves are very reminiscent of stylized wings. All this harks back to the feathered and winged shamanic costume thought to have been used in ceremonial rituals during the Yayoi and Puyo¯-Kayan-Yamato periods. The Chinese ‘demons’ painted in ‘The Five Hundred Rakan’ have wings because they are thought of as flying or hovering, much as winged demons were depicted in Western medieval art. It is only in the mid- to late-Edo period that Japanese artists depicted tengu leaping and flying around as they were imagined in the folklore. Flying or athletic tumbling lent itself to the mischievous tengu imagery. The symbolism of the wings is understood but, disregarding the Buddhist demons and the legendary folk beliefs, we have in these bugei tengu transmissions images that are eminently brilliant, both deeply secret and practical, and, incongruously, four ‘armed’. At the same time these strange therianthropic creatures are inextricably associated with the yamabushi.

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Fig. 34 Tengu from the Shinkage-ryu¯ tora-no-maki. Top: This is one of the two tengu depicted in this famous tora-no-maki, dating from the early seventeenth century, that displays a clear back view of the tengu wearing a cape that is either attached to his wings, the wings and cloak being integral, or only to be a simple cape as part of the tengu’s costume. Such an item must be rare in medieval Japan and the only cape that is usually encountered is the voluminous horo that is seen in many representations of battle scenes. Tthe billowing folds were intended to stop arrows striking the warrior horseman from the rear. There is another cape widely seen in illustrations of armed monks, particularly the s¯ohei and sometimes yamabushi, and this is the kesa, or hood, worn over the head, sometimes as a loose head-dress, sometimes as a stiffened head-dress, both being allowed to amply cover the shoulders and the upper back. The cloak in the drawing shows nothing of the characteristics of this kesa. Note the large hiogi (fan). Below: This yamabushiapparelled winged tengu is viewed from the left rear and is clearly wearing a decorative brocaded cape very similar to that shown above.

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TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS 1. It is a fact that the tengu figures always convey their transmissions in the upper kuden levels of the ryu¯-ha, never below. 2. It may be possible that these ‘wings’ were actually capes donned for the purposes of symbolically connecting these inner ‘secret’ levels with Marishi-ten? 3. Might not some shamanic branch of the warrior-yamabushi have survived, in memory if not physically, to the mid-Muromachi? 4. Attention is drawn to the survival in Imperial ritual of the Hayato¯ ‘dogmen’ until the seventeenth century. 5. In the earliest sculptural representations of Zenki and Goki, neither are shown with wings, however a curious ritual ‘contest’ has survived in Shugendo¯ and is still to be found in the bugei, and that is ‘tengu-tobi’. Here, in the former, a running leap is performed with outstretched arms and flying sleeves that completely suggest wings. (See Plate 6.) 6. In some bugei forms of the major weaponed jutsu these tengu-tobi springing ‘leaps’ are only one stage removed from the drawn winged-tengu imagery and, in some instances, are strikingly accompanied by bird-like kiai.253 Surviving traditions that include some tengu-tobi forms are the Taisharyu¯, the Hasegawa Shigenobu-ryu¯, and the Tenshin-Sho¯den KatoriShinto-ryu¯. Doubtless there are numbers of others and certainly many more were lost after Bakumatsu, especially from Naginata-jutsu and So¯-jutsu.

Without the greatest care being taken, any oral tradition becomes weakened over the passage of the years. For example, it was a widely held opinion that in the area of traditional folksong in western Europe, hardly anything from more than two-hundred-and-fifty years ago survives orally, only in reconstruction. I am not sure that this is the actual case but what about some of these bugei traditions? In several of them we are looking at a span of time stretching back to the first half of the sixteenth century with an unbroken line of successive headmasters. The late Donn Draeger once told me that he considered that more than ninety per cent of the classical ko-ryu¯ had been lost in the seventy years after Bakumatsu and up to the end of the Second World War. This being the case, we can hardly expect the tengu-sho¯ transmissions not to have suffered in proportion; every piece of knowledge in the gokui levels was passed on by oral instruction. Each successive master understands the moral responsibility that he bears on his shoulders not to permit the teachings to decline. At the same time, most of these masters make the utmost effort to not only maintain the transmitted teaching but to strengthen them. Warfare, not religion, was the chief spur to preserving the teachings. The belief that they came from the war goddess, Marishi-ten, herself,

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is only superficially religious. The utilization of esoteric practices directed towards ‘polishing’ the spirit, gave a focus, an impetus for the warrior to deepen his understanding, to steel his will, to attain the ‘mind of nomind’. In both the esoteric Buddhist systems and Shugendo¯, imagery was of great importance to freeing the mind. Many of the ascetic hardships undergone by the bugeisha aimed at attaining an ‘out of body’ experience, a vivid, spiritually-induced, divine revelation. The powerful ‘Guardians’, Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯, Aizen-myo¯-o¯, Daitoku-myo¯-o¯, Gundari-myo¯- o¯, Gozanzemyo¯-o¯, and Maitreya (Miroku), all terrifying in aspect and demanding fearsome privations of their adherents, were often prominent in the spiritual training; Marishi-ten also, sometimes presented in the guise or with some of the attributes of those Buddhist deities, was even more important, not only to the yamabushi but also to those bugeisha following the ‘yamabushi paths’. Marishi-ten, herself understanding the secrets lying behind the Sonshi, promised ‘protection’ and ‘invisibility’, the other deities only partially provided these functions. To the masters of the bugei, the tengu provided an ever-present link between themselves and the allpowerful deity, the ‘Queen of the Dawn’, the one to whom they offered their serious training that daily commenced long before the first glow of the coming dawn in the eastern skies. It was through her that they were given their intuitive knowledge, their reimu. In the bugei, both classical and even in some of the more recent postmedieval systems, the opening ceremonial bows made towards the kamiza have a deep significance. They are never performed in a perfunctory manner but with a depth of meaning that it is expected the student will replicate and eventually understand. All practice is made before the kami-dana and, should the deity be present, especially if he has been invited by the beat of the drum, the kami-oroshi, the students of all levels first pay their deep-felt respects to the kami, and then to the senior masters. During the practices the students of all levels and experience should preface their practices with a respectful rei to the kamiza at the beginning and end of each ‘bout’. By observing this custom, they are recognizing that whilst the actual teaching is physically given them by the seniors, these seniors, including the most advanced, are receiving the transmissions from the invisible kami.254 In many classical ko-ryu¯, this deity would have been Marishi-ten. This custom certainly reflects a very ancient tradition and still retains protocols that go directly back to the original shamanic beliefs. The tengu transmission from the cult of Marishi-ten must, arguably, have been very strong and its beginnings linked to the developing proto-yamabushi almost from the first introduction from the Chinese mainland. As has been pointed out already, the cult’s arrival in Japan was probably sometime in the sixth century, and was introduced by the Taoist mystics who seemed to have at once set about penetrating the mountain regions in order to conduct their rituals undisturbed.

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Between the first introduction and Ma¯rı¯cı¯’s (Marishi-ten’s) value being fully recognized by the rough warrior-like proto-yamabushi may well have taken two or more hundred years, possibly until as late as the eleventh century. It is interesting that naginata-jutsu, developing from the late-Yamato period, may have its roots in the fighting techniques of the bronze ge, the hooked sickle-like halberd in widespread use during the Warring States campaigns and which arrived in Japan with those fortunates who reached the archipelago escaping the carnage. In contrast, the proto-yamabushi’s long staff, or bo¯, deeply influenced the later So¯jutsu,255 but whereas the naginata forms became entirely ‘Japanicized’, those of the yari, straight spear, kept their essentially Chinese posture characteristics right through the medieval period. This further suggests that the yamabushi, or a section of them, maintained strong, if intermittent, contacts either with China or with travelling Chinese masters. The supposition that the use of the spear was transmitted by experts of Chinese ancestry is strengthened by such a heiho¯-sha as Yamamoto Kansuke in his ‘Heiho-Okigisho’. One Edo period densho¯ that recently came on the market depicts So¯-jutsu instruction being given not by a tengu, as such, but by a yamabushi wearing the distinctive to¯kin. It is unfortunate that the Central Asian nomadic tribes left no written trace, only their legacy of the shamanic bura painted on their traditional drums. Another lacuna is that no interpretation of Sun Tzu’s Art of War appears in Japan before the campaigns of Minamoto-noYoriyoshi (995–1082) and his eldest son, the renowned Minamoto-noYoshiie (1041–1108), although this great work must have been widely known in educated circles in the middle of the Yamato period to judge from a passage in the Nihongi that states that a Chinese scholar reached Japan in the year 516 bringing with him the ‘Five Classics’. During the same reign of the ‘Emperor’ Keitai, in an entry for 525, this ruler paraphrases Sun Tzu by stating: ‘On a great commander depends the lives of the people and the existence of the State.’256 The only suggestions of the growing warrior understanding in the ancient period lie in some of the surviving symbolism – the griffin, hawk, crow, and the appearance of deerskin used in making armour – all of which were strongly associated with the shamanic totems and transferred to the proto-yamabushi.257 It is suggested, although open to debate, that the Marishi-ten cultic beliefs developed in parallel with the emergence of the buke, the underlying warrior skills deriving from the proto-yamabushi and passed to the stalwart warrior-farmers who became the armed followers of those placed in charge of the sho¯en, manors, owned by the absentee kuge, or aristocrats, who were resident in the capital, first in Nara and then Kyo¯to. Before the emergence of the samurai per se the warrior groups and their followers were largely raised by the Yamato and Nara aristocracy whereas the men drawn into serving the emerging buke families came from the soil, the mountains, or the convoluted coastal districts. These men were

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hardy and possessed a wide range of martial skills, particularly archery, developed alongside the use of the naginata and nagamaki, favoured arms of the proto-yamabushi. It is difficult to think that there was a cut-and-dried demarcation to be made between the reformed warrior structures of the beginning of the Nara period and the buke who succeeded them in the mid-Heian. The absentee landowners, who relied on income from their sho¯en, felt the need to counter the growing lawlessness in the provinces by encouraging recruiting for defence of their estates. Against this background were the increasingly numerical proto-yamabushi who injected the strongest beliefs in the metaphysical benefits of the Marishi-ten cult, beliefs that clearly appealed to fighting men brought up with the sankaku-shinko¯. From the beginning of the Kamakura Sho¯ gunate onwards the increasing sophistication of the warrior skills in the bugei and their significance in understanding and applying them to the Arts of War was an essential to success and, therefore, survival on the field of battle. Studying the Sonshi was a prerequisite for any commander, which brings us back to the distinctions made by Yamamoto Kansuke in the first half of the sixteenth century; the inspired interpretation of Sun Tzu’s dictums might have been intellectually beyond the normal capabilities of most, but a few realized that through severe ascesis they might receive ‘divine’ assistance. In a way, this was déjà vu since it was precisely the method used by the warrior-shaman of the ancient Turkik nomads to ‘converse and receive messages’ from their deities. It was also the mechanism to attain supernatural powers sought by the ‘foreign’ but increasingly ‘domestic’ Taoist, Yin-Yang and Buddhist recluses closeted in their dismal caves. The proto-yamabushi may have viewed matters similarly but they also had the pragmatic advantage of the wide-ranging sankaku-shinko¯ to assist their inspiration. When the master bugeisha later sought their ‘reimu’, or deity inspired revelations, they first underwent the hardships of the lonely yamabushi paths, then subjected themselves to ferocious ascesis, and realized, quite clearly, that the transmissions they sought would come from the war-deity by means of her otsuki, the tengu, and rarely through other channels unrelated to Marishi-ten. In passing, it is interesting to remember that in an essentially all-male warrior society such as medieval Japan, these hard men should feel comfortable in turning to a female deity. ˉ -KIGAKU – THE INTERPRETATION IN-YO OF THE YIN-YANG IN THE TAO Even a casual interest in the Japanese martial Arts and Ways will lead to the deep realization that therein exists a profound dualism. In the

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Fig. 35 Taoist symbolism of yin and yang (jutsu and ri in the Bugei) expressed by the sun and the new and full moon with or without clouds (top left). The seven stars of the Big Dipper (top right). The Shingan-ryu¯ tora-no-maki shows how the sun and moon symbols, but with the addition of the yatagarasu and a running hare, have respectively been associated with tengu kenshi.

present study of the roots and changes of shamanism from its origins far removed in Central Asia to its assimilation of a variety of teachings that also reached and rooted in Japan during the late-Yamato and Nara periods, we constantly return to Tao and in-yo¯-gogyo¯, the belief that all things contain potentiality and all opposites. These are the principles central to Taoism; indeed, its central principle. Yin-yang is like day following night, good and evil, male and female; outward physical manifestations are turned inward so that in the bugei they are finally expressed as jutsu (outer) and ri (inner). This latter concept is encapsulated in all the martial systems, one way or another, and termed in-yo¯-jutsu. These teachings may already have been present in ancient Japan but it was the hardy – even foolhardy – ascetics who ventured into the wild and threatening mountains, the preserve of the known and unknown deities, that laid the foundations of asceticism and exotericism that became

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increasingly attractive when sought out and endorsed by the Buddhist mystics who belonged to the Tendai and Shingon sects of the mikkyo¯. In-yo¯ enabled these early magicians and sorcerers to gain a reputation of being able, amongst other things, by the powers they had gained through days, hours, weeks, even months, of shouting out their dha¯rani spells through the pressing wilderness of the forests and echoing valleys, to foretell what the future held in store. Those part-deranged ascetics, held in suspicious fear by any common folk who encountered them or heard accounts of their ways, must have been regarded as beings apart. They embodied their principles of yu, ‘being’, and wu, ‘not being’, until, when the esoteric Buddhist mikkyo¯ arrived, they soon embraced the Buddhist mandala of the Sentient and the Spiritual, the Kongo¯-kai and the Taizo¯kai. The esoteric mantle of the Taoist recluses was easily adopted by the Buddhist ascetics and partially drew in the proto-yamabushi so that they, too, in a thoroughly pragmatic way, blended their mountain beliefs with the new teachings and became recognizable as shugenja in a sect soon to be named Shugendo¯. All these developing groups assimilated the yin-yang ‘skills’ in such abstruse areas as astronomy in the sense of interpreting the movements of the stars by the divine ‘Five Principles’, by what is now known as feng-shui, and particularly the heavenly influence of the Big Dipper, seven stars of the constellation Ursa Major.258 There is no intention to delve deeper into these matters here, but all have the deepest influence on the ‘invisible’ or ‘hidden’ truths sought later by the bugeisha warriors. In ancient times the use of these esoteric arts soon deeply influenced the warrior groups. Tonko¯-jutsu, as this aspect of the mikkyo¯ was known, offered the warrior through a deity as powerful as Marishi-ten, her protection against all enemies by bestowing, metaphorically, the ability to become invisible.259 By ‘invisible’ this art of sorcery can also mean ‘concealment’. In-yo¯-gogyo¯ reflects this concealment as ‘confusing’ or ‘deceiving’ enemies. This was the expression clearly stated by Sun-tzu more than a thousand years before that ‘All warfare is based on deception.’ These principles entered the bugei long before the advent of the ‘Genke-kinesshu’, the secret teachings of the Minamoto clan, and soon formed the inner philosophies of the emerging ryu¯ systems that came into prominence in the Muromachi period. ‘Confusion’ and ‘Surprise’ are two of the ‘Four Poisons’ of Kendo in the present day, giving rise to a third – ‘Doubt’. The remaining ‘Poison’ is ‘Fear’. ˉ TENGU AND THE KO-RYU It is the principles of warfare expounded by Sun Tzu and the inner understanding of these that became the bedrock foundation of each and every major ryu¯, starting, possibly, with the Chu¯jo¯-ryu¯ in the thirteenth or fourteenth century; the Nen-ryu¯ shortly after and, in fact, the many

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unique traditions that followed to the end of the Muromachi and Momoyama periods. In these systems their gokui, or inner teachings, were jealously guarded and have remained so until now. These inspired creators of the bugei traditions, and their immediate successors who polished and refined the kata, must have been familiar with the penetrating words of the T’ang Dynasty poet and commentator on Sun Tzu, the distinguished Tu Mu (803–52). Discussing the use of secret agents, Sun Tzu pointed out: ‘that there is none more intimate (with the commander of the army) than the secret agent . . . of all matters none is more confidential than those relating to secret operations’.260 Tu Mu wrote: ‘These are “mouth to ear” matters.’ How true these words of Tu Mu read despite the passage of twelve-hundred years. In this sense, and for the best and clearest of reasons, the teachings transmitted through the device of the tengu ‘messengers’ from Marishiten were and are most secret. Each and every student invited to enter the major ryu¯, and possibly many if not all the ‘minor’ ones, were closely ‘vetted’, to use a modern phrase, to test their present and future reliability and that through their ‘blood-oath’ they understood that all they studied and absorbed was, by nature, ‘top-secret’, under no circumstances to be revealed without the express permission of the ryu¯ headmaster.261 In these major traditions the intending student was tested in many ways, gradually gaining knowledge and understanding, until he was deemed ready to be admitted to the ryu¯ teaching proper at a ceremony, known as ‘keppan’, where he solemnly swore an oath which he signed with his own blood. This oath was – and still is – as seriously binding as any devised in medieval Japan; the ceremony, itself, was very formal in front of the presiding deities of the tradition and was variously termed ‘shinmon-seishi’ (an oath made before a deity), ‘nyu¯mon-shiki’ (initiation ceremony) or ‘kisho¯mon’ (a written pledge). Shˉ u-ha-ri

Progress through the structure levels of the ryu¯ system was designed to slowly and thoroughly enable the student to deepen his understanding, one careful step at a time. This is expressed by the short descriptive term or phrase - ‘shu¯-ha-ri’. The first stage (shu¯) is where the student is required to pay the closest attention to correctness of ‘form’ in every aspect, starting with the simple and progressing to the complex, including the widest understanding of reigi, correctness or discipline. As these basic principles are assimilated, deepen and take firm root, a process that may span several years,262 so the student’s ability to understand will broaden. This process is explained in many ways but graphically this was how I, personally, was instructed nearly forty years ago, as shown in Fig. 36. The process is long but many reach the ha stage, the point where the bugeisha understands all levels but not yet the final ‘truth’. It is

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Fig. 36 Shu-ha-ri expressed by some Kenshi using the metaphor of the stages of growth from a small seedling to a great tree. Stage One: The start of training seen in terms of a small seedling reaching the first two leaves (Two to Five years). (Shu¯) Stage Two: The seedling grows from a sapling sprouting a few small branches to a young mature fruit-bearing tree (Six to Twenty years). (Still Shu¯) Stage Three: The young tree matures to its full size (Twenty to Forty years). (Ha) Stage Four: The full-grown tree stands majestic. (Ri)

during the ha period, too, that we may find the forms partly illustrated by the tengu. Where this occurs it is intended to reinforce the spiritual origin of the teaching by particularly linking them with Marishi-ten. Shu¯-ha-ri can be likened to the structure of an apple; the shu¯ representing the peel and outer part of the fleshy surround beneath. Many students occupy this outer area, both in the distant past and the present day. The ha is, figuratively, the sweet inner flesh surrounding the core, the part from which the teaching broadly comes. In modern Kendo, for example, this would represent the teaching given by the more senior ranking yu¯dansha, holding fifth to seventh degree rank, successively. The core itself and the seeds are the ri stage and only one or two will have reached this complete level of understanding. In terms of the koryu¯-ha extant in the late-Muromachi period, it was the final levels that contained the okugi, the innermost secret inspiration that created these military systems. Of necessity, these secrets were jealously kept and only imparted to the most worthy and trusted students in the kuden, the oral

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transmission. It was this vital controlled method of maintaining secrecy that ensures each tradition was valued and survived. The secret makimono of each ryu¯, scrolls usually known as the O¯-torano-maki, ‘Great Tiger Scrolls’, stayed always in the hands of the headmaster, only to be seen by him, and were passed on to his successor together with a full revelation of the innermost principles. This was only when the so¯ke, the headmaster, considered the time was right. Once more we can understand that these were indeed ‘mouth to ear’ transmissions. In many cases this system of secret transmission has continued, unbroken, for a score or more generations; sometimes through as many as fifty successors.263 During the Muromachi period when the secret nature of these beliefs were symbolically expressed as divine teachings provided by the war deity, herself, there was a great demand throughout the whole of Japan for capable - nay brilliant - field commanders and especially master strategists. Each of these bugeisha was deeply experienced in every aspect of the Arts of War from tactical field command of their personal contingents of lower ranking followers and peasant infantry to the art of fortification according to the tenets of Taoist ho¯and tonko¯-jutsu. These battle-hardened bugeisha understood that in order to formulate and rationalize their personal concepts of the arts of warfare, the best method was to reduce the principles to combat between just two people. It is in these simplified kata forms, stripped of complications, that we see the same structure today. The principle has not varied markedly in six or seven hundred years; the only change has been a reduction – more apparent than real – in the inherent danger contained in practising many forms. A certain element of danger cannot be eradicated or the forms become meaningless and the student will not learn. This becomes immediately clear in observing the relative ‘hardness’ and ‘softness’ between existing Bujutsu and some modern Budo¯, especially where hand weapons are used. The bugeisha understands and experiences through practice the properties and relationships across a wide range of weapons whilst, in the present time, the budo¯ka generally specializes in just one or two. The ‘narrowness’ of the modern systems is in direct contrast to those current in the Muromachi period. To practise the arts of warfare, particularly with halberd, spear, staff and sword without the discipline of structured kata would be unthinkable and always very dangerous. While it is possible that the rough and ready practice of prehistoric times had its uses, one feels that a degree of commonsense would tell most tribesmen that killing or injuring their own people before going to war meant weakening the fighting strength overall. We are focussing on more sophisticated times, even in the Yayoi period, and formal kata must have appeared at least by then, certainly for the upper echelons of the military families.264 But there was another important reason for reducing practice to one ‘attacker’ and one

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‘defender’ and that was the maintenance of secrecy. These interpretations of the principles expounded in the Seven Military Classics265 in China, and particularly by Sun Tzu and his son (?), Sun Pin, were the product of personal field experience with troops and weapons, coupled with the harsh esoteric practices that appeared in Japan between the sixth and sixteenth centuries. It is significant that gradually through the course of the last hundred years of the Yamato rule until the end of the Heian period, about fivehundred years, a time that marked the end of the ancient period, we witness the rise of such fighting groups as the unruly so¯hei, ostensibly recruited to defend the interests of the monasteries; the yamabushi; and then the appearance of the bushidan, the forerunners of the emerging true warrior ‘levels’. Whilst the Heian is usually thought of as a time of peace and sophistication, as proclaimed by the period’s given name, the reality was rather different, particularly in the provinces distant from the Imperial Court (Heian-kyo¯). Taking the above three groups separately, we find that the powerful and greedy monastic establishments increasingly recruited and maintained large groups of men, sometimes well-equipped and well-trained, as private forces, and that these men, although supposedly lay-priests, were anything but holy when they were required to protect their prelate master’s interests. Often these bands, known colloquially as akuso¯, or ‘evil monks’, may have numbered a few score men up to a veritable army, and fought their rivals or sought to dominate local villages, even regions as large as small provinces. We have seen that the proto-yamabushi groups from the sixth or seventh to, possibly, the ninth century, were at first very small numerically although found in many pockets throughout the archipelago. Whilst they may also have been ‘unregulated’ there are very few, if any, records insofar as I am aware, of them causing significant trouble unlike the depredations of the so¯hei. This, in itself, indicates that they came from a more disciplined background, even one that may have found its origins in a martial group but certainly hardly a peasant one. The last group were the bushidan composed of various groups, probably mainly farmers and their male offspring, whose lands formed part of the sho¯en, or manorial, system that emerged in the provinces during the Nara and Heian period (710–1185). The manors provided tax revenues for many noblemen, some residing on their lands, others trusting their sho¯en to the hands of stewards or bailiffs whilst they absented themselves in Heian-kyo¯. Due to the often disturbed state of many areas in the provinces where the Court was hardly able to enforce order, the largely peasant farmers gradually banded together under the village headman for mutual strength and protection and ‘recommended’ their collective holdings to the sho¯en estate bailiffs and the landowners, thus increasing the latter’s power and influence. The process in a short time created the early samurai, or ‘servant’ families. The landowners of these manors were

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often minor or middle-ranking courtiers, rewarded with small estates for their services but who moved to the provinces rather than remain in the capital without hope of further advancement. The higher-ranking kuge elected to place bailiffs in charge to take care of their interests and tax income. As the sho¯en enlarged and more farmers sought protection, many able-bodied men were needed for defence and support. Gradually, more and more of the income was diverted and the system abused to the detriment of the absentee owners.266 The so¯hei at first were little more, it seems, than absconding peasants, escaping the frequently cruel petty tyranny of the sho¯en bailiffs, but their ranks were swelled in lands bordering the littoral by small bands of wako¯, or pirates, and inland by brigands attracted to the monasteries for the protection they offered from what law there was. During the Heian and probably earlier, the so¯hei’s weapon of choice was the naginata. It seems possible that it is in the proto-yamabushi where we find the continued or developing skills with sword, spear, naginata and staff, coupled by their clear transmissions of the east-Asian arts of war, their former ancestral shamanic disciplines, and enhanced by their early adoption of many of the ways of the esoteric Taoist and Buddhist recluses. This background was by no means so confined as that against which the so¯hei formed and in my personal view marks a real gulf between these two irregular groups. As has been pointed out earlier, at the beginning of warrior rule after the Gempei Wars, Shinto priests and the Shugendo¯ yamabushi were accorded considerable freedom of passage through the increasing numbers of seki, barriers, set up by the provincial governors or the local domain rulers in order to control movement and extort tolls. These continuing freedoms, accorded to both groups, gave them privileges on a par with the burgeoning samurai class. INFLUENCE OF THE YAMABUSHI It is an undoubted fact that the proto-yamabushi possessed developed practical skills with the stave. These skills were later rationalized and in the early-Muromachi period, even possibly from the Kamakura period before, appeared distinctly as Bo¯-jutsu. If the use of the straight spear, So¯-jutsu, dates from the late-Heian and certainly the Kamakura period, then we must agree with the Takeda heiho¯-sha, Yamamoto Kansuke, that the two weapon skills were directly related but the basis of understanding must be found with the use of the stave.267 When the historical shugenja appeared their favourite weapon was the formidable glaive, the naginata.268 Kuroki Toshihiro believed that the use of the stave could be traced back as far as the Yayoi period with various ancient traits to be seen in stave dances in the folk matsuri,269 We may also believe that the proto-yamabushi were primarily armed with slung swords and that these swords, before the Nara period, had straight blades.270

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Fig. 37 Marishi-ten, the female war deity, expressed with Buddhist attributes (as Fudo¯myo¯-o¯) seated on a running fox; and a woodcut illustration of a wandering yamabushi, fully armed and carrying his oi, or portable altar (Edo period).

Even after the blades became curved and single-edged many straightbladed ken were forged, surving examples often made to be presented as votive offerings to the deities, especially at the shrines of the war-deities. It became a custom to engrave images symbolic on some of these later ken blades and such horimono frequently included a male dragon encircling a ken, or a female dragon appearing to chase a flaming jewel, the bodhisattva Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯, and many others. The sankaku-shinko¯: Shinto, esoteric Buddhism and Taoism, all met here for the protection that such valuable offerings might bestow. oOo All these ‘fighting’ or ‘martial’ groups appear on the historical scene around the same time, their roots based in the mid- or late-Yamato military structures,271 but the general unrest known to have been prevalent through parts of the country, certainly in the Chugoku in the west and north of the Kanto¯ in the To¯hoku, the large region covered by Mutsu and Dewa, predicates a parallel rise in military understanding. Parts of the northern region still harboured some aboriginal groups, but we have examples of heiho¯ interpretations of Sun Tzu’s principles in the Zenkunen-no-kassen, the Nine Years’ War (1055–63), when Minamotono-Yoriyoshi (995–1082) was sent by the Court to quell the rebellion of Abe-no-Yoritoki and his son, Abe Sadato¯.272 It was Yoriyoshi’s son, that most renowned of Japanese martial heroes, Minamoto-no-Yoshiie (1041–1108), who became famous for his generalship during the Gosannen-no-kassen, the Later Three Years’ War (1083–87) conducted against a second rebellion, this time by Fujiwara-no-Tokihiro and his son, Iehida.273 By the Gempei struggle between 1181 and 1185, the leaders of the warrior groups must have been fully conscious of the need

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for increasing secrecy in all matters concerned with warfare; indeed, it is difficult to think that fighting men, and especially their leaders, had not developed the principles outlined by Sun Tzu all of which many bushi must have learnt by heart. If, as Kuroki Toshihiro thought, there was a great input into military practice by the emerging yamabushi and the cult of Marishi-ten was taking firm hold with the warriors, then the protection offered by this female warrior-deity, in itself, would have reinforced the imperative to employ spies and to organize some form of what we would call counter-espionage. This must already have been the case for centuries, even as early as the first Puyo¯-Kayan expeditions across the Tsushima Strait. The heiho¯sha who are recorded as following the ‘yamabushi-no-michi’ in the Sengoku and post-Sengoku records must have been continuing a custom that was also many centuries old. At the end of these periods of intense privations were developed the so-called eight ‘source’ traditions of the bugei, traditions acknowledged by modern Kendo historians. From these eight ryu¯ came the rest – many hundreds, even thousands, of them, right down to the demise of the old warrior class in 1877, after which the samurai became ‘gentlemen’ and the old gave way to the new.274 Time and time again we can understand in the surviving accounts of early katahi-uchi, loosely translated as ‘duels’ between bugeisha, that neither contestant, in most cases, knew anything much about his opponent’s martial background. To be successful in the encounter proved superiority of both technique and military understanding; to lose brought only injury or worse. Victory engendered an enhanced reputation to the master, resulting in most cases in an increase in the number of his students. Some master-swordsmen were seeking this result which resulted in the establishment of their do¯jo¯ and relief from the hazards of being a ro¯nin, but others continued to seek deeper knowledge without the encumbrance and expense of deshi. News of a shinken-sho¯bu arranged between well-known bugei-jin spread like wildfire amongst the samurai and a successful strategist might do well, securing both rewards and position. Such was the case with Tsukahara Bokuden and Yamamoto Kansuke, both of whom went on from establishing their formidable reputations in matches to becoming famed experts in the military field. The most famous kenshi to gain such a formidable reputation was the semi-ro¯nin, Miyamoto Musashi (d.1645). The strength of every major ryu¯ rested on its founder’s refined understanding of the principles set out by Sun Tzu and in the other Chinese classics on war. Mastery of the Sonshi, in particular, made this work the vade-mecum that ensured rewards; the demonstrated prowess of the founder established the ryu¯’s reputation and attracted students; but not all of these deshi were trustworthy. A few may have entered these do¯jo¯ intending to steal the go¯kui and betray the trust of the master. Such treachery, if discovered, resulted invariably in death. To hide the inner

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truths, the originating bugeisha devised a number of clever devices to obscure the deepest principles. Apart from doing their best to only admit deshi of good character from personally known warrior or farming families who had served the clan for generations, often descended from samurai, themselves, these masters were well-aware of the dangers of admitting anyone not thus obligated to either the clan or the ryu¯. The greatest care was also taken to avoid revealing the go¯kui even under direct orders from the clan lord, himself. As we have already pointed out, the separate kata forms, from the introductory level upwards, all contained something of the truth – the Tao of ancient times. These truths, demonstrated and constantly practised time and time again, followed the principles of yin-yang; like the layers of an onion, they possessed outer meanings of understanding that constituted the shu¯ and ha components of shu¯-ha-ri. The innermost truths remained securely locked in the inner mind of the so¯ke and with no one else. The entire structure of the ryu¯, and certainly the upper levels, were further ‘clothed’ in words and concepts drawn from a number of ancient sources; the Buddhist mikkyo¯ is a good example, and understandable only to the most advanced and initiated. The names given to both the ryu¯, itself, and the component kata forms, were often taken from the Chinese and while apparently descriptive, frequently were misleading or contained hidden meanings that were only understood after many years of study. Much has been made of two form names in the Shinkage-ryu¯ which appear to be drawn from Zen-do¯ and hailed as an example of Zen Buddhist influence in ‘swordsmanship’. However, this is the least likely explanation based on the bugei evidence; they most probably originate from the cult of the war goddess. These principles and their slowly revealed ‘truths’ demonstrate the complexity of the onion’s successive ‘layers’, each one subject to fresh interpretations as the student gained deeper skills and understanding, but the final revelation locked in the headmaster’s intuitive recognition of the transmission initially received by Marishi-ten’s tengu. The tengu drawings, where they appear in the okugi or kuden levels were intended to be aide-memoires to refresh the so¯ke’s memory; understood fully by him alone, and only partially interpreted by the recipients of the various higher level menkyo¯. The names given to each form were often abstruse, as discussed above, or, like ‘Yama-arashi’ – ‘Mountain Storm’ – giving nothing away although readable. Nothing in the names is obvious and clearly they are open to a number of interpretations. In these drawings we can easily see some element of the form, or can we? The tengu figure may possibly show the beginning, the middle, or the end of the form. Who can tell other than the so¯ke, himself? It is only after years of training and the completion of the long and arduous passage through shu¯ to ha and finally to ri stages that we can know the truth.

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Sun Tzu wrote: It is according to the shapes that I lay plans for victory, but the multitude does not comprehend this. Although everyone can see the outward aspects, none understands the way in which I created victory.275

However, despite the efforts designed to keep these teachings secret, it was still considered necessary to prevent outsiders to the ryu¯ from even briefly observing any part of the okugi levels. Some masters even went so far as to have a platform vantage point constructed high up beside a small slatted window aperture on the do¯jo¯ wall where a watcher was seated to give warning that a stranger was approaching. In the old Kashima Shintoryu¯ do¯jo¯ at Kashima-jingu, such a platform was still in place right up the rebuilding of the do¯jo¯ in the 1960s. At the warning signal practice did not cease but was changed to more prosaic forms that were, essentially, rubbish.276 It must be remembered that many of these bugeisha did not advertise themselves as such but tramped the yamabushi-michi as travel stained ro¯nin. By their hard-won martial expertise they were excellent observers from whom little military knowledge could be hidden. THE OKUDEN LEVELS In the brief description of shu¯-ha-ri, we can see that the tengu iconography has finally abandoned most connections with its origins in the metamorphosis from the Altai griffin to the raven, crow, and hawk, and finally with the Central Asian sky deity, Tengri (unless, of course, the name of this Central Asian ‘kami’ is indeed cognate with ‘tengu’?). The Buddhist mikkyo¯ is admitted by some but it is Marishi-ten that is the source to most. The long assimilation of the animistic beliefs of the native sankaku-shinko¯, coupled with the impact of the various esoteric sects, Taoist or Buddhist, gave the hitherto apparently unknown female war deity, a very significant influence on the emerging warrior class. At the same time there is a recognition amongst certain levels of the bushidan of the importance of Sun Tzu and other classical writings from China concerning the arts of warfare. On the one hand, therefore, we have the war-goddess offering protection to her followers; spiritual power seemingly aided by elements of the yamabushi and certainly deriving from their more nebulous predecessors, the proto-yamabushi. On the other we have the material practical incentives of the emerging warrior groups. It was in the interest of both to study, digest and interpret these martial teachings from ancient China. We can see the philosophy behind the teaching principles contained in shu¯-ha-ri and realize that the first stage has to do with mastering the physical skills so necessary to the fighting man; that is, to all warriors of any ancestral level from the humble peasant to the bushi who can trace

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his bloodline back to an Imperial prince. It was not enough for any fighting man to simply become useful if he did not progress beyond the use of mere brute force. Those who had to lead in battle well knew how dangerous it was to depend on unskilled and ill-disciplined men. The second stage, ha, implies warriors who ‘know how to act’, are hardened to the terrors and danger inherent in warfare from their youth, and who, one way or another, can carry out what is required of them and see that their followers obey. These two stages are constant truths in military action. The first requires no particular knowledge of the theories of warfare; the second stage requires the ability to act and an increasing degree of understanding on the tactical level. It is the third stage, ri, that brings us to Marishi-ten and her ‘messengers’. By inference, it also follows that this final stage falls completely into the area of generalship. The intuitive understanding of the arts of warfare could only be understood at the highest level and only through hard-won experience. ‘All warfare is based on deception’; nothing in warfare is as it seems. It follows that we cannot expect to examine these tengu figures, knowing them to be there to remind long-dead masters of Marishi-ten’s inspired tactics and stratagems, and receive any cogent material enlightenment. We may advance intelligent guesses but neither the drawings nor the associated names will tell us more. Only the uchi-deshi, the ‘inner student’, will have a better idea and beyond these uchi-deshi, only the headmaster possesses the final ‘divine revelation’, the true interpretation. Ri is, therefore, the ultimate stage where a very few students know all there is to know of these ryu¯-ha, except the final ‘truth’. They have been thoroughly grounded and schooled in all the principles and because of this they enjoy the full confidence of the so¯ke. One of them will ultimately be chosen to receive the final secret transmission, to become the custodian of the O¯-tora-no-maki, and the next headmaster. The others are, if they wish, ready to ‘hive-off ’ and ‘leave the teachings, while the teachings remain’. In other words, they can apply the teachings they have acquired over long years and are ready to develop independently. They may even devise their own interpretation and seek their own reimu. The tengu drawings contain these ‘divine transmissions’ but are intended only for the eyes of these highly skilled and experienced bugeisha. It is a fact that they display the therianthropic winged creatures, beings not of this ‘middle world’, and that they constitute a constant reminder to the possessors of the illustrated densho¯ or the final tora-no-maki that the ryu¯ transmission is not of this world but from the unseen deities. This reminder is reinforced by the frequent appearance of drawings depicting Shinto deities at the beginning of the scrolls. Sometimes Marishi-ten, herself, is painted, often standing on the back of a charging inoshishi, wild boar, brandishing her associated weapons grasped by her six hands and surrounded by a halo of cosmic fire. This representation clearly associates

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her with Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯, the All-Powerful Guardian of Buddha’s Law, ever-present in the mikkyo¯. THE LESSONS TO BE DRAWN FROM THE TENGU FIGURES Remembering that it is only just over a century-and-a-quarter since more or less any of the okuden levels could be viewed by outsiders, can we non-admitted students profit from their study? Alternatively, are the tengu to be consigned to the mere status of quirky oddities that somehow or other turn up in deeply serious works on the art of warfare when they clearly should remain as figments of artistic genius in woodcuts by Hokusai and Kuniyoshi? Surely we have had enough of the quaint tengu myths that surface every now and again in the Buddhist-based stories and are then edited out for the modern general reader of such Japanese classics as the Konjaku-monogatari as being of little or no merit? It is my submission that there are things to be learnt, not least because in these illustrations we have an authentic ‘window on the past’. It is the nature of almost all medieval eastAsian art to conform to the styles and forms of the past. It is only with the freedoms that began to be experienced in the popular art of the late-Edo period that we find much to respond to in the works of the two famous artists named above, and many others of their genre, too. However, when we survey cartoon sketches and the finished art of the Japanese medieval period as a whole, particularly in the ‘war screens’ and e-makimono, we can find a clear link between many of them and the tengu iconography. Almost anyone experienced in the classical bugei finds in these tengu figures an immediate contrast with the postures of almost all the modern budo¯ systems. While most of these tengu scrolls date from the first century of Tokugawa rule, the figures reflect those cursive ‘stick’ postures encountered in a number of surviving bujutsu makimono. Plates 18–20 show modern postures. These deep postures are not strange athletic aberrations but the deeply practical ones necessary for immediate use on the rough terrain of the battlefield. It is a mistake to view them from the point of view of modern practice.277 Expressed in the tengu postures of many Muromachi period ryu¯ are the subtleties of the lowered koshi, hips, and wide-splayed foot positions, from which lightning movements can be made. The handgrips beautifully illustrate a excellent understanding of te-no-uchi, and so on. The weapons, themselves, are grasped ‘professionally’. By which is meant that they are presented precisely as they should be used, held in kamae based on sure knowledge. Whatever the actual form being transmitted by these tengu, an advanced student of the bugei, seeing these drawings, would begin to analyse the suggested possibilities and applications in

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Fig. 38 Small selection of figures from a Tora-no-maki. Line illustrations of various kata ¯ -tora-no-maki, possibly the forms with longswords and (here) a naginata, from a ko-ryu¯ O Kashima Shinto-ryu¯ (Shinpu or Shinto-ryu¯?) (sixteenth century).

his or her mind. Another point that is at once communicated concerns the use of maai, or interval between the opponents, so important to the process of mastering these arts and not something, perhaps, that would be apparent to the lay viewer. Despite the obvious essentially ‘Japanese’ technique of brush line drawing, these figures largely demonstrate exactly where the metsuke, or ‘point of looking’ should be in any sort of confrontation. The artists who were responsible for the illustrations above knew exactly what was needed for understanding. This brings me to a very interesting modern interpretation, not of these early-Edo period warrior-tengu, but of

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the famous self-portrait executed by the great swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi. (See Plate 21.) The painting was done probably in his mature years around 1635–43 and shows the kenshi in a simple standing posture with his drawn long and short swords held lowered at his sides. A famous Kendo master278 explained how, after a long study of Musashi’s portrait, he realized that the swordsman’s balance was wholly on the ball of each foot, not on either set of toes or either heel. Despite this, the foot placement looked ‘normal’. Based on this realization the ku-dan hanshi practised this seriously for several years before mastery. Seven long years – always seven years in everything, it seems . . . How much more contained in these tengu drawings is revealed to the master-swordsmen within their particular ryu¯ ? oOo From the beginning of this study the importance of these tengu has been stressed time and again. These are not imaginings to be lightly dismissed; they are the product of a very long process, but always this process has been linked to the arts of war. Warfare, however much we may deprecate it, has always played a significant role in the history of man, not just the Japanese. Warrior rule in Japan came soon after the defeat of the Taira in 1185 when the Sho¯gunate was established in 1192 far from the capital in Kamakura and from that point the effective government of the whole country fell to the warrior. The administrative structure was even termed the ‘Bakufu’, or ‘government from within a curtain’, a term directly refering to the curtained command ‘headquarters’ of a general in the field. From 1192 to 1858, and some would argue in the light of more recent history, war was indeed ‘vital to the state’. We are not concerned here with the wider picture but with the attempted understanding of the arts of war and how they were regarded by the clan lords. These powerful and autocratic daimyo¯, both large and small, depended on their generals or themselves to preserve their domains, to defend their borders against the depredations of their ambitious neighbours, or to make war on their own account. Only the true expert who not only understood the principles of war from the material to the occult, would do for this ‘life or death’ trust. So to whom could they turn? As the medieval period progressed after the establishment of the Kamakura bakufu, escalating conflicts, including repelling the two abortive Mongol invasions towards the end of the thirteenth century and the overthrow of the Ho¯jo¯ in 1333, were followed by the struggles between the Two Courts that ended in 1398, there simply was not enough land available to give supporting warriors appropriate rewards. This caused great unrest and the writ of the Bakufu law weakened so that in many regions power rested with the disaffected local leaders. The Muromachi

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¯ nin War that almost bakufu was powerless in the face of the great O destroyed Kyo¯to in the ten years, 1467–77, and this destructive conflict led directly to the hundred years of strife between the many ambitious contending lords known as the Sengoku-jidai – the ‘Age of the Country at War’. In point of fact, it would be true to observe that the Sengoku nightmare really began when the War of Succession, the Nanbokucho¯, came to an end a little less than eighty years before. It was against the armed disturbances and intermittent regional allout fighting between around 1400 and 1600 that the warrior traditions of the bugei came into maturity and it can be said that it was in the crucible of war that the true martial arts were forged and matured. Whilst most of the powerful warrior lords drew their support from their vassals, and their generals were the heads of these vassal families, often related by blood ties and nearly always leading members of the clan council, warfare often required hugely inflated numbers of men. These were often recruited from the many thousands of ro¯ nin who roamed the provinces looking for employment in the only field for which they were suited. There were great opportunities for the expert heiho¯ sha to serve as general commanders, too. In this period where many of lesser rank connived and intrigued to bring down their lords, duplicity and opportunism flourished on all sides. Even the draconian hostage system proved no deterrent if the opportunity arose. Some of the most famous and capable of these strategist bugeisha were retained and probably regarded, at least privately, as more trustworthy that some amongst the vassals. A very good example of this is Yamamoto Kansuke and his record of faithfully serving Takeda Shingen when he was originally a very minor vassal of the Imagawa Clan. In almost every known or recorded case, these ‘outside’ heiho¯ sha had formulated and announced their own unique understanding of the principles of war and there can be little doubt that behind their interpretations of these skills lay the yamabushi-paths, Marishi-ten, and her ‘messengers’, the tengu. In the concluding stage of this study, who can be better to quote than that general of the Takeda clan, Yamamoto Kansuke, who was, himself, killed by firearms in September 1561 at one of the battles at Kawanakajima. Before he served Takeda Shingen, he was an acknowledged master of the Kyo¯-ryu¯-no-heiho¯, one of the great early traditions of hei-jutsu. Like many others before and after him, Kansuke often paraphrased the Chinese philosopher, Sun Tzu. In his book, Heiho¯ Okigisho, he reiterates the secret nature of strategy, writing: Strategy uses many variations, therefore it is of the utmost importance to keep your next move concealed, allowing your opponent to know your next move allows him to take advantage of you.279

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The verse that Kansuke uses from Sun Tzu, reads: The ultimate in disposing one’s troops is to be without ascertainable shape. Then the most penetrating of spies cannot pry in nor can the wise lay plans against you.280

Since it seems likely that knowledge of the classical Chinese martial philosophies came to Japan with the Puyo¯-Kayan usurpers in the fourth or fifth century, and were possibly known even before this, it is understandable how significant was Sun Tzu’s text to educated warriors of every type. There is one verse by this ancient Chinese strategist that stands out across the centuries and is, in many ways, the most penetrating principle of all: Subtle and insubstantial, the expert leaves no trace; divinely mysterious, he is inaudible. Thus he is master of his enemy’s fate.281

oOo The outward importance of the tengu transmissions were, as we understand, of deep significance to a few brilliant bugeisha who understood intuitively the teachings and their wider applications. Inevitably, with the passage of time and the removal during the last two-hundred-and-fifty years of the medieval period, the pressing need for military preparedness as it was once understood, much of the bugei, particularly those systems devised after Sekigahara (1600), largely allowed these beliefs to weaken or become perfunctory, even to the extent of becoming matters of partially remembered customs. We can still find in the modern weaponed budo¯ some of the old Marishi-ten related rituals, albeit often obscured or usurped by Buddhist or Shinto overlays, probably dating from the Meiji religious reforms of the early-1870s. A very few of the classical ko-ryu¯ preserve elements of the Marishi-ten rituals but as Otake Risuke sensei observes, there is little or no understanding of the former importance of these. In some Kendo do¯jo¯ the taiko drum, once employed to invite the deity to preside over the martial practice (kami-oroshi) and to invite him to leave at the close, is still used but largely the drumbeats are explained as ‘military’ in nature, ‘signalling from the olden times’, not as the drum being the ‘horse’ that invites the deity to ‘descend’. The kami presiding over the do¯jo¯ practices are Takemika-dzouchi (Kashima-jingu) and Futsunushi (Katori-jingu) but they might or might not be later additions replacing or replaced by Marishi-ten, herself, centuries ago and are no longer present in do¯jo¯ premises connected with official organizations such as schools or municipal halls. Asageiko, early morning practice, survives more strongly and was clearly associated with the female war deity’s cult, but in most cases few know of this origin and it is regarded

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just as a quirky practice, at worst awkwardly timed to make it somehow memorable and different to the normal. With the decline in the warrior skills that had been refined down the centuries by the experience of bitter warfare, many tengu transmissions have been lost forever and now can never be recovered. This suggests that much of the secret upper-level teaching will soon be gone. Only in certain specific bujutsu forms is the inspiration explained as transmitted by the tengu otsuki but, pessimistically, even these will soon vanish, forgotten in the headlong rush towards budo¯ seen solely as a passing exotic entertainment or as a ‘combat sport’. The last bastions of these traditions are falling in our day as increasing numbers of less skilled students with minimal knowledge of even the basic cultural history feel that is their absolute right to be given access to these inner levels, regardless of their ability to truly understand. We have to remember the unavoidable truth in the axiom: ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune’! Just as the teachings of the medieval warrior-yamabushi in Shugendo¯ have been lost, so will the gokui that were handed down so carefully and secretly by Marishi-ten’s tengu to their posterity. The final words to this brief discussion must be a quotation from a surviving densho¯ thought to have been brushed by the famous master, Kamiidzumi Nobutsuna, in 1566: After practising the secret rituals of Marishi-sonten day after day for a long period, training night and day, I received an inspiration from the deity and, suddenly, from my heart (the Shinkage-ryu¯) gushed out.282

21

Tengu Revisited

T

hroughout the foregoing study every effort has been made to draw a clear distinction where at all possible between the tengu in the folklore, the same in the beliefs associated with Buddhism, and finally the tengu that appear in the martial traditions. One of the problems of dealing with the Japanese culture is its incredible complexity. The very nature of the mountainous archipelago created, in the most ancient times far before anything appeared in written form, the perfect environment to guarantee a multiplicity of beliefs with large elements deriving from the indigenous Jomon people to the more peaceful rice-farmers of the Yayoi, and embellished by the usurping dominant tribes of the Puyo¯-Kayan - all before the sixth century CE. As some sort of stability was established by the Yamato rulers, at least in the western half of the country, Japan became culturally more and more distant from the Asian mainland, at least in so far as the bulk of the population was concerned, inevitably leading to it becoming a veritable goldmine of embedded myth and legend to the folklorist amongst many others. The only Western parallel was at the other end of the Eurasian landmass, and again with a complex island community, in the four ancient kingdoms of Ireland. While the tengu beliefs may be roughly separated we then find that all three broad divisions overlap and interlock. The all-pervading mix of the sankaku-shinko¯ takes over; some obscure native kami but not others, are identified with the powerful newly arrived Buddhist bodhisattva, visualized accompanied by animals that may be traced back and interpreted as tribal totems of the fierce mountain aboriginals, and further confused with symbolism from Inner Asia. The politics of giving a firm divinely-backed claim to rule to the early Imperial family further bedevilled the mixture. Yet when we reach the tengu symbolism associated with the rise to prominence of the buke warrior class we come across a

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surprisingly homogenous grouping that hardly alters or is ‘debased’ by outside influences until well into the period of Tokugawa rule. One might suppose, given the severely ordered lives of the samurai after the beginning of the seventeenth century, that they were increasingly constrained by the strict social conventions, the clan ‘house laws’, of the period in which they lived. Possibly these controls were more flexible during the preceding Muromachi period, but nevertheless the warrior ideal was to act in a sober fashion and be regarded as arbiters of disciplined social correctness and moral uprightness. Many hardly lived up to this sort of reputation in the eyes of the ordinary people but a majority of swordsmen, in the main, certainly did. The warrior’s reputation for taking jealous care of his honour and good family name contrasts with warfare as his raison d’être. Before roughly 1637, to set an arbitrary date centred on the terrible aftermath of the Shimabara ‘revolt’, the rank and file samurai was a clear potential danger to the ‘inferior’ classes, the farmers and the townsfolk, undoubtedly regarded with more than a tinge of fear. For the generation after Sekigahara these warriors lived closer to the rest of the population although remaining largely aloof. It seems that during the ‘creative’ periods in the lives of the bugeisha they may well have travelled the provinces as ro¯nin, living amongst the general population whilst pursuing their aspirations towards mastery of their profession. During this stage as ‘masterless men’ they presented less threat and were more exposed to both the sankaku-shinko¯ and to the mikkyo¯.283 In the case of the latter, unless the wandering bugeisha actually entered and took vows in one or other of the Buddhist sects, he would face some difficulties. Only the Shugendo¯ pathways were open and offered a hardy appeal consonant with the warrior upbringing. As we have seen, it was the yamabushi beliefs that gave the swordsman his introduction to Marishiten and her otsuki, the fierce unadulterated tengu of the bugei. Before the end of the turbulent Sengoku period we find various items of warrior equipment embellished with esoteric symbolism. There are iron pierced tsuba, in particular, displaying inoshishi, emblems of Marishi-ten; kanji pierced through the iron proclaiming such connections; early representations of Fudo¯ -myo¯ -o¯ ; menpo¯ resembling evil-looking tengu, and so on. After the establishment of the pax-Tokugawa, the folklore begins to infiltrate these hitherto warrior preserves. The austere armours of the previous century, often dark laced and certainly restrained, soon changed to equipment that was far more ostentatious. There was an exuberant artistic flourishing of the most astonishing original nature and range amongst armour-smiths and sword furniture makers, art that was particularly suited to the weakening tastes of those wealthy bushi in high position; men who before the end of the Sengoku period would have nearly always chosen restraint in their equipment now made bold statements of their rank and status in areas such as their parade armours, their

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exotic helmet embellishments, their banners and, of course, their weaponry. Illustrated (Fig. 39) are a selection of menpo¯ fashioned as grotesque and fearsome tengu, always beaked, of course, intended to strike an irrational fear into the heart of any adversary. While all menpo¯ have these characteristics of presenting the warrior inside as a hardened and formidable enemy, the tengu masks are near the forefront. Carried to an extreme is a full gusoku, armour, dating from the Edo period where the tengu image is carried entirely through. The kabuto¯ portrays a hairyfaced tengu wearing a to¯kin ‘pillbox’ headgear on the hachi. The menpo¯ displays a sharply hooked nose and strong jutting jaw. This spectacular conceit was entirely an aberration on the part of the original owner. One can understand the restrained and clever tengu motifs featured on a katana tsuba but to see an entire armour comes as a shock. It is the extremes of pragmatism that present the greatest difficulties to Western researchers studying the peripheral ‘folk beliefs’ of Japan; seemingly frivolous images that should only belong to the sankaku-shinko¯ crop up everywhere. They are found in places, objects, festivals, temples and shrines where one might expect to encounter relatively serious matters, they manifest themselves to the evident delectation of the Japanese but serve to distract the researcher. Images that should properly belong to the vast pantheon of the native kami overspill into many of those of Buddhism, the latter itself, brimming full with Chinese deities of every kind. Tengu shrines, ranging from quite large shrine structures down to tiny wayside platforms furnished with a quaint roof against the elements, are encountered in many places associated with these beings and not only places frequented by the yamabushi. A good example of these ‘sacred’ places is to be found alongside the steep track that descends to the foot of the mountain behind the Shingon temple on Itsunoshima, in the Hiroshima-nada, or inlet. A little further up this track is a cave where one of the early ascetics once lived. Here, too, is a tiny tengu shrine. Marius de Visser based his Tengu study on accounts largely linked to Buddhism and the associated folklore. This was published in its entirety after he delivered his lecture in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan in 1908. He ranged across the whole historical perspective ending with quite recent tengu ‘sightings’ collected in the final decades of the nineteenth century. Whilst this enthralling essay contains any amount of exotic detail it is far from definitive since the same tengu traditions certainly thrive in ultra-modern Japan of the present day. Just a year or so ago the Kodansha ‘Official File’ Magazine devoted a whole issue to a popularist survey of the tengu folklore.284 As most of this will not be readily available to the English-speaking reader, I have included a small selection here. The ‘Fan of Invisibility’, the hio¯gi, described in the main text above, still figures in the folk-tengu images. In the Edo period it appeared as

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Fig. 39 Yamabushi-tengu kabuto¯ and menpo¯. From the latter half of the sengoku period and throughout the Edo period, warriors liked to indulge their fantasies by adding grotesquely decorated helmets and face protectors to their armour. Top: A snarling tengu-decorated hachi, or helmet bowl, displaying a tokin secured above free-flowing unbound hair. Middle-left: Hook-nosed ho¯-ate with grimacing mouth. The nose piece is usually detachable. These menpo¯ are often termed ‘tengu-ho¯-ate’. Middle-right: Menpo¯ – sometimes rendered as mempo¯ or alternatively so¯-menpo¯ – a full tengu face protector, again with both detachable forehead and nose piece. Bottom-left: Ho¯ -ate with hinged nose protector and tengu ‘beak’. Bottom-right: Beaked ho¯-ate with hinged nose protector, viewed in profile. Note that the ‘ear’ is pierced with the Shin-H¯ojo¯ mon. The raised cheek ridges are to help in securing the kabuto¯ himo around the chin, thus holding the mask in position. (From Sasama Yoshihiko, Nihon K¯ochu¯ -Bugu Jiten.) In common with most of the arms and armour of the Japanese warrior, these masks are very varied and known by a range of different terms. Additional to the types given above, there are masks that comprise cheeks and chin protection only, known by the term ‘sarubo¯’, or ‘monkey-face’; also a protective plate just for the chin, termed ‘tsubame-gata’ or ‘swallow-face’. Neither of these were particularly effective or practical for wearing. More popular were the skull-plate types to protect the top of the head and the forehead, often with cheek extensions, called hanburi or hachigane. The skull plates on these could sometimes be folded for ease of carrying. To some extent, the hanburi gave the warrior a look rather reminiscent of the ancient Greek hoplite. This defensive gear was light and much favoured by lower-ranking samurai, also swordsmen and others where danger less than the battlefield threatened. It was also frequently worn by yamabushi and so¯hei and depicted as far back as the late-Heian period on the painted war screens. These hanburi fall outside this study, of course, but are described here to complete the picture.

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a warrior family mon, or badge, in at least two instances although there were a number of additional variations where the hiogi was transposed with the gunbei-uchiwa, or war-fan. Within the present folklore it is still believed in many quarters that these hio¯gi may yet confer invisibility. The tengu, though, may not actually carry this fan; it can be replaced by a ‘magical coat’ that confers the same properties. Not all tengu are winged in order to fly in an instant to reappear in a far distant place or to tumble and cavort about in a confined space. This long-held belief was given added credence by yukio-e artists like Hokusai and Kuniyoshi in the nineteenth century. It is probable that the immensely popular woodcuts produced by the latter and illustrating, for example, Ushiwaka-maru being put through his paces by the tengu in the So¯jo¯-no-tani, have hugely influenced the folklore today. Some tengu in these contemporary beliefs lacking wings or capes can still fly just as their cousins did furnished with their hawk or bat wings. The latter types are sometimes termed ‘bird-tengu’ and always have hawk beaks. The researcher in this long article being quoted states that longnosed tengu lacked wings, however, we know that this is incorrect. A glance at the honzon illustrated earlier proves this. The Edo period saw a great increase in the tengu folklore and also two major changes in their perceived character. Whilst these somewhat mischievous figures were still visualized by many people as the embodiment of the mountain deities it was in these centuries of Tokugawa rule that the red-faced long-nosed tengu became better known and the hawkfaced and winged tengu were demoted to the lower class. It was in the mid-Edo period that they began to appear in the illustrated books as well as the woodcut prints. In modern times most people would describe the tengu in their long-nosed guise, red in colour, accompanied by the smaller comical feathered variety. The older sankaku-shinko¯ tended to keep the tengu invisible but still a spiritual presence in the mountains. In this they are still the imagined tengu of a thousand years ago and have hardly changed. There are a few folk fantasies in different parts of Japan not surveyed by Marius de Visser a century ago. Amongst these is the concept of ‘Tengu fire’ in the To¯kai region (the To¯kaido¯ provinces of old, now covered by Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures) which manifests itself as a ‘fire’ that seems to be about the size of a small paper lantern that breaks apart into a few hundred tiny flames that fly everywhere before vanishing. Their colour is said to be reddish and they are especially associated with the vicinity of water. It is believed that should you see them you will be taken sick but soon recover. This can be set against the lasting belief that the most famous tengu residing in this region, Akibayama Sanjaku-bo¯, can protect against fire destroying your house. According to the Tengu-kyo¯ account written in the Edo period, the most powerful tengu in Japan numbered forty-eight and many of these

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were to be found in the Kinki region of central Japan. Goho¯ Mao¯son, otherwise known as Mao¯ Daiso¯-jo¯, presides at Kurama-san and is one of the leading dai-tengu. It is said that Mao¯-son originally came from Mars to rescue humanity – an echo, perhaps, of the Chinese concept that shooting stars were ‘China-dogs’ or ‘Koma-inu’ (Korean-dogs). Whatever the origin of this odd belief, many people still flock to pray to this deity at the Kurama temple. Another famous mountain long associated with the yamabushi and the tengu for well over a millennium is Atago-san, also near Kyo¯to. The Atago-jinja was constructed in the year 798, at the very end of the Nara period, and prayers offered there are famed for giving protection from fire. This mountain has always been the home of the ‘Eight Great Tengu’ pictured on a honzon earlier in this book. The association with fire is interesting but here derives from the belief that enshrined at this jinja, as well as at a number of other places, is the female Kami of fire, born of the faeces of Izanami-no-kami. A matsuri is held at the Atagojinja, Ukyo¯-ku, Kyo¯to, on 31 July and is known as ‘The feast of a thousand days’ because it is believed that the people who visit the temple to pray on that day will be protected from fire as if they visited it one thousand times on other days.285 Further south-west, in the Chu¯goku region, is another fanciful belief concerning a ‘Leaf tengu’, a being able to catch and return bullets to hunters (which is a claim of at least one other ‘folk fiction’ current in modern Budo¯ system that possibly should remain nameless). ‘Leaftengu’ are also known as ‘White-wolf tengu’ and are lowly in the ranking hierarchy. The belief is that when wolves become old they turn into tengu and live by selling firewood kindling or carrying people on their backs. Whatever their lowly ranking they still possess some supernatural powers. This association of tengu with woodsmen or mountain foresters continues, to my personal knowledge in 1987 in the mountainous region of the former provinces of Iga and southern Omi, now covered by Shiga, Nara and Mie-ken. In conclusion, it should be noted that the range of tengu traditions still current in the Japanese archipelago extends from the far north in Hokkaido right down to Kagoshima in Kyushu but not further into the islands of the Nansei-sho¯to¯, the Okinawa chain.

Endnotes

1

2

3

4

5

6 7 8

9

The Chorus speak the words of Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune (Ushiwaka). The No¯ Plays of Japan, translated by Arthur Waley, Charles Tuttle, pbk 1981. Visser, Marius W. de, ‘The Tengu’, in Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, Vol XXXVI, 1908, pp.25–98. The Japanese term for these spirit ‘messengers’ is otsuka(i), which comes from otsuge, meaning a revelation or divine dream. Objects such as the ancient kumade, rake, might become an otsuka because of its resemblance to the claws of an eagle. This is the otsuka at many shrines. The ‘messengers’ are usually animals such as the deer at Nara and those at Kashima-jingu¯, sacred to Takemika-dzouchi. Others include snakes, wild boar, foxes and so on. David Hall, in his Doctoral thesis on Marishi-ten, quotes one of the last really traditional kenshi, Otake Risuke of the Tenshin Sho¯den Katori Shinto¯-ryu¯, who points out that whereas in his teaching he stresses the important influence of Marishi-ten and her rituals to the inner kuden of the ryu¯, few if any of his students – even those with many years experience and great skill – are not interested and do not wish to understand. (Hall, David Avalon, Marishiten: Buddhism and the warrior goddess, unpublished Ph.D.dissertation, UC,Berkeley, 1990, pp.360–1.) According to Donn F. Draeger quoting a number of foremost Kendo¯ historians. This huge cultural loss over the first half of the twentieth century created a vacuum within this area of the former and extremely rich martial culture, a vacuum now filled by the subversion of those arts and ways into ‘sport’. This has been a deliberate policy first of the American SCAP administration after 1945 and then continued by the ZenKenRen (All Japan Kendo¯ Federation) and the IKF (International Federation of Kendo¯), both bodies, and particularly the latter, doing their utmost to pursue an agenda that has placed the heaviest of emphasis on sport and competition, presented to the members, young and old, as being the ‘modern natural development of these budo¯ into the modern age’. The younger members in all countries, but especially Japan, have little concept or knowledge of the cultural background, the older masters in the main always publicly submit to the authoritarian line whether they agree or not. Lip service is paid to ‘the great cultural importance of these traditions’, especially with regard to ‘character building’ and ‘moral uprightness’ but, if Draeger’s figures are correct, and there is no reason to doubt them, then the true culture underlying budo¯ is irrevocably lost. Blacker, Carmen, The Catalpa Bow, Geo. Allen & Unwin, 1975. Ibid, pp.184–5. We shall discuss the successive waves of settlers who arrived in Japan further on. It is a difficult and confused picture and one subject to considerable debate, but here, with the increasing pressures exerted on the various tribal ‘states’ in southern Korea at that time, there were some groups who crossed the Straits of Tsushima in advance of the later Puyo¯. It is possible that these migrants were related by blood to the Puyo¯ who followed in the fourth century to settle in Paekche. Aston, in his translation of the Nihongi (Vol II, p.18, n.1), notes that the name Pu-yo¯ or Fuyu is an ancient name for Paekche. He continues that ‘it is properly the name of a region north of Corea whence the Pèkché royal family derived their origin. Southern Puyo¯ was adopted as the official name of Pèkché in A.D. 538, according to the “Tongkam”, V. 14.’ (The Tongkam

190

10

11

12

13

14 15 16 17

18

19 20

21

22

23

24

25 26 27 28

ENDNOTES

is an ancient Chronicle of Korea. ‘Paekche’ is the modern rendering of the name.) The terms ‘Puyo¯-Yamato’, and sometimes ‘Puyo¯-Kayan’, to describe these militant usurpers are used here in order to make the distinction between the Yayoi or ‘Yamatai’ who ruled at the close of the Yayoi era, and the later ‘Land-takers’ who later became known generically as theYamato. Ledyard, Gari: ‘Galloping Along with the Horseriders: Looking for the Founders of Japan’, Journal of Japanese Studies, Columbia University, 1974. These ‘Commanderies’ were, for all intents and purposes, ‘slave’ states established by the Han Dynasty. Refer to: Hatada, T., and Hazard, B., A History of Korea, Santa Barbara, CA., American Bibliographical Centre, Clio Press, 1969, and Barnes, Gina L., State Formation in Korea, Historical and Archaeological Perspectives, Curzon Press, 2001. The ‘Wa’ ‘states’ were part of a number of ‘kingdoms’ whose inhabitants were collectively known as the ‘Yamatai’. One of the ‘states’ named by the Wei-chi chronicle was a federation called ‘Toma’, the precise location of which has yet to be established. It may have been located around present-day Okayama or Kurashiki-shi, a view advanced by the great Japanese scholar, Arai Hakuseki, or even in Kaya on the Korean peninsular. Yamataikoku, the state ruled over by ‘Queen’ Himiko, a powerful shaman-chieftainess ætat the late-third century CE, may well have been the forerunner of the powerful region known as Kibi. See Gorman, Michael S. F., The Quest for Kibi etc, Table showing a revised (and more logical) comparative ancient chronology of this ancient period, pp.110–11. ‘Wa’, in the Chinese Wei Chronicle, refers to ‘the Land of Dwarfs’. The Wei-chi is known in Japanese as the Gishi-wa-jin-den. See Gorman, Michael S.F., The Quest for Kibi and the true origins of Japan, Bangkok, 1999. The ‘Kojiki’ is dated to the year 712, and records the oral ‘history’ of the Yamato from the memory of Hieda-no-Are, a female ‘Reciter’. It was written down on the orders of the Empress Gemmei (662–722), who reigned for seven years, 708–714, before abdicating in favour of her daughter. It was Gemmei-tenno¯ who transferred the capital to Nara in 710. The ‘Nihon-shoki’ followed, also on Imperial orders, in 720 and was written down by Ono Yasumaro. One has only to read Snorri Sturlason’s The Poetic Edda to realize how important such ‘Reciters’ were in the times before the introduction of writing. Sugihara Takuya, Tengu wa Dokukara, Taishukan, Tokyo¯, 2007. Sugihara Takuya further points out that the earliest existing representations of tengu in graphic form date to the late-Heian period, the twelfth century. He infers from this that the introduction of the tengu as an entity into Japan probably does not pre-date this. De Visser would clearly have disagreed. Whilst the Yama-be may have disappeared from the early chronicles, the name lived on to be found in a poem preserved in the early eighth century Man’yoshu collection. The poet, writing about Mount Fuji, was named Yamabe-no-Akahito and flourished around 648–736. Since heaven parted from the earth there has been soaring Mt Fuji in Suruga’s skies. When I look up, I see the sun itself quite hidden by the peak; even the moon rides all obscured; while white clouds dare not pass its front. Our song of praise shall never end; Oh, Fuji peerless, oh, divine. This poem appears, translated by H.H. Honda, in ‘Stray Leaves from the Man’yoshu’, Hokuseido, Tokyo¯, 1965, p.20. It is also quoted in full by Alicia Matsunaga in her ‘The Buddhist Philosophy of Assimulation,’, p.205. It is interesting that this poet should have composed his work based on the sacred Fuji-san. Sun Tzu, Ping-fa, Ch. 1, v.1. I have followed the translation by General Samuel B. Griffith in his Sun Tzu, the Art of War, O.U.P., 1963. Tao Hanzhang, Sun Tzu’s Art of War, translated by Yuan Shibing, Sterling Publishing Co, Inc., New York, 2000. Hultkrantz, A., ‘Ecological and Phenomenological Aspects of Shamanism’, in Shamanism in Siberia, p.31. Ibid. p.30. Blacker, The Catalpa Bow, p.24. Hori Ichiro¯, Folk Religion in Japan, University of Chicago Press, 1968, pp.182–3. Blacker, pp.19–33.

ENDNOTES 29 30

31 32 33 34 35

36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53 54

55

191

Gorman, pp.86 and 114. The warrior-yamabushi were, in the late-Muromachi, frequently employed as secret agents, (not as spies and certainly not as the apocryphal ‘ninja’ of popular romance). This was because, as priests, they were able to easily pass through the seki, barriers, and travel everywhere. Their bugei expertise made them valued sources of reliable information to the ambitious lords. This ‘abuse’ of their privileges led directly to their activities being severely curtailed, their fall from favour, and their eventual demise in mid-Bakumatsu. Eliade, Notes 63 and 63, p.479. Ibid, p.450. Ibid, p.470 ff. and Aldhouse-Green, p.131. Robinson, B.W., The Arts of the Japanese Sword, Faber & Faber, London, 1970, p.19. Gorman, M., in personal conversation with the author at Kurashiki-shi, Okayama-ken, October 2002. Slawik, Kultische Geheimbünde der Japaner und Germanen, pp.69 ff. (Quoted by Eliade, p.473.) Haguenauer, C., Origines, pp.178–9. (Eliade, p. 464.) Eliade, p.395. Ibid, p.395. Ibid, pp.400–401. Ibid, p.401. Blacker, p.225. Kato¯ Urasaburo¯-sensei, at Narita-shi, Chiba-ken, Spring 1982. Gokui: the inner teachings, or secret levels, within all ko-ryu¯ transmissions. Yahagi-sensei, at Kashima-jingu, with Jeffrey Dann, Ph.D., February 1976. Aston, Shinto¯ (the Way of the Gods), London, 1905, p.113, comments: ‘the “doorless shed” here mentioned, is a “parturition house” (a place of delivery)’. He adds: ‘The burning of the parturition represents the ordeal by fire, which, with the ordeal by boiling water or mud, is well-known in Japan.’ The origin was supposed to hark back to the time of Prince Ninigi, the ‘Heavenly Grandson’, when his wife was brought to couch in western Kyu¯shu¯ (Hyuga province) at the time of the first ‘land-taking’. (Nihon-shoki) The author witnessed two enormous drums, each fully five feet in diameter and mounted horizontally, beaten simultaneously during a festival calling on the benign support of the deities on a quarter in Matsue-shi, Shimane prefecture, April 2008. The drumming on both drums was performed by many people doing their best to maintain the intricate repetitive rhythms. Many shrine authorities have little or no valuable knowledge of the actual purpose of their traditions of drumming, mostly due to the drastic cultural loss caused by the Meiji Reforms of 1873 when Shinto¯ became an affair of the State and was separated from Buddhism. Shugendo¯ also suffered a major loss shrinking in size by as much as ninety per cent. The forms of drumming appear to retain but little of the underlying meanings. The pacification campaigns continued as late as the eleventh century although probably the southern half of the island chain was quiet by the eighth century or just after. According to Yahagi-sensei, a senior gu¯ji at the Kashima-jingu in January to April 1976. One document, surviving in a fragmented state, refers to the Urabe-ke and the use of the sword at the shrine in the mid-seventh century. How much reliance can be placed on this is difficult to say. A personal discussion with Jeffrey Dann, Ph.D., and myself at the shrine during the above period. A curious survival prevalent amongst all four of the major ko-ryu¯ flourishing at Kashima and Katori is the use of straight bokuto¯ in their practice. These straight wooden practice swords (weapons not mere training tools, please note) date back in form to the straight tsurugi swords of the Yamato period. Refer to Knutsen, Rediscovering Budo, for a fuller account. These two deity-general’s names appear on tablets housed in a special tabernacle on the kamidana, god shelf, in every traditional Kendo¯-do¯jo¯ but are rarely found in modern do¯jo¯. Ishjamts, N., ‘The Nomads in Eastern Central Asia’, in History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. II, Unesco Publishing, Paris, 1994, pp.164–5. Aldhouse-Green, p.13. See Blacker, pp.70–5, concerning the Maribito¯ and the Namahage, weird horned figures where men have assumed the guise of kami during a matsuri (festival). Sometimes, within the bugei, one comes across a master who possesses the ‘charisma’ to permit his students to not only ‘see’ their invisible opponents but also to be ‘unable’ to control these

192

56 57 58 59 60 61 62

63

64

65

66 67 68

69

70

71

72

73

74 75

76 77

78

ENDNOTES

‘phantoms’. It is a rare ability, very close to ‘pure theatre’, that often singles out a great teacher. (See entry on Sumo¯ wrestling with the ta-no-kami. p.73.) Sun Tzu, Ping-fa, (The Art of War’), translated by Samuel Griffiths – Estimates, Ch 1, v.17. See Knutsen, Sun Tzu etc, pp.157–61, and Rediscovering Budo, pp.212. Stevens, John: The Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei. Highly recommended and informative. Stevens: Various entries describing do¯iri. I have added ‘recluse’ (author). Blacker, p.168. Refer to Nicola di Cosmo, Ancient China and Its Enemies, The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History, Cambridge University Press, Pbk., 2004. See Gina Barnes, State Formation in Korea – Historical and Archaeological Perspectives. The Curzon Press, 2001, pp.25–6. Some authorities think that the Puyo¯ ‘capital’ was on the Sungari River for an unspecified period before the main movement east was fully under weigh. (Barnes, see note 66 below.) Refer to Barnes, Gina L; State Formation in Korea, Historical and Archaeological Perspectives, Curzon Press, 2001. Barnes, Gina; The Rise of Civilization in East Asia, etc, Thames & Hudson, Pbk, 1999, p.165. See Gorman, Michael, The Quest for Kibi, p.46. Both the Hyo¯go Prefectural Museum and the Ko¯be Maritime Museum had full size reconstructions of these ancient boats, giving an excellent idea of their capacity, the difficulty of steering and the hazards of navigation in other than relatively calm waters. We should accept the possibility that there were two military ‘commanders’, the second being Futsunushi. Kami: this is a term that covers a wide range of meanings from tutelary deities, the spirits of many objects natural or manufactured, ancestral forebears, mountains, etc., etc. It is difficult not to make use of the term in the Japanese context but in this book I shall try to apply it to the accepted Shinto¯ spirits and the term ‘deity’ for those gods associated with East-Asian shamanism and, later, Shugendo¯ and, possibly, esoteric Buddhism, although in the latter case we are describing certain bodhisattva, deities thought to have been absorbed by Buddhism. The ‘Wa’ are also identified with the Yamatai and were described in the Chinese Wei-shi chronicle written in the fourth century. These two shrines are the large Kumano Hayatama-taisha and the other, the very small Kamikura-jinja. A further important site in Shingu is the ancient Asuka-jinja that stands on the remains of a Yayoi settlement. The Hayatama-taisha is one of the three great shrines in Kumano. The kamisama is Isanagi-no-kami, the ‘creator’ of the Japanese archipelago. Very interestingly, the first three kami named in the Kojiki are also enshrined in a tiny structure compared to the other mighty honden. These kami are: Toyokumo-nu (‘Cloud Master’), U-Hiji-nu (‘First Mud’) and Su-hiji-ni (‘Sand and Mud’) The sequence and meanings of these names suggest an advance guard first sighting land, then looking for a suitable place to land, and finally landing on firm ground. The Kamikura-jinja is perched sixty metres up a very steep mountainside below an outcrop of enormous rocks. It was believed in ancient times that it was here that a deity resided after coming down from Heaven. According to Gorman, Kibi probably finally fell under the sway of the Yamato in 540 under the ‘Emperor’ Kemmei. pp.81 et seq. Kurgan: burial mounds found across the whole of the steppe regions. Kashima: reached in ancient times (and to the end of the nineteenth century) across the extensive eastern Kanto¯ marshes, the meandering Tone-gawa and two lakes, or their mouths, that necessitated the use of boats. Alternatively, the route may have followed the slightly higher sandstone hills on the south side of the Tega marsh area that would bring the determined traveller to where the sacred site of Katori-jingu now stands; or again, the route may have circled north of the Tega marshes to Mito and thence south along the Pacific coast. Up to the late 1930s the first route across the two lakes, Kasumiga-ura and Kita-ura, took two full days from Tokyo. Antler: Jap. sakaku. A crown excavated from Hwangnam daech’ong, North Mound, Kyo¯gju, 1974. This was in the territory of Silla, fifth-sixth century. Longest pendants 30.3 cm. Fashioned from cut sheet gold and thought to have been for ritual or funerary use only as they are described nowhere in historical records. Many other such crowns have been recovered from Paekche and Kaya. (British Museum, Treasures from Korea, Art through the Ages, 1984, No. 93, p.98.) Kidder, Fig. 11, pp.98–9.

ENDNOTES 79 80 81 82 83

84 85

86 87

88

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92 93 94

95 96 97

98

99

100 101

102 103

104 105

106 107

193

Ibid. p.105. Ibid. p.105. See Eliade for a number of observations on this subject. Eliade, p.9. Tugutov, I.E., ‘The Tailagan as a Principal Shamanistic Ritual of the Buryats’, in Shamanism in Siberia, p.267. Krader, L., ‘Shamanism: Theory and History in Buryat Society’, in Shamanism in Siberia, p.192. The term ‘kuwagata’ derives from the word for an agricultural hoe, a kuwa. The hoe, in turn, developed from the prehistoric use of cropped deer antlers used for loosening and turning over the soil. It is an interesting transference of meaning, particularly regarding the length of time this term has been in use. The Japanese were usually adept at coining appropriate names for specific functions. Sasama Yoshihiko, Nihon Katchu¯-bugu Jiten, Kashiwa-sho¯bo¯, Tokyo¯, 1981, p.4. H. Russell Robinson, HM Royal Armouries, in personal discussion, between 1957 and 1965. Also see Nicola Cosmo, Ancient China and Its Enemies, pp.38–43. Whilst there are many papers published by archaeological museums in Japan, of particular interest here are ‘The World of Bronze’, (Topography Museum, Yagumo, Shimane-ken, 1988; ‘Japan and Korea Iron Age Culture Symposium’ and ‘The Culture of Iron connected by the Japan Sea’, Okadayama Museum, Shimane-ken, both published in 2002. (All three in Japanese language but with copious illustrations.) There was undoubtedly a degree of intermixing in both the weapons technology and on the spiritual concepts as the Puyo¯ movements down through Korea came increasingly into contact with the Chinese Commanderies. I would suggest that some swordsmiths were influenced by Chinese imagery of dragons and this has led to incorrect identification of these later intaglio griffin. David Hall explains that Marishi-ten was known in China as Mo-lichi-tien, or alternatively as Tou-mu or Tou-lao, the ‘Mother of the Big Dipper’ or ‘Goddess of the Pole Star’. He specifically refers to the military Taoism of the Wu-tang-Shan mountains in Northern China. (Koryu Bujutsu, etc., p.89.) Two studies are recommended reading. The first is Guilaine J. and Zammit J., The Origins of War: Violence in Prehistory, Blackwell Publishing, 2005; and the second Keeley L.H., War before Civilization: the Myth of the Peaceful Savage, Oxford U.P., 1996. The authors of both works give extensive bibliographies for further study. Kuroki, Y., Historical View of Bujutsu Origins (Japanese Language), Saga, Japan, ca. 1975. Sakaki: (L) Clayera ochnacea, the sacred tree of Shinto¯. Excellent illustrations of these exhibits appear on p.38 of the Institute’s fine brochure, pub. 1997. Mayer, pp.29–30 Ibid. pp.38 passim. Mayer reports that one expedition recorded finding more than two tons of these remains in just two summer seasons. They were even reported to be a nuisance! An excellent example clearly linking griffin to ritual can be seen in the mosaic floors at the Brading Roman villa site on the Isle of Wight. The confusion over the interpretation of these ‘bird’ images continues to the present time; some historians and anthropologists describing them variously as ‘eagles’, ‘hawks’, ‘ravens’ or ‘crows’, seemingly depending of which particular culture they are dealing with. Comparative study of the genesis of these images should resolve the matter? Rohl, D., Legend: The Genesis of Civilization, A Test of Time, Vol II, Century, London 1998. Wake, Matthew: In terms of Origin, development and Practice, to what extent does the Korean Shamaness resemble her nearest Japanese Counterpart?, Unpub. Thesis to satisfy part of Honours Degree in East Asian Studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences, EAS 337/338, May 1997. Joly, London, 1915, p.364. Clottes, J. and Lewis-Williams, D., The Shaman of Prehistory; Trance and Magic in the Painted Caves, N.Y., 1998. Miyamoto Kesao, Tengu and Shugenja, (Japanese language), Japan, 1989, p.55. Aldhouse-Green, Miranda and Stephen, The Quest for the Shaman: Shape-shifters, Sorcerers and Spirit-healers of Ancient Europe, Thames and Hudson, 2005. Vilmos Diószegi, died 22 July 1972. Published in English by S. Simon, by the Akadémiai Kiadó, Shamanism in Siberia, Bibliotheca Uralica, I., Budapest, 1978.

194 108 109 110 111

112 113 114 115

116

117

118 119 120

121

122 123

124 125

126 127 128 129

130 131 132 133 134 135 136

137

138

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ENDNOTES

Ibid, p.11 Ibid, p.11 Ibid. p.172, (L.P. Potapov). Both gloves and the decorative panel were printed with either a simplified cherry blossom design or with the stylized waterlily flowers. Diószegi, p.112. Diószegi, pp.112–14, and Potapov, pp.172–3. Kidder, Early Japanese Art, fig.6, pp.62–3. See Gina Barnes, State Formation in Korea, etc,. pp.134–49, for a discussion of armour development in this period. She cites her source for helmets similar to the Gion kofun example as Anazawa, W. and Manome, J., Nanbu Cho¯sen shutsudo no tessei byo¯dome kachu¯, (Riveted iron armour unearthed in southern Korea), in J. Nogami (ed.) Ronshu¯ bugu, 235–9, Tokyo¯; Gakuseisha, 1991. ( Japanese language). Diószegi, in discussing in great detail Pre-Islamic Shamanism of the Baraba Turks, etc., and the bura on their drums, (Shamanism in Siberia, p.128), notes that the Khakas people sometimes pictured strange mythical animals, ‘sea-monsters’, whose appearance is not entirely clear. Their name for these was ker palyq, meaning a fish. These ker palyq are depicted as ‘a dreadful, enormous monster that lives at the bottom of the sea’. The function of these monsters was to assist in healing ‘abscesses’. Diószegi, quoting Bang, W., Beiträge zur Kritik des Codex Cumanicus, considers that the origin of this name must come from the Kuman name for the Black Sea, far distant to the Altai, which is Kär-balyq (-tän¸iz) ‘(sea of the) giant fish’. Ledyard, Gari, ‘Galloping Along with the Horseriders: Looking for the Founders of Japan’, Journal of Japanese Studies, Columbia University, 1974. Aston, W.G., Nihongi, I, 37. Potapov, Shamanism in Siberia, pp.172–6. Author’s Note: It is surprising that, so far as I am aware, this connection has escaped notice elsewhere, though it is possible that it has been covered in Japanese language studies. Diószegi, V., ‘Pre-Islamic Shamanism of the Baraba Turks and some Ethnogenetic Conclusions’, in Shamanism in Siberia, pp.135f. Eliade, pp.192 and 198f. This was the opinion stated by H. Russell Robinson, late of the Royal Armouries, H.M. Tower of London. Refer also to Nicolle, D. (Ed), Companion to Medieval Arms and Armour, The Boydell Press, 2002. Herbert, Shinto¯, etc., pp.442–4. In the reign of the ‘Emperor’ Seinei (Nihon Shoki: Pt.I, p.375, Aston trans.), there is a reference to the Omi of Upper Kibi, mentioning the ‘Yamamori-be’, or ‘Mountain Wardens’ who despatched forty war vessels to the aid the ‘Emperor’ Ojin’s brother due to a disturbance at the Court. Diószegi, Shamanism in Siberia, p.128. Eliade, M., Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, London, 1958. Blacker, C., The Catalpa Bow, p.26. Here, I refer to the miko as she was before her reduced role after the Meiji religious reform in 1872. Blacker, p.22. Ibid, p.24. Ibid, p.25. Eliade, pp.412–14. Blacker, p.26. Mizugori: occasionally termed ‘mitarashi’ as at the Kashima-jingu, Ibaragi-ken. Twenty-five years ago I came across a mizugori tank high on the mountainside of Ho¯raiji in Aichi-ken. This basin was fed by a natural spring issuing from a rocky shoulder just above. Under the lip of this small cliff was a statue of Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯. Ho¯raiji has a Shingon temple at its foot but is also a well-known place used by the Shugendo¯ yamabushi for esoteric ritual. Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, Hamlyn, 1962, p.242. This is only a brief description. For a fuller discussion refer to Miranda and Stephen Aldhouse-Green, The Quest for the Shaman, pp.188–91. Kamishimo, a sleeveless over-‘jacket’ with stiffened shoulders worn on formal duties by samurai. Draeger, D.F., Classical Bujutsu, The Classical Arts and Ways of Japan: Vol.I, Weatherhill, New York, 1973, p.90.

ENDNOTES 140 141

142

143 144

145 146

147

148

149

150

151 152

153

154 155 156

157 158 159 160

161

162

163

195

For a fuller and succinct discussion, refer to Blacker, The Catalpa Bow, Ch. 1. It is recorded that the Hayato ‘dog-guardians’ continued to serve in the processional duties until well into the Edo period. The mountains on the eastern side of this large lake have always been considered particularly sacred and it is here we find the important linked double shrine of the Suwa-taisha where the principle deity is Taka-mi-nakata-no-kami. This kami, whose totem was an antlered deer, violently opposed Takemika-dzouchi, the leader of the pacification forces, but was defeated, it is believed after a series of magical rituals and, just before he was to be executed, he submitted along with several related tribes. See Herbert, J., Shinto¯, etc., pp.344–5. Yatagarasu: the myths may have originated from China Grappard, A.G., The protocol of the Gods: A Study of the Kasuga Cult in Japanese History, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1992. p.20. Ibid, p.22. General Griffith comments in his translation of Sun Tzu, p.169, that while there are eighth century references to works that probably contained military treatises arriving in Japan, the Nihon Shoki has an entry for the year 516 when a Chinese scholar brought numbers of writings, including the Five Classics, to the High Chieftain, Keitai. In the year 525, Keitai paraphrases Sun Tzu that ‘on a great commander depends the lives of the people and the existence of the State’. It should be noted that the term ‘Shinto¯’ was not in common use until the later medieval period. We need to make a distinction between the animistic nature of Sankaku-shinko¯ on the one hand, and Shizen-Shinto¯ (‘Nature’), on the other. The former was spirit and nature worship in an unformalized state, whereas the latter was structured, according to Günter Nitsche, on the dynamic, non-stationary quality of the agricultural deity, venerated as a yama-no-kami in winter and a ta-no-kami, or field deity, from spring to autumn. The main festivals were related to ‘calling down the deity’, kami-oroshi, to welcome him to the field, and kami-age, ‘sending up the deity’ to the mountain. (Nitsche, G., From Shinto to Ando: Studies in Architectural Anthropology in Japan, Academy Editions, Ernst & Sohn, London, 1993, pp.22–3.) For a lengthier discussion see Tsukushi Nobuzane, Amaterasu no tanjo¯, (The Birth of the Sun Deity ), Tokyo¯, Kadogawa Shin-sho, 1964, Kamigami no furusato (The Birthplace of the Gods), Tokyo¯, Shuei-shuppan, 1970. (From Shinto¯ to Ando, pp.24–5.) Some authorities assert that many ascetics came from the Asiatic mainland, and while this may be true of numbers of early Buddhist monks, more positive information seems to be lacking. The question is: were these monks or Taoist ‘magicians’ invited or did they, in some cases, simply travel to settle in the Japanese mountains? Carmen Blacker, The Catalpa Bow, p.96. Key characters from some of the dha¯rani are often found engraved as bonji on weapon blades intended to secure the owner from injury. The exhortation quoted was noted down at the Yoshino Kimpusen-ji, April 2008. For a full description of these forms, see Knutsen, Rediscovering Budo, pp.235–7; and for a more detailed discussions of the ritual see Hall, Marishiten, pp.230–9, and Otake, Katori Shinto¯-ryu¯, pp.247–55. Otake, p.196. Ibid. p.196. Those tribes who actively resisted the passage of the Yamato settlers through Kumano en route to Asoka. Refer to Gorman, The Quest for Kibi. Ubasoku: a recluse, a magician, or an ascetic hermit. Blacker, pp.209–10 See Carmen Blacker for a full description of these female mediums and their origins in Central Asia and Korea. Extirpation of snakes? Possibly an euphemism for akuto¯ and other dangerous groups, including the pockets of aboriginal emishi. There are many mountains, valleys and rock formations that carry the name ‘Tengu-yama’, etc., all across the islands of the Japanese archipelago. How ancient these names are cannot be determined since there are few early records prior to the tenth century. Some of them are associated with legends in the folklore but these legends may be later accretions. This form of Buddhism is known as the Mahâyâna, or ‘Lesser Vehicle’ and began to form and spread across Asia in the first two centuries CE.

196 164 165 166

167 168

169

170 171

172 173 174 175

176 177

178 179 180

181 182

183 184

185 186

187

188 189

190

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ENDNOTES

This was Saicho¯’s posthumous name. Stevens, J.: The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei, Rider, Century Hutchinson, London, 1989. Ningpo¯ was not just a trading port of entry for ships from Japan, it was also an important centre for Buddhism. It was also named Beishu¯ or Keigenfu. Amongst the temples found there were the Enkei-ji, the Kaigen-ji, the Tendou-ji, the Enin-ji, the Geppa-ji and the Sonkyo¯-ji. Tendai Mountain and the famous Fuda Mountain nearby made this an ideal place for Japanese monks to visit and study. (Sugihara Takuya, final chapter.) Ku¯kai is better known by his posthumous name: Ko¯bo¯ Daishi. Heijo¯-tenno¯, who reigned just three years before retiring in favour of his brother, Saga, was responsible for the capital moving to Nara. Taiko¯ Yamasaki, Shingon, Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, Shambala, London, 1988, is recommended for a fuller discussion of the history and nature of Shingon-shu¯. Carmen Blacker, The Catalpa Bow, p.96. All references to the Hokkegenki are taken from the translation of the Daihokoku hokekyo¯kenki by Yoshiko Kurata Dykstra, published by the Intercultural Research Institute, Tokyo¯, 1983. One Chinese source was the Fa-hua-yen-chi compiled by I-chi, ca. 991. Ibid. p.155. Ibid. p.176. Tottori-ken seems to have been an important cult-centre, too. (Personal note after a visit to the Prefectural Museum in Tottori-shi, April 1998.) Carmen Blacker gives a spirited description of Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ in her study, above, p.177. Taimitsu: these are the esoteric practices in Tendai tantrism doctrine. The equivalent in Shingon tantrism is known as To¯mitsu. David Hall, Marishiten, p.191. Carmen Blacker, pp.264–6. Miyake Hitoshi, (Ed. Gaynor Sekimori), The Mandala of the Mountain. Shugend¯o and Folk Religion. Keio University Press, Japan, 2005. Ibid. pp.49–50. Professor Hazard, in personal correspondence (1964) suggested that around 70% of the kuge, aristocratic families, traced their descent from Puyo¯-Kayan ancestry. Miyake Hitoshi, Mandala etc., p.50. Mudra¯: symbolic hand ‘seals’ used in Buddhist, Taoist, Shinto¯, and Shugendo¯ ritual, sometimes differing in both meaning and form. These mudra¯ are thought to have derived from very ancient times in Mesopotamia or Egypt. Refer to E. Dale Saunders, Mudra¯. A study of Symbolic Gestures in Japanese Buddhist Sculpture, Princeton U.P., 1960. This took place on the 25 April 2008. The Ten Rasetsu Women protect those who recite the Lotus Sutra. (Dainihonkoku hokekyo¯kenki of Priest Chingen, I : 17.) Mahâyâna, or Lesser Vehicle’ Buddhism was formulated to attract adherents who otherwise may have followed the teachings and practices of the triad of ‘terrible’ Vedic-Hindu deities, Ka¯lı¯, Durga¯ and Candı¯. Sugihara Takuya, Fig. 49, p.176. The iron treasure towers derive from King Senko¯shuku of Goetsu who, in the year 955, had eighty-thousand of the small towers, each containing holy scriptures, made and distributed across the country. His inspiration came from King Ashoka who, in ancient times, built the same number of Buddhist towers, or stu¯pa. ‘Five Hundred Rakans’, Boston Gallery (‘Kansha Riko¯zu’ General Funds 95.6., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (Sugihara, p.218.) The depiction of ‘daemons’ in Western art permitted artists a much freer exercising of their imagination, a trait we see in full ‘flight’ in the late-medieval and Renaissance paintings. All these concepts were deeply influenced by the Church. Two early examples (Spanish) of a more restrained approach, are possibly influenced by Moorish roots deriving from Persia. The first is an illustration in the Douce Apocalypse, ca. 800 CE, depicting the locusts (winged equestrian figures with crowned human heads), led by Abaddon, or Apollyon, with a clearly Semitic hooked nose riding a humanheaded horse. These riders are trampling non-Christians. (Revelation: 9 : 7–10.) (Bodleian Library, Oxford.) The second is from the eleventh century in the Beatus of Ferdinand I, painted in 1047, showing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Revelations: 6 : 1–8), and in particular the winged and clawed beast that hovers behind the fourth rider: ‘and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him’. (Revelations: 6 : 8.) (Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid.) Gilles Quispel, The Secret Book of Revelation, Collins, London, 1979, pp.150 and 154.

ENDNOTES 192

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195

196

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199 200

201 202

203

204

205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214

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Reference: Chozan Shissai, Zen and Confucius in the Art of Swordsmanship, The Tengu-geijutsu-ron, Ed. Reinhard Kammer, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1978; and Issai Chozanshi, The Demon’s Sermon on the Martial Arts, Translated by William Scott Wilson, Kodansha International, Japan. The bugeisha would recoil in horror at the thought of groups of non-Japanese students forming a fraternity for the study of, shall we say, ‘Medieval Japanese Swordplay’. Such an approach would be unthinkable. Yamabushi does not mean ‘mountain warrior’ but ‘one who lies down (on his left side) to pray’. The Irish triad connected closely with battle and warriors, were the Morrigan, Macha and Medb. Another group connected to wisdom, warfare and magic were Sencha, Fergus, and Cathbad. A third deity who may be added to these is named Scáthach, who possessed great powers of sorcery and magic. So¯hei: Armed protectors recruited by many Buddhist monasteries and abbeys to defend their interests. By the mid- to late-Heian period some of these groups were very large. The so¯hei were permitted to call themselves ‘lay-monks’ but, in fact, they were often little more than a rabble of discontents, absconding peasants, former bandits fleeing retribution, and criminals. They were definitely not to be confused with the yamabushi despite their willingness to bear arms – and use them. Gantei, the founder of Kurama-dera, was a pupil of Ganjin, a prelate of the To¯sho¯dai-ji in Nara. In 796 more buildings were added to the first structure by the archbishop of the To¯ji. See Knutsen, Rediscovering Budo¯, etc, pp.190–1. The relatively small area is still clear but on one side is a small medieval temple named the Fudo¯-do¯ dedicated, naturally, to Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ and there are two smaller Shinto¯ miya tucked unobtrusively under the cedars. Ibid, p.191. It should be noted that opinions concerning the actual connection with Ushiwaka-maru are divided. The bugei historian, Watatani Kiyoshi, and some others, feel that the link is plausible. Refer, also, to David Hall, Marishiten, p.246. Donn Draeger and I visited Watatani Kiyoshi in March 1976, and this subject was discussed at that time. Later, I also debated it with another bugei historian, Dr Kuroki Toshihiro, whilst at Saga University, Saga-shi. His opinion reflected that of Watatani-san. Waley, A., The N ¯o Plays of Japan, Tuttle, 1976, p.77. Both these alleged remarks also reflect the deeper Confucian philosophies underpinning civilized discipline in rei-ho¯, that is expressed in self-discipline on the one hand, and ‘enforced’ discipline ‘under the rule of law’, on the other. ¯ no¯ Sho¯kan in the Tensho¯ nengo¯, around The Kurama-ryu¯ is said to have been founded by O 1573, with the 17th s¯oke being Shibata Tatsuo (Koryu Books), but Ozawa, ku-dan Hanshi believed the foundation date to be nearer the beginning of the Sengoku-jidai, ca. 1500–10. (Comment by Ozawa-sensei during visit to the Butokukan Do¯jo¯, Brighton, England, in 1972 and repeated at his own do¯jo¯ in Saitama-ken three years later.) I have a copy of a western article concerning the late-Ueshiba Morihei arguing such a claim and recounting a considerably embellished account of the So¯jo¯-no-tani and Ushiwaka. At the risk of upsetting the applecart, I shall quote a certain great modern authority who said that ‘modern Aikido¯ was hardly heard of before 1960’. On the other hand, it is a matter of fact that Ueshiba Morihei sensei (1883–1969) devised his system in the early twentieth century, partially based on a number of the existing ju-jutsu and yawara traditions. (Refer to Draeger, Modern Bujutsu and Budo, for more details of the life of this master.) In this account the name of the tengu master is given as ‘Sho¯jo¯-bo¯’. Knutsen: ‘Rediscovering Budo’, p.194. Taiheiki, Ch. 30, 1. Knutsen, Rediscovering Budo, pp.195–8. Taiheiki, Ch. 30, 1. See John Stevens, The Marathon Monks etc. for more details of the Hiei kaiho¯gyo¯. Shiba: brushwood, hence, presumably, a blade used to cut kindling. See Knutsen and Knutsen, Japanese Spears, etc., Global Oriental, 2004. Yoshikawa Koichiro¯, late-headmaster, Kashima Shinto¯-ryu¯, in personal instruction, March 1976. Knutsen, Rediscovering Budo, p.43 Tetsu-bo¯. There are two excellent examples of both round and fluted tetsu-bo¯ in the British Museum, possibly part of the Nathaniel Lloyd Bequest. These two weapons were displayed in a wall cabinet in the Ethnographic Gallery.but have not been seen for a number of years. E. Dale Saunders, Mudra¯, p.145.

198 216

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224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238

239

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ENDNOTES

An example of a Chinese ‘sasumata’ in the author’s collection, formerly in the Captain Raymond Johns’ Collection, is as described. However, a gift of two complete sets of newlymade Chinese polearms intended for ceremonies of state in late nineteenth-century China, presented to Queen Victoria by the last Chinese Empress, have properly bladed ‘sasumata’ that are certainly tridents. (H.M. Tower of London, Royal Armouries.) Kamo¯ Jisaku, a famous master of both Iai and Kendo¯ who passed away in 1981, paraphrased these: ‘Principles’ in a much clearer and simpler manner, having little liking for complex academic descriptions. ‘Progress (in the bugei) can be likened to planting a tiny sprouting seedling that gradually grows taller and puts forth two leaves; after this, it grows to have a few small branches and flowers. The next year or so it not only flowers but gives the first fruit. By now it is a fine young sapling. A few years later our tiny seedling is a sturdy, vigorous tree and, in time, fully grown with many branches stretching out in all directions. This is the way of understanding, only in the course of time and with the careful guidance of excellent masters can we “free” our minds and really “know”.’ Saunders, Mudra¯, pp.179–81. This statement is interesting in that quite a number of the best bokuto¯ and other practice weapons used in the bugei, certainly within the Tokugawa period, have been fashioned from the very hard, close-grained, Chinese rosewood. This wood derives from the north-western part of Manchuria and across the borders into Mongolia. Such weapons, because of the nature and severity of impact during practice, require the strength and resistance to splintering rarely found in native hardwoods. Only oak cut and slowly seasoned from the far north of Honshu¯ and Hokkaido¯ promises the desired qualities. Perhaps knowledge of these suitable hardwoods entered Japan with the migrating Puyo¯ as part of their advanced weapon technology? Again, H. Russell Robinson of the Royal Armouries, pointed out that it was his opinion that where in the northern hemisphere iron weapons of war came into use after the Bronze Age, the main centres of skill with swords in particular, were in north-western Europe and in Japan. It was in these areas that suitable hardwood facilitated the development of combat skills in training. (H.Russell Robinson. ca. 1958.) Ibid, pp.157–8. In the author’s possession are two examples of the jumonji-yari with three blades, the outer pair being turned upwards in the manner of the Sanko-geki. Ibid, p.148. For a full discussion see Knutsen, Sun Tzu, etc. Saunders, Mudra¯, p.187. Bishamon-ho¯ko¯: This description supplied by H. Russell Robinson, The Royal Armouries, London, in 1958. Mudra¯, pp.150–1. Ibid. pp.192–5. Ibid. p.145. Ibid, p.148 Ibid, p.192. Ibid. pp.154–6. Ibid. pp.182–91. ‘Aoi-no-uya’, trans. by Arthur Waley, Charles Tuttle, 1981. For the association with Sugawara Michizane (845–903), see Herbert, Shinto¯, p.105. Miranda and Stephen Aldhouse-Green, pp.12–14, for a more detailed discussion. Herbert, Shinto¯, p.103. Ibid. p.104, from Ponsonby-Fane, Studies in Shinto¯ and Shrines, 1957, n.591. Snorri Sturluson, Edda, trans. Anthony Faulkes, pub. Everyman, 1995, p.53. Snorri Sturluson, Poetic Edda, trans. Lee Hollander, University of Texas, 1999. This was the opinion of H. Russell Robinson, H.M. Royal Armouries, in personal conversation with the author in 1958. This was the case of a description of several upper levels of the Kashima Shinto¯-ryu¯ that were presented to the then headmaster in the Yoshikawa line at the beginning of the nineteenth century by a swordsman who had spent some years studying the ryu¯ and had returned to Ise province. The gift is preserved still and has proved of great value in assessing the subtle changes that have entered the teaching in the past one-hundred-and-eighty years. (Information to the author in conversation with the late-headmaster, Yoshikawa Koichiro¯-sensei, in 1976.) Sun Tzu, The Art of War, trans. Samuel Griffith, OUP, 1980, Ch. XIII, v.12, Gloss, (p.147), and Notes, p.185. Mudra¯, p.158.

ENDNOTES 242

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245 246 247

248 249

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251 252

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256 257 258

259 260 261 262

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This scroll was offered on e-Bay on 13 June 2008, eventually selling for approximately £250.00. It was offered by a vendor in Osaka. There is an interesting parallel here with the three manuscripts produced in Germany by Hans Talhoffer and dating from 1443, 1459 and 1467 respectively. The first two of these manuals on the Art of War were certainly drawn by Talhoffer, himself, whereas the last is far more professional and detailed. The latter must be the work of a talented artist/student working directly under the guidance of the master. See Wierschin, Martin; Meister Johann Liechtenauers Kunst des Fechtens, C.H. Beck’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München, 1965, and Talhoffer, Hans; Medieval Combat, Translated and Edited by Mark Rector, Greenhill Books, London, 2000., and Knutsen, Sun Tzu, etc., Global Oriental, 2006. Amongst these historians, pre-eminent stands Yamada Jirokichi. He points out several times in his Nihon Kendo¯-shi that numbers of Japanese kenshi travelled to China in the late-Muromachi to further their understanding of the Arts of War. Knutsen, Sun Tzu, etc., pp.137 et seq. Ibid. pp.152–3. These densho¯ were collected in and around Saga-shi by the late Professor Kuroki Toshihiro and are now in the possession of Saga University. Photographed in 1976 by the author in the Dept. of History, Saga Daigakuen. Knutsen, Sun Tzu, pp.59–60 and 96–7. This tora-no-maki is in the possession of the author and his wife, the gift of Takami Taizo¯-sensei, Kendo¯ and Iai-jutsu, in 1964. Yamamoto Kansuke, Heiho-Okigisho, (The Secret of High Strategy), translated by Obata Toshihiro, Hawley Publications, Hollywood, California, 1994, pp. 11–12. Yamamoto-taisho¯ continues with: ‘Besides these three, there is another person who is called a ha-heiho-sha. This person fights very well when he is enthusiastic or energetic, but when he is feeling depressed he does poorly. This person says that strategy is part of the mind so there is no need to study it. However, they do not use their mind, running away instead when they are afraid, and they die shamefully. They disgrace their name and bring ruin on their family.’ Sun Tzu: The Art of War, Ch. I. ‘Estimates’, v.i. (Griffith trans. p.63). Referring to the surviving Roman tessellated pavement to be seen in the remains displayed at Brading, the Isle of Wight, we see that the two winged griffin are associated with a ‘priest’ wearing a feathered mask. It is likely that this villa was part of the quarters used by the Roman forces garrisoning Wight and that these troops may have originated from the eastern empire. The still extant Taisha-ryu¯, that traces its descent back to the Kage-no-ryu¯, accompanies some forms where the movement is sharp and bird-like, with harsh ‘karasu’ kiai. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the present century, the rei made at the commencement and end of each ‘free’ keiko practice is observed more in the breach than in the commission. This comment is applied specifically to Kendo¯ rather than any other entity. Whereas in old Kendo¯, and certainly up the revival of the sword training just after the Second World War, this custom widely continued, now it is the exception rather than the rule. Refer to Knutsen, Rediscovery of Budo¯ for discussion. Kuroki Toshihiro, Historical View of Bujutsu Origins, (Japanese Language), Saga, Japan, ca. 1975. Griffith, Sun Tzu etc., p.169. Refer to Ledyard, Gari; Galloping Along with the Horseriders, etc., Columbia University, 1974. The Big Dipper: Chinese Tu-mou, the ‘Dipper Mother’, thought to derive from the Tantric deity, Ma¯rı¯cı¯, and adopted by Taoism. For the interpretation of the term ‘invisibility’ in the bugei, refer to Knutsen, Sun Tzu, etc. Sun Tzu, Ch.13, v.12 (Griffith’ translation, p.147). There seems to me to be not one reason why this solemn obligation should not apply today. The ‘shu¯’ stage in the Kashima Shinto¯-ryu¯, as an example, is considered to take twelve years in the ¯omote-do¯, ‘introductory’, level. This is before the student passes on to the second level of kata. This is not to say that he will receive no instruction in the use of a range of weapons (jutsu) in the interim, just that this level of training will not be in formal technique. Often such strictures depend on the ability of the individual deshi. Explanation given, personally, by Yoshikawa Koichiro¯ sensei, late-s¯oke of the Kashima Shinto¯-ryu¯ (March 1976 at Kashima-jingu, Ibaragi-ken) in which he held the view that the present tradition had descended successively from the Kashima-Jo¯ko¯-ryu¯ through the Kashima-Chuko¯-ryu¯ to its reformulation by Tsukahara Bokuden as the Kashima Shinto¯-ryu¯ in the early Sengoku period.

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ENDNOTES

Yoshikawa sensei fully acknowledged that the early records were fragmented regarding the two earlier ryu¯ but here repeated the ancestral oral tradition within his family. It is believed that the earliest record of ‘systematic’ military instruction given to the sons of aristocrats was at the end of the Nara period in the year 789. (Source: Zen Nippon Kendo¯ Renmei.) An earlier reference to martial instruction exists in a fragmentary record pertaining to the origins of the Yoshikawa family preserved in the Kashima Jingu. This dates to the midseventh century. A dai-gu¯j at the shrine was convinced that this record was genuine. (Yahagi sensei in personal instruction with the author in February 1976.) Sawyer, Ralph D., (translator); The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, Westview Press, Oxford, 1993. For a full description of the rise of the warrior bushidan see Souri, P.E., The World turned upside down, trans. from the French by Kathe Roth, Pimlico (Random House), 2003, Ch. 2, pp.18–28. It is interesting that in the Kashima Shinto¯-ryu¯ tradition, the bo¯ is regarded as a yari that has lost ¯ kami –sensei, Kashima-jingu, February 1976.) its blade in battle. (O The historical background is discussed in greater detail in Knutsen and Knutsen, Japanese Spears, Global Oriental, 2004. Kuroki Toshihiro, Historical View of Bujutsu Origins, (Japanese language), Saga, Japan, ca. 1975) The introduction of the first single-edged curved swordblades seems to date from the end of the seventh century. It is of interest that single-‘edged’ straight bokuto¯ are employed in a number of very old ryu¯-ha of Bujutsu; notably, the Katori Shinto¯-ryu¯, the Matsumoto Bizenryu¯, the Kashima Shinto¯-ryu¯, the Kashima Jikishinkage-ryu¯, the Kashima Shin’ryu¯ and the Taisha-ryu¯. Whilst all these traditions were founded in the late-Muromachi period, they all believe their roots go much further back. Amongst the exhibits displayed at Fushimi-jo¯ (Kyo¯to) is an extremely old straight bokuto¯ – now badly wormed – alleged to have once belonged to Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune. If this were the case then it might suggest that Yoshitsune, the doyen of the bugei, practised with such an oak sword whilst living on Kurama-yama and training with the yamabushi-tengu. For a fuller picture refer to Farris, Heavenly Warriors, and Friday, Hired swords. It is interesting that neither of these authors make any mention of the yamabushi connections. The Abe had formerly been ‘barbarians’, the Yezo, as they were termed. The pacified Yezo were known as Fushu¯. With the weakening of the governor of Mutsu’s powers to enforce peace, Abe Yoritoki, a fushu¯ chieftain who was the governor’s military enforcer, gathered his strength and rose in rebellion. Part of the campaign is depicted on the famous Zenkunen-kassenno-emaki, painted in the late Kamakura Period (early fourteenth century, by Tosa Mitsuhiro). Unfortunately, other scrolls have been lost. For details and background to this very interesting war refer to: Sugawara Makoto, The Ancient Samurai, The East Publications Inc., Tokyo, 1986, pp.81–98. This war, too, is described by Sugawara Makoto in the book noted above, pp.109–22. Originally, the events illustrating the actions of Hachiman-taro¯ Yoshi-ie were recorded on four scrolls painted in the late-Kamakura period by Korehisa Hida-no-kami, one of which is now lost. The painting was titled the Gosannen-kassen-emaki. The ‘Eight’ Source Ryu¯: this collective term may not necessarily imply that the Bugei was based on just eight transmissions. The use of ‘Eight’ often meant ‘myriad’ or ‘many’. For example, the posture known as ‘hasso¯-no-kamae’ in swordsmanship is not limited to a possible eight techniques but suggests many possibilities, none of which are clear to the opponent. Sun Tzu , Ch. IV, v.25. For a deeper analysis of some of these forms in Iai-jutsu and their relationship to the principles of the Ping-fa, see Knutsen, Sun Tzu, etc. Global Oriental. According to Yoshikawa Koichiro¯ sensei, in medieval times these old bugei entities did nothing to give their secrets away. In live-blade matches, shinken-sho¯bu, where a fight was inevitable, the swordsman would use no specific technique passed to him by his masters, If he lived or died, nothing was given away to the onlookers. Such matches were known as ‘ta-jiai’. Some years ago I witnessed a demonstration of the kenjutsu forms preserved in the Jikiden Eishin-ryu¯ Iai. It was a strange experience since these forms were shown using modern upright postures that are familiar, of course, to practitioners of modern Iai and Kendo¯. They were very ‘stiff’ and ‘mannered’, in direct contrast to these same forms performed using the sen-ha kenjutsu postures. The former are inevitably rather stilted and often lacking in conviction; the latter are at once lithe, supple, meaningful and effective. We could say that the former were the actions of string puppets; the latter were real and eminently practical – as they were intended to be by the early masters.

ENDNOTES 278 279

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Yuno¯ Masanori Hanshi, in personal instruction, Tokyo, 1981. Heiho¯ Okigisho. A facsimile reprint of the 1804 publication, translated by Obata Toshiro, pub. Hawley Publications, California, 1994. The text extracted from the Koyo-Gunkan (Record of the Koyo War), published in 1616. Ibid. p.9. Sun Tzu, Ch. VI, v.24. Translated by Samuel Griffith. David Hall, Marishiten, p.298. For a most interesting discussion of the ancient hsia, the Chinese ‘knight-errant’ forerunner and direct equivalent of the wandering bugeisha, see James J.Y. Liu, The Chinese Knight Errant, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1967. ‘Discover Japan’, Vol. 3, 2007 (Japanese language). Jean Herbert, Shinto¯, p.213 These calls were recorded for the author at an important embu held at the Kashima-jingu in 1975. They include calls ordering ‘Gather’, ‘Advance’, ‘Charge’, ‘Retire’, and so on, used by the mounted heishi. In a personal comment, Dr Benjamin Hazard, Kendo¯ Kyo¯shi, observed, in 1976, that many such traditions of military signalling were lost after Bakumatsu as they were considered irrelevant in the modern era. The Wei-Chi chronicle (known in Japan as the Gishi-wa-jin-den) states that the Yamataikoku (not to be confused with the later Yamato) was a federation of small states or tribal communities in late-Yayoi times (third century CE). There are many opinions of its exact location but on balance the probability is that it preceded the ancient state of Kibi (present-day Okayama-ken) on the northern side of the Inland Sea. In the Chinese chronicle, the Yamatai are described as being ruled by a powerful shaman-queen named Himiko (or Pimiko). There was a connection, also, with the state of ‘Toma’, which was possibly part of the federation. Toma may have been sited in Kaya in southern Korea. (For more detail, refer to Michael Gorman, The Quest for Kibi, etc.)

Glossary

This Glossary is intended to provide a useful wider reference to the many terms used in the text above, often specific to the martial background, to Shugendo¯ and the whole religious mikkyo¯. Some of these terms appear to predate the formalization of these mountain practices in the late-Heian period, some may be of a far greater age, probably of Taoist origin, even deriving from the beginnings of the Puyo¯-Yamato settlements; others clearly derive from Buddhism. In the brief definitions for the majority of these entries, associated links are given in capital letters. AH-UN-NO-KOKYU A form of regular deep breathing using the abdominal muscles. ¯ as well as the BUGEI as an aid to concentration and ‘emptying Important in the MIKKYO the mind’ of all material thoughts especially in seeking intuitive understanding. AINU Indigenous tribal people in the north of Japan, now chiefly living in Hokkaido but formerly in ancient times as far south in Honshu¯ as the borders of the Bando¯ (Kanto¯). These tribes are thought to have crossed from Siberia into Sakhalin Island when still ¯ or EZO.) connected by a landbridge after the last Ice Age. (See YEZO AJARI (Skt. A¯ca¯rya) A term used in the Tendai-shu¯ meaning one who, having completed the ‘great practices’, is awarded this title as ‘saintly master’. AKA-OSAME The ‘offering’ of aka (water) during the mountain ‘entries’; one of the ¯ JA. ascetic activities originating with the GYO AKI-NO-MINE The ‘Autumn Peak’ ‘entry’ in Shugendo¯ and by far the most impor¯ .) tant of the four ritual ‘opening of the mountains’. (See BUSHU ALAN A semi-nomadic people whose territory, anciently, lay around the northern end of the Caspian Sea on the southern Russian steppe. A militant tribe whose leaders are thought to have functioned as ‘War Kings’ in some parts of western Europe after the Migration Period. (Viz, the Alannic Dukes of Brittany and the ancestors of the Alan family who came to England at the Conquest, amongst many others.) ALTAI The mountainous region lying north of the Gobi Desert, and east of Lake Balkhash. The centre of the PAZYRYK culture (q.v.) ¯ KIN A long hood (as opposed to the TO ¯ KIN) only worn by the DAIAMA-DO ¯ JA, the supposed founder SENDATSU in Shugendo¯. Also seen worn by EN-NO-GYO ¯ , in statuary and paintings. of SHUGENDO

204

GLOSSARY

ANGO A name given, possibly within Buddhist asceticism, to performing the ‘summer entry’ into the mountains. This retreat formerly started on 16 April and ended on 15 July, this covering the three months of the rainy season. (See NATSU-NO-MINE, the term used in Shugendo¯.) ¯ .) ANGYA A Buddhist term meaning ‘wandering asceticism’. (See ZUDA and TOSO ˇ AYAL (Uigur language [Manchuria/Mongolian]). A sacred skewbald horse, AQ-C one considered by many of the nomadic peoples as sacred. Also mentioned, though not by this term, in the NIHON-SHOKI. (See text.) ARAI HAKUSEKI (1657–1725) Famous Edo period historian and Confucianist; often suggesting interesting interpretations to many aspects of history. One of his several influential historical works was the Tokushi Yoron (Lessons from History), which first appeared in 1712. His autobiography, Oritaku Shiba-no-K (Told Round a Brushwood Fire), dates from just after 1717. ‘ART OF WAR’ (See PING-FA by SUN-TZU, or SONSHI.) ¯ rituals and in the BUGEI in the very early mornASAGEIKO Practise of the MIKKYO ing, starting before dawn. Such practices were considered to be supported by the female war-deity, MARISHI-TEN, and were commenced with prayers offered before her specially constructed altar. This custom still survives in the bugei but is now extremely rare. ASUKA The area at the southern end of present-day Nara prefecture first settled by the Puyo¯ usurpers when they finally succeeded in passing through the Kumano mountains around the beginning of the fifth century. Their High-Chieftain at that time was recorded as Ritchu (r. 400–406). The Asuka period (552–645) saw the introduction of Buddhism and was greatly influenced by Paekche and Kara. Asuka and its environs was the powerbase of the Korean Soga clan. ATAHE (or AYA) People from Paekche and Kara who were settled in the Nara (Yamato) plain and controlled by the Achi-no-Omi who was thought to have been a descendant of the Chinese Han (206BCE–220CE) Emperor, Ling Ti (168–190CE). Probably they accompanied the Puyo¯ usurpers across to Japan in 369. This chieftain is reputed to have presented the seven-branched sword that is reputed to be preserved in the Iso-no-kami Shrine in Yamato, now Nara-ken. Ancestor of the Kayan ironsmiths’ and the Hata weavers’ guilds. (-BE.) AYAIGASA The straw hat worn by the yamabushi as well as by some Buddhist priests of the Tendai and Shingon Sects. Possibly developed from an early form of hunting hat. It symbolizes, too, the Buddhist tengai, or ‘heavenly covering’. The cosmic cover for all creatures in terms of compassion and protection for them in the cosmic womb. From the latter belief it is also thought to have a sexual symbolism in rites connected to religious ‘rebirth’. AZO-BE Guild of iron-workers brought by the Puyo¯ from Paekche and Kaya. All originally belonging to the Han peoples. BAKUFU Literally a ‘Curtain Government’ or Military Government, e.g. The Tokugawa Bakufu. Deriving from the curtained off area used by a general and his staff on a battlefield or in campaigning in the field.

GLOSSARY

205

BAKUMATSU Name given to the disturbed period of the Restoration of Imperial rule in the second half of the nineteenth century (1868–77). BARABA region.

One of the nomadic Turkik tribes of Inner Asia, especially in the Altai

-BE Suffix to the name given to the various ‘guilds’ brought to the Japanese archipelago by the Puyo¯-Kayan usurpers between the fourth and sixth centuries. ¯ JA (or GYO ¯ NIN) is undefiled by BEKKA A ‘separate fire’ signifying that the GYO women or blood for the purpose of celibacy during ritual ‘entries’ to the mountains or undergoing ascetic austerities BIANHAN (Korean: SAMHAN) Name given to the three Chinese ‘Commanderies’ in ancient Korea. ¯ A suffix commonly found added to YAMABUSHI proper names. Thought -BO possibly to derive from the same suffix anciently used in Central Asia to denote a shaman. BODHISATTVA Name given to deities adopted into or part of Buddhism and thought of as aspects of the Buddha. ¯ A wooden practice sword, often regarded in the BUGEI traditions BOKUTO as a ‘real’ sword but lacking an ‘edge’; often simply fashioned from hardwood. (See SORI.) BOSATSU

The ninth stage of the Buddhist progression towards enlightenment.

BUGAKU

Ancient dance forms dating from around the seventh century.

BUGEI The military arts ranging from the battlefield use of weapons to the application of the Arts of Warfare in tactics, strategy, fortification, field organization, matériel, etc. BUGEISHA

One who practises the classical Arts of Warfare (see BUGEI above).

BUJUTSU Broadly, the arts of using weapons for the battlefield – as opposed to the ¯ , or the martial ‘Ways’. Part of the BUGEI. BUDO ¯ Buddhism. BUKKYO BURA Sacred symbols traditionally painted on drumheads by the nomadic tribes of Inner Asia and considered to be extremely ancient in origin. The term applied here for the symbols found on shamanic artefacts brought to Korea and Japan by the Puyo¯. (See TYN-BURA.) BURYAT One of the nomadic Turkik tribes of Inner Asia. (See BARABA above.) BUSHI rank.

A warrior in medieval Japan but more specifically a warrior of high birth and

206

GLOSSARY

BUSHIDAN The early fighting men gathered under the command of the high-ranking landowners and who soon formed the basis of the emerging samurai class. The term is applied more correctly to these armed groups who appeared historically in the tenth and eleventh century. ¯ (or Buchu¯) Name given to the time spent ‘within the peak’ whilst practisBUSHU ing ascetic dha¯hrani and rituals. For the four ritual periods of ‘entry to the peaks’ see AKI-NO-MINE, FUYU-NO-MINE, HARU-NO-MINE and NATSU-NO-MINE. BUTSU The tenth and final stage of progression from hell to perfection, here becoming one with the Buddha. CHENHAN (or CHINHAN) A ancient Chinese Commandery in south-eastern Korea that became the state of SILLA in the mid-fourth century. (See SAMHAN.) CHI-KEN-IN The MUDRA¯ or hand-seal of the ‘Knowledge Fist’, often termed the ‘Sword’ Mudra¯, thought to bestow power over enemies. Frequently employed in both ¯ and the BUGEI. the MIKKYO ¯ The third of the ten stages in Buddhism leading from hell to perfection. CHIKUSHO Literally ‘the Practice of Beasts’. DAISEN Famous sacred mountain (1815 m) in Ho¯ki province (now Tottori-ken), ¯ HEI and tengu. Also called O ¯ yama, once home of early religious hermits, violent SO ¯ -kami-yama. Kakuban-san and O DA¯KINI

A malicious female spirit.

¯ A teaching scroll or record of a bugeisha’s level of attainment. DENSHO DESHI

A disciple or student.

DHA¯RANI Spells and incantations used by all the esoteric sects; these are often short passages from the Buddhist sutra. Formulae intended to bestow supranormal empowerment to an ascetic deriving from Tantric Buddhism or TAOISM. Some spells were employed on the battlefield. DHARMA Buddhist texts usually recited by devotees. Like DHA¯RANI these texts were regarded as having great power. DOKUDAMI The leaf of the plant Houttuynia cordata used to make a particular infusion of ‘tea’ popular in some quarters in Japan This infusion has what is described as a somewhat repellent ‘fishy’ odour. DOSHI

¯. Someone in the lowest initiated rank of SHUGENDO

DOTAKU Ancient bronze ‘bells’ thought to have been employed by the YAYOI peoples in religious ceremonial. Many have been found all across the western parts of Japan. They occasionally have empowering BURA motifs in their surface decoration, some of which may indicate ritual use to ensure success in hunting, although these figures may also be tribal totems.

GLOSSARY

207

EBISU Defined by Papinot as describing the aboriginal tribal peoples in the east and north of Honshu¯, particularly the old provinces of Mutsu and Dewa. Those in the furthest and remote north were known as the Ara-Ebisu and the Tsugaru-Ebisu. ¯ .) (See YEZO EMAKI-MONO A picture-scroll from medieval period often recording battles and military prowess and campaigns. (See FUZEIKEN.) EMISHI ‘Barbarian’ tribes; the indigenous Jomon tribal groups who gave the Puyo¯Kayan-Yamato and their immediate successors so much trouble until final ‘pacification’ late in the eleventh century. ENGAKU The eighth stage of progress towards enlightenment; the practice of a selfenlightened Buddha (pratyekabuddha). ENNEN One of the six austerities practised in the mountains. This is the ‘Dance of ¯ . (See KENBU.) Long Life’. The rite is known as TENJO ¯ JA The archetypal ascetic recluse or magician, thought to have lived EN-NO-GYO in the second half of the seventh century in southern Yamato province, or Nara-ken. ¯ . En is known by several alternative Later revered as the founder of SHUGENDO appellations; En-no-Ozunu, En-no-Sho¯kaku, E-no-Ozunu (even E-no-Otsumi); also En-no-Ubasoku and Jinben-dai-bosatsu. ¯ -MYO ¯ -O ¯ The ‘Guardian of Buddha’s Law’. One of the Four Great Guardians FUDO ¯ and SHUGENDO ¯. (Myo¯-o¯) revered everywhere in the MIKKYO ¯ SHIN Steadfastness of mind, immovable spirit and determination in the Bugei FUDO and even in modern Budo¯. FUJO A female shaman. These fujo were sometimes also known by the name of the ¯ JU-FUJO.) district they came from, e.g. ‘Yashima-fujo’, etc. (See MIKO and JO FUKURO-HAKAMA Very formal trousers without bottom openings. These ‘bag’hakama derive from formal YOROI-HITATARE and require the wearer to ‘walk’ with ¯ still contain a sort of ‘kicking’-shuffling gait. Some forms of Iai-jutsu in the KO-RYU such movements. The Fukuro-hakama date back at least as far as the Heian period of the tenth or eleventh century. FUTSUNUSHI-NO-KAMI The ¯o-kami of the great Katori-jingu, the ‘brother’ deity of Takemika-dzouchi-no-kami revered at the nearby Kashima-jingu. The name ‘Futsu’ is derived from the Korean and possibly Tungusic word ‘pur’, meaning ‘radiance’, even a ‘sparkle of light’. This, in turn, suggests a connection with the female warrior deity, MARISHI-TEN, the goddess of the coming dawn. FUZEIKEN Something artistic; having the meaning of ‘illustrated’ or ‘embellished’ such as the painted TORA-NO-MAKI containing figures of swordsmen. GAGAKU Ancient forms of music of various origins in Central and East Asia. Often accompanying BUGAKU.

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GLOSSARY

GAKI The second Buddhist stage from hell to Buddhahood; the ‘Practice of Hungry Ghosts’ (preta). GARUDA The ‘Sun-Bird’; a mythical bird of ancient Vedic and Hindu origin. Cited by some as the prototype for the tengu. GENKI KINESSHU A secret text on the Art of War kept within the Minamoto-han. The oldest surviving copy dates from the late-Muromachi period. Thought to have been formulated by Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune when a very young man. GENPEI WAR The struggle between the Minamoto clan (Genji) and the Taira (Heiji) between 1180 and 1185. GISHI-WA-JIN-DEN The Japanese name accorded to those sections of the WEI-CHI chronicles pertaining to the ancient ‘States’ of TOMA and YAMATAIKOKU. (See also entry for HIMIKO.) GOHEI In Shinto, a cut and folded zig-zag shaped paper often seen hanging from shimenawa twisted cord ropes, symbolizing a sacred place or object (rocks, trees, a whole area, buildings, etc. etc.). It may also be set up on a small branch of SAKAKI. Sometimes used during a rite of blessing (purification) or a token of prayer. (See SHIMENAWA.) ¯ JA. (See ZENKI.) GOKI One of the two ‘attendants’ or ‘protectors’ of EN-NO-GYO GOKUI

The secret teaching levels in the Bugei; enlightenment.

¯ -GOMA); a festival where the central ceremony GOMA Sacred fire (usually SAITO involves the lighting of a sacred pyre. ¯ A ‘Dream Vision’. One of the many terms used to describe an ‘inspiraGO-MUSO tional’ or ‘intuitive’ revelation. ¯ JI A priest in Shinto. GU GUNBAI-UCHIWA A war fan carried by most commanders in the field during the medieval period. Often inscribed with formulae for calculating strategies. ¯ JA GYO

A religious ascetic or magician.

¯ NIN Originally meaning a Buddhist ascetic but also used to describe anyone, GYO even lay people, who undertake these ascetic practices, whether priests or yamabushi. ¯ -JUTSU HACHIMON-TONKO Derived from TAOISM.

Divination by the shape of cloud formations.

HAFURIBE Warriors who, in feudal times, carried out special ceremonial duties connected to many ‘important’ shrines and the development and transmission of a particular tradition of the bugei. Two such transmissions, for example, were the Kashima Shintoryu¯ (Kashima-jingu) and the Katori Shinto-ryu¯ (Katori-jingu). (See URABE.) HAIDEN

In a Shinto shrine, the open-sided hall used for cult-related rituals.

GLOSSARY

209

-HAN A clan group in the medieval period; usually a suffix to the clan name, e.g. ‘Takeda-han’. HANIWA An earthenware figure or object that was placed with others at the foot of ¯ FUN) during the mid-Yayoi to the mid-Yamato periods. Possibly a burial mound (KO this custom superseded sacrificial human burials that formerly accompanied the highranking deceased in death. HANNYA-SUTRA The ‘Heart-Sutra’ widely considered of great power in exhorting the help of the deities in Esoteric Buddhism and Shugendo¯. ¯ . (See HANSHI A master of the front rank, especially in the weaponed BUDO ¯ SHI and RENSHI.) KYO HARA-TONBO Sword postures where the sword is held horizontally at waist height threatening a sharp forwards thrust. (Tonbo: a ‘Devil’s needle’, a dragonfly.) HARU-NO-MINE The ‘Spring peak’ ‘entry’ to the mountains performed at the ¯ -DO ¯. NewYear.This ‘entry’ was highly ritualistic and heavily influenced by ONMYO HASHIRINAWA

A rope used during mountain ‘Entries’ in certain rites.

HEIAN The final period of direct Imperial government, from 798 to1185, before the advent of Warrior Rule soon after the GEMPEI WAR. ¯ The classical martial arts of the battlefield. (See BUGEI.) HEIHO ¯ -JIN One who studies the arts of Heiho¯ but has not yet mastered their applicaHEIHO tion. (See the following two entries.) ¯ -SHA One who has completely mastered the theory and application of the HEIHO Arts of War. ¯ -ZUKAI HEIHO

One who has not yet mastered the Arts of War.

HEISHI ( I ) A general term for a warrior or a soldier in medieval Japan. HEISHI ( II ) Written with different kanji from the above. An alternative term for a member of the Heiki, or Taira clansmen before their destruction at the end of the GENPEI Wars in 1185. HIBACHI A container for smouldering material, usually with an ash or sand filling for ¯ DOKO-E-HIBACHI.) safety. (See KAMIDOKO-E-HIBACHI and SHIMO ¯ -YAMA A famous mountain centre for Shugendo¯ (and tengu) in Buzen HIDE-HIKO province, now on the borders of Fukuoka and Oita-ken. The highest point of this massif is 1240 m. The main shrine is sacred to the eldest son of the sun-goddess, Amaterasuno-makoto. HIJIRI A magician, an early hermit recluse, usually Taoist. (See UBASOKU, ¯ SHI, and GYO ¯ JA.) YAMAHO

210

GLOSSARY

HIMIKO Powerful shaman-queen of the YAMATAI. (See PIMIKO.) She flourished, according to the WEI-CHI (or Jap. GISHI-WA-JIN-DEN) in the mid- to lateYayoi period. It seems possible that legends about this remarkable shaman-chieftainess may later have given rise to the myths concerning ‘magical’ conflict between such a female ruler and Susa-no-wo in the NIHON-SHOKI Chronicle. There seems little doubt that Himiko and her successor, also female, named IRYO, followed in the wake of a long line of shamanic tradition stretching back to Inner Asia, even suggesting underlying beliefs connected to Amaterasu and her ‘rebirth’ emergence from the cave. ¯ Wrestling with the deity at the time of the first rice planting. A conHI-NO-SUMO test where a human wrestles with the invisible deity. HISSHIKI (or HIKISHIKI) Part of the yamabushi costume; a lion or deerskin pelt hanging at the back from the tying cords of the trousers and used as a sitting mat during mountain travels. ¯ GYO ¯ -INTO ¯ Buddhist ‘Treasure Towers’ by this name. In 955 King Senko¯shuku HO of Goetsu caused eighty-four thousand small iron towers to be made. Each of these tiny towers contained scriptures and the king despatched them all across the country. He was emulating the actions of King Ashoka in ancient times who built the same number of holy towers, according to legend. ¯ -JUTSU The name given to TAOIST sorcery from the earliest times to at least the HO end of the SENGOKU-JIDAI. ¯ The ‘Lotus Sutra’. HOKEKYO HONDEN The main building in a Shinto shrine; the focal point for ceremonial prayers offered to the enshrined deity (or deities). HONZON The principle image of a deity, often drawn or printed on paper; the object of concentration and visualization in prayer and exhortation. HORAGAI A conch shell made into a horn widely used by the YAMABUSHI and by warriors for signalling. The himo (cords) that provide the sling enabling these horagai to be carried differ between those for yamabushi and those for military use. No reasonable explanation has been provided for this difference. HORA-JUTSU The art of signalling by means of the HORAGAI and used within the ¯ , SHUGENDO ¯ and on the battlefield. Certain ko-ryu¯ still preserve the range of MIKKYO calls used in medieval times, but they are rarely heard today. An example are the fifteen or so calls used within the Takeda-han still extant in the Sendai-ryu¯-no-heiho¯.286 HSIUNG-NU Name given a range of nomadic peoples who travelled vast distances across the Eurasian steppe in ancient times, their confederation even threatening to become an Empire. It was from the eastern plains that the PUYO tribes began their migration around the middle of the third century CE. HUGIN(N) One of Odin’s two ravens that flew across the world daily and reported everything they had learnt to their master. (See MUNIN(N).)

GLOSSARY

211

IMBE ‘Guild’ of Diviners in ancient Japan. The Imbe were formerly ‘Abstainers’, their role to absolve others from sin. (See URABE.) IN

¯ .) That which is ‘hidden’ or ‘secret’ within the Bugei. (See YING-YANG and YO

IN-NO-KAMAE A ‘shaded’ posture used in the BUGEI. A posture that tells the opponent little of the BUGEISHA’s intentions and is, therefore, ‘secret’ or, in sense, ¯ -NO-KAMAE.) ‘invisible’. (See KAMAE and YO INOSHISHI The Japanese name for wild boar. These animals have always been present in large numbers from ancient to the present day. Often associated with MARISHI¯ DO ¯ -MYO ¯ -O ¯. TEN and FU ¯ YIN-YANG in Japanese. The TAOIST concept of the duality of all things. IN-YO ¯ .) The ‘hidden’ and the ‘outer’. (See IN ans YO ¯ -GOGYO ¯ Taoist philosophy that all things contain potentiality and all IN-YO ¯ of Buddhism, Shugendo¯, the opposites. Deeply influential in the esoteric MIKKYO ¯ and the BUGEI. SANKAKU-SHINKO ¯ -KIGAKU IN-YO IRITAKA-NENJU

Interpreting the YIN-YANG in the TAO. A rosary. (See NENJU.)

IRYO Shaman-queen who succeeded HIMIKO to rule the YAMATAI federation in the late-Yayoi period. ISHIKOZUME The capital punishment by stoning formerly exacted in Shugendo¯ on yamabushi who seriously broke the sect’s strict rules. ¯ JA An ascetic who literally withdraws into the mountains to spend ISSE-BETSU-GYO ¯ KA and JO ¯ KA-KAIGO ¯ .) his whole life in austerities. (See JO ITSUKUSHIMA A sacred mountainous island in the Hiroshima Inlet, where a number of important shrines and temples are to be found. This is where the famous ‘Floating Torii’ can be seen. Popular place of seclusion during the late YAMATO and ¯ . The steep Nara periods for TAOIST magician hermits and the SHINGON MIKKYO mountains were noted for Tengu. Memorial place of Taira-no-Kiyomori (1118–1181), with a surprisingly modest shrine for one so significant in Japanese history. Itsukushima is also notable for containg no burials. IWA-KURA The ‘seat’ of a kami, especially a very large stone found in the mountains and believed to be the dwelling place of a deity. JIBARI An initial probing feint with the sword, usually directed low towards the adversary’s ankles, found in a number of very old BUGEI ryu¯ dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth century though possibly considerably older. A particular characteristic of the Kashima-Shinto-ryu¯-no-heiho¯. JIGOKU The first stage in the Buddhist progression towards enlightenment; the ‘Practice of Hell’.

212

GLOSSARY

¯ -IN The MUDRA¯ (hand-seals) widely used on all the MIKKYO ¯ and the JO BUGEI. Postures of ‘Concentration’. It is difficult to classify their uses as there are many variations, however the jo¯ -in are always peculiar to seated postures both in statuary and in practice in the BUGEI. The forms of these mudra¯ employed in the Bugei, while seen in the oldest Japanese Buddhist statuary, are considered to be the most ancient and are frequently found on Chinese Wei sculptures. The deeper underlying significance of these particular postures is often ignored or, at best, glossed over in modern Budo¯ , and hardly ever explained. Nevertheless, they were of great importance in esoteric practise. ¯ JU-FUJO JO

A female shaman. (See MIKO and FUJO.)

¯ KA A ‘pertetual fire’ maintained at some Shugendo¯ tembles in a specially designated JO hall. At Haguro in the Dewa Sanzan, this ‘jo¯ ka-do¯’ is named the Jizo¯-do¯. The fire is served ¯ KA-KAIGO ¯ , who never leaves the confines of the temple (see ISSEby a priest, a JO ¯ JA and BEKKA.) BETSU-GYO ¯ KA-KAIGO ¯ The honorary title given to the ascetic who tends the the ‘Perpetual JO fire’ above. JOMON The indigenous tribes that occupied the Japanese archipelago for several ¯thousand years before the arrival of the YAYOI around 300 BCE and the PUYO KAYAN usurpers in the third century CE. They are given this name from their characteristic corded pottery. JUFU Mantric talismans used by the TAOIST mountain ascetics and in SHU¯. GENDO ¯ Incantations of magical DHARMA or DHA¯RANI in all the MIKKYO ¯ . (See JUHO REIGEN and SHUGEN.) ¯ Name given to the protective and empowering ‘Nine Syllable’ spell JUJI-NO-HO that is widely employed in the BUGEI. (See DHA¯RANI.) JUMBU Literally ‘Ordinary peak’. A term describing one of the two main routes for ¯ mine) region. This may be a very ancient term for entry into entering the Kimpu-sen (O the sacred Kumano region. There were various meanings attached to the term. ¯ A helmet in armour. KABUTO KADEN Thirty-one syllable verses frequently used in the BUGEI to make teaching principles memorable. Kaden are also known as WAKA or TANKA. KAGE

‘Shaded’, ‘Hidden’, or ‘Secret’.

KAIZOKU KAJI-BE usurpers.

¯ .) A pirate, a sea-robber or marauder. (See WAKO

¯ -KAYAN ‘Guild’ of metalsmiths who arrived in Japan with the PUYO

¯ A form of Buddhist prayer. (See KITO ¯ and YORIGITO ¯ .) KAJI-KITO

GLOSSARY

213

KAMAE This term, used here quite frequently in the text, means a ‘posture’ or weapon ‘position’. Every kamae was backed by long experience and deep consideration ¯ traditions. The skilled warrior needed to recognize and within the various KORYU understand even the most subtle of variations in the kamae assumed by an adversary if he hoped for victory in combat - and a longer life. The theory of the inner significance of the many different kamae, and it is thought that in swordsmanship alone there were more that one-hundred-and-thirty of them, originated from ‘shaping’ an enemy, individual or multiple, from his ‘order of battle’ (kamae) immediately prior to engagement. Without this intuitive ‘shaping’ all might be lost. KAMI

Generally meaning a deity but always very hard to precisely define.

KAMI-GAKARI

Divine possession by a deity.

KAMI-OROSHI To draw down the mountain deity (or others) to preside at a ceremony; for example, to the Spring Rice Planting using a drum and the recitation of norito prayers. The attention of the KAMI is also drawn by drumbeat in the BUGEI. The ‘drawing-down’ suggests an origin in Chinese and Central Asian beliefs in the deities residing in heaven – the Upper World. KAMIZA The ‘upper’ or ‘senior’ side of a do¯jo¯; the side from which teaching is delivered. It is the ‘Seat of the Deity’ or that being’s representative. (See SHIMOZA.) ¯ -TENGU; a therianthropic tengu having a hawk’s beak, KARASU-TENGU A SHO a feathered body and wings. KARASU-TOBI

‘Crow-Hopping’ or ‘Crow-Jumping’. (See TENGU-TOBI.)

KASHIRA The metal pommel at the end of the sword hilt; sometimes also found at the tip of the scabbard, especially on tachi-saya, ‘slung’ swords. KASUMI

‘Misty’, ‘Hazy’, ‘Obscured’ or ‘Cloaked in Mystery’.

KATA Literally ‘Form’, meaning good posture and movement, particularly demanded in the BUGEI. Kata trains the body to move correctly, it also trains the mind so that the conscious thinking of the brain is in charge of the body and not vice versa. Finally, the kata becomes one with the student; he doesn’t need to think, just to act, and will do so intuitively from the basis of sure knowledge. KATAHI-UCHI ‘Duelling’ between contending BUGEISHA, usually resulting in the death of one. Katahi-uchi may be between two individuals but there could be as many as a hundred participants, the resulting conflict resembling a minor battle. There is some similarity to the mêlée in western medieval times. KAYA A relatively small state in southern ancient Korea. Annexed by the powerful ¯ immediately after they seized control of neighbouring PAEKCHE around the PUYO first half of the fourth century. Flanked on its eastern side by SILLA. KENBU Sword-dance, used in various ways by warriors in medieval Japan. Kenbu continues to the present day. Usually performed by a single warrior but sometimes a

214

GLOSSARY

number, often recalling some famous event from general or clan history. In the Heian period (ninth to the twelfth century), and probably onwards to the end of the Sengoku Wars, Kenbu was performed to encourage warriors before battle. The dance is usually accompanied by chanting the verse account of some special deed or by the shakuhachi, deep-voiced flute, the performer making the appropriate kata-like movements with sword, halberd or spear.The origins of Kenbu may have been in exhortation through dance to encourage the metaphysical support of a specific deity in warlike ventures and to offer formal gratitude for this at a successful conclusion. (See ENNEN and ¯ .) TENJO KENJA KENSHI

A wise man or sage. (See SHUGENJA.) A skilful swordsman; a BUGEISHA.

KIBI An ancient territory independent of the YAMATO rulers, roughly covering the old provinces of Bitchu, Bizen and part of Mimasaka, now Okayama-ken. Finally overrun by the Yamato in the sixth century. The Kibi rulers appear to have been the successors of the YAMATAI, a late-YAYOI federation of several very small ‘states’ once ruled by ‘Queen’ PIMIKO in the third century. KIKAJIN Name given to ancient immigrants entering the Japanese archipelago from China possibly as early as the fourth or fifth century. These kikajin may have brought with them the first knowledge of the Buddhist teachings, well before the official introduction in 538 or 585 in the accepted official dating. KIMPU-SEN-JI The large temple at YOSHINO-YAMA dedicated to the SHIN¯ and SHUGENDO ¯ . The central building of this temple is the mighty GON MIKKYO ¯ -DO ¯. ZAO KINPU-SEN The mountainous region that lies at the southern end of the Nara Plains. Usually known by the generative names of KUMANO and YOSHINO-YAMA. A famous centre for YAMABUSHI ‘entries’. ¯ MON KISHO

¯ MON-SHIKI.) An initiation ceremony. (See NYU

¯ A form of Buddhist prayer, devotion, or exorcism. (See YORIGITO ¯ and KITO ¯ .) KAJI-KITO KITSUNE A fox, frequently figuring in the folklore and associated with MARISHITEN and the Tengu; both can be found in drawn images standing on the animal’s back. KO-BUJUTSU

The medieval arts of warfare; the BUGEI.

KOFUN A burial mound; also the general name of the era of mounded tombs (third to sixth century). ¯ Ancient Chinese satellite state approximately equating to North Korea KOGURYO in the present-day. KOJIKI The first Chronicle of Japan completed in 712. (See NIHON-SHOKI.)

GLOSSARY

215

KOKU-DACHI A term for one of the ten ascetic practices meaning ‘Abstaining from Grains’. (See MIZU-DACHI.) KOMA-INU ‘Korean-Dogs’. The stone or wooden lion (‘dog’) figures that guard the entrance approach to the majority of Shinto shrines. The left-hand one is the male; its mouth is always firmly closed. The one on the right is female; her head is turned towards the person approaching the shrine and she has her mouth open. The usual term used in Japan is SHISHI. Irreverently, this pair of Shishi are sometimes refered to as ‘husband and wife’ within the Bugei. ¯ A ‘Smoking House’, or ‘Fume Chamber’, used in esoteric KOMORI-DO practices. ¯ -KAI One of the two esoteric Mandala (masculine). The spiritual World of KONGO ¯ KAI.) Knowledge. (See TAIZO ¯ -NO-KAMAE A sword posture where the weapon is held vertically in KONGO front of the body and face, thus defending both sides through controlling the centre. The MUDRA¯ called the kenro¯ kongo¯ ken (-in), within the mikkyo¯ means ‘adamantine’, ‘diamond-fist’ and is virtually synoynmous with the chi-ken-in, the mudra¯ of Knowledge. It is the mudra¯ of all-powerful Dainichi Nyo¯rai in the Kongo¯kai ‘Diamond Word’ – the spiritual World to which Knowledge (chi) belongs. This symbolically powerful posture appears in a number of ko-ryu¯ traditions. ¯ -ZUE The ‘diamond’ cane employed to assist climbing by yamabushi. KONGO Possibly signifying firmness or wisdom from the ritual Buddhist tool kongo¯. ¯ A general term for those classical martial systems of the battlefield and the KO-RYU succeeding Edo period, established and transmitted before BAKUMATSU. Usually ¯ KE.) meaning the classical BUGEI. (See SO KUDEN The secret transmissions from Marishi-ten by means of her ‘messengers’, the tengu, within the BUGEI. (See OKUGI and OKUDEN.) ¯ -JU KUJAKU MYO mountain recluses.

The powerful text of the Peacock Sutra often chanted by the

KUMANO A large peninsular in Central Japan covered by Mie-ken, southern Nara-ken, and Wakayama-ken. The mountains contain the important MANDALA routes followed by the YAMABUSHI. (See KINPU-SEN and YOSHINOYAMA.) KUME-BE

One of the ancient ‘Guilds’ of Soldiers. (See MONONO-BE.)

KUMITACHI A term often used to define private practice in Ko-Bujutsu. An alternative term is ‘Kumidachi’. KUWAGATA Literally a ‘hoe-shaped helmet crest’ but generally the term is applied to ¯. the antler horn projections anciently worn each side or from the front of the KABUTO From the late-YAMATO period of the sixth century to the mid-Heian period, these ‘horns’ became more and more stylized and soon other, completely different, shapes came into vogue.

216

GLOSSARY

¯ SHI A teacher or instructor, especially in some of the weaponed BUDO ¯ . (See KYO also RENSHI and HANSHI.) LE LANG A Chinese Wei Dynasty state in ancient northern Korea. LIU-T’AO A classical treatise on the Chinese Art of Warfare, particularly strategy, supposedly studied by Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune when a boy and confined to Kurama Mountain. (See SAN LUEH.) MAHAN One of the three ancient Chinese controlled ‘states’ or Commanderies, located in central Korea in the region south of present-day Seoul centred on the Naktong River. (See SAMHAN, BIANHAN and CHENHAN.) MA-JUTSU

Sleight of hand; trickery purporting to be magic.

- MA¯RICI (Ch.) (MARISHI-TEN or Marishi-Sonten (Jap.)) A powerful female war deity, thought to have originated in Central Asia, whose cult spread, possibly in the Migration Period, both to the far east and, with some changes, to the far west. Some researchers think that this deity may have first come from the region of Tibet. In both ancient China by the Later-Han dynasty and then reaching Japan in or around the fifth century, Marishi-ten was regarded as the deity of the approaching dawn, the Bringer of Light, and above all, the protector of her adherents when travelling and in warfare. As such, she had great appeal to the proto-YAMABUSHI and the nascent warrior class that appeared during the HEIAN period. From MARISHI-TEN came the inspiration for a great many highly original interpretations of the Art of War, the Chinese PING-FA of Sun Tzu. MARISHI-TEN was served by the warrior tengu. MARISHI-TEN

(See above.)

¯ -IN MARISHI-TEN-HOBYO

¯ -IN.) (See ONGYO

MATAGI Usually written phonetically but sometimes read in kanji as kariudo, meaning a hunter, particularly in the northern To¯hoku region. These hunters seriously believed in a YAMA-NO-KAMI, mountain kami. ¯ A licence detailing a BUGEISHA’s attainment level within a specific MENKYO BUGEI tradition. ¯ -KAIDEN A licence of full attainment. The holder of such a licence is MENKYO regarded as being a true master of that specific transmission. A highly honourable mark of achievement. ¯ A steel mask, usually fashioned in russet-iron, worn to protect the face in MENPO full armour. There are a number of varieties and alternative terms. Usually having a detachable nose piece. MIHAN

The three Chinese Commanderies in ancient Korea. (See SAMHAN.)

¯ The esoteric practices found in Buddhism and Shugendo¯. MIKKYO MIKO The usual term to describe a shrine-maiden, formerly a female shaman. (See ¯ JU-FUJO.) FUJO and JO

GLOSSARY

217

¯ . There were four such MINE-IRI The ‘Entries’ into the mountains in SHUGENDO seasonal ‘Entries’ each year. MITAMA In Shinto this term is applied to objects and symbols considered to contain some part or virtue of a deity. MITARASHI A small cistern or natural pond dedicated to lustration by immersing in water. Sometimes known by the term MIZUGORI. A famous pool used for this purpose can be found adjacent to the great Kashima-jingu¯ in Ibaragi-ken. MIZU-DACHI ‘Abstaining from Water’, one of the ascetic practices performed during the ten ‘stages’ of the mountain ‘entries’. (See KOKU-DACHI.) MIZUGORI

A more common term for MITARASHI above.

MON A clan or family device worn as a badge but not treated as ‘heraldic’ within the European definition. ¯ -KAYAN-YAMATO period. MONONO-BE A ‘Guild’ of soldiers in the PUYO (See KUME-BE.) MUDRA¯ Name given to the many hand ‘seals’ or postures employed within Buddhism ¯ of Taoism, Buddhism, and Shugendo¯. These seals date back and the esoteric MIKKYO far into ancient times and may have originated in Egypt. MUNIN(N) The second of Odin’s two ravens that flew the world over daily and reported on everything to their master. (See HUGIN(N).) MUSHA

A warrior.

¯ To travel in order to study and practise the military arts; usually MUSHA-SHUGYO undertaken by master-BUGEISHA. Such travel sometimes continued for several years. ¯ -SHA MUSHA-SHUGYO

A BUGEISHA who undertakes such prolonged travel.

NAGAMAKI A halberd similar to the NAGINATA but having a blade shaped like a long sword instead of the naginata’s blade which flared towards the upper part and point. Sometimes the nagamaki blade was very long indeed, even reaching 1.75 m upwards. NAGINATA A glaive-like polearm that first appeared in recognizable form in the Nara period (eighth century). A halberd. The Naginata soon became an extremely popular weapon of choice amongst warriors and YAMABUSHI, continuing as such to deep into the sixteenth century. As a parade weapon it remained in use until the end of the Edo period. (See NAGAMAKI.) NANBAN-IBUSHI ‘Southern smoking’ or ‘Southern fumes’; an ascetic practice of inhaling fumes produced by throwing red pepper, rice hulls and other substances onto live coals. ¯ NATSU-NO-MINE The ‘Summer peak’ entry to the mountains. The SAITO GOMA is one of the major rituals performed at this time.

218

GLOSSARY

NENJU (or Juju or Juzu) A rosary. The Shugendo¯ rosary was usually termed an Iritakajuzu. The iritaka-no-fuzu is fashioned with many rough stone beads or of hardened berries. NIHON SHOKI or NIHONGI The second of the ancient chronicles of Japan written in 720. (See KOJIKI.) NINGEN The fifth stage of the Buddhist progression from hell to Buddhahood; the ‘Practice of Humans’. ¯ This island, situated on the coast of Zhehang province about 200 km south of NINGPO Shanghai, has always been an important point of contact; for culture, trade and religion since the Nara period. The Buddhist teachings there provided the impetus for both the TENDAI ¯ MIKKYO ¯ , and exerted great influence on later SHUGENDO ¯. and SHINGON-SHU From the cultural aspect, a number of BUGEISHA from the thirteenth to sixteenth century accompanied the so-called ‘Tally Ships’ that periodically voyaged to Ningpo¯ as an official port for foreign trade. In Japan, Ningpo¯ is also known as Meishu¯ or Keigenfu. ¯ NIN, a freelance-warrior. NOBUSHI (I) A wandering warrior; a RO NOBUSHI (II) (Different kanji to the above) Another term for a YAMABUSHI. ¯ BU NYU

An ‘Entry’ into the mountains. (See MINE-IRI.)

¯ BU-SHUGYO ¯ A more general term than above for ‘entering the peak for ascetNYU icism that reflected the more organized practices once Shugendo¯ had become formalized in the late-Heian period. ¯ MON-SHIKI NYU

¯ MON.) Initiation ceremony to a BUGEI tradition. (See KISHO

OI A portable altar carried on the back of yamabushi and containing scriptures and ritual tools required for rituals in the mountains. It symbolizes the cosmos or universe. OI-TATE A yamabushi ‘tool’ in the shape of a miniature Shinto torii gate-arch. In Haguro¯ Shugendo¯ in northern Japan it is carried in processions in front of the OI, or rested against the front of the OI in a mountain temple whilst rites are peformed. OKUDEN The inner or secret transmissions within the BUGEI. Usually these ¯ . (See OKUGI teachings are contained in the upper levels of the various KO-RYU below.) OKUGI In the BUGEI, the innermost and most secret principles of the various transmissions. (See KUDEN and OKUDEN.) ¯ MINE-SEN O

(See KUMANO and KIMPU-SAN.)

¯ -HO ¯ The ‘Art’ of ‘Sorcery’, ‘a trick’ or ‘illusion’. ONGYO ¯ -IN The MUDRA¯ of ‘Hiding Forms’, or ‘Dissimulation’, particularly valued ONGYO by the followers of MARISHI-TEN.

GLOSSARY

219

¯ -DO ¯ The practice of ascetic rites aimed at attaining supranormal powers. ONMYO Taoist sorcery. (See HARU-NO-MINE, the ‘Spring peak’ ‘entry’.) ¯ -TORA-NO-MAKI A ‘Great-Tiger-Scroll’. A scroll recording the inner O philosophy and teachings of a BUGEI transmission. Guarded as a deep secret. OTSUGE A revelation or divine message, hence OTSUKI (or OTSUKAI) below. OTSUKI ( or OTSUKAI) Literally, ‘a person waiting in attendance’, an ‘aide’, or an ‘escort’. Beings thought to be the ‘messengers’ of a deity. Tengu are a specific example of otsuki in the BUGEI. Some objects can also be considered otsuki, for example the kumade rakes which resemble the claws of an eagle and are used to (ritually) rake up offerings at many shrines. (See TSUKAWASHIME and OTSUGE above.) PAEKCHE An ancient state in south-western Korea that was annexed by the migrat¯ at the end of the fourth or early fifth century. The earlier inhabitants may ing PUYO have been predecessors of the same bloodlines. Paekche was probably part of the three ancient states or Chinese commanderies named the SAMHAN, in this case, ¯ NHAN. PYO PIMIKO A powerful shaman-queen of the YAMATAI named in the WEI-CHI Chinese chronicle of the third century. (See HIMIKO.) PING-FA (Ch.) The Art of War treatise written by the ancient Chinese military philosopher, SUN TZU. (Also known in Japan as (The) SONSHI, referring to either the master or his work.) PROTOCERATOPS A smallish predatory reptile of the late Cretaceous period thought to be the progenitor of the mythical GRIFFIN. In size it was about six to ten feet long and stood slightly taller than a lion. From the skeletal remains commonly found in the Gobi Desert, the ancients thought this long extinct animal was indeed the Griffin, giving rise to an imagined winged beast – mistaking its crest or scapulae for wings – and believing that it fiercely defended its young, was the guardian of gold, and had a great dislike for horses. Related to the better known and much larger Triceratops. (Refer to PSITTACOSAURUS below.) PSITTACOSAURUS A similar predatory reptile of the same late-Cretaceous period, also found in the Gobi Desert. The Psittacosaurus, slightly smaller that the PROTOCERATOPS, possessed a distinctive beaked nose. Fossilized remains found by the SCYTHIAN and later HSIUNG-NU nomads may well have helped visualize the prototengu. Further to the east and to the west of the vast steppe both the PROTOCERATOPS and Psittacosaurus, in their mythic roles were later metamorphosed and identified with the hawk and raven or crow. The mythical griffin images continued in the West and are still found today. ¯ Sometimes called the FUYU. A powerful tribe belonging to the eastern part of PUYO the HSIUNG-NU Federation who were forced to migrate from their ancestral region on the western side of the SUNGARI River (around modern Harbin in Manchuria, ¯ and now Jilin Province) around 286 CE. They moved south-east into KOGURYO eventually annexed PAEKCHE, some elements moving across the Tsushima Straits into southern Japan about a hundred years later.

220

GLOSSARY

¯ -KAYAN As soon as consolidating power in PAEKCHE, the PUYO ¯ furPUYO ther annexed and settled in the southern Korean ‘state’ of KAYA. It was some of the chieftains from this region who crossed to Japan and set about their ‘Land-Taking’ to finally gain enough power to rule as the YAMATO from the Nara Basin in the sixth ¯ -KAYAN-YAMATO chieftains later tried to regain or seventh century. The PUYO control of KAYA but without success. Some historians argue that those powerful chief¯ left in PAEKCHE and KAYA claimed suzerainty over the ‘new’ lands tains of the PUYO in Japan. ¯ NHAN One of the three ancient Chinese Commanderies in southern PYO Korea, thought to have formed the basis of the later state of PAEKCHE. (See SAMHAN.) RAKAN

A disciple of the Buddha.

RA¯KSA Supernatural demons and ghosts. (See DA¯KINI.) REIGEN To obtain a miraculous mystical experience through performing various ¯ and SHUGEN.) esoteric Dharma, rituals. (See JUHO REIKAN (sometimes REI-KEI-DEN(?)) A ‘divine vision’, an ‘intuitive inspiration’ attributed to the agency of a deity, or in TAOISM, to Nature. REIMU ascesis.

A deity-inspired revelation often experienced during or after extreme

REIZAN A ‘Sacred mountain’ indicating in the sangaku shinko¯ a ‘mountain of venerable religious significance’, usually linked to legends of the kami that appeared there. ¯ The ‘six ways’ to progress to mastery and enlightenment, especially in ROKUDO Shugendo¯. These were similar to those ways or rites in esoteric Buddhism but became extremely important for Shugendo¯ rituals. In order, these ‘ways’ were: 1. Jigoku (go¯hikari or go¯hyo¯) – weighing one’s karma (evil conduct); 2. Gaki – the practice of fasting (koku-dachi) – (abstaining from the five cereals); 3. Chikusho¯ – the practice of mizu-dachi (abstaining from water); 4. Shura – the practice of Sumo¯ (wrestling); 5. Ningen - the practice of sange (repentance); 6. Tenjo¯ – the practice of ennen (a dance of long life). ¯ NIN A ‘Wave-man’, a man of samurai rank without a lord and detached from his RO clan. (See NOBUSHI (I).) ¯ In the BUGEI, a document-authenticated transmitted system. RYU ¯ KYU ¯ The islands composing the long string of the Nansei-Sho¯to¯ archipelago in RYU the East China Sea, lying south of Kyushu, that includes Okinawa. ¯ GOMA Fire rituals that take place at some Shugendo¯ festivals. Certain cut SAITO logs are heaped up to form a lattice representing the human skeleton and set alight to call down the mountain deity to preside. The sites of these GOMA fires can be found not only in the grounds of Shugendo¯ shrines but at esoteric Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines associated with the yamabushi. These fire rituals derive from the ¯. SANKAKU-SHINKO

GLOSSARY

221

SAKA One of the peoples of Inner Asia based in the region of north-eastern Persia, east of the Caspian Sea. The Saka lands lay astride the ancient Silk Roads giving them opportunities to travel and influence the cultures in eastern Asia. SAKAKI

The sacred Shinto tree always used in ceremonies. The Cleyera ochnacea.

SAMHAN The collective term used for the three ancient Chinese controlled ‘states’ or Commanderies in central and southern Korea. (See MAHAN, BIANHAN, and CHENHAN.) SANGE The ‘Rite of Repentance of Sins’, one of the ten rituals performed during mountain ‘Entries’. ¯ NI-SAMA) A ‘Mountain kami’ A term used by hunters and SAN-JIN (sometimes JU some mountain dwellers as an alternative to YAMA-NO-KAMI. On the other hand, woodcutters and woodworkers usually speak of Yama-no-kami. ¯ An apt academic term for the mixture of native mountain SANKAKU-SHINKO religions or beliefs that came into being in ancient Japan. Containing deities, beliefs and practices influenced by the JOMON aboriginals, the YAYOI, TAOIST, Buddhist, and ¯. particularly the pragmatic mixture that is SHUGENDO SAN-LUEH Chinese military treatise said to have been studied by Minamoto-noYoshitsune when a boy in the keeping of the Abbot of Kurama temple in the latetwelfth century. (See LIU-T’AO.) ¯ Confinement in a shrine or temple and accompanied by ascetic practices. SANRO A form of extreme ascesis practised by recluses and BUGEISHA. In at least one instance, in the Kage-no-ryu¯-no-heiho¯ (late-fifteenth century), trance was induced or heightened by burning incense on the crown of the head. SARMATIAN Tribes found in ancient north-eastern Persia, east of the Caspian. Like the SAKA, the Sarmatian military technology was greatly influential both to the west and the east far beyond their territories. SASHINUKI-BAKAMA A type of the formal hakama, generously cut in the flared ‘legs’ and provided with drawstrings which when pulled close make the garment resemble large ‘plus-fours’. This type of trouser, favoured by many warriors from the Heian period onwards, probably developed from the more expensive silk YOROI-HITATARE, permitting ease of wearing armour to protect the shins, and gave rise to the ‘riding’-hakama worn by samurai from at least the fourteenth century. In the more traditional forms of Bujutsu and modern Kendo, these wider-cut hakama, but without the drawstrings, are always donned for practice. Other modern Budo¯ tend to use the narrower cut hakama worn by commoners in the late-medieval period. (See FUKUROHAKAMA.) SASUMATA A ‘U’-shaped bladed polearm traditionally associated with the yamabushi, at least in folk art, and especially in many depictions of Saito¯ Musashi-bo¯ Benkei. SCYTHIA The region stretching across the southern Russian steppe from the Danube to the ALTAI Mountains north of the Gobi. The ancient Scythian tribes were reputedly fiercely warlike through the first millennium BCE to at least the second or

222

GLOSSARY

third century CE. Elements may have migrated across southern Europe to eventually settle in western and northern Europe, bringing with them many new belief systems. Their equivalent on the eastern Trans-Baikal steppe were the ancient HSIUNG-NU nomadic tribes. SEISHIN-TANREN ‘Polishing the Spirit’. One of the objectives of undergoing ¯. MUSHA-SHUGYO ¯ , but usually an ‘Initiate’.There are a number SENDATSU A ‘Guide’ in SHUGENDO of specific divisions of rankings that are not elaborated here. SENGOKU PERIOD The ‘Age of the Country at War’, ca. 1470–1575. SEVEN MILITARY CLASSICS Seven treatises of various forms written in ancient China over a period of six or seven hundred years. Prominent amongst these works is the PING-FA of SUN TZU, composed around the fourth century BCE. ¯ GOMA fire rites. SHIBA-UCHI A heavy sword used to cut wood for the SAITO The Buddhist symbolism of the heavy slung sword worn by yamabushi and the shiba-uchi is that the weapon annihilates error. SHIH

(Chinese)

Fore-knowledge.

SHIMENAWA A cord or rope made from rice-straw. A sign that within or behind this rope is a sacred area or one ritually purified – such as a do¯jo¯ in the bugei. Some shimenawa are slight cords, others are immense as at the Izumo-o-yashiro¯ in Shimane-ken. SHIMOZA The ‘junior’ or ‘lower’ side of a do¯jo¯ to which the teaching is directed. (See KAMIZA.) SHINDEN The main building in a shrine housing the chief kami or his SHINTAI. Also, the sacred rice-field where rice is grown, communally, for use in offerings and festive meals. ¯ A branch of esoteric Buddhism founded in Japan by the priest SHINGON-SHU known posthumously by the name Ko¯bo¯-Daishi His priestly name was Ku¯kai (774–835). ¯ in 816 after returning to Japan from He introduced the Shingon teachings of the MIKKYO ¯ . (See TENDAI-SHU ¯.) Buddhist study carried out on the Chinese island of NINGPO SHINGYAKU

An uninitiated novice; someone aspiring towards initiation.

SHINJI A term meaning ‘sacred ground’. The ground on which the shrine was constructed but in a wider sense the whole area sacred to the shrine. SHINKAN

A ‘ritualist’ at a shrine, often a warrior of high rank.

SHINOBU as a ‘ninja’.)

To ‘infiltrate’, to ‘steal in’. (Not someone described in modern folklore

SHINSEN

The TAOIST Immortals.

GLOSSARY

223

SHINTAI An object or relic considered in Shinto to represent a deity. SHINTAI-ZAN Literally, a mountain that in itself is the SHINTAI or ‘object of worship’. Such a mountain takes the place of the usual temple or shrine SHINDEN. SHINGYAKU

A religious novice; an uninitiated novice.

SHISHI A ‘lion’ (of Chinese origin) A pair of shishi statues, one male and the other female, are very frequently found guarding the entrance to temples and shrines. The male is always on the left, staring straight ahead, with his jaws firmly closed. His consort, always on the right, turns her head towards whoever is approaching the sacred ground, ¯ MA-INU.) mouth open and snarling warningly. (See KO SHISHI-FUNJIN To plunge into an attack impetuously like a lion.. A descriptive term used sometimes employed in the BUGEI. (Kashima Shinto-ryu¯). ¯ MON The seventh stage of progression from hell to Buddhahood; the ‘Practice SHO of Disciples (s´ ra¯vaka). SHUGEN A ‘path’ towards obtaining supranormal powers through severe austerities ¯ .) and incantation. (See REIGEN and JUHO ¯ A complex religious system based on the SANKAKU-SHINKO ¯ that SHUGENDO was recognizably formalized in the late-HEIAN period. It developed amongst the proto-YAMABUSHI from about the sixth or seventh century and contained significant elements of Shamanism that in turn had reached Japan from Central Asia with ¯ -KAYAN usurpers. Also greatly influenced by TAOISM, YIN-YANG, the PUYO ¯. SHINTOISM and the Buddhist MIKKYO SHUGENJA

A mountain ascetic; a recluse or hermit.

¯ -HA-RI SHU

The three stages leading towards understanding in the BUGEI.

SHURA The Shugendo¯ rite of wrestling (sumo¯) (with the mountain kami). In Buddhist practice this is the fourth stage of progression from hell to enlightenment, the ‘Practice of Devils’ (asura). SILLA An ancient state in south-eastern Korea that emerged in the middle of the fourth century under the Kim clan. Its territory covered the former Chinese Commandery ¯. of CHENHAN. Silla became relatively strong and resisted annexation by the PUYO It seems to have developed very early connections with the rulers of Idzumo, now Shimane and Tottori-ken, and in this province many artefacts from the late-YAYOI and to the end of the KOFUN periods have been found, most bearing direct connections to Silla. ¯ DAI The inspired originator or first Headmaster of a BUGEI tradition. SO ¯ KE.) (See SO SOGDIAN Another of the influential tribes from north-eastern Persia in the ancient period. Also having lands lying across the Silk Roads.

224

GLOSSARY

¯ HEI Men recruited by the Japanese monasteries and powerful temples from the SO early HEIAN period to form armed protectors, even armies. These often violent and unruly men sometimes took lay-vows but nonetheless enjoyed an evil reputation for their lawlessness. ¯ -JUTSU SO

The Art of the Spear in BUJUTSU.

¯ KE The family head, the originator (of a KO-RYU ¯ tradition.) SO SOKUSHIN-SOKUBUTSU The state of intuitive understanding, the product of ¯. extreme ascesis in the MIKKYO SONSHI The Japanese name for SUN TZU and for his military treatise, the PINGFA, or ‘Art of War’. SORI The curved form of, for example, a sword blade. A KEN blade would be described as not having a sori. In the BUGEI traditions the earliest (pre-Nara period) ¯ are straight ‘bladed’ to the present day. swords lacked sori and some ko-ryu¯ BOKUTO SUIGUN Literally ‘Water Warriors’. The Suigun were mostly composed of samurai clans living round the northern coasts of Kyu¯shu˜, the Inland Sea, and the coasts of the Kumano Peninsular. Often, when times were hard, their commanders joined the bands ¯ , or freebooters, who infested these waters and were so destructive throughof WAKO out the mid- and late-medieval period in Korea and down the entire littoral of China, even reaching as far as Ceylon. SUIJAKU Manifestations of the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas and some native kami to ¯. some, if not all, ascetics within the MIKKYO ¯ TORI A man, often a farmer, who wrestles with the invisible Yama-no-kami SUMO when that personage is invited down from his mountain to attend the First Rice Planting ¯ and SHURA.) festival in April or May. (See HI-NO-SUMO SUN TZU The great ancient Chinese military philosopher who wrote the famous ‘Thirteen Books’ of the PING-FA, or Art of War. This great strategist lived during the Warring States period (453–221 BCE) and it is thought that he must have been active before 474. His work later became the basis of the BUGEI in medieval Japan. SUSA-NO-WO A powerful storm deity in ancient Japan, often violent. Linked to a number of interesting myths that suggest that, had he lived as an actual man, he was a powerful shaman. His cult is closely connected in Shinto to the ‘Earth Kami’ of western Japan. SUZUKAKE TACHI

The descriptive term for the yamabushi costume.

A slung sword usually suspended from the left hip.

TACHI-AI

Sword cuts delivered from walking or standing postures.

TAIFANG An ancient ‘state’ in central Korea approximately around the 38th Parallel in the Seoul region. As with most of the smaller ‘states’, Taifang was Chinese controlled.

GLOSSARY TAIKO

225

A drum.

TAIMITSU The use of magical formula for divination, geomancy and so on within ¯ of the TENDAI-SHU ¯ Buddhism. the esoteric MIKKYO ¯ KAI The TAIZO ¯. SHUGENDO

‘Womb-World’

Mandala

in

esoteric

Buddhism

and

in

¯ ‘Waterfall-training’; the practice of standing beneath a falling torrent TAKIGYO ¯. whilst offering prayers. Commonly found throughout the MIKKYO TAMUKE This can mean ‘turning the hand’ as in making offerings, but the characters can also be read as ‘to¯ge’, a mountain pass, suggesting making offerings to the mountain kami in order to ensure a safe passage. Probably this is a very ancient term as tamuke is frequently seen in the formalities preceding a Sumo¯ contest and partially survives in traditional Budo¯ as a politeness in passing in front of another person when the latter is sitting formally. It signifies that the one passing carries no weapon in his ‘sword’ hand, therefore is not offering or intending offence. ¯ Severe ascesis symbolic of gestation in the womb. TANAI-SHUGYO TANKA

A poem composed in thirty-one syllables. (See WAKA and KADEN.)

TA-NO-KAMI The ‘Field deity’ who presides over the fecundity of the crops throughout the growing season. The YAMA-NO-KAMI, or ‘Mountain deity’, is ceremonially invited down from his abode in the springtime and remains with the farming community as the Ta-no-kami, after which he is ‘invited’ to return to the heights for the winter. (See TAMUKE, MATAGI, IWA-KURA and YAMA-NO-KAMI.) TANUKI The Japanese badger. Resembling more a raccoon, the badger figures in the folklore as a comical, cunning and often mischievous animal. It is believed that at night it drummed its forepaws on its portly belly, known as tanukiba’yashi, sounding like a ghostly being in the darkness. Often associated with magic and witchcraft. ¯ ) The ‘Truth’. Based on the duality of all things, it was introduced TAO (Jap. DO to Japan as early as the sixth century by recluses from China seeking the wilds of the mountains. These Taoist hermits practised their strange rituals, often in the hope of gaining supranormal powers over the forces of Nature. Taoism later exerted a significant influence on the emerging understanding of the Arts of War in the medieval period and ¯ .) is still to be found to the present day. (See YIN-YANG and IN-YO TEBUMI Secret scrolls of instruction written and kept by many senior YAMABUSHI as aide-mémoires. ¯ A second of the major branches of esoteric Buddhism in Japan. IntroTENDAI-SHU duced and established by Saicho¯ (posthumous name Dengyo¯ Daishi) in 806 after his ¯ . He founded the great religious centre, return from the Buddhist temples on NINGPO ¯ .) the Enryaku-ji, near Kyo¯to on Hiei-zan. (See SHINGON-SHU TENGAI A ‘heavenly covering’. In Shugendo¯ the tengai not only represents heaven when hung in a temple but also a sexual or reproductive image.

226

GLOSSARY

TENGERE KAIRA-KAN Ancient deity of Central Asia known as the ‘Merciful Emperor of Heaven’. TENGRI The ancient great Sky Deity in Inner Asia, certainly amongst the nomadic tribes of the Altai and Trans-Baikal steppe, the HSIUNG-NU. TENGRISM

The worship of TENGRI, the Sky Deity of Central Asia.

TENGU-MICHI MICHI.

A popular name given as an alternative to YAMABUSHI-

¯ Transmission of the secret principles bestowed by MARISHI-TEN by TENGU-SHO means of a Tengu ‘messenger’. (See OTSUKI.) TENGU-TOBI The art of leaping like a tengu in order to confuse an enemy; to jump in towards an opponent. (See KARASU-TOBI.) TENGU-TOBIKIRI-NO-JUTSU with sword or spear.

The art of delivering a TENGU-TOBI attack

¯ The sixth stage of progression from hell to oneness with the Buddha; the TENJO ‘Practice of Heaven’. The practice of the ‘Dance of Long Life’, ENNEN. (See also KENBU.) TE-NO-UCHI Lit. ‘Hand-grips’ in the BUGEI. The term covers the practice of correct posture, the foot movement related to this, balance, correctly gripping the sword or polearm, ‘driving-in’ for the attack; in fact, just about all the most important practical principles. THERIANTHROPE

A being visualized as part-human and part-beast.

¯ HATSU (or ZUHOTSU) Yamabushi practice of wearing their hair long or cut TO short (i.e. shaven and dressed as the samurai custom). Orthodox Buddhist priests had fully shaven heads. ¯ KIN (or ZUKIN) The distinctive ‘pill-box’ headgear of a yamabushi that may, TO originally, have been a longer ‘hood’ or zukin, the hood seen covering the head of En-no-Gyo¯ja in statuary or paintings. Sometimes this longer zukin is termed an AMADOKIN. TOMA An ancient ‘state’ in the late-Yayoi period (dated to the third century and early fourth century CE) described in the WEI-CHIH chronicle as a vassal ‘kingdom’ of the YAMATAI. The chronicle suggests that it contained in the region of forty-thousand households. Some historians think Toma lay in a number of communities in northern Kyushu, along the Inland Sea, or located in the small southern Korean state of Kaya. The Japanese historian, Arai Hakuseki (1657–1725), identified Toma with Tomo in Kibi. ¯ MITSU The use of incantation for religious empowerment within the SHINGON TO ¯ . (See TAIMITSU.) MIKKYO

GLOSSARY TONGKAM

227

An ancient Chronicle of Korea.

¯ -JUTSU The Art of Fortification. Also known as Ho¯-jutsu. Fortification in TONKO medieval Japan was usually based on divination as well as practical considerations. TORA-NO-MAKI The secret scrolls passed down from headmaster to headmas¯ -tora-no-maki, or Great ter within the BUGEI transmissions. Sometimes termed O Tiger Scrolls. The secret teachings outlined within such scrolls enable the transmissions to largely remain intact through the course of several centuries but are couched in language that is often symbolic and oblique so that only the truly initiated can fully understand. Often thought to have been transmitted by means of a TENGU from MARISHI-TEN. ¯ SHO ¯ -IN The ‘Sword and Scabbard’ mudra¯. Employed in the KUJI-NO-HO ¯. TO T ¯osho¯ also has the meaning of a ‘sword-cut’ but here the term implies the potential of the sheathed sword for action. ¯ Difficult to define precisely and written with a variety of kanji but deriving TOSO from the Sanskrit term dhu¯ta; the career of wandering about mountain groves and holy sites. There may be a connection with the obscure term used by a few historians in the BUGEI – to¯so¯-jutsu (lit. ‘Sword-spear-jutsu’). The first part may be associated with the ‘techniques of warfare’ but it may also carry the meaning of warrior seclusion following the ‘yamabushi-ways’. (See ZUDA and ANGYA.) TRICERATOPS A large, triple-horned, dinosaur of the Mesolithic Cretaceous period. The much larger relative of the PROTOCERATOPS whose fossil remains are found in the northern Gobi Desert. TSUBA The plain or decorative guard on a Japanese sword; sometimes found mounted on a yari, nagamaki or a naginata. TSUKA

The long hilt of a Japanese sword, usually braided.

TSUKAWASHIME A term used in Shinto denoting an animal associated with the deities. (See OTSUKA.) TURKIK Languages spoken by many nomadic tribes of the Eurasian steppe deriving from the Indo-European roots. TYN-BURA Symbols usually found on shamanic drums across Inner Asia and sometimes engraved on armour helmets in ancient Korea and Japan. The tyn-bura are thought to relate to the essential ‘life-soul’ of the shaman and as such were jealously protected by him for fear of his life. Often the symbol is represented by an equestrian figure. UBASOKU A hermit recluse, a wise man; a TAOIST magician. UBUSUNA-GAMI An alternative term for UJI-GAMI, the progenitor ancestors of a group. UJI-GAMI The distant ancestors or ancestral spirits of a clan or community; the progenitors of a clan or family. Also UBUSUNA-GAMI, above.

228

GLOSSARY

UKIYO-E Prints made using woodblocks. A style of painting originated in the first century of the Edo period by Iwasa Matabei. His school was later made very famous by such great artists as Kitagawa Utamaro and Hokusai. UMA-JIRUSHI From the first appearance of the BUSHI, a ‘Bannerman’; often a close retainer of comparative high birth or rank. The term also meant in late-HEIAN times swearing obedience to one’s master. Literally meaning ‘a horse-leading samurai’. ¯ -KAYAN URABE An ancient clan of Diviners who came to Japan with the PUYO usurpers. The Ura-be, as they are sometimes known, performed divination through the examination of the cracks appearing on ritually burnt tortoise or turtle shells. One branch of the Urabe were settled, before the ninth century, at Kashima in Hitachi province, now Ibaraki-ken, and were the ancestors of the Yoshikawa family from whom the famous BUGEISHA, Tsukahara Bokuden (ca. 1490–1572), sprang. The family continue to the present day and provide in unbroken line the successive headmasters of the Kashima Shinto-ryu¯-no-heiho¯. According to the Yoshikawa records and those preserved in the Kashima-jingu, the Urabe were settled at Kashima in order to carry out divination ¯ -kami, Takemika-dzouchi. ‘Urabe’ was the formal name through rituals offered to the O used by the Yoshikawa. (See HAFURIBE.) WA

The alternative name given to the ‘state’ of KAYA in ancient Korea.

WAKA A thirty-one syllable classical poetic form. Many of the teachings preserved in the BUGEI are written down in the form of waka so that they can be easily memorized. (See TANKA and KADEN.) ¯ Pirates mostly from the Inland Sea. (See SUIGUN.) WAKO WARRING STATES The very disturbed period in ancient Chinese history culminating in brutal unification under the First Emperor, Qin Shihuang. The violent warfare covered the period from 453 to 221 BCE, sometimes dated earlier to have commenced in 481 BCE. (See SUN TZU.) WAZA

A ‘form’, or example of a principle, in the BUGEI.

WEI-CHIC The Chronicle of the Chinese Wei Dynasty. Contains very interesting entries describing ancient Korea and the YAYOI Japanese YAMATAI ‘Federation’ under the shaman queen, PIMIKO (or Himiko) in the third century CE. This chronicle is known in Japanese as the GISHI-WA-JIN-DEN. (See also TOMA.) ¯ -KAYAN invaders. The YAMA-BE A ‘Guild’ of ‘Mountain-men’ serving the PUYO role or function of the Yama-be may have been as warrior-shaman within the hostile territories of the aboriginal JOMON tribes, many of whom often violently resisted the usurping ‘land-takers’. It seems possible that the shamanic duties of the Yama-be became redundant sometime in the sixth century and they withdrew into various places in the mountains, elements eventually becoming the proto-YAMABUSHI protectors of the hermit recluses increasingly taking up residence in remote areas. (See YAMA-OTOMO.) YAMA-BIRAKI The ceremonial ‘opening’ of the mountains in Spring. In ancient and medieval times no one could enter these sacred regions until this ritual was performed.

GLOSSARY

229

YAMABITO Mountain dwellers such as foresters, woodcutters and hunters. Their beliefs in the YAMA-NO-KAMI are in clear contrast to those of the lowland farmers’ seasonal invitations to the ‘mountain’ kami to descend in the Spring to become the TA-NO-KAMI, then return to the heights in the Autumn. ¯ . Literally ‘One who YAMABUSHI A religious person belonging to SHUGENDO lies on his left side in the mountains’, or ‘One who practises the “Three Truths” (Yama) and lays down his ignorance (bushi)’. The Yamabushi perform esoteric religio¯ with strong influences shamanic practices closely related to the SANKAKU-SHINKO ¯ . Preceded by the Proto-YAMABUSHI from the early from the Buddhist MIKKYO seventh century who acted as protectors of the hermit-recluses. Some Yamabushi maintaining considerable skills within the BUGEI, particularly those relating to the ¯ -JUTSU and the BO ¯ (stave). They have also been closely identified NAGINATA, SO with the Tengu. ¯ ) The term used in reference to YAMABUSHI-NO-MICHI (or YAMABUSHI-DO the secretive paths followed by the Yamabushi through the mountains for the purpose of training. ¯ SHI YAMAHO

A ‘mountain monk, or recluse. (See HIJIRI.)

YAMA-IRI ‘Entering the mountains’; a term used in indicating various folk practices ¯. in the mountains in the SANKAKU-SHINKO YAMA-KOTOBA ‘Mountain language’; a vocabulary of words and phrases used by mountain dwellers when in the heights. These words were used in order to avoid incurring ill-luck or misfortune. (See MATAGI.) YAMA-MIYA ‘Mountain shrine’. Whilst there are some mountain shrines known by this term one authority (Yamagita) believed that the term originally referred to a ritual site within the mountains for worshipping the UJI-GAMI in the Spring and Autumn. This in turn may reflect the beliefs in the alternation at these times of the YAMA-NOKAMI and the TA-NO-KAMI. YAMA-NO-KAMI ‘Mountain deities’ in general. There are a number of different beliefs concerning the nature of these mountain kami. (See YAMABITO, IWA-KURA, MATAGI and TAMUKE.) ¯ -KAYAN YAMA-OTOMO A mountain dwelling group or groups during the PUYO ‘Land-taking’. While not exactly a ‘Guild’ nonetheless they may have had a function in acting as negotiators with the indigenous EMISHI tribes in their ‘pacification’. They may also have been identical to the YAMA-BE as both disappear from the earliest Chronicles when the YAMATO chieftains began to establish their full hegemony. Both the Yama-be and the Yama-otomo cannot be ruled out from being the progenitors of the proto-YAMABUSHI. YAMATAI (or YAMATAI-KOKU) Reported as being what is thought to have been a loose ‘federation’ of a small number of late-YAYOI communities that may have existed in the third century CE in both KAYA and western Japan, in particular in northern Kyu¯shu¯ and the region of the Chugoku known later as KIBI. Described in some detail in the WEI-CHI chronicle.287

230

GLOSSARY

YATAGARASU A three-legged crow mentioned as a ‘guide’ to several personages in the ancient mythology. Some researchers believe that a deep mystery lies behind this curious being and that a hidden cult of the Yatagarasu exists in the three great Shinto taisha, shrines, of the southern Kumano mountains to the present day. The Yatagarasu ¯ and associated with the symbols of the beliefs are present deep within SHUGENDO ¯ and not infrequently with the Tengu. It does not appear in any of the MIKKYO ¯ . There is at least one shrine wholly dedicated to the esoteric Buddhist MIKKYO Yatagarasu and this strange creature’s MITAMA has its own subsidiary shrine within the precincts of the Kumano Nachi-taisha. Another centre of this secretive cult is undoubtedly at the Kumano-taisha in Shimane-ken but, as always, either there is a deeply hidden and secretive cult or the true origins are now lost even though some outward forms survive. YAYOI These ancient and generally peaceful settlers came to the Japanese archipelago around 300 BCE and set about farming suitable low lying land. Some of the migrants may have been escaping the turmoil of the WARRING STATES period in China and are credited with introducing wet rice culture to Japan. Gradually their communities grew despite hostility from the indigenous JOMON tribes. Their final flowering came in the third century when some of the stronger communities joined together to form a ‘federation’ known as the YAMATAI which may have been chiefly based in KAYA rather than Japan. The Yayoi period is considered to have finished around 300 CE. ¯ The northern island of Hokkaido was formerly called Watari-shima and inhabYEZO ited by the EBISU, an indigenous race probably related to the JOMON tribes inhabiting the south-western parts of the archipelago. The last aboriginal resistance to Imperial rule continued until late in the eleventh century. In the Kamakura period, late-twelfth to early-fourteenth century, the Kamakura BAKUFU considered it necessary to establish an official, known as the Yezo¯-kanyo¯ or Yezo¯-daikwan in the far northern provinces of Mutsu and Dewa, to give warning of unrest amongst these ancient tribes. These aboriginal tribal groups may alternatively have entered the far northern islands from Siberia shortly after the ice began to recede some 12,000 years ago. A land bridge may then have existed between the Asian mainland and Sakhalin. YIN-YANG The TAOIST concept of the duality of all things. In Japanese known as ¯ . Extremely influential in the rationale of the BUGEI. IN-YO ¯ Something that is clear, a posture or technique in the Bugei that is not ambiguous YO ¯ and IN.) and ‘hidden’. (See IN-YO ¯ -NO-KAMAE A ‘clear intention’ posture where the weapon is held close to the YO ¯ .) left shoulder. (See IN and YO ¯ ‘Possession’; Yorigito¯, therefore, implies a ritual of possession or seeking YORIGITO intuitive understanding through ascetic incantation, prayer, exorcism and trance. ¯ and KITO ¯ , forms of Buddhist prayer, It seems to have been associated with KAJI-GITO although it may have been used long before esoteric Buddhism was introduced in the ninth century, YOSHINO-YAMA

¯ -DO ¯ .) (See KIMPU-SEN-JI and ZAO

YUBI-NO-MAKURA A sword or spear movement in the BUGEI that protects the shoulders and back prior to delivering an attack. Known as the ‘Pillow-Dream’ posture.

GLOSSARY

231

YUGEI-BE The ‘Guild of Bowyers. A specialized tribe of craftsmen brought to the ¯ -KAYAN ‘Land-takers’ in the fourth or fifth century. archipelago with the PUYO ZANSHIN BUGEI.

‘Awareness’, ‘Remaining-Spirit’; an important requirement in all the

¯ The enormous wooden Prayer Hall of the Kimpusen-ji temple at YoshinoZAO-DO yama, reputed to be the second largest wooden structure in Japan ¯ -GONGEN The fierce mountain deity worshipped in SHUGENDO ¯ . Thought ZAO to be connected with the Tantric deities of Tibet. Zao¯’s main centre of veneration is the ¯ -DO ¯ above.) Kimpusen-ji temple at YOSHINO-YAMA. (See ZAO ¯ Silent meditation and abstraction of thought. Also intuitive ecstatic thought. ZENJO ¯ ; a DOSHI. Also one ZENKI Name given to a low-ranking initiate in SHUGENDO ¯ JA. of the two ‘demons’ or ‘protectors’ of EN-NO-GYO ZUDA

¯ and ANGYA. An alternative word for TOSO

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Index

Due to the limited range of this book, some of the more frequently cited names and subjects are omitted from this Index but can easily be found from the Contents list. Examples are ‘Yamabushi’, ‘Asia’, (in general), ‘Shaman’ and ‘Tengu’. agarica muscarius (mushrooms): 23. Ainu (northern Japanese tribes): xvi, 16, 180, 203. Aisu Ikkyo¯ (Sengoku period swordsman): 9. Aizen-myo¯-o¯ (fierce Buddhist deity): 124, 135, 162. Akuto¯ (‘evil’ groups of men): 80. Alans (tribal group, Central Asia): xv, 105, 111. Altai region, etc.: xviii, 10, 18, 21–2, 45, 53, 56, 64, 80, 203. Ama-no-kitsune (Heavenly Fox): 1. Amaterasu (Sun Goddess): 26, 63, 77. Antler totems: 44. aq-cayal (a sacred skewbald horse): 63, 203. Aral Sea: xv, 20, 54. armour: 49–50. Ashikaga bakufu (government): 13. Asian weapon development: 171. Atago-san (famous tengu mountain): 86, 188. a-un-no-kokyu (correct breathing method): 23. Bakumatsu (disturbed period in mid-nineteenth century): 12, 47, 109, 112, 161, 205. Balkhash, Lake: xv. Bangha (ancient Iranian term for hemp): 23.

Baraba (nomadic tribes): 28, 57, 59–63, 66, 141, 205. -bo¯ (suffix indicating a priest or tengu name): 57, 205. Bodhisattva (Buddhist): 18. Brading Roman mosaic (with esoteric image): 52. bugaku (formal Court dances): 26, 193. bugei (the classical Arts of War in Japan): xi, xvii, 3, 14, 19, 28, 30, 101, 135–7, 144 et seq., 205. Bugeisha (one who studies the Arts of War): 13, 22, 33–5, 157, 205. Bujutsu (the arts of the battlefield): xi. Bukkyo¯ (Buddhist doctrine): 75, 205. Bura (powerful symbols): 26, 31–2, 40, 57–63, 65, 71, 141, 163, 205. Buryat (nomadic tribes): 22–3, 26, 45–6, 57, 205. Bushidan (early warrior groups): xiv, 170–1, 175, 206. Candi (fierce Irish deity. See Morrigan): 2, 111. Caspian Sea: 20, 54. Cathbad (Irish warrior deity. See Sencha): 111. Celestial Dog (constellation.): 1-2. ‘Cosmic Tree’ (see World Tree and Tree of Life): 68.

238

INDEX

Cù’ Chulainn, (Irish hero): 69. ‘Dainihokoku hokekyo¯kenki’ (collection of early Japanese stories with strong Buddhist bias): 86. Daisen (sacred mountain): 3, 69, 91 et seq., 119, 206. dai-tengu: 4 et seq., 10, 107 et seq., 128 et seq. Daitoko-myo¯-o¯ (one of the ‘Fierce Guardians’ in Buddhist belief ): 162. da¯kini (malicious spirit, often female): 111, 206. Danube to Lake Balkhash: xv, xvii, 15 22–3, 25, 44–5, 54. Deer cult: 43–8. Dengyo¯ Daishi (founder of Tendaishu¯): 84. dha¯rani (or dha¯rani-sutra, incantations, spells): 5, 23–4, 27, 31, 50, 95, 111, 206. dokudani (Houttuynia cordata. Foul smelling plant): 24, 206. doshi (a guide for religious groups in mountains): 24, 35. Dotaku (ancient bronze bells): 32, 52, 60, 206. drum (known as the ‘Black Stag’, central Asia): 26. (Shamanic): 21, 26–7, 31, 50. (shaman’s ‘horse’): 58–9, 67, 181. Durga (fierce Irish warrior deity. See Morrigan): 111. ‘Earth kami’ (Refer to ‘Heavenly kami’): 41, 44, 64. Ebisu (indigenous ancient Japanese tribes. See Emishi): 74. Eboshi-ori’ (No¯ play): Frontispiece, 114. Edo period (1600–1868): xii, 21, 46, 58, 112, 122, 151, 177–8, 185. ‘Eight Great Tengu’: 132-4 188. emishi (indigenous ancient Japanese tribes): 28, 73–5, 80, 97 et seq, 207. En-no gyo¯ja (legendary founder of Shugendo¯ in seventh century.): 20, 78 et seq., 81, 88 et seq., 141, 207.

Enryaku-ji (Tendai-shu temple complex on Hiei-zan mountain, near Kyo¯to): 84. Eurasian steppe: xii, 15. Ferghana region (central Asia): xv. Fergus (Irish warrior deity. See Morrigan): 111. ‘Five Hundred Rakan’ (Buddhist paintings): 97, 106–107, 151, 159. ‘Five Kings of Wa’ (See Kibi): 6. Frois ( Jesuit priest, Sengoku period): 81. fu (‘a sparkling point of light’) 45. fudoki (ancient provincial chronicles): 28. Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯ (‘Guardian of Buddha’s Law’): 23, 34, 49, 85, 102, 122, 135, 137, 143, 147, 172, 177, 184, 207. fudo¯shin (steadfast mind): 26. Futsunushi-no-kami (warrior deity, Katori-jingu): 30, 40, 45, 80, 181, 207. Gagaku (ancient Court dances): 26, 207. Garuda (mythical f lying spirit from India): 1, 104, 208. Geki and Froke (wolf guardians of Odin (n. Cognate with Zenki and Goki?)): 141. Gempei War (1181–1185): 18, 46, 100, 111–12, 116, 171–2. ‘genku-kinesshu’ (secret treatise on the art of war, Minamoto clan): 114, 166, 208. Gion kofun: 22, 58–9, 62. Gobi desert region: xiii, xvii, 37, 53. Goki (Goquis) (protector of En-no-gyo¯ja): 79 et seq., 89 et seq, 95, 97–109, 157, 208. gokui (secret transmissions in the Bugei): 26. go¯-muso¯ (‘dream vision’): 35. Gonzanze-myo¯-o¯ (one of the ‘Fierce Guardians’ in Buddhist belief ): 162. go¯-o¯-ho¯-in (talisman, often paper): 20. Go-Toba (1215–1287) (Emperor): 21.

INDEX grappling with the kami (see Sumo¯). Great Bear constellation (Ursa Major, The Plough, The Big Dipper): 49, 142. griffin: xvii, 20, 44–5, 48–57, 64, 163. gunbai-uchiwa (War fans, often engraved with protective magical symbols, etc. See Great Bear): 142, 187. Gundari-myo¯-o¯ (one of the ‘Fierce Guardians’ in Buddhist belief ): 162. Guzman ( Jesuit priest, Sengoku period): 81. gyo¯ja (an ascetic hermit, magician): 35, 208. Haguro-san (One of three main centres of Shugendo¯): 92, 127. Hakono-san (tengu mountain): 92. Hakusan (sacred mountain associated with tengu): 93. Han Commanderies (Chinese ‘colonial states’ in ancient Korea): 6, 8, 16, 39, 64, 209. haniwa (earthenware funerary ware): 16, 46, 209. Hannya Sutra (Heart Sutra): 23, 77, 209. Hasegawa Eishin-ryu¯ (tengu forms derived from the Taisha-ryu¯): 152. hashirinawa (Cord symbol. Also Kai-no-o¯ and Kensaku): 122–3. Hayashizaki Shigenobu-ryu¯ (tengu forms derived from Taisha-ryu¯): 152, 161. Hayato (Dog tribe, guardians of Emperor): 71, 161. ‘Heavenly kami’ (the deities probably introduced by the Puyo-Yamato. See ‘Earth kami’): 41, 44. Heian period: xi, 2, 18, 46, 58, 82, 85, 103, 111, 119, 164, 170–1, 209. Heiho¯-Kadensho¯ (treatise on Art of War by Yagyu¯ Munenori): 12. Heiho¯ Okigisho (treatise on heiho¯ by Yamamoto Kansuke): 163–4.

239

hemp (as drug fumes): 22–4. hermits (at first mostly Taoist but later Buddhist): 32. Herodotus: (describing griffin in Sythia): 22, 53. Hide-hiko-yama (mountain group sacred to Shugendo¯): 3, 82, 90, 93, 119, 209. Hiei-zan (mountain group near Kyo¯to, centre for Tendai-shu): 84–7, 113. hijiri (ascetics): 86 et seq., 209. hio¯gi-no-tessen (or Hyo¯gi) (feathered fan of ‘invisibility’): 125, 128, 133, 150, 185, 187. Ho¯gyo¯-into¯ (Buddhist miniature Iron Towers): 107, 210. Hokekyo¯ (the Lotus Sutra): 77, 210. Hokkaido¯ (large island north of Honshu): xv, 16. Hokkegenki (see Dainihokoku hokekyo¯kenki): 86–8, 98–9. hoko (or Sanko-geki) (spear or trident): 124. ho¯ra, or ho¯ragai (conch shells used for religious and military signalling): 96. Horai-san (Sacred mountain in Aichi-ken): 90. horse (animal): 22. (sacrificial): 63. (of shaman to ride spiritually, see Aq-cayal): 20, 22, 26, 63. Horus Herakhty (ancient Egyptian deity of the Dawn): 19, 54. Hsiung-nu (tribal ‘confederation’ in central Asia): xv, 5, 36, 38, 45–6, 54, 100, 156, 210. Huginn (one of Odin’s ravens. See also Muninn): 19, 140–1, 210. Hyo¯go Prefectual Museum (Harima): 19. Ibuki-yama (mountain associated with a violent spirit): 90, 94. Idzumo region (Iwate-ken): 40. Imi-be (ancient Yamato guild of Abstainers): 29. Indian warrior deities (associated with Ma¯r ¯ı cı¯): 111.

240

INDEX

Indo-European (contacts along the Silk Roads to China and Japan): 105, 141. Inkyo¯ (High King): 6. invisibility: 68, 101, 125, 156, 162, 166, 187. in-yo¯-jutsu (martial concepts): 165–6. Ishizuki-san (tengu mountain): 94. Issai Chozanshi (author of ‘The Demon’s Sermon, etc’): 142–3. Jenquis (see Zenki): 81. Jingo¯-ko¯go¯ (chieftainess or ‘Empress): 64. jo¯ju-fujo (female shaman): 212. Jomon period (pre-300 BCE): xvi, 5, 72, 74, 183, 212. juho¯ (incantations): 212. Juji-no-ho (powerful ‘Nine Syllable’ spell): 78, 212. Kage-no-ryu¯ (Bujutsu): 152. kaiho¯gyo¯ (practise of ‘circling the mountains’): 119. kai-no-o¯ (sacred cord, See Hashirinawa and Kensaku): 122–3. Kaji-be (ancient Yamato guild of metal smiths): 29, 212. Kali, Durga and Candi (triad of ferocious Indian warrior deities): 111. Kamakura period (thirteenth century): 18, 51. Kamidoko-e yakumi (an ‘attendant’): 24. kamigakari (divine possession): 34. Kamiidzumi Nobutsuna (famous Sengoku period master of Shinkage-ryu¯-no-heiho¯): 9, 182. Kamo¯su-jinja (old Shinto¯ shrine, Shimane-ken): 69. Kara (see Kaya below). karasu-tengu (crow-tengu): 4, 64. Kashihara Archaeological Institute and Museum 19, 52, 60, 62. Kashima – region and shrine: 25–6, 28, 40–1, 44, 69, 73, 80, 175, 178.

Kashima Shinto¯-ryu¯ (oldest extant bugei transmission, See Tsukahara Bokuden): 115. Kashima Shinto¯-ryu¯ (‘platform’ feature of old do¯jo¯): 175. Kasuga-taisha (great shrine at Nara): 80. Katsuragi (mountain made famous by En-no-gyo¯ja): 78, 94. Kaya (small Korean state, sometimes Kara): 6, 8, 39, 41, 43, 78, 213. kenbu (martial and folk dance forms, often with weapons): 50–1, 107. kenja (‘a wise man or sage’ See Shugenja): 90. kensaku (sacred cord used by Fudo¯-myo¯-o¯. See Kashirinawa and Kai-no-o¯): 122–3. Khaka (Central Asian tribes and Bura symbols): 59, 61. Kibi (ancient Puyoˇ state in Okayama area, later destroyed by Yamato): 6–8, 23, 41–2, 80, 214. Kibune-jinja (ancient shrine near Kurama-yama): 4. Ki-ichi Ho¯gen (Taoist magician sheltering at Kurama-dera): 114. Kizhi (tribes and Bura symbols): 59– 60. ko¯ (lay pilgrim groups): 82. Ko-bujutsu (martial transmissions pre-Edo period): 11. Kofun period (ancient mound burials): 10, 18, 22, 46, 56, 62, 80, 111, 214. Koguryo¯ (ancient state in present day North Korea): 37, 39, 214. Kojiki (earliest ancient Chronicle of Japan): 7, 38, 66, 140, 214. komori (pertaining to re-birth and infants): 25. komori-do¯ (‘smoke house’ in asceticism): 24. Kongo¯bu-ji (Shingon temple on Koya-san): 84. Kongo-cho¯ (vajra trident): 136. Kongo¯-kai mandala 78, 166, 215.

INDEX ‘Konjaku-monogatari’ (Heian period collection of tales): 86, 108–109, 177. Konoha-tengu: 10. Korean peninsular: xiii, xv, 5, 16. ko-ryu¯ (general term for pre-Edo¯ period martial traditions): xii, 3, 28, 157, 215. Kujaku Myo¯-o¯-ju (Peacock sutra): 77, 215. Kukai (774–835) (founder of Shingo-shu¯, sometimes named Ko¯bo¯ Daishi): 84, 90. kumade (wooden rakes): 121–2. Kumandin (tribal Bura): 59. Kumano region (southern Wakayamaken): 6, 34, 40, 42, 64, 74–5, 78 et seq., 97, 112, 119, 215. Kumasu (indigenous Jomon and other tribes): 23. Kume-be (Yamato period guild of warriors): 29. Kurama-dera: 188. Kurama-ryu¯-no-heiho¯ (see Kurama, early buge transmission): 115, 128. Kurama Shinkage-ryu¯: 128–129, 145. Kurama-yama (sacred mountain north of Kyo¯to): 4, 112–14, 188. kurgan (Scythian burial mounds): 44. kuwagata (horns on armour helmets): 46–7, 215. Kwajincho¯ (No¯ Play featuring Benkei and Yoasitsune’s flight): 114–15. Liu t’ao (treatise on Art of War. See Ki-ichi Ho¯ge): 114. Lolang (or Lelang) (ancient Chinese Commanderie in central Korea): 37, 64, 216. mabesashi (peak of armour helmet): 46–7. Mahan (Han Commanderie in ancient Korea. See Han Commanderies). Maitreya (or Miroku) (one of the ‘Fierce Guardians’ in Buddhis belief ): 162. Mandala (esoteric ‘paths’): 34.

241

Marume Kurando¯-dayu (Sengoku period master swordsman; founder of Taisha-ryu¯): 9. mastery of fire: 68. Medh (ancient Irish female warrior deity See Morrigan): 111. menpo¯ (armour masks or face protectors): 184–6, 216. Mihan (see Han Commanderies). miko¯ (shrine sybils in Shinto¯): 67, 81, 216. Mikomari-jinja (shrine to ‘Water Deity’ on Yoshinoyama): 121. mirrors: 31. mitarashi (sacred lustration cisterns. Also Mizugori): 68, 72. ‘Miyamasu’ (No¯ play. See ‘Eboshi-ori): Frontispiece. Miyamoto Musashi (famous earlyEdo¯ master swordsman): 35, 179. Monono-be or Monobe (Yamato period guild of warriors): 29, 76, 217. Morrigan, Macha, Medh (ancient Irish triad of female warrior deities): 111. mudra¯ (sacred hand postures or ‘seals’): 78, 96. Muninn (a raven ‘messenger’ of Odin. See Huginn): 19, 140–1, 217. Muno¯sho¯ (Aparajita) (a rarely invoked Gongen): 147. Muromachi period (fourteenth to sixteenth century): xi, xvii, 11, 13, 15, 18, 23, 29, 33, 68, 110, 116 et seq., 157, 166, 168 et seq., 177, 179 et seq., 184. Murong or Mugong (ancient tribes on the norther border of China): 37. Nakatomi-be (Yamato guild of warriors): 76. Nanbokucho¯ period (fourteenth century) (Conflict between the Northern and Southern Courts): 18, 117, 124, 180.

242

INDEX

Nara period (eighth century): 18, 29–30, 41, 51, 63, 81, 105, 164–5, 170. Nihon Shoki or Nihongo (second of ancient Chronicles of Japan): 7, 25–6, 38, 43, 66, 105, 164–5, 170. Nikko¯-san (famous mountain with ascetics, To¯chigi-ken): 94. ‘Nine Syllable’ spell (See Juji-no-ho¯): 78. Ningpo¯ (religious and cultural meeting centre on island off Yangtsi River): 84, 106, 151, 218. Ninigi (Puyo-Yamato prince, the ‘Heavenly Grandson’): 39. nyu¯bo-no-ono (an axe. See Ono): 122. ¯ bushi O Kansuke (Taisha-ryu¯ swordsman, owner of several illustrated tengu scrolls; early Edo¯ period): 9, 152. Odin(n) (ancient Norse ‘magician’ King): 19, 140–1. Odin(n) (name cognate with Indian deity Varuna): 141. okuden (secret transmissions in Ko-ryu¯): 218. ¯ mine (sacred mountains in Yoshino O region, Nara and Wakayama-ken): 79 et seq., 87, 94, 121. ¯ mishima (large island in Inland O Sea with famous shrine): 41, 70. ongyo¯-ho¯ (art of sorcery): 218. onmyo¯-do¯ (to practise esoteric rites): 219. ono (an axe. See Nyu¯bu-no-ono): 122, 131. Ontake-san (famous ascetic mountain): 90, 94. otsukai (or otsuka) (‘messengers’ of the deities): 9, 11, 126, 138–43, 148, 152, 182, 219. ¯ -yama-zumi-no-kami O (powerful Mountain deity enshrined in the mishima-taisha): 41. pacification of Emishi: 97.

Paekche (ancient Puyoˇ state in southwest Korea): 6, 38, 42, 219. ‘Pañcavimsá Brahma¸na’ (ancient Indian sacred text): 19. Parthians (Central Asian people): xv. ‘Parthian Incense’ (in Central Asia, wild hemp): 24. Pazyryk region (southern Siberia): xvi, 37. Peacock Sutra (Kujaku Myo¯-no-ju): 77. penancies (in Shugendo¯ ascetic practise): 23. Persian Empire: xiii Pimiko (or Himiko) (ancient shamanqueen of the Yamatai): 7, 28, 77, 210, 219. ‘Ping-fa’ (treatise on the Art of War by Sun Tzu): xiii, xvii, 125. protoceratops (extinct fossil remains of small dinosaur found in the Gobi region): xvii, 53–4, 64, 219. psittacosaurus (extinct dinosaur, smaller than protoceratops. Gobi region): 53–4, 219. psychotropic fumes (employed in ascesis): 22. psychotropic plants: 23. purification (rituals): 50, 62. Puyoˇ (tribal people, also Puyoˇ-Kayan or Puyoˇ-Kayan-Yamato): xv, xvi, 6–8, 11, 18, 21, 28–9, 36–9, 41, 44, 48, 58, 62, 66, 75, 181–3, 220. Pyo¯nhan (ancient Han Commanderie): 220. Pyonyang Museum: 20. Qin Shi Huang Di (the ‘Yellow Emperor’, First Emperor to unify the ancient Chinese states): 36. ra¯ksa (demon or ghost spirit): 1, 111. reimu (intuitive understanding, a revelation): 68, 220. Rg-Veda: 19. rokushakubo¯ (or Shakujo¯) (a f luted or six-sided staff ): 123. Roman origins: xiii. Royal Scythia: xiii, 54. Russian steppe: xvi.

INDEX saito¯-goma (fire ritual): 22 Saka (tribal peoples, north-east Persia region): 45, 50, 105, 221. sakaki (tree sacred to sankaku so¯hinko¯ and Shinto¯. Cleyera ochnacea): 52, 221. Sakhalin (island north of Hokkaido¯, formerly Japanese): xv, 16. Samhan (Han Commanderies in ancient Korea): 39, 221. sangaku-geki (a spear or trident, see Hoko): 124, 130. Sankaku-shinko (modern term coined for Japanese folk beliefs): xiii, xiv, xvi, 18, 23, 26–27, 68, 74, 102– 103, 111, 139, 164, 172, 183, 185, 221. sankosho¯ (three-pronged vajra trident): 124, 130. San-lueh (treatise on the Art of War. See Ki-ichi Ho¯gen): 114. Sarmation (tribal people in north-east Persia): xv, 50, 105, 221. Sassaniuan Empire (ancient Persia): 64. Sassaniuan long swords: xvi. sasumata (forked spear): 122. Scáthach (powerful ancient Irish sorcerer and magician deity): 197. Scythia (Eurasian steppe): 44–5, 54, 221. secrecy in transmission (within Ko-ryu): 145 et seq. Sei Shonagon (Heian period poet): 113. Sencha, Fergus, Cathbad (triad of fierce ancient Irish warrior deities): 111. Sengoku period (c.1480–1573) xiv, 13, 29, 114–15, 130, 142, 151, 172, 180, 184, 222. Seto-nakai (Inland Sea): 40. ‘Seven Military Classics’ (ancient Chinese): xiii, 142, 170, 222. shakujo (a carrying staff. Also Rokushakubo): 123. shaman (discussion and symbols employed): xvii. (Other multiple references not listed). shape-shifting: 32–4, 54, 69 et seq.

243

shimodoko-e-yakumi (Hibachi used in esoteric practice): 24 Shingan-ryu¯ tengu: 153–4, 165. (Big Dipper etc., discussed): 165-6. Shingon-shu (branch of esoteric Buddhism): xiv, 14, 78, 85–8, 96, 103, 166, 222. Shinkage-ryu (discussion concerning illustrations): 150, 158–63, 174. Shinkage-ryu tengu (winged and caped): 160. Shinto: xii, 16, 21, 29, 41, 48, 48, 68, 72, 76–83, 112, 127, 141, 156, 166–70. Shiten-ryu Kiome-no-waza Iai (Iai-jutsu transmission related to ‘purification dances’): 78. Shor (nomadic tribe, bura): 51, 61. sho-tengu: 4 et seq., 107, 130 et seq. shu-ha-ri (concept of understanding in the bugei): 123, 167–9, 174–6. Siberian region: xv-xvi, 26, 37. Silla (or Shilla, ancient Puyo state in south-east Korea): 39, 48, 223. sumo (wrestling with the deities, kami-no-sumo): 69–71, 187. Sungari River: xvi, 21, 37, 48. Sun Pin (son of Sun Tzu, below. Author of a famous treatise on the Art of War): 19, 170. Sun Tzu (influential ancient Chinese military philosopher): xii–xiii, xvi, 12–13, 33–5, 125, 142–5, 163–4, 170, 172–6, 180 et seq., 224. Susa-no-wo (tempestuous storm deity): 63, 66, 69, 224. Taifang (ancient state in Korea): 38, 224. ‘Taiheiki-momogatari’ (Chronicle of the disturbed mid- to late-fourteenth century): 115–18. taimitsu (sorcery, geomancy in Tendai-shu): 89, 225. Taisha-ryu (formidable transmission of the bugei): 9, 120 et seq., 152–3, 161. Taizo -kai mandala: 78, 166, 225.

244

INDEX

Takemika-dzuchi-no-kami (patron warrior deity, enshrined chiefly at Kashima): 7, 25–6, 29, 30, 39–40, 44–5, 59, 80, 141, 181. Takimatsuri-no-kami (‘waterfall celebrating deity’, at Ise): 77, 80. ‘tally ships’ (between Japan and China): 151–2. ta-no-kami (deities of the ‘fields’): 225. Taoism (duellist philosophy): xvii, 5, 18–20, 23, 23, 30, 33, 49, 76 et seq., 90 et seq., 96, 110–11, 164, 171, 225. Tateyama (mountain associated with tengu): 94–5. Teleut (nomadic tribe and their bura): 58–9, 61. Tendai-shu (esoteric Buddhist sect): 14, 84 et seq., 96, 166. Tengai (Buddhist ‘heavenly covering’): 225. Tengere Kaira-kan (‘Heaven Emperor’, TransBaikal steppe): 63. Tengri (san) (Central Asian deity): 45, 63, 75, 175, 226. Tengu (Buddhist demonization of ): 108. ‘Tengu-geijutsu-ron’ (Edo period book): 108. tengu-mempo (armour for the face): 114–15. ‘Tengu-san’ (‘King of the Tengu’, or Tenger, Tengen, Tangara, Tingir, Tangra, Tanri): 114–15. therianthropes (beings part-man, part beast.): 14, 16, 32–4, 51–2, 54, 101–102, 129, 138, 158 et seq., 176, 226. Thracian (tribal peoples): 22. Tien-shan (mountain region south of the Gobi): xv. tigir taji (ritual slaying of a horse): 63. tomitsu (sorcery, geomancy in Shingon-shu): 226. tora-no-maki (‘Tiger’ scrolls of transmission in the bugei): 14, 126. torii (at entrance to Shinto¯ shrines): 21. trance: 30–1, 55.

‘Tree of Life’: 43–8. Tsukahara Bokuden (famous Sengoku period bugeisha, See Kashima): 115, 173. tsukawashime (messenger of the deities, an ‘escort’, even animal in the sankaku shinko See Otsukai): 139. Tsukuba-san (twin-peaked mountain in midst of Kanto plain; associated with tengu): 82. Tungusic language: 64. region: 16, 21, 38. Turkik tribes and bura: 37, 57, 61, 63, 156, 227. tyn-bura (personal symbol of shaman’s spirit life): 22, 227. ubasoku (a hermit magician or sorcerer): 80, 227. Udo-jinja (sea cave-shrine in Kyushu): 25. Ugrian language (Central Asia): 23. uji-gami (or ubusuna-gami, deified ancestral ‘progenitors’): 74. uma-jirushi samurai (‘horse riding’ or ‘horse leading’ samurai): 63, 228. Urabe (also Ura-be, ancient guild of diviners, name surviving to present day): 29, 228. Ushiwaka (boyhood name of Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune): Frontispiece, 4, 114–16. Visser, Marius W. de (writer and folklorist): 1–2, 5, 108–109, 114, 117–18, 142, 157, 185, 187. Wa (ancient name given to state of Kaya): 6–7, 40–1, 73, 228. Warring States period (453–221 BCE) (violent period in Chinese history): xvi, 5, 12, 36, 228. Wei-Chih or Wei Chronicles: 7, 28, 39, 73, 228. wings on tengu (possibility that these are capes): 148, 158, 160–1. World Tree (also Tree of Life): 16, 26, 45, 68.

INDEX ya (arrows): 124. Yagyu Muneyori (famous bugeisha, late-Sengoku and early-Edo period): 123. Yakut (nomadic tribal people, Central Asia): 21, 25–6, 45. Yama-be (Yamato period guild of mountain men. Also Yamaotomo): 11, 29, 65, 75, 80–2, 228. yamabushi (definition of ): 110. yamabushi and tengu skills compared: 101. yama-iri (‘Entering’ the mountains): 229. Yamamoto Kansuke (Sengoku period strategist serving Takeda Clan): 155–71, 173, 180–1. yama-no-kami (deities of the mountains): 69, 71, 75, 81, 95, 229. Yamatai (Yayoi tribal groups forming confederation near Kibi): 6–8, 18, 23, 39–41, 48, 196, 229. Yatagarasu (xiv, 20, 42 et seq., 64–5, 140, 230. Yayoi (pre-Yamato Japanese settlers, c. 300 BCE – 300 CE): xv-xvi, 5,

245

8, 10, 16, 28, 39–40, 43, 50, 59, 60, 66, 72–4, 183, 230. Yemishi (aboriginal tribes in Japan): 11. Yezo (aboriginal tribes in northern Japan): xvi. Ying-yang (see Dharani): 5, 18, 30, 76, 90, 96, 101, 164–5, 176, 230. yorigito (possession by spirit): 230. Yoshikawa-ke (direct descendants of the Yamato Ura-be ‘diviners’ at Kashima-jingu): 29. Yoshino-Kurama region: 3, 34, 42, 78 et seq., 82, 88. Yugei-be (Yamato period guild of bowers): 29, 231. yumi (a bow): 124. zanshin (‘remaining mind’, awareness): 152, 231. Zao-do (prayer hall, Kimpusen-ji, Yoshinoyama): 231. Zao-gongen (fierce manifestation of deity, Yoshinoyama): 34, 88, 97, 103, 147, 231. Zenki (protector of En-no-gyoja): 79, 89 et seq., 95, 97–9, 157, 231.

oOo