Gokuraku - Jigoku

2018/02/10

Yakushi legends 07 Kyoto

勝持寺 Shoo-Ji - お薬摘む薬師
(西国四十九薬師巡礼 Nr. 42)

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. Inaba Yakushi 因幡薬師 Yakushi from Inaba .
Byoodooji 平等寺 Byodo-Ji　－　五条高倉薬師堂 Gojo Takakura Yakushi Do .
Medicine Master Buddha: The Iconic Worship of Yakushi in Heian Japan

. Tako Yakushi 蛸薬師 Octopus Yakushi .
Temple 永福寺 Eifuku-Ji
京都市中京区新京極蛸薬師東側町503

京都十二薬師霊場 / 洛陽十二薬師
. Pilgrimage to 12 Yakushi Temples in Kyoto .

kuwagata Yakushi 鍬形薬師 Yakushi with a cut of a hoe
temple 大超寺 Daicho-Ji

The statue was found by a farmer plowing his fields, it shows the impression of his kuwa 鍬 hoe on the back.

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kane no oto 鐘の音 the sound of the bell
Near the 火葬場 crematory there was a 薬師堂 Yakushi Do Hall. People say there were a lot of gold coins buried there. In a quiet night the sound of a bell was heard from below the Yakushi hall.

kuruma-kaeshi no O-Yakushi san 車返のお薬師さん Yakushi stopped the transport
On orders of the Kamakura government a very precious statue of Yakushi was to be brought to 奥州平泉 Hiraizumi. But on the way at 白糸 Shiraito the cr with the statue on it could not be moved any more. So the people thought that Yakushi had chosen this place for himself and built a hall there to venerate him.

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tsuchinoko hebi 槌の子蛇 hammerspawn
Hammerspawns had been sighted at various spots in Kyoto:
In Northern Kyoto, 雲ケ畑 Kumogabata at the 薬師峠 Yakushi pass, at 沢の池 Sawanoike, at 老ノ坂峠 Oinosaka Pass
. at 京都清滝不動院 Kiyotaki Fudo-In .

Yakushi Tooge 薬師峠 Yakushi Toge pass

. tsuchinoko 槌の子 hammerspawn .
a legendary snake-like cryptid from Japan

- reference : Yakushi Toge in Japan -

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亀岡市 Kameoka

Yakushido no kane 薬師堂の鐘 the bell of the Yakushi Do Hall
When villagers buried the bell of the Yakushi Do Hall at the upper waterfall of the river 蛇谷川 Jadanigawa, it begun to rain immediately and the drought was over.

Yakushi Butsuzoo 薬師,仏像
About 200 years ago, during a flooding, a buddha statue came floating down the river. People thought it was Yakushi and venerated it.
Most people in the village stayed healthy after that.

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中京区 Nakagyo

. tengu no tsume 天狗の爪 nails of a Tengu .
shown at Temple 丹州国分寺 Kokubun-Ji

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南丹市 Nantan

薬師如来 Yakushi Nyorai
If people make a wish for healing at the Yakushi Do Hall at the temple 成就院 Joju-In, people hard of hearing will certainly be healed. To show their gratitude, they have to make an offering. They must find a stone with a hole, place a thread or a mizuhiki 水引 ceremonial paper cord around it and offer it.

kyuuri kaji 胡瓜加持 ritual for cucumber purification, cucumber blessing
At the Yakushi Do Hall people come to get a purified cucumber, take it home and each member of the family has to take a bite. The rest will be buried under the beams of the house to prevent people from getting ill during the year.

. kyuuri fuuji きゅうり封じ / 胡瓜封じ cucumber ritual .

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与謝郡 Yosa district 野田川町 Nodagawa

. muchi yakushi 鞭薬師 "whip Yakushi" .
麻呂子親王 Prince Maroko Shinno carved seven statues of Yakushi Nyorai ...

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- - - - - Legends from other prefectures, related to Kyoto

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Aichi 愛知県 / 名古屋市 Nagoya 熱田区 Atsuta

. 大薬師の鬼祭 "Festival of the Demons of Yakushi Nyorai" .
高蔵不動院 Takakura Fudo-In

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Shimane 島根県 / 邇摩郡 Nima district

. Yakushi no men 薬師の面 mask of Yakushi .
at the tempel 山田寺 Yamadadera

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Wakayama 和歌山県 / 日高郡 Hidaka district みなべ町 Manabe

O-Ryuu Yanagi おりゅう柳 The Willow Tree O-Ryu
. Sanjusan Gendo Hall and 柳のお加持 "Rite of the Willow" .
and the legend of O-Ryu.

A willow tree from 熊野川町 Kumanogawa village had been cut down and should be shipped to Kyoto for the building of the Sanjusan Gendo Hall.
The tree was very large and could not float down the river smoothly. There appeared the spirit of a woman and helped pulling the tree downriver. But the place where the tree had been cut was now cursed
and the villagers venerated 十二薬師 12 Yakushi statues there.

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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Tooji 東寺 To-Ji - Yakushi Do Hall

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- - - - - More temples with statues of Yakushi Nyorai in Kyoto

一様院 Ichiyo-In, 大宮薬師山東町16

神護寺 Jingo-Ji, 高雄山 Takao-San

教王護国寺 Kyoo-O Gokoku-Ji

来迎院 Raigo-In

三宝院 Sanbo-In, 醍醐寺 Daigo-Ji 塔頭三宝院

- reference source : yaokami.jp/kyoto -

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2018/02/09

Yakushi legends 06 Kagawa to Kochi

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
. Yakushipedia - ABC-Index 薬師如来 .
. Yakushi Nyorai - Legends from the provinces .
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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and
legends from Kagawa 香川県 / Kanagawa 神奈川県 / Kochi 高知県

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Kagawa 香川県

kubikire uma クビキレウマ horse with the head cut off
This Yokai horse makes a sound like shango-shango シャンゴシャンゴ and is also called
shango-shango uma シャンゴシャンゴウマ.
It is often seen at a nawa-suji ナワスジ road where Yokai pass along.
Once a man stayed at the Yakushi Do hall near the lake. When he had to go out for a pee at night, he saw a small horse that grew larger and larger. When he had to bend his head to look up to it, it suddenly disappeared. Then another small horse showed up and the man got so afraid, he run away for his dear life!

. kubikire Yokai legend from Tokushima 徳島県 .
This Headless Horse Yokai is well known in many parts of Japan.

. madoo 魔道 - まどう Mado, road where monsters pass .
ma no toorimichi 魔の通り道 / masuji, ma-suji 魔筋 //mamono no toorimichi 魔物の通り道
nawasuji, nawa-suji 縄筋

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三豊郡 Mitoyo district 詫間町 Takuma

If a woman wants to help her ill husband or child or has another wish she needs to have fulfilled urgently, she goes to the 薬師堂 Yakushi Do hall, cuts her hair and gives it as an offering.

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仲多度郡 Naka Tado district まんのう町 Manno village

chichi Yakushi 乳薬師 Yakushi and the breast
There is a Yakushi statue carved by Gyoki Bosatsu. Women who do not have enough milk to feed their babies come here to pray. And if all went well and the child is healthy, mothers bring a small replica of a breast in gratitude.

source : ameblo.jp/kushihiko

There is another shopping street and 薬師堂 Yakushi Do Hall nearby.
「乳薬師」交流拠点に－赤門筋商店街
「赤門七佛薬師堂」 - 香川県善通寺市善通寺町

source :　www.shikoku-np.co.jp

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Kanagawa 神奈川県

日向薬師 Hinata Yakushi Temple, Isegahara
Founded in 716 by Gyoki Bosatsu.

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江ノ島 Enoshima

The 江ノ島の薬師堂 Yakushi Hall has been built by 日詰五郎俊衡 Hizume Goro Toshihira.
This Yakushi does not like dogs and cocks. If anyone would keep them as pets, the whole island would suffer. Lately a young person did not follow the old sayings and kept some, but he soon suffered great difficulties.

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川崎市 Kawasaki 中原区 Nakahara

yoogooseki ヨウゴウセキ影向石 Yogoseki Stone with Yakushi Image
(Eigoseki, Yogoishi)
In the year 739 天平11年, 光明皇后 Emperess Komyo became ill. Her husband, Shomu Tenno 聖武天皇 (701 – 756) had a dream one night: A monk came to his bedside and told him, the village of Tachibana in Musashi no Kuni 武蔵国橘 (now Kanagawa) there was a sacred spot with a sacred stone where people prayed to a statue of Yakushi Nyorai to be cured.
The emperor sent Saint Gyoki Bosatsu to pray there - and - the Empress was cured.
Later there were more stories about people being cured there.

One year later he ordered a temple being built there, Yoogooji 影向寺 Yogo-Ji
威徳山月光院影向寺 / 川崎市宮前区野川419 - 419 Nogawa, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki
- Homepage of the temple
- source : yougouji.org

. Empress Komyo 光明皇后 Komyo Kogo .
(701 - 760)

. Inage 7 Yakushi Pilgrimage 稲毛七薬師霊場 .
Yogo-Ji is Nr. 2 on the Pilgrimage.

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Kochi 高知県 - Tosa 土佐

清滝寺 Kiyotaki-Ji
Takaoka, Tosa, Kōchi

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. O-Fudo sama from Takaoka 高岡の不動明王.
Fudo Myo-O stands next to his friend, Yakushi Nyorai.

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長岡郡 Nagaoka district 西豊永村 Nishi-Toyonaga

tsue 杖 walking staff
When Gyoki Bosatsu came to the Yakushi Do Hall in Nishi-Toyonaga on his way to climb the mountain,
he planted his walking staff into the ground. It grew larger and larger into a tree and is called
sakasa sugi 逆さ杉 / 逆杉 upside-down cedar tree

. Gyooki Bosatsu 行基菩薩 Gyoki Bosatsu .
(668 - 749)

. sakasa sugi 逆さ杉 from Aomori .
sacred to 山の神 Yamanokami and 狗賓 Guhin.

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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2018/02/02

Yakushi legends 05 Ibaraki Ishikawa

菖蒲沢薬師如来坐像 Shobusawa Yakushi Nyorai
At 菖蒲沢薬師堂 the Yakushi hall
Also known as one of the Four Yakushi of Tsukuba, 筑波四面薬師.
本尊の薬師如来坐像のほか，同時期の作と思われる脇侍像と十二神将の一部，そして仁王像2体が現存している。
古くから「筑波四面薬師」と呼ばれて信仰を集め，かつては大変な参拝者で賑わったといわれる。平成20年から21年にかけて修理作業の際に胎内から見つかった墨書から，貞享4年（1687）に東光寺29代目別当寛泉によって作られた像であることが判明した。
菖蒲沢
- reference source : city.ishioka.lg.jp/page... -

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Yakushi statue at the temple 妙香寺 Myoko-Ji
稲敷郡美浦村土浦
- reference source : edu.pref.ibaraki.jp/board/bunkazai... -

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延命寺の薬師如来 Enmei-Ji Yakushi Temple
茨城県坂東市岩井4365番地 Bando town
- reference source : city.bando.lg.jp/sp/page...-

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東村 Higashi

Yakushida 薬師田 / ヤクシダ "Fields of Yakushi"
Near the bus stop 釜井駅 Kanai along the national road Nr. 294 there is a 薬師堂 Yakushi-Do hall. About 3000 square meters of former field land was used, but soon people begun to get ill in the neighbourhood.
Later the land was sold and a mansion was built there

- - - - - Yakushiden / Yakushida 薬師田 as a place name in
秋田県秋田市飯島薬師田 Akita
福島県福島市在庭坂薬師田 Fukushima
小川の薬師田 Ogawa no Yakushida

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水戸市 Mito

keikeigami ケイケイ神，seki no kami 咳の神 Kami of coughing
Near the Yakushi of 台町 Daimachi there is a sanctuary for the God of Coughing. It used to be a shrine for Lord Kuruma Tsunatada, 車斯忠丹波守 (? - 1602) . He had lost a battle and tried to hide in the forest, but could not suppress his coughing, was found out and killed.
After his death, he became the local 百日咳の神 "God of the whooping cough".

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筑波郡 Tsukuba 谷田部町 Yatabe

katame no sakana 片目の魚 fish with one eye
The 弁天池 Benten Pond in the village of 島名 Shimana was also called Yakushi no Ike 薬師の池 and Yakushi was venerated there.
If a person with eye disease would release a living fish in the pond, he got cured, but the fish in the pond lost one eye.

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牛久市 Ushiku

byooninda 病人田 / ビョウニンダ - byooninbatake 病人畑 "sick field"
There was a "sick field" dedicated to Yakushi at the temple 薬師寺 Yakushi-Ji. It was cursed and nobody wanted to use it for farming.
Once some young farmers decided to use it together, but soon some of their members died from mysterious accidents, so they stopped the project.

稲敷の病人田（忌地）伝説 Legend of the Byoninda of Inashiki
- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Ishikawa 石川県

龍護寺 Ryugo-Ji
The statue is 120 cm high.
羽咋郡志賀町酒見門前67
- reference source : pref.ishikawa.lg.jp/kyoiku/bunkazai... -

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羽咋郡 Hakui district 富来町 Togi

ryuutoo 龍燈 "dragon lantern"
The statue of Yakushi in the 高爪山の観音堂 Kannon Hall of Takatsumeyama was carved from some wood found on the beach.
Every year during the festival on the 18th day of the 8th lunar month, there is a strange "dragon lantern" light seen from the large tree in the compound.

. ryuutoo, ryūtō 龍燈 Ryuto, "dragon lantern" .
a light phenomenon at the Ariakekai sea in Kagoshima, Kyushu, and other areas, in the evening hours.

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輪島市 Wajima

funetogame no Yakushi 船咎め薬師 Yakushi blamed for ship traffic
The Yakushi who was responsible for safe ship traffic off the coast once caught the anger of the boatmen. So they cut off his left arm.

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. Yakushi Legends from Iwate　岩手県　－Tohoku .

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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Yakushi Legends 04 Fukui to Hyogo

source : info.pref.fukui.jp/bunka/bunkazai...

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Gifu 岐阜県

薬師寺 Yakushi-Ji

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. 円空上人と小さな仏さまたち Saint Enku and the small Buddha Statues .
- 飛騨の国の正宗寺 - Temple Shoso-Ji in Hida // kamishibai 紙芝居

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益田郡 Mashita district 下呂町 Gero

Two legends about an ema 絵馬 votive tablet painted with a horse:
蚕飼薬師堂 Kogai Yakushi Hall
上原村薬師堂 Ueharamura Yakushi Hall

Once 狩野法眼 Kano Hogen painted a votive tablet of a horse. But the horse left the plate every night and devastated the fields. So eventually he painted some golden braidle to keep it in place.

. Kano Eitoku 狩野永徳 - 古法眼 Kohogen, . (1543 - 1590)

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多治見市 Tajimi town

Yakushi no tatari 薬師の祟り the curse of Yakushi
At the temple Gensho-Ji 元晶寺 in 小泉村根本 the hamlet Nehon of Koizumi village, there is a golden statue of Yakushi of the size 1寸8分
(1 sun 寸 is about 3 cm, 1 bu 分 is about 1/10 of a sun).
A young farmer's girl had found it along the river Kisogawa, but wherever it was kept, it brought misfortune to the people.
Finally it was therefore dedicated at the temple in Nehon 根本.

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Gunma 群馬県

source : city.midori.gunma.jp/www/contents
みどり市 Midori city

. 円空上人と小さな仏さまたち Saint Enku and the small Buddha Statues .

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太田市 Ota

Yoneyama Yakushi 米山薬師
Once a man as large as the Daibutsu took the 米山薬師 Yakushi from Yoneyama on his back, set it up at 丸山 Maruyama, sat down at 金山 Kaneyama and washed his feet in the river 渡良瀬川 Watarasegawa.
His straw boots became the Big and Small Mount Maruyama 大丸山 - 小丸山.

米山薬師 Yoneyama Yakushi

- many other Yoneyama Yakushi in Japan, here are just two of them:
米山薬師、Kagoshima-ken, 姶良市　Aira-shi, 鍋倉 Nabekura
米山まいり / 米山薬師堂 in Niigata, 柏崎市 Kashiwasaki
- reference source : lib.city.kashiwazaki.niigata.jp... -

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多野郡 Tano district 神流町 Kanna

daija 大蛇 great serpent
At the 池の薬師 Yakushi Pond there lived a husband and wife serpent. The husband snake got killed by a shot. The wife snake shapeshifted into a young woman, went to the temple and told the priest about it. Then she disappeared.
Later when the priest went to the pond to perform amagoi 雨乞い rain rituals, it would always rain after his prayers.

. daija, orochi 大蛇 the huge serpent, great snake .

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Hiroshima 広島県

広島県の文化財
- reference source : Hiroshima Bunkazai List -

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呉市 Kure 蒲刈町 Kamagari

hi no tama 火の玉 ball of fire
Around 1898 on a summer night it was raining heavily. From the temple of Yakushi there came three balls of fire rolling over toward the beach and disappeared.
Since Yakushi and the deity 明神 Myojin are enshrined in the same temple, some villagers said it might have been Myojin.

. hinotama, hi no tama 火の玉と伝説 Legends about fire balls .

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Jizoo sama 地蔵様 Jizo Bosatsu
Once upon a time a fisherman wanted to take the Jizo statue from the Yakushi temple home, but it was so heavy he could not bring it to his boat, so he threw the statue into the water.
A few days later a man walked along the beach and saw a strange sparkle in the water - It was the statue of Jizo!
He saved it and brought it back to the Yakushi temple.

. Legends about Jizo Bosatsu - 地蔵菩薩 .

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Hyogo 兵庫県

- reference : Hyogo Yakushi Bunkazai -

- Legends about Saint Gyoki Bosatsu and
. Arima Onsen　有馬温泉 Hot Spring .
Kobu-zaka (Lump Slope)
In olden times, there was a sick man with a big "kobu (lump)", over his eye. Hoping to be cured, he went to Arima Onsen and prayed to Yakushi Nyorai to heal him. Despite coming all the way to Arima and bathing in the hot springs, he was not cured. Resigned to his fate, the sick person decided to leave Arima.
Incidentally,
there is a slope to the east of Arima. As the sick man was walking up the slope to leave Arima, the lump miraculously dropped from above his eye like ripe fruit dropping from a tree. When people heard about that they started calling the place "Kobu-zaka (Lump Slope)". This sloping path going from Arima Onsen to Zuihoji Temple is now neatly paved.

. 行基菩薩 Gyoki Bosatsu (668 - 749) .

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伊丹市 Itami

katame uo 片目魚 / 片目の魚 fish with one eye
At the pond 昆陽池 Koya-Ike there are many fish with only one eye.
Once upon a time, 行基上人 Saint Gyoki Bosatsu found a man lying by the roadside and wanted to bring him to 有馬温泉 Arima Hot Spring. But the man could not move and only murmured he wanted to eat some fresh fish. When Gyoki found a fish and offered him to eat it, the man said, Gyoki should eat first. So Gyoki ate half of the fish, including one eye.
Now the man said he had black pocks all over his body and wanted Gyoki to lik them. When Goyki started to lik his skin, the man suddenly changed and stood there as Yakushi Nyorai.
He had only tried the purity of Saint Gyoki.
The fish was thrown into the pond, but now he had only one eye.

Koyaike is now a place name in Itami, where there is a park, 昆陽池公園.

月なくて昼は霞むや昆陽の池
tsuki nakute hiru wa kasumu ya Koya no Ike

there is no moon
and haze during the day -
Koyaike Pond

. Uejima Onitsura 上島鬼貫 (1660-1738) .

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神戸市 Kobe 東灘区 Higashinada ward

Yakushi Ishi 薬師石 Yakushi Stone
Near West Hirano Village 西平野村 in the direction of Daibutsuhara 大仏原 there is an old Kofun in the pine grove. In the hall is a "Yakushi Stone" 薬師石.
Once a carpenter 大工 wanted to build a house and this stone was in his way, so he wanted to dig it up. But things did not go so smooth. The carpenter was dead from a stomach illness withing three days.
So a statue of Yakushi Nyorai was placed before it to appease the stone.

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Raijin and Yakushi sama 雷神と薬師様
Once upon a time
the God of Lightning fell into a tree, but Yakushi got hold of him, before much damage happened.
Since that time there are no more lightning accidents in 有馬 Arima.

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神戸市 Kobe　西区　Nishi ward

Taisanji 太山寺 / たいさんじ Taisan-Ji (Daisen-Ji)
The statue of 播州明石郡大山寺 Yakushi Nyorai of this temple always started to sweat very much shortly before a disaster would happen in Japan, in order to warn the people.

Sanshinzan Taisan-ji 三身山太山寺
It was established on orders of Empress Gensho in 716, who had a dream about Yakushi Nyorai.

. Genshō Tennō 元正天皇 and Yakushi Nyorai .
and the 勅願寺 Chokugan-Ji, "Imperial Temples".

- Homepage of temple Taisan-Ji
- reference source : do-main.co.jp/taisanji -
Pilgrim Temple Nr. 1 of the Banshu Yakushi Temples 播州薬師第一番霊場
and on four other pilgrim routes in the region.

. 播州薬師霊場 Yakushi pilgrim temples in Banshu / Harima / Hyogo .

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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2018/01/27

Yakushi legends 03 Chiba Ehime

来福寺 Raifuku-Ji - Tateyama

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安房郡 Awa district 鋸南町 Kyonan

Yakushi no reigen 薬師の霊験 the miracle of Yakushi
Once upon a time, a maidservant from a home in 房州勝山 Katsuyama, who was a strog believer in Yakushi Nyorai, braided her hair when suddenly flames and sparkles started to flutter all around. Her master got angry about this and threw her out. His rich wife begun to have one child after the other. In a dream the woman learned that she should start caring for ill people to end her fate of having too many babies. So she had a hospital built near the temple of Yakushi.

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Inzai Matsumushi, 印西市松虫 - Matsumushidera 松虫寺

The temple has been founded in 745 on request of 聖武天皇 Emperor Shomu Tenno by 僧行基 Priest Gyoki Bosatsu.

Shichibutsu Yakushi 七仏薬師如来 Seven Yakushi Statues

千葉県印西市松虫 / Matsumushi, Inzai, 印旛 Inba, Chiba
七仏薬師瑠璃光如来 Yakushi Ruriko Nyorai.
The statues were made in the early Heian period, probably by the same carver. The combination of six standing and one seated Yakushi is very rare.
One more is at 滋賀県の鶏足寺 Keisoku-Ji in Shiga.

松虫姫伝説 - Legend of Princess Matsumushi
The third daughter of Emperor 聖武天皇 Shomu Tenno, called Princess Matsumushi Hime, was very ill and her father sent her to this temple to pray to Yakushi Nyorai. She was eventually healed. She planted her tsue 杖 walking staff in the garden and from it a 銀杏 Gingko tree begun to sprout.
The temple and the village around it started to use her name, Matsumushi.

. Shichibutsu Yakushi　七仏薬師 / 七佛薬師 Seven Yakushi Statues .
- Introduction -

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成田市 Narita 遠山村 Toyama

tanishi タニシ mud snails
Once there was a great fire at the temple of Yakushi, but all the mud snails from the fields around came shielding the statue of Yakushi from being burned.
Since then the villagers of Toyama village do not harvest and eat these mud snails any more.
In effect, Yakushi had helped the mud snails !

. tanishi 田螺 / たにし mud snails .

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猿島郡 Sashima district 五霞町 Goka

Yakushi-ana 薬師穴 Yakushi cave
Once there lived 山姥 an old mountain hag in the Yakushi cave. She was lending zenwan 膳椀 bowls and trays to the needy.
Once a farmer broke one piece and did not bring another in exchange. Since then she stopped lending.

. zenwanbuchi 膳椀淵 "river pool for trays and bowls" .
in various regions of Japan

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- - - - - - - - - - Looking for Yakushi-ana I found

穴薬師古墳 Ana Yakushi kofun
茨城県猿島郡五霞町川妻 / Kawatsuma, Goka, Sashima District, Ibaraki

石室は幅2m、長さ7m、室内の高さは約2mで、中はひょうたん型になっており、中央部両側に長さ1.5m、30cm角の門石で前室と奥室とに区切られている横穴式石室である。整形された軽石をレンガ積みして石室の側壁が作られたり、奥壁に五輪の塔のような板状の石があてられたり、特異な構造を示している。古墳時代終末期の造営と考えられるが関東地方には例が少なく、学術上貴重なものである。 1971（昭和46）年3月29日、茨城県の史跡に指定された。
(wikipedia)

. kofun jidai 古墳時代 burial mound period - 250 to 538 .

- - - - - and

ana no Yakushi 穴の薬師　Yakushi with holes, Yakushi for holes
at 熊谷市樋春 Hiharu, Kumagaya, Saitama

at the 川島薬師堂 Kawajima Yakushido Hall
Yakushi helps with the "holes" in your body, especially the eyed and mouth.
People try to grind a hole in a larger stone and bring it as offering to pray for healing.

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Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如来 and legends from Ehime 愛媛県

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今治市 Imabari

enko エンコ Kappa
Once a man named 与一 Yoichi went to work on his field near 薬師堂 the Yakushido Hall. A kappa showed up and asked him for a bout of Sumo wrestling.
Yoichi agreed, but first went into the hall and ate some of お仏飯 the food offerings. The Kappa had observed this and ran away in great fear.

- - - - -

Once a man was late coming home from his work at the town hall. A woman with her hair combed in the Shimada style came toward him and invited him:
"Let's go to the Yakushi Hall and have some fun!"
He went home and told his family: "I am going to the Yakushi Hall now, but first give me some water!"
His daughter thought this was strange, gave him some tea and did not let him go.
In such a case, it is never good to give drinking water to a bewitched person.

. shimada 島田 Shimada-style hair - Introduction .

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城辺町 Johen

The statue of Yakushi Nyorai at 若宮神社 Wakamiya Jinja is from the time of Sakuragi Ho Shinno 桜木法親王, who passed here with his entourage and a high priest had carried the statue on his back, when it fell down. Once a priest came from 別府 Beppu and wanted to carry it back home, but he just could not pass the gate. The priest grumbled a lot and went back home, but he died soon after.
All people who want to take this statue away will only live for a short while after.

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松山市 Matsuyama

ikuji no juhoo 育児の呪法 spells to bring up a baby
Mumbling inoko inoko 犬の子 "child of a dog" helps to calm a crying baby.
(A pun with yoi ko, to be a good child.)
If a baby cries all night, it is good to paint a cock and make this an offering to
O Yakushi sama 尾薬師様 (Yakushi with a tail, another pun with the honorable O御),

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西条市 Saijo

Yakushi San takes away warts, and helps mothers to produce milk for their babies.
After making a wish and getting help, the person has to paint an octopus as an offering.

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四国中央市 Shikoku Chuo Town

. ibotori 疣取り / イボ取り / いぼとり take away warts .
It is best to pray to 水神 Suijin the Water Deity and to Yakushi for healing. If healed, one has to bring offerings.
For Suijin it is grains of rice, for Yakushi it is matsu no fuguri 松のふぐり pine cones.
The number must be the number of the age of this person.

There are more than 30 places in Ehime related to deities taking away warts, Yakushi Nyorai is one, so is Jizo Bosatsu.

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宇和町 Uwacho

. Yamadaya manjuu 山田屋饅頭 Manju Buns from Yamada .
善福寺 Temple Zenpuku-Ji 薬師堂　Yakushi-Do -　山田薬師如来

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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2018/01/26

Yakushi legends 02 Aichi

歌川国貞 Utagawa Kunisada

In the village of 矢作村　Yahagi in the province of 東三河 Eastern Mikawa, the courtesan 兼高長者 Kanetaka Choja gave birth to a beautiful girl named Joruri Gozen after praying to Yakushi Nyorai at the temple 鳳来寺 Horai-Ji. Yakushi came down in the form of a white deer. (Other versions tell of an old man with white hair who came to deliver the child of a white deer.)
Joruri Gozen was very beautiful, but she had only two toes on her feet, so she had to hide them with a cloth all the time.
The young samurai Yoshitsune, still under his boyhood name of Ushiwakamaru was traveling with a gold merchant from Kyoto, Kaneuri Kichiji 金売吉次, to Hiraizumi in the Tohoku region (former みちのく　Michinoku ). They spent the night at Choja's house and Joruri Gozen fell in love with Ushiwakamaru at first sight.
Both exchanged poems, as it was customary, and then spent the night together.
But come next morning Ushiwakamaru had to continue his journey.

. Jorurihime　浄瑠璃姫 Pricness Joruri - Introduction .

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知多郡 Chita district 南知多町 Minami-Chita

薬師様と狛犬 The Origin of Yakushi Nyorai and Komainu "Korean Dog" statues
The go-shintai 御神体 object of worship at the shrine 八王寺社 Hachiojisha is a shishigashira 獅子頭 lion head. It is made of strong paper and has a diameter of about 2 meters.
If someone sees the priest wear it and walking around even dogs begin to bark in astonishment and try to stop the ritual.
But to be true, there was no dog in the village at all. Then one day someone new moved to the village and brought his dog. Many people died shortly after that and the man with his dog was made responsible and was banned from the village.
This is said to be the origin of Yakushi and the Komainu.

唐獅子童子 Child carrying a karajishi lion dog head
about 30 cm high, made by 禰宜田佐太郎 Negita san
碧南大浜土人形 Hekinan Ohama Clay Doll

. komainu 狛犬 Korean Dog - Introduction .

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- - - - - - Temple 妙音寺 Myo-On Ji
愛知県知多郡南知多町内海馬場51

The main statue is senju Kannon 千手観音 Kannon with 1000 arms.
In 1573, Yakushi Nyorai appeared in a dream of the priest 宗音公和尚 and asked him to built a temple. The Kannon statue is said to be made by 行基 Gyoki, who was walking all around Japan at this time.
On the sacred day of Yakushi, especially the two big festivals in the 10th lunar month, there is a large market and shows.

One show featured a kuma musume 熊娘 "young woman like a bear".
She looked like a normal woman but on her back there was black hair growing in abundance, like a bear skin.

source and more photos : minami-chita33.jp/jiin

. Gyooki Bosatsu 行基菩薩 Gyoki Bosatsu .
(668 - 749)

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- - - Iooji いおうじ / 医王寺 Temple Io-Ji
Chita-gun, Minamichita-chō, Ōi, Mamuki−38 / 南知多町大井真向38

Gyoki made three statues of Yakushi when he was at the temple, and this is one of them.
Once a thief came to the temple to steal the statue and other temple treasures. But one of the priests stood up in front of the thieves and threw them out, so that not one could enter the temple hall. It is said that Yakushi himself took the form of a priest to protect the statue. The wound of a sword cut on his arm is still to be seen to our day.

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- - - Toohooji 東方寺 Temple Toho-Ji
The temple Toho-Ji at 小佐 Kosa was abolished and to be merged with the temple 光明寺 Komyo-Ji at 須佐 Susa.
A few years later, the farmer 作右ェ門 Sakuemon from Kosa went fishing and had a huge catch. But there were stones in his net called 「すくいだま」 sukuidama, so he threw the net away. Next time he threw his net in, again, only stones. The third time when he found the stones, he realized it was the statue of Yakushi Nyorai and took them home.
The villagers were overjoyed and prayed to Yakushi with all their heart.
. sukui-ami 掬い網 Sukuiami, scoop net .

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刈谷市 Kariya

Temple 医王寺 Io-Ji
刈谷市高津波町２－９４ / Takatsunamichō, Kariya-shi, Aichi

The priest of this temple was a rather handsome man. The woman from the village who came to care for him was rather plain looking. To attract the attention of the priest, she stole some oil from the lamp of Yakushi Nyorai and combed it into her hair. But the priest saw her do this, scolded her severely and expulsed her from the temple.
She was out of her wits from pain and died soon after. At her grave there danced a bluish-white light, like burning oil, making strange sounds and moving up and down. The flame seemed to say: "I am really, really frustrated!"

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北設楽郡 Kita-Shitara district 本郷町 Hongo

kamikakushi, kami kakushi 神かくし spirited away
A boy born with 生来痴鈍 an intelligence defect left home for a walk when he was about 15 or 16 years and did not come back in the evening.
Next morning when he came home, he said he had been in the mountains and played with Yakushi Nyorai and some Tengu.

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名古屋市 Nagoya 熱田区 Atsuta

. 高蔵不動院 Takakura Fudo-In .

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常滑市 Tokoname 大野町 Ono

海音寺 Temple Kaion-Ji
This temple dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai near the beach offers hot baths in the tide to heal all kinds of diseases.
This is due to the benevolence of Yakushi Nyorai,

source : owarioono.blog62.fc2.com...

A print from 1844. Naked men and women on the beach try to get some healing from the water . . . and maybe fun more later?

尾張大野潮湯治の図 Owari Ono Shio Toji
尾張名所図会 Owari Meisho Zue

The beach of Ono is one of the oldest swimming beaches in the world.
世界最古の大野海水浴場

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豊田市 Toyota

kenbonashi no ki けんぼなしの木 Kenponashi, Hovenia dulcis
Once the temple 薬師寺 Yakushi-Ji burned down. The hanshoo 半鐘 fire bell survived the flames and was burried in the ground. On this spot a Kenponashi tree was planted.
This tree grew very large and soon became a nuisance to the nearby farmers. So one cut some of its branches. but he became very ill after that.

. kenbonashi 枳梖 (けんぽなし) Hovenia dulcis .
..... genbonashi 玄圃梨（げんぽなし） /// ..... tenboonashi (てんぽうなし)
Hovenia dulcis. Japanischer Rosinenbaum
Its fruit is used in Chinese medicine.
- kigo for autumn -

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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2017/12/24

Roku Six Kannon

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]
. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .
. Kannon Bosatsu 観音菩薩 Avalokiteshvara - ABC List .
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roku Kannon 六観音 six Kannon

. 六道 Rokudo - six realms of existance .

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source : kannonsama4000.blogspot.jp

１．聖観音・餓鬼道　- Sho Kannon - Gakido
２．千手観音・地獄道 - Thousand-Armed Kannon - Jigokudo
３．馬頭観音・畜生道 - Horse-Headed Kannon - Chikushodo
４．十一面観音・修羅道 - Eleven-Headed Kannon - Shurado
５．不空羂索観音・人間道 - Fuku-Kenjaku Kannon - Ningendo
６．如意輪観音・天界道 - Nyoirin Kannon - Tenkaido, Tendo

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- quote -
Another Varient of the Six Kannon
1 - 大悲 (Daihi) Most Compassionate (Senju Kannon, 1000-Armed Kannon)
2 - 大慈 Most merciful (Shō Kannon, Holy Kannon)
3 - 師子無畏 Of Lion Courage, Fearless (Batō Kannon, Horse-Headed Kannon)
4 - 大光普照 Of Universal Light, Great Shining Light (Jūichimen Kannon, 11-Headed Kannon)
6 - 天人丈夫 Leader of Gods & Men, Divine Hero (Juntei Kannon, Pure Kannon)
7 - 大梵深遠 Great Brahma (Nyoirin Kannon, Jewel & Wheel Kannon)
Source: Soothill's Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms

and more at Mark Schumacher
- Roku Kannon, Six Kannon 六觀音 -
Chinese = Liù Guānyīn.

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Accounts and Images of Six Kannon in Japan
Fowler, Sherry D

Buddhists around the world celebrate the benefits of worshipping Kannon (Avalokiteśvara), a compassionate savior who is one of the most beloved in the Buddhist pantheon. When Kannon appears in multiple manifestations, the deity’s powers are believed to increase to even greater heights. This concept generated several cults throughout history: among the most significant is the cult of the Six Kannon, which began in Japan in the tenth century and remained prominent through the sixteenth century. In this ambitious work, Sherry Fowler examines the development of the Japanese Six Kannon cult, its sculptures and paintings, and its transition to the Thirty-three Kannon cult, which remains active to this day.

An exemplar of Six Kannon imagery is the complete set of life-size wooden sculptures made in 1224 and housed at the Kyoto temple Daihōonji. This set, along with others, is analyzed to demonstrate how Six Kannon worship impacted Buddhist practice. Employing a diachronic approach, Fowler presents case studies beginning in the eleventh century to reinstate a context for sets of Six Kannon, the majority of which have been lost or scattered, and thus illuminates the vibrancy, magnitude, and distribution of the cult and enhances our knowledge of religious image-making in Japan.

Kannon’s role in assisting beings trapped in the six paths of transmigration is a well-documented catalyst for the selection of the number six, but there are other significant themes at work. Six Kannon worship includes significant foci on worldly concerns such as childbirth and animal husbandry, ties between text and image, and numerous correlations with Shinto kami groups of six. While making groups of Kannon visible, Fowler explores the fluidity of numerical deity categorizations and the attempts to quantify the invisible. Moreover, her investigation reveals Kyushu as an especially active site in the history of the Six Kannon cult. Much as Kannon images once functioned to attract worshippers, their presentation in this book will entice contemporary readers to revisit their assumptions about East Asia’s most popular Buddhist deity.
- source : uhpress.hawaii.edu -

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- quote -
Accounts and Images of Six Kannon in Japan
An 11th-century text, “A Tale of Flowering Fortunes,” described the Six Kannon who “filled the worlds in the 10 directions with innumerable rays of light, which manifested in their colors the bodhisattva resolve to benefit all living beings everywhere.”
Sherry D. Fowler’s “Accounts and Images of Six Kannon in Japan” is an art historical study in the form of a journey to recover the scattered archaeological fragments of the past. The generalized subject is Kannon (in Sanskrit, Avalokitesvara), the compassionate and venerated deity of Buddhism. Fowler’s specific focus is its cult of six, the celestial compartmentalization being an expedient directory to “who” can help with “what” in the answering of prayers.

The reader’s traveling companions are introduced in chapter one, and number seven:
Sho (Noble) Kannon, Thousand-Armed Kannon, Horse-Headed Kannon, Eleven-Headed Kannon, Juntei (Pure) Kannon, Fukukenjaku (Rope-snaring) Kannon and Nyoirin Kannon, who holds the wish-granting jewel. Depending on the Buddhist sect, Tendai or Shingon, Juntei or Fukukenjaku are considered alternates, appearing in one or the other of a sect’s grouping of benevolent beings.

They are a cast of not altogether fixed iconography, but are usually multi-armed, sometimes multi-headed, and are colored from among blue, yellow/gold, white or flesh tone. There is one deity for each of Buddhism’s six transmigratory paths of existence (hell, hungry ghosts, animals, asuras or fighting spirits, humans and heavenly beings), assisting in salvation and better rebirth.

The cult was initially patronized by elites, so Fowler’s historical retrieval of texts and images for the Six Kannon in Japan begins in the 10th to 12th centuries in Kyoto. It was, however, the textual description of the Six Kannon in the Chinese text 摩訶止観 “Mohe Zhiguan” by Zhiyi (538-597) that was adopted and modified in Japan to give legitimacy to the cult’s local implementation and development. Fowler then shifts her geographical address to extant artifacts of the 12th to 18th centuries found on the island of Kyushu, both a place of active Six Kannon worship and a site of the comingling of Buddhist with pre-existing Shinto religious practices. Returning to Kyoto to discuss the superlative Six Kannon set attributed to Higo Jokei in Daihoonji, Fowler then turns to other Japanese areas for their sculptures, paintings and temple bell decorations, eventually touching on the West’s early reception of Japan’s Six Kannon from the 19th century.

A recurring concern throughout is with the instability of the number six, as the deities have also historically been configured as groups of five or seven, sometimes mistakenly. Fowler later follows with the morphing of the original Six Kannon into a supernumerary assembly of 33 that took impetus from that number of deity manifestations mentioned in the Lotus Sutra. The increased number was consonant with the supposed multiplication of power in a collectivity, and the 33-deity concept developed in tandem with the popularization of 33-stop pilgrimage routes from the 15th century. Pious enthusiasm fueled this together with a flourishing print culture, though the expanded cast of deities resulted in the gradual demise of the emphasis on the cult of six.

Part of the book’s message is with the repurposing of Kannon in accord with evolving religious practices, or the multi-purposing of Kannon in historical overview. While early Kannon worship was tied to aristocratic anxieties about the afterlife, the roles and functions of Kannon gradually transformed to aid nonelites in their earthly concerns. These could include the staving off of calamities, safe childbirth, seafaring, animal husbandry, removing curses, exorcism, preventing children from crying at night and apparently also in at least one example, placating the spirit of an angry cat.

A further intriguing discussion of both historical and contemporary concern is the gender and identity reassignment of various deities. The guises and employs of Kannon have risen to the needs of changing circumstances and what different time periods have required of them.

Much of the visual material introduced within is not conventional art historical imagery. The previous century’s scholarship largely saw fit to either ignore or denigrate Buddhist sculpture produced after the 13th century, discerning it had peaked only to suffer protracted decline. The last 50 or so years, however, has observed some reconsideration and Fowler’s scholarship is exemplary for engaging a subject over its vast historical spread — 1,000 or so years of Japan-focused Buddhist art developments.

A further engaging aspect is the book’s feel for treasure-hunting and discovery. In one instance, aided by the internet, digital maps and GPS, Fowler rediscovers a stone monument dated 1562 that survives next to a parking lot in Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture. Rather than seeming like a detour, such details are marshaled to bring color and extension in her pursuit of fuller narratives and interpretative contexts. Doing this breathes new life and knowledge into the remnants of the past that were heretofore only known in bits and pieces.
- source : Japan Times - Matthew Larking 2017 -

source : 斑鳩を歩く

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. Six Kannon Temples in Oshu province 奥州六観音 .
founded by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro

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rokumen Kannon 六面観音 Kannon with six faces

六面観音金銅仏 Bronze statue of Kannon with six faces
大明永楽年製

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. rokumen Kannon 六面観音 Kannon with six faces .
for six sacred mountains - by master carver 円空　Enku

The inscription is at the bottom of a Kannon statue with only 6 faces, instead of the usual 11 -
rokumen Kannon 六面観音.

Statue from the year 1690, Gifu, Temple Keiho-Ji 桂峯寺蔵

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. Join the Kannon Gallery on facebook ! .

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. Japan - Shrines and Temples - Index .

[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　. TOP . ]
[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
- - #rokukannon #sixkannon #rokudo #sixrealms #rokumen #rokumenkannon -
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