Fudo Legends 05 Kagawa

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. Legends about Fudo お不動さま - 不動明王 .
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Fudo Legends 05 - from Kagawa to Kyoto

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


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- - - - - Kagawa 香川県

Once a pilgrim went to 伊予山 Mount Iosan and made ablutions in the waterfall, when suddenly Fudo Myo-O appeared.
Fudo let an old hag with a wide mouth, from ear to ear. When she opened her mouth, flames came out of it.

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Kagawa 高松市 Takamatsu 一宮町 Ichinomiya

okudosan おくどさん O-Kudo San - the Honorable Hearth
Once the head of the family did not feel very well and when ホウザンハン a Yamabushi priest came to purify the hearth, he was told that the Hearth Deity was not properly venerated.
When the family had replaced the hearth, they did not call a priest to have rituals for Fudo, but called 宮司さん a Shinto priest. If they had not even called the Shinto priest, all family members might have died.

. kamado 竈 hearth and its deity .

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Kagawa 木田郡 Kita district 三木町 Miki

tanuki 狸，アオニュウド / 青入道
The road from Tsuga to the Fudo sanctuary has a curve called ヒウチカド Hiuchikado.
People get posessed by a Tanuki there.
Once a charcoal maker passed by this 不動さん Fudo San. It was a full-moon night, but here al was pitch-dark. So the man wend down on his knees and grabed the weeds by the roadside to find his way. Eventually he crossed the bridge and suddenly the night was light again. And he heard someone laugh devilishly.
This was the deed of a Tanuki, a kind of Yokai called Ao-Nyudo, the Blue Nyudo monster.

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Kagawa 山本町 Yamamoto

kitsune 狐 fox，tanuki 狸 badger
If people are possessed by a fox or Tanuki, they get abura-age 油揚 fried Tofu or 小豆御飯 rice with soy beans to appease them.
The mountain priest 角田氏 Kakuda attacks them with Sutras. If they do not let go, he uses Fudo no kanashibari 不動のカナシバリ a paralyzing spell of Fudo to get rid of the possession.
If they promise to let go, he reads 般若心経 the Hannya Shingyo Heart Sutra at the end of the ritual.

. Hannya Shingyoo 般若心経 Hanya Shingyo Heart Sutra .

kanashibari 金縛り "bound in metal", sleep demons. temporary feeling of paralysis
- source : japanesemythology.wordpress.com... -

Fudo kanashibari no jutsu:
the art form of making an opponent hesitate by immobilizing any living thing with the power of the mind
- as practised by the Sogobujutsu martial art.

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Kagawa 塩江温泉 Shionoe Hot Spring
香川県高松市塩江町安原上東２７８－２

不動の滝 Fudo no Taki Waterfall - abour 40 meters high
When Kobo Daishi made ablutions at this waterfall, suddenly Fudo Myo-O appeared to him, hence the name.

- reference source : tabicoffret.com/article-

. Waterfalles named "Fudo no Taki" 不動の滝 .



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- - - - - Kagoshima 鹿児島県
曽於郡 Soo district

Hanayadon ハナヤドン Hanaya don
In the hamelt of 上出水 Kami-Izumi in the estate of 徳重義信 Tokushige Ienobu the deity Hanaya Don is venerated beside Fudo Myo-O.
During WWII, the uncle of Ienobu had been in 満州 Manchuria. Ienobu had a dream of the uncle telling him to build a more beautiful sanctuary for Hanaya Don.
So now it is a beautiful small shrine.



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- - - - - Kanagawa 神奈川県

If a traveler passes by 不動明 Fudo Myo, he falls from his horse.
To show his respect, he has to demount from the horse and walk past.

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reibutsu 霊仏 "spirit Buddha"
Once the Fudo statue at Oyama was found to be heavily sweating, then a strong earthquake occurred and many people died.
Some Buddha statues are known to sweat. Once the high priest 智興阿闍梨 Chikyo Ajari was stuck with illness, the Statue of Fudo wept.
These compassionate statues are really to be praised.

. 大山の不動様 Oyama no Fudo Son - 大山寺 .

. asekaki Fudoo 汗かき不動 sweating Fudo .

. naki Fudo 泣き不動 / 泣不動 weeping Fudo .

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Kanagawa 鎌倉市 Kamakura

Enkan shoonin 円観上人 Saint Enkan Shonin（1281 - 1356）
Enkan was called for questioning to the Kamakura government because he was under suspicion of having done improper rituals (choobuku 調伏 Chobuku).
The regent, 北条高時 Hojo Takatoki (1303 - 1333) had a dream: From the slope 東坂本 Higashisakamoto there came a few thousand monkeys to protect the body of the saint.
So Takatoki ordered to postpone the questioning and told his subordinate 佐介時弘 Sasuke Tokihiro to do so.
Tokihiro reported that on this morning, in the room of the saint, he had seen the shade of the figure of Fudo Myo-O.


円観上人 Saint Enkan Shonin / 慧鎮 Echin
（1281 - 1356）
Enkan was born in 1281 in Omi. He became a priest at Enryaku-Ji in 1295 at the age of 15, and received jukai ordination at the precepts-platform of the same temple, when he was granted the name of 伊予房道政 Iyonobo Dosei .
In 1303 he went into retreat and became a Zen priest for a while, but in the following year he returned to Kurodani.
In 1305 he secluded himself for the second time, following　priest 興円 Koen, and together they sought the "revival" of the precepts. Enkan and his followers conducted their "revival" receiving an impetus from the actions of Eizon.
Enkan became a 遁世僧　tonseiso from the Hiei group, and the leader of the　fundraiｓing for Todai-Ji. He carried out important activities such as the "revival" of temple 法勝寺 Hocho-Ji.
Enkan was in charge of the compilation of the original Taiheiki 太平記 records.

- reference : Enkan -

. Chōbuku hō 調伏法 Chobuku rituals .
to ward off evil spirits, enemies, and malicious influences.

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Kanagawa 横浜市 Yokohama

Fudo no kanashibari 不動の金縛り paralyzing spell of Fudo
(see also below, Kagawa 山本町 Yamamoto)
After the war the leaders of 御岳講 the Ontake Mountain prayer group of 大岡 Kami-Oka held a lecture. On their way home in the dark some black soldiers belonging to 占領軍 the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers grabbed the High Leader, strangled him and demanded money to let go. The High Leader begun mumbling the paralyzing spell of Fudo and in no time the black soldiers were paralyzed and unable to move.

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- - - - - Kanagawa and Niigata 新潟県 佐渡郡 Sado

toigiki トイギキ，hotoke oroshi ホトケオロシ / 仏オロシ seeking religious help
Once a family had a string of bad luck, so they went to a Fudo temple to ask what was the matter.
They were told that a grave on the way to the mountain was not kept properly and they should hold rituals. This was the grave of a family member that was split as a bunke 分家 branch family. The branch family had moved away to Kanagawa. So the main family gave them a handful of the earth of the ancestors to place in a grave in the new home and indeed the bad luck was stopped.

12 toigiki トイギキ to explore (one more with Fudo from Niigata)
14 hotokeoroshi ホトケオロシ to explore (2 more with Fudo)



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- - - - - Kochi 高知県
幡多郡 Hata gun 大月町 Otsuki

hebi 蛇 serpent
When the villagers performed a rain ritual at the waterfall of Fudo, there appeared a white snake and a red snake, telling them their wish would be granted.
The snake is an incarnation of Fudo.



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- - - - - Kumamoto 熊本県
人吉市 Hitoyoshi

yakoo ヤコウ fox
A pregnant woman got ill and prayed to Fudo Myo-O, because a shaman had told her to do so. But the illness got worse instead.
When she consulted another shaman, they found out it was a fox causing the illness. This shaman was a specialist in Yako Fox mischief.
Anyway, the woman was healed and the child turned out to be very clever.



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- - - - - Kyoto 京都府

. Abe no Seimei 安倍晴明 and a weeping Fudo - 清浄華院 Shojoke-In .
Fudo and Abe no Seimei at Shinnyodoo 真如堂 Shinnyo-Do

. Shuten Dooji 酒呑童子 Shuten Doji "Sake Child" Demon .

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Kyoto 六条の御息所 / 六条御息所 Rokujo no Miyasudokoro - Lady Rokujō

The vengeful spirit of Lady Rokujo was finally appeased when a priest at 横川 Yokogawa read the Sutra of Fudo (dokushu 不動読誦) many times for her soul.

. Rokujo no Miyasudokoro 六条御息所 .
and the Genji Monogatari

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Kyoto 延暦寺 Enryaku-Ji

Shortly before his death, Fudo told priest Ryuusen 隆暹 Ryusen in a dream that he would soon go to paradise.

. 延暦寺 Enryaku-Ji .
and Saicho, Dengyo Daishi 伝教大師最澄 and Hiei-zan 比叡山 Mount Hiei

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Kyoto 東山区 Higashiyama

Priest and painter Choo Densu 兆殿司 Cho Densu (1352 - 1431)
Kitsuzan Mincho 吉山明兆 Zen Monk Kichizan
The painter Densu painted a Nehanzu 涅槃図 Nirvana scene of the death of Buddha. But it was a painting full of wonders.



When he painted a dragon, the dragon would fly to heaven.
When he painted Fudo Myo-O, his flaming halo would begin to burn in flames.
Once he wanted to paint a dragon and prayed to the deities to show him one. Suddenly the water in the pond of the temple begun to churn and a dragon showed his features.
The colors and pigments for his paintings were from a special source at 稲荷山 Mount Inariyama.


While Densu painted the Nehanzu scene, a cat came along with a brush and pain in its mouth.
So he painted one cat into the scene.

at temple 東福寺 Tofuku-Ji
- reference source : tofukuji.jp... -

. nehanzu　涅槃図 painting of a Nirvana Scene .

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Kyoto 京都清滝不動院 Kiyotaki Fudo-In
24 Sagatoriimoto Ikkahyocho, Ukyo Ward, Kyoto

tsuchinoko hebi 槌の子蛇 hammerspwan
The priest of the temple 清滝不動院 Kiyotaki Fudo-In, 青龍住職 priest Seiryu, had frequently chased something like a Tsuchinoko from the temple compound.
Even visitors had seen the creature. They all helped searching, even along the deep slopes, but could not find it.

. tsuchinoko 槌の子 / nozuchi 野槌 Hammerspawn .
a legendary snake-like cryptid.

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Kyoto 京丹波町 Kyotanba (Kyotamba)

kikusui no taki 菊水の瀧 Kikusui Waterfall "Chrysanthemum water"
The precious dew of the chrysanthemum leaves had turned into 甘露 honey dew and a 妙薬 miracle medicine, thanks to the grace of Fudo Myo-O.
If someone can drink this dew mixed in the water of the waterfall, he will live to become 500 years.

There are other waterfalls with this name in Japan.

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Kyoto 相楽郡 Soraku district 南山城村 Minami-Yamashiro

Tokiwa Gozen 常磐御前 Lady Tokiwa
The waterfall where Tokiwa Gozen prayed is now known as
常磐不動の滝 Tokiwa Fudo no Taki.
The statue venerated there is said to have been made by Lady Tokiwa herself.



. Tokiwa Gozen 常磐御前 Lady Tokiwa .
wife of Minamoto no Yoshitomo. (1123 - ?1180) - Mother of Minamoto no Yoshitsune.


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- reference : nichibun yokai database 妖怪データベース -

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. - Join Fudo Myo-O on facebook - Fudō Myō-ō .

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. Pilgrimages to Fudo Temples 不動明王巡礼
Fudo Myo-O Junrei - Fudo Pilgrims .


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