Fudo Legends 07 Nagano

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. Legends about Fudo お不動さま - 不動明王 .
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Fudo Legends 07 - from Nagano to Niigata

. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .

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- - - - - Nagano 長野県
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下伊那郡 Shimo-Inagun district 中川村 Nakagawa
上伊那郡 Kami-Inagun

Fudo Son 不動尊
At a place called 経平 Tsunehira there was a small Shrine, but it was lost during a huge mountain slide. After that, every night there was a light to be seen. In March of the year 1681 local farmers begun to dig there and indeed, they found a wooden statue of Fudo Myo-O.




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- - - - - Nara 奈良県

reibutsu 霊仏 "spirit Buddha"
When a spirit Buddha statue begins to sweat, it is usually the indicator of something bad (or good) to happen.


The Fudo statue at 生駒山般若窟 the Hanya Cave on Mount Ikuma is sometimes sweating, and for sure, a disaster will happen.

. asekaki Fudo 汗かき不動 sweating Fudo .

. Ikomasan 生駒山 宝山寺 Hozan-Ji .

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Once there was a priest who worshipped Fudo Myo-O diligently with morning and evening prayers.
But sometimes the statue of Fudo was not there. He thought this was quite strange. Then he had a dream:
The statue goes out to help a nun who did not have proper funeral rituals about 20 years ago.

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生駒市 Ikoma 鬼取町　Onitori

. En no Gyoja 役行者 and Fudo Myo-O .

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西吉野村 Nishi Yoshino village

If someone throws the statue of a Fudo Myo-O into the nearby river pool, it will begin to rain during a drought.

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宇陀郡 Uda district 室生村 Muro

amemochi, ame-mochi 飴餅 "sweets rice cakes"
At the waterfall 不動が滝 Fudo-ga-taki in Muro village there was a tea stall. Once a beautiful lady came to get some ame-mochi 飴餅 "sweets rice cakes". The curious shop-owner asked her where she had come from, but she did not answer. Later he followed her footsteps and found they disappeared in the basin of the waterfall.
Since then, these Mochi became a speciality of the tea stall.



. mochi 餅 rice cakes - Introduction .

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吉野郡 Yoshino 吉野郡 十津川村 Totsugawa village

guchinawa グチナワ (Kuchinawa)
Serpent as messenger of the Gods
As the lord of 不動淵 the Fudo Riverpool there was a Kuchinawa serpent. When a farmer tried to drive it away and threw some toilet dirt into the water, something like a golden bird flew up into the sky.
When the farmer came home, he found seven of his family members, all his cattle and even the cat dead. Since then they venerate a 七人塚 mound for seven people

. shichininzuka 七人塚 mound for seven people - Introduction .
Misaki ミサキ / 御先 / 御前 / 御崎 the Misaki deity




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- - - - - Niigata 新潟県
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上越市 Joetsu

On the top of 不動山 Mount Fudoyama there is a statue of Fudo. In the morning of April 25 the followers climb the mountain to pray and make offerings. At least once in a lifetime followers should climb that mountain.


Mount Fudosan, 1.430 m.

This Fudo will heal diseases of the eyes 目の病に効く.

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十日町市 Tokamachi 松代町 Matsushiro

During the great earthquake in December 1833, the statue of Fudo in the temple 大照院（大正院）Daisho-In rolled out of the temple building. The people inside followed him in a hurry and all went out - just in time before the building collapsed. Fudo had saved them all.

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. Nonomi no Ike 野々見の池 and Ikejiri no Ike 池尻の池 .
池尻不動滝 Ikejiri Fudo Taki Waterfall

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南魚沼郡 Minami-Uonuma district 六日町 Muikamachi

If the menfolk allow women to come up to the Fudo from 八海山の不動 Mount Hakkaisan, let them take off their koshimaki 腰巻 underwear and swing them around, Fudo gets angry and rain will fall.

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中頚城郡　Nakakubiki 吉川町 Yokawa

hebi 蛇 snake
At the pond 岩屋の池 Iwaya no Ike (小海の池 Koume no Ike) there lives a snake.
Monks from 真言僧 the Shingon sect come here,
recite 不動経Fudo Kyo, the Sutra of Fudo and pray for rain.
The monk puts his kechimyaku 血脈 lineage document on a reed pole and throws it into the lake. The snake picks it up, turns it around a few times for approval and then sinks to the bottom.
The carp from this pond are very special and not to be caught.

Kechimyaku (血脈)
is a Japanese term for a lineage chart in Zen Buddhism and some other Japanese schools, documenting the "bloodline" of succession of various masters or listing priests in a particular school.
In Zen the kechimyaku theoretically links a student to all previous generations back to the Buddha himself.
In the Sōtō school of medieval Japan it became commonplace for the kechimyaku to be administered to lay students for such rituals as the jukai ceremony. Traditionally this document is administered at the time of Dharma transmission in Soto Zen, during a shiho ceremony.
In the Jodo Shinshu sect the kechimyaku is meant to demonstrate "spiritual descent," and not a blood heritage.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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中頚城郡　Nakakubiki 青海町 Omimachi, Omi-Machi

ryuujin 竜神 dragon deity
At the 不動滝 Fudo waterfall there is a 竜神 Ryujin Dragon Deity.
If people throw stones into the water, it will begin to rain.

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両津市 Ryotsu town

Hoozoo-In 宝蔵院の不動さん Fudo of Hozo-In Temple
The Fudo statue from Hozo-in tended to stop special hasebune ハセブネ（馳せ船.
A shaman (カミサン（呪術者）kamisan, "man of God" in local dialect) told the fishermen to carry the statue of Fudo to the Waterfall ショー滝 and perform their rituals at this spot.

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佐渡郡 Sado district

ホトケ降ろし / ホトケオロシ hotoke oroshi
To ask for spiritual help and divination, there are many names to incarnate :
アリマさん Maria San、ありがたやさん Arigataya San、ドンドコヤさん Dondokoya San, ミタケさん Mitake San, オンタケさん Ontake San, お滝さん O-Taki san,
「○○町のお不動さん」Fudo San from xxx village and more.

Another way to seek religious help is to consult the
- - - - - hakke, hakka 八卦 the eight trigrams, chinese ba gua and the Chinese I Ging, Yi Jing 易經 / 易经.

- toigiki トイギキ 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.

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佐渡郡 Sado district 佐和田町

toigiki トイギキ seeking religious help
Once an old hag of about 70 years begun to behave strangely and was sent to the doctor but was not healed. Her daughter-in-law then took her to 沢根の不動さん the Fudo San at Sawane.
They learned that a child had fallen and died but its soul was not properly cared for, so the soul still hang around and caused mischief.
So the old hag made a small Statue of 地蔵 Jizo Bosatsu and offered it to 大日さん Dainichi Nyorai san. She then asked the soul to settle down with the Jizo statue and find rest.
Soon the old hag was healed and continued to pray for the soul.

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新発田市 Shibata

. Fudo and tanishi 田螺 mud snails. .


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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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