. Legends about Fudo お不動さま - 不動明王 .
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Fudo Legends 04 - from Gifu to Iwate
. Legends and Tales from Japan 伝説 - Introduction .
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- - - - - Gifu 岐阜県
Once around 1920,
a family almost shipwrecked, but eventually made it back to home.
They had a wooden amulet from 成田の不動尊 the famous Narita Fudo on their body, but this amulet was broken.
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揖斐川町 Ibigawa
- source and more photos : fairport_asai
memorial stones of Fudo Myo-O near the waterfall
At the 不動の滝 Fudo Waterfall upstream of the river Takashitanigawa 高科谷川 Fudo Myo-O is venerated. When there is a water shortage in the village, people come here to pray.
If a frog appears while they pray, then rain will fall soon.
If bees come out while they pray, it will not rain for a while.
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高山市 Takayama
Fudo sama is a part of 富山にあるお岩不動 the O-Iwa Fudo (the Rock Fudo) from Toyama.
If people with eye problems pray to it, their eyes will get healed.
. Ooiwasan Nissekiji 大岩山日石寺 Oiwasan, Nisseki-Ji .
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- - - - - Hyogo 兵庫県
神戸市 Kobe
chinoike jigoku 血の池地獄 Chi no Ike - hell blood pond
A small pond near the 折靑渓不動の瀧 Fudo Waterfall before the 観音橋 Kannonbashi bridge. Mothers who die in childbirth have their blood flow in this pond.
Their relatives bring half of a white hand towel, make a knot in the four corners to scoop some water from the small river and leave it at the side.
Other travelers pick it up and ask for water to be scooped into the towel. If it soon shows a hole and the water flows out, this person will go to paradise fast after his/her death.
. Maya moode 摩耶詣 visiting the Maya temple .
Maya san Tenjooji 摩耶山天上寺 Tenjo-Ji
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洲本市 Sumoto
Upstream the river 物部川 Monobegawa there is a place named 切石 Kiriishi (cut stone) with many rocks. The big ones are 立岩 Tateiwa and 双子岩 Futagoiwa, a smaller one is called 島岩 Shimaiwa.
The river between Futagoiwa and Shimaiwa is quite dangerous for children to play. In the space between the rocks stands the 不動の岩 Fudo Rock.
A child once tried to split this Fudo Rock, but the child went crazy soon after.
Once upon a time
a tanuki 狸 badger lived between these rocks. People who came to gather firewood have seen it near the willow tree beside the Fudo Rock, sometimes shape-shifting into a strange human figure.
. tanuki 狸 mujina 狢 － badger legends from Japan .
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- - - - - Ibaraki 茨城県
北相馬郡 Kita Soma district 守谷町 Moria
O-bake ishi お化け石 The ghost stone
In July of 1975 there appeared a ghost face on the memorial stone for Narita Fudo Myo-O 成田山不動明王石碑に幽霊. Some said it was the ghost of whe samurai Taira no Masakado 平将門様, others said it looked like their grandpa, others saw a woman in white robes carrying a child. No, it was a white cat buried below the stone. . . . All kinds of visions!
This story got so famous that it was even shown on TV and the village was flooded with inquisitive tourists. They needed a car parking space and the road to the Stone was always packed with cars. Then in the end it became clear that the "ghost" was some dried autumn grasses 枯れ尾花 and the fame died down, the village became quiet again.
source : torishin.cocolog-nifty.com #moriya
. Taira no Masakado 平将門 / 平將門 (? – 940) .
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水戸市 Mito
hi no tama 火の玉 ball of fire
On the way to the outhouse toiled, under the persimmon tree, there were two balls of fire rolling around. Coming closer, they vanished.
When asking the parents about his vision, he was told this was the deed of a mujina ムジナ.
Grandmother had once seen a ball of fire under the pine tree near the Fudo sanctuary and also said it was just a mujina badger.
. hi no tama 火の玉 "ball of fire" .
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那珂郡 Naka distrit
yonayona hikaru ishi 夜な夜な光る石
the stone that sparkled all night
This region, once ruled by the 佐竹家 Satake clan cam under the lordship of the Tokugawa.
The graves stones of the Satake clan had been removed and thrown into the river. Among the grave stones was also a stone statue of Fudo Myo-O which begun to sparkle at night. 丹下の宗助 Tange no Sosuke picked up the stone and began to venerate it.
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取手市 Toride
oogon butsu 黄金仏 Golden Buddha
In the old postal town 藤代宿 Fujishiro juku a girl of just eight years gave birth to a baby boy. This was very special and she got money to live a good life.
When they dug for a well in her new residence, there was a huge stone. Inside the stone was a statue of a golden Buddha, 不動尊 a golden Fudo.
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- - - - - Iwate 岩手県
東磐井郡 Higashi Iwai district 大東村 Daitomura
Once a villager was cutting down trees. He came to the hamlet of 野田集落 Noda and cut the branches of a torii Shrine gate dedicated to Fudo Myo-O お不動様の鳥居 and spent the night in the Fudo Hall. Because it was bitter cold he tore off the flags and used them to cover his shivering body. Then at midnight there was a sound at the front door.
And then next morning he could not move his body. Because he had slept in the same direction as the deity, he had been obstructing the deity from leaving the hall and this was his punishment.
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岩手郡 Iwate district
. Fudo as Hearth and Fire Deity 火の神（炉の神） .
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遠野市 Tono 土淵町 Tsuchibuchi mura
zashikiwarashi, zashikiwaraji ザシキワラシ/ 座敷わらし Zashiki Warashi Child
Once there was a fire in the village and just then a child with short cut hair おかっぱ姿 walked by the homes asking for food because it was hungry. The people were busy putting out the fire and did not pay attention to the child, but despite all their effort the home burned to the ground.
Another home, where the folks took the time to give some food to the child, did not burn down.
Now they say it was O-Fudo sama walking around trying to prevent the fire from spreading.
On Zashiki-Warashi
Zashiki-warashi (“zashiki” meaning the tatami room of traditional Japanese houses, and “warashi” meaning a kid or small child) are often seen as a kind of omen in the houses of once-great families on the verge of decline.
- source : Zack Davisson
. Tōno monogatari 遠野物語 Tono Monogatari Legends .
- Introduction -
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東和町 Towa
Once an old woman was cleaning the toilet, but happened to get some dirt on the Fudo venerated in the toilet 便所の不動尊. Then came the village sports event in autumn, but this time she could not participate because her whole body ached for two days.
Now she knew what to do. She cleaned the statue of Fudo with some wand and yes - her pain was gone.
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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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