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From their father’s palace in Takachiho, Jimmu Tenno (he was named at the time Kamu-Yamatoihare-hiko-no-mikoto) and his eldest brother traveled east to establish their peaceful governance over the land. The two brothers traveled leisurely eastward, building palaces and staying in some places for several years at a time. At Hayasuhi, Kamu-Yamatoihare- hiko-no-mikoto met an earthly kami (that is, not one of those who had descended from Takamagahara, the heavenly realm, with Ninigi-no-mikoto) fishing from a tortoise’s back. This deity, Sawonetsuhiko, agreed to act as guide on the sea lanes. At Shirakata the brothers were ambushed by a certain Nagasunehiko of Toumi. Kamu-Yamatoihare-hiko-no-mikoto’s brother was wounded by an arrow and died later of the wound. At Kumano, Kamu-Yamatoihare-hiko-no-mikoto and his troops fell asleep, ensorcelled by the deities of Kumano in the shape of a bear. A person of Kumano called Takakuraji presented a sword to the sleeping hero, and he and his troops promptly woke up and vanquished the unruly deities of Kumano. The sword had been sent on the orders of Amaterasu-π-mikami by Takemikazuchi-no-kami, and was named Futsu-no-Mitama. From Kumano, the hero was guided by a giant crow sent by the heavenly deities, meeting and accepting as his retainers many earthly deities. A man of Uda, Yeukashi, attempted to ambush the hero but was frustrated. Yeukashi then prepared a trap in the hall he built, but his design was frustrated by his younger brother, Otoukashi, who disclosed the plot to Kamu-Yamatoihare-hiko-no- mikoto. Yeukashi was driven into his own trap and was killed. Subsequently, in the process of pacification, the eighty strong men of the pit dwelling of Osaka were killed at a feast. Finally, the hero assumed his reign name, Jimmu Tenno, and built a palace at Kashihara in Yamato and ruled from there. The exploits of Jimmu Tenno, with their detailed place names and the names of his supporters and opponents, seem to be a mythical retelling of an actual historical event or process: the gradual conquest by a people or state called Yamato of other states and nations in central Japan. In this view, starting in Kyushu (the “west” of the myth, though actually southwards), the Yamato migrated (or conquered) over a period of years across the Sea of Japan to the Kii Peninsula, and from there, past the area that is now Osaka to the area around modern Nara, where they established the Yamato kingdom. Clearly, of course, the myth, which indicates that certain supporters were ancestors of important early Japanese clans, was written or recorded as a sort of imperial charter, justi- fying and explaining both place names and social and political relationships with the imperial house. It took several centuries from the establishment of the Yam- ato court in central Japan for the imperial system to spread throughout the Handbook of Japanese Mythology 182 Japanese islands. In the process, the ancient place names and origins have been lost. Some of the elements repeated in the myth clearly indicate archaic origins: rituals, marital customs (several of the protagonists marry their female relatives in what in modern Japanese society would be considered an act of incest), and dwellings (there are, for example, remains of pit dwellings that have been uncov- ered by archaeologists). See also Amaterasu-π-mikami; Animals: crow; Ninigi-no-mikoto; Swords; Takemikazuchi-no-kami; Yamato. References and further reading: Aston, William G., trans. 1956. Nihongi. London: Allen and Unwin. Davis, S. Hadland. 1913. Myths and Legends of Japan. London: George Harrap. (Facsimile edition 1992, New York: Dover Publications.) Annotated collection of legends, folktales, and myths. Philippi, Donald, trans. and ed. 1968. Kπjiki. Tokyo: Tokyo University Press. JINUSHIGAMI “Landlord kami,” that is, the kami who is the tutelary deity of a particular area. ∏kuninushi is the jinushigami of the Izumo area. Other kami of various titles and importance may be the jinushigami of a particular grove, shrine precincts, or household. The association of a particular kami to an area is a common phenomenon. Jinushigami may be of lower rank in the Great Tradition scheme of things, but they are the kami actually worshiped most frequently, particularly in rural loca- tions, where they may be Yama-no-kami or Ta-no-kami as well, and where their goodwill is important for daily survival. In a broader context, many of the kunitsu kami (earthly kami) that joined the heavenly kami to pacify the earth were in effect jinushigami. The Ainu have their own master of the land in the form of the giant owl, Chikap Kamui, who is responsible for and keeps an eye on each of the clan domains. The local kang in Ryukyuan culture fulfill a similar function. See also Chikap Kamui; Earthly Kami (Kunitsu kami); Jimmu Tenno. References and further reading: Stefansson, Halldor. 1985. “Earth Gods in Morimachi.” Japanese Journal of Reli- gious Studies 12 (4): 277–298. Toshimasa, Hirano. 1980. “Aruga Kizaemon: The Household, the Ancestors, and the Tutelary Deities.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 7 (2–3):144–166. JIZO ¯ A boddhisattva, one of whose particular concerns is the roadways, and thus by extension, lost children. Together with Kannon, he is the most popular bod- Deities, Themes, and Concepts 183 dhisattva in Japan. Jizπ is portrayed as a child-featured Buddhist monk, his head shaven. His task is to ensure compassion on earth during the three-thou- sand-year era between the death/accession to nirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha, and the arrival of Miroku, the Buddha of the future. Jizπ comforts those in pain or distress, succors captives, and assists all those in need. He is the guardian of the roads in the Buddhist pantheon, and his statues are present along roadsides in many parts of Japan. His particular concern is the souls of children, including those of aborted embryos and those who died in child- birth. He finds them wandering on the banks of a stony waterless riverbed in Jigoku (hell), assists them in the construction of the piles of stones that are their penance, and conducts them to the Pure Land. He is often twinned with Kok∆zπ-bosatsu. Because of his role as protector of those in distress on earth, and his connection to the underworld, he is also sometimes identified with Dπsπjin or Sae-no-kami, the kami of the crossroads. Statues of Jizπ were therefore often erected along lonely mountain passes or on particularly diffi- cult roads. Jizπ statues often appear in groups of six, as Roku Jizπ, because as a bodhisattva he took the vow to function simultaneously on all six states of transient existence. Jizπ is one of the most popular of all Buddhist deities. He often holds the Desire Banishing Jewel in his left hand, and a staff tipped with rings in his right. The sound of this staff (still used by priests in many temples) banishes evil and brings about rejoicing. It also lets his lost charges know he is around. Statues of Jizπ are often dressed by distressed parents with the red cap and bib that are emblematic of childhood. Visitors will often pile up stones before a Jizπ to help in alleviating the children’s penance. Jizπ’s protection is also assured against fire. Children living in open-hearthed homes (as most Japanese houses were in the past) were constantly exposed to burning themselves, and thus Jizπ was appealed to to counter this. As a consequence, he is also associated with Atago-gongen, deity of protection against fire. Though principally a gentle saint, his identification with Atago-gongen means that like many other deities, he has another side: He is also a martial deity known as Shogun Jizπ (General Jizπ). As such he is a patron of warriors; most notably, of Shπtoku Taishi and Hachimantarπ. See also Atago-gongen; Dπsπjin; Heroes: Hachimantarπ; Kok∆zπ-bosatsu; Pure Land; Shakyamuni; Shπtoku Taishi. References and further reading: Dykstra, Yoshiko Kurata. 1978. “Jizo, the Most Merciful: Tales from Jizo Bosatsu Reigenki.” Monumenta Nipponica 33 (2): 179–200. Eliot, Sir Charles Norton Edgcumbe. 1959. Japanese Buddhism. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Handbook of Japanese Mythology 184 Frank, Bernard. 1991. Le pantheon bouddhique au Japon. Paris: Collections d’Emile Guimet. Reunion des musees nationaux. Getty, Alice. 1988. The Gods of Northern Buddhism. New York: Dover Publications. JUICHIMEN-KANNON See Kannon. JUROJIN The god of longevity of the Shichi Fukujin, he is portrayed as a thin old man in the dress of a scholar, accompanied by a deer and a crane, symbols of longevity and felicity. He leans on a staff to which is attached a scroll carrying the secret of everlasting life. He is often confused with his peer, Fukurokuju, but unlike that bald jolly dwarf, he has a serious expression at all times. See also Fukurokuju; Shichi Fukujin. References and further reading: Joly, Henri L. 1967. Legend in Japanese Art. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co. JU ¯ ROKURAKAN The sixteen arhat, or Buddhist saints, who by their asceticism are perfect exam- ples of the monastic way of life. The rakan are predecessors or disciples of the Buddha, openers of the way for the Buddhist Law. They are represented as ema- ciated men in poses of meditation. They include Binzuru-sonja (the venerable Binzuru), Ragora-sonja, Ingada-sonja, Chudahandaka-sonja, and others. The names of others vary from one tradition or temple to another. The rakan appear, usually, in the iconography of Zen monasteries and tem- ples, where their presence serves as a model to be emulated by the monks and meditators. The exception, Binzuru, is placed outside the hall, because he broke either the vow of chastity or of sobriety and is thus not allowed in the august company. See also Binzuru-sonja. References and further reading: Frank, Bernard. 1991. Le pantheon bouddhique au Japon. Paris: Collections d’Emile Guimet. Reunion des musees nationaux. Joly, Henri L. 1967. Legend in Japanese Art. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co. Deities, Themes, and Concepts 185 KAGUTSUCHI-NO-KAMI Kami of fire. He was the cause of his mother Izanami’s death, burning her geni- tals as he was born. His father, Izanagi, beset by grief for his wife, decapitated the newborn. From his blood, which dripped off his father’s sword, emerged eight powerful and violent sword kami, and from his dead body emerged eight deities of volcanoes and rocks. Fire was an obvious problem for people who lived in houses made of wood and straw: a good servant, a terrible master. In Edo, the Tokugawa capital (from 1616; today’s Tokyo), fires were so common they were known as “the flowers of Edo.” Some scholars argue that the birth of fire, and particularly the emergence from fire of mountains (volcanoes), iron, and swords, was a metaphor for the establishment of the new social and material forms generated by Yayoi culture. The birth of fire marked the end of the creation of the world and the start of death. Nonetheless, Izanami only accuses fire of being rather capricious and hard-hearted in causing her death. In the Engishiki, from which the latter part of the myth comes, she hides herself from Izanagi in her death throes. Then she bears several children: Mizuhame-no-mikoto (a water kami), the clay princess, the gourd, and the water reed, instructing them to pacify Kagutsuchi if he became violent. The water, the gourd to transport it, and wet clay and reeds to smother fire were traditional fire-fighting equipment. In many places in Japan today there is a midwinter ritual of placing reed and evergreen bundles in the eaves to control fires. See also Izanagi and Izanami; Mizuhame-no-mikoto. References and further reading: Aston, William G., trans. 1956. Nihongi. London: Allen and Unwin. Bock, Felicia G. trans. 1970. Engi-shiki: procedures of the Engi era. ———. 1985. Classical Learning and Taoist Practices in Early Japan, With a Trans- lation of Books XVI and XX of the Engi-Shiki. ASU Center for Asian Studies (Occasional Paper No. 17). Philippi, Donald, trans. and ed. 1968. Kπjiki. Tokyo: Tokyo University Press. KAMADO-GAMI The stove, or kitchen, kami. Instructions for worshiping this kami were issued in an imperial rescript mentioned in the Kπjiki. It seems this was an after-the- fact recognition by the imperial court of what amounts to a Little Tradition. Kamado-gami oversees the activities in the house and may report, perhaps via the jinushigami, on the activities of members of the household. All these reports, and the resulting rewards and punishments, are discussed at the Assem- bly of Gods in the tenth (lunar, traditional calendar) month at Izumo. For individuals (in contrast to the state) the Kamado-gami would have been all-important. Relics of that importance can be found in Ryukyuan and Ainu cul- Handbook of Japanese Mythology 186 ture, where Fii-nu-kang and Kamui Fuchi are the central deities for most activi- ties. In mythology the Kamado-gami would have been far overshadowed by heroic tales and the activities of the heavenly deities, but that does not detract from his (or her) central importance for daily life. See also Assembly of the Gods; Fii-nu-kang; Jinushigami; Kamui Fuchi. References and further reading: Philippi, Donald, trans. and ed. 1968. Kπjiki. Tokyo: Tokyo University Press. KAMI A spiritual power or deity. The concept, under different names (kamui in Ainu, kang in Ryukyuan), is pervasive throughout Japanese mythology. At its basis, it refers to the numinous power that is spread unevenly throughout the world. Potent, pure, and essentially nonpersonalized, kami may mean power and may be dissipated or aggregated, according to human (or divine) actions. Pollution repels kami, whereas purity attracts it. Actions and objects that have this purity may attract kami or imbue kami on their own. Personalized deities are called kami as well. The term kami is used as a title appended to the names of certain deities, thus Amaterasu-π-mikami. The Japan- ese kami tend to be highly personalized, sometimes having distinct and identi- fiable personae and preferences. There are also numerous unnamed and attributeless deities. The totality of kami is expected to be too numerous to count and is referred to as yaoyorozu-no-kamigami (the eight million various kami). Deities associated particularly with the state cult and national Shintπ are usually carefully defined, named, and provided with ranks and titles. Other kami (particularly those worshiped exclusively in smaller communities) are far less carefully delineated. A similar situation exists for the Ainu kamui. Some, like the hearth goddess Kamui Fuchi, are carefully delineated, others less well so. The Ainu do not appear to have a general category such as yaoyorozu-no-kamigami. Ainu kamui tend to have very specific associations, such as the kamui of the undertow. The reverse is true for Ryukyuan kang (the term varies between isles and island clusters in the archipelago). Although kang are viewed in almost all cases as individual beings, similar in form to humans, they are rarely provided with particular attributes, dress, or activities to distinguish them. They are, in fact, rarely well defined, and quite often almost incidental to the rituals Ryukyuans perform. With some few exceptions, most of which may better be described as “culture heroes” rather than worshiped deities, they are not associated with particular myths beyond “they are the ancestors/kang of our group (lineage or hamlet).” See also Amaterasu-π-mikami; Kamui Fuchi; Yaoyorozu no kamigami. Deities, Themes, and Concepts 187 References and further reading: Aston, William George. 1905. Shinto: The Way of the Gods. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. Guthrie, Steward. 1980. “A Cognitive Theory of Religion.” Current Anthropology 21 (2): 181–204. Havens, Norman, trans. 1998. Kami. Tokyo: Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University. Herbert, Jean. 1980. La religion d’Okinawa. Paris: Dervy-Livres. Collection Mys- tiques et religions. Série B 0397–3050. Lebra, William P. 1966. Okinawan Religion: Belief, Ritual, and Social Structure. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Munro, Neil Gordon. 1962. Ainu Creed and Cult. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul; London and New York: K. Paul International, distributed by Columbia University Press, 1995. Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. 1969. Sakhalin Ainu Folklore. Washington, DC: Ameri- can Anthropological Association. Anthropological Studies 2. Ono, Sokyo. 1962. Shinto: The Kami Way. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle. Robinson, James C. 1969. Okinawa: A People and Their Gods. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle. Ross, Floyd Hiatt. 1965. Shinto: The Way of Japan. Boston: Beacon Press. Sasaki, Kiyoshi. 2000. “Amenominakanushi no Kami in Late Tokugawa Period Kokugaku.” Tokyo: Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University. http://www.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/cpjr/kami/sasaki. html#para0060. Sered, Susan Starr. 1999. Women of the Sacred Groves: Divine Priestesses of Oki- nawa. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Vance, Timothy J. 1983. “The Etymology of Kami.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 10 (4): 277–288. Wehmeyer, Ann, trans. 1997. Kojiki-den (Motoori Norinaga), Book 1. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University East Asia Series, Number 87. KAMIKAZE “Divine wind.” In 1274 and again in 1281, when Japan was invaded by Korean- Mongol fleets, the invading fleets were destroyed by typhoons—the divine wind—sent by Hachiman, the deity of war whose aid had been appealed to by the numerically inferior Japanese forces. The divine wind was viewed as the ulti- mate defense of Japan by Shintπ scholars and laity alike. The kamikaze is one of the three central Japanese myths. (The other two are the myth of imperial descent from the heavenly kami, and the myth of bushido, particularly as exem- plified by the forty-seven rπnin.) For the Japanese of the thirteenth century, the threatened Mongol invasion was, historically and politically, a major watershed. It was the first time the entire military might of Japan had had to be mobilized for defense of the nation. Until then, even foreign wars were little more than squabbles that involved one Handbook of Japanese Mythology 188 or another faction within Japan—essentially domestic affairs. With the Mongol invasion Japan became exposed to international politics at a personal and national level as never before. That the Japanese forces won two consecutive vic- tories against numerically and materially superior foes was something most Japanese appreciated. That the victory was the consequence of almost improba- ble nonhuman factors made it a miracle. In the years between the first and the second invasion the entire nation became aware—through the distribution of sutras that were to be read by individuals and in temples, through the preaching of priests, particularly those like Nichiren who were highly nationalistic—that some miracle was to be expected. When the miracle actually happened, skeptics were quickly converted. The idea that the kami or Buddhas were protecting Japan became a very personal one. Thus, in the final months of World War II, the name was revived for suicide pilots and submariners (about four thousand of them actually carried out attacks) sent out in unsuccessful attempts to stop the U.S. fleet. Once again, the nation was under severe threat. Once again, the authorities, secular as well as religious, made very clear that the Japanese were defending themselves against insurmountable odds. And once again, the only salvation that could be expected Deities, Themes, and Concepts 189 Group of young kamikaze pilots poses before leaving for action. (Hulton-Deutch Collection/ Corbis) would come from the only two sources that had demonstrably, in the past, done such an office: the self-sacrifice and fighting spirit of the Japanese warrior, and intervention by the kami/Buddhas. Using suicide bombers by air and by sea was less a technical response to lack of weaponry than an attempt to recreate the self-sacrifice of the original period of the kamikaze. Japan’s leaders knew the kamikaze pilots would not stop the American fleets. But they were also part of the Japanese myth that said, roughly, that if the Japanese warrior would do his part and sacrifice his life in the doing, then the kami would do theirs. This time, of course, the myth failed to live up to its billing. The appearance of the kamikaze is significant in two senses: the construc- tion of pan-Japanese nationalism during the feudal period, and the extension of the idea of direct relationship between the kami and the imperial household to all of the Japanese nation. The concept has had its ups and downs and has been constantly manipulated by the powers-that-be in Japan. Nonetheless, even in the start of the twenty-first century it is a fundamental idea held to by many Japanese. See also Ch∆shingura; Divine Descent; Hachiman; Heroes. References and further reading: Barker, A. J. 1971. Suicide Weapon. London: Pan/Ballantine. Nagatsuka, Ryuji. 1972. I Was a Kamikaze: The Knights of the Divine Wind. Translated by Nina Rootes. London: Abelard-Schuman. Warner, Denis, Peggy Warner, and Sadao Seno. 1982. The Sacred Warriors: Japan’s Suicide Legions. Cincinnati, OH: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. KAMIMUSUBI The third deity to come into existence at the beginning of the world at Takam- agahara. Kamimusubi is one of the three “single kami,” that is, without a coun- terpart or genitor. However, this deity is later identified as the parent of Sukunabikona. It also seems from the context, as well as from the actions ascribed to this deity, that Kamimusubi is female, because in the Nihonshπki Takamimusubi-no-mikoto (who came into being just before Kamimusubi), a male deity, is identified as Sukunabikona’s parent as well. Also known as Kamimusubi-Mioya-no-mikoto (Generative great parent deity: the “great parent” title is usually accorded to females), Kamimusubi is the one who took the various foodstuffs born from the murdered food deity, ∏get- suhime, and gave them to humankind. Later she restored ∏kuninushi to life, after he had been killed for the first time by his brothers. He obviously had a soft spot for her because she is mentioned in the song that concludes his agreement with Takemikazuchi-no-kami: Takamagahara is mentioned principally as her/his abode. Handbook of Japanese Mythology 190 At a more mundane level it is certainly possible that Kamimusubi may have been an important deity for the Izumo, as well as for the Yamato. This is one of the many points of similarity between the two polities that helped in their amalgamation. See also ∏getsuhime; ∏kuninushi; Sukunabikona; Takamagahara; Takamimusubi; Takemikazuchi. References and further reading: Aston, William G., trans. 1956. Nihongi. London: Allen and Unwin. Philippi, Donald, trans. and ed. 1968. Kπjiki. Tokyo: Tokyo University Press. KAMUI See Kami. KAMUI FUCHI (AINU) Hearth deity. One of the most important deities for the Ainu, Kamui Fuchi was significant in her own right, as well as an access point to the world of the gods. Her full name is Apemerukoyan-mat Unamerukoyan-mat (Rising Fire Sparks Woman Rising Cinder Sparks Woman). Together with Shiramba Kamui she is “owner of the world.” The hearth at the center of each Ainu house was her abode, and it also served as the gateway through which the kamui and people could communicate. In the most common myth, Kamui Fuchi descended from the heavens, accompanied by Kanna Kamui, kamui of thunder and lightning, in his guise as a fiery snake. Another tale has it that she was born from an elm tree that had been impregnated by Kandakoro Kamui (the Prime Originator kamui). In another myth, she was born of the fire drill, together with her sister Hashinau-uk Kamui, kamui of the chase. The hearth, her abode, also serves as the abode of the dead, and ancestors are actually known as “those-dwelling-in-the-hearth.” Because the Ainu believe in transmigration, it is the holding place from which new souls are assigned to bod- ies in the act of human procreation. As a consequence, the hearth must be kept pure; nothing is allowed to contaminate it. At night Kamui Fuchi retires to rest as the coals are covered with ashes, but the fire itself must never be extin- guished. So important is her position that Kamui Fuchi never leaves her house. Instead, she deputizes other kamui to act for her in the mundane world. When a woman gives birth (and there is consequent fear of pollution from blood), a new fire is laid for the occasion, at the other end of the house, near the birth site, and another kamui deputizes for the hearth goddess. Kamui Fuchi was the goddess who instructed Ainu women in the making of kut (sacred girdles), and for this and other gifts she taught humankind, she is Deities, Themes, and Concepts 191 [...]... Directive of 1945 Kokka Shintπ is an extreme case of the adoption of a series of myths, told by different voices at different periods, into a unified, formalized, official creed It sustained the Japanese government through several decades, and the “official” mythology it espoused was at the basis of much of the behavior and actions of the Japanese in the decades leading up to and during World War II One of. .. promising the possibility of salvation in the future The figure of Miroku in Japanese thought is close to that of a messiah in European thought, promising 215 2 16 Handbook of Japanese Mythology the possibility of salvation in this world, as opposed, for example, to Amida, who promises salvation in the Pure Land in the afterlife Miroku is popularly associated with the figure of Hπtei, one of the Shichi Fukujin... (1 868 –1945) to establish Shintπ as the driving ideology and religion of the Japanese state The roots of this ideology lay in the Mito school of National Learning, an eighteenth-century reaction to the Buddha-ization of the Tokugawa shogunate In National Learning thought, Japan was the land of the kami, and the Japanese people were members of an all-encompassing dπzoku whose “main house” was that of. .. Ashigeru His saké bowl and ax perhaps indicate his origin as a wild being, possessor of the elixir of life embodied in saké Kintarπ is one of the most endearing figures in Japanese mythology His picture, usually in the form of a prepubescent child wearing only a chest protector (a sort of apron Japanese children wore instead of clothes in premodern times) and frequently accompanied by a bear, can be found... Aspects of Japanese Religion Leiden, the Netherlands: E J Brill Sato, Hiroaki 1995 Legends of the Samurai Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press ¯ KISHIMOJIN One of the most popular of Buddhist deities, she is the protector of infants Originally an Indian demon named Häriti, she sustained her five hundred offspring with the bodies of children she caught The Buddha trapped her youngest and favorite offspring... pilgrimage route, the eighty-eight temple circuit of Shikoku (about one thousand miles in length) Kπbπ Daishi is credited with one of the greatest Japanese inventions of all: the kana syllabaries Each of the two sets (hiragana used for verb endings and grammatical particles; katakana used for foreign words, but originally intended 201 202 Handbook of Japanese Mythology to allow women to write) has forty-seven... forms part of the Japanese imperial regalia, representing the mitama (spirit) of the deity Its ritual color is white, and many shrines are decorated with streamers of this color “Magical” mirrors are still in existence Made of bronze, they will reflect an image of Kannon carved into the back of the object They were considered of great merit and high value because they reflected the mercy of Kannon’s... 1959 Japanese Buddhism London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Frank, Bernard 1991 Le pantheon bouddhique au Japon Paris: Collections d’Emile Guimet Reunion des musees nationaux Getty, Alice 1988 The Gods of Northern Buddhism New York: Dover Publications Joly, Henri L 1 967 Legend in Japanese Art Tokyo: Charles E Tuttle Co Kobayashi, Sakae 1992 Religious Ideas of the Japanese Under the Influence of Asian Mythology. .. use Buddhist forms of ritual And a system that placed the emperor as a divinity was established formally, along with a process of ranking all kami Aspects of Kokka Shintπ were opposed or supported in varying degrees in different parts of the country The general rankings of kami that have emerged today are often the result of the Kokka Shintπ system, which was abolished as a branch of government with... route of thirty-three Kannon temples stretches from the Pacific Ocean side of Japan in Kumano, through Kyoto, to the Japan Sea There are numerous temples and shrines to Kannon throughout Japan, both in Buddhist and Shintπ form Kannon is, unsurprisingly, one of the most beloved figures of Japanese mythology and belief She is the representation of pure mercy, and the major female figure in the mythology . Takemikazuchi. Handbook of Japanese Mythology 1 96 References and further reading: Grapard, Allan G. 1992. The Protocol of the Gods: A Study of the Kasuga Cult in Japanese History. Berkeley: University of. unsurprisingly, one of the most beloved figures of Japanese mythology and belief. She is the representation of pure mercy, and the major female figure in the mythology. In a sense, she is the epitome of the. to the land of the kamui bearing the usual gifts of wine and inau, and told her kinfolk of human generosity. The humans feasted on her discarded mundane form. Handbook of Japanese Mythology 198 The