Page 140 of 203

Hinduism 2): Kompira

June 1, 2013 / John D. / 1 Comment

A Konpira shrine with Buddhist statue to the left of the altar, indicative of its syncretic nature

Kompira (or Konpira) is one of the more popular kami in Japan, associated with the sea and with its main shrine of Kotohira-gu in Shikoku (known popularly as Konpira-san). The deity is said to be derived from Kumbhira, a Hindu crocodile god of the Ganges River. But what on earth would a crocodile god associated with the river Ganges be doing in Japan?

Well, it seems the truth of the matter is hard to come by, since various accounts exist. The Kokugakuin encyclopedia has this to say (Mount Zozu is the hill in Shikoku where Kotohira stands);

The deity of Konpira is a Japanese kami, but there is Buddhist influence on the Konpira faith at Mount Zōzu and the area was also a site of Shugendō activity. During the Edo Period the Indian deity Kumbhīra (a dragon king sea deity who protected the palace) was conflated with Konpira, and the cult spread along with the development of shipping and the creation of transportation networks.

For another version, I turned to Cali’s description in Shinto Shrines. Worship of a thunder deity existed on the mountain from at least the thirteenth century, he writes. Buddhist temples were erected, and it was not until 1575 that a shrine to Konpira was put up by a Shingon monk called Yuga motivated by mention in the Golden Light Sutra of Kompira/Kumbhira as an Indian protector of Buddhism.

In later times the mountain became a strong shugendo centre, but in 1872 the Meiji government broke up the complex. Shugendo was outlawed, and Buddhist names and objects removed from the shrine. In their place the kami Omononushi together with Emperor Sutoku were enshrined, to be known collectively as the Kotohira deity.

*************************************************************

The following is adapted from an article in Encyclopedia of Monasticism by Steve McCarty. For the full article , see http://www.waoe.org/steve/syncretism.html

A statue of the Buddhist-protecting Hindu deity, Kumbhira

Kompira-san is thought to have been a seafaring capital of ancient Japan, worshiping a sea god (kami). Such sites could be termed proto-Shinto, reflecting the fact that Shintoism was late to institutionalize in response to Buddhism.

In Zentsuji some Kofun period tumuli have been turned into Shinto shrines as conduits to the kami (shintai), uniting ancestors with gods over millennia. Moreover, indigenous animism viewed a mountain such as Mount Kompira (or Zozuzan, Elephant’s Head Mountain) as itself the body of a god (shintaizan).

Into this entered esoteric Buddhism, reinforcing the deeper stratum of mountain worship by associating each temple with a mountain. A religious pluralism maintained that native deities emanated from original Buddhas (honji suijaku setsu).

Bureaucratic restrictions on the number of monks that could be ordained led to spontaneous forms of Buddhism that favored mountain asceticism (especially Shugendo). Mount Kumano and Mount Hiei demonstrate how geography was organized into a mandala of Buddhist-Shinto syncretism that the ritual practitioner could traverse.

Similarly at Mount Kompira, the Buddhist guardian Kumbhira, originally a Hindu crocodile god of the Ganges River, was said to have flown to Japan and became Kompira. He was accompanied by Elephant’s Head Mountain near Bodh Gaya, which figures in the hagiography of the Buddha. (Mount Kompira does indeed resemble an elephant’s head, although not as much as conventionalized views by Hiroshige and other artists.)

Given the animism of mountain worship, kami were perceived in Hindu fashion as riders on their mounts. Beyond being a crocodile god, suitable to protect seafarers, Kompira was elevated to a Great Incarnation of the Buddha (daigongen). Anthropomorphic iconography exists of Kompira Daigongen riding the mountain in the form of a white elephant – a creature associated with the Buddha, having served also as the mount of the ancient Hindu god Indra. [White is a standard animist/ shamanic sign of purity and distinctiveness amongst animals.]

In time Kompira Daigongen became identified with the Shinto kami worshipped at Mount Kompira, O-kuni-nushi-no-mikoto, one of the founding gods of Japan who was vaguely associated with crocodiles in the White Hare of Inaba myth in the Kojiki. When the Meiji government insisted on separating Buddhism and Shinto, the one-time temple of Konpira chose to become a shrine. It remains today a syncretic faith, which may explain why it’s not part of Jinja Honcho.

Kotohira-gu in Shikoku, head shrine of Kompira worship across Japan

Yin-yang potency

May 31, 2013 / John D. / 3 Comments

A purifying priestess leads the procession at a pre-Aoi event at Shimogamo Jinja, wearing an aoi-katsura combination (known as kikkei)

Following the recent series on the Aoi festivities in Kyoto, I’ve been wondering about the male-female significances. These concern in particular the aoi plant and the katsura tree, two emblems worn by participants in the festival. Both have similar shaped leaves. Aoi is often translated as hollyhock, though it’s not a true correspondence, and katsura according to my dictionary is the Japanese Judas Tree. No doubt that’s also misleading.

Participant in the Aoi Festival wearing an aoi and katsura set

It seems that the deity of Kamigamo, Kamo Wake-ikazuchi, appeared in a vision to his grandfather in which he declared that he wished to be worshipped in a specific way, which included decorations of aoi and katsura. The leaf of one and a sprig of the other are often combined, as in the picture above. If I’m not mistaken, the priestess is acting in the role of Inkonome (忌子女）, symbolically purifying the way of the procession behind her (hence her white clothing). Her headband is made of hemp (asa) and the single non-white element is the hollyhock-katsura combination.

The katsura tree reaching up to heaven is a yang symbol, while the delicate aoi plant close to the earth represents yin. While Shimogamo and Kamigamo have taken up the aoi as their emblem, it’s interesting that Hiyoshi Taisha and Matsuo Taisha, two shrines connected with the influential Hata clan, have a katsura as their sacred tree. (Because of the way it burns, katsura is associated with metal production, though I’m not sure if that’s relevant here.)

The Hata and the Kamo clans, both of whom settled in the Kyoto basin before the capital was established in 794, apparently had a marital alliance in ancient times. I wonder if it’s idle speculation to think that the male-female connotations of their respective shrines may be linked to their history. According to tradition, it may have been a member of the Hata family who made the Kamo princess pregnant with the thunder deity Kamo Wake-ikazuchi. Do the shrine’s emblems symbolise the part played by the male and female clan members in this?

Yin-yang mounds at Kamigamo. The nearer one has two pine needles to denote that it's the male.

It’s interesting in this regard that the Kamo priests should have become experts in Onmyodo (Way of Yin-Yang). The two mysterious sand mounds at Kamigamo Jinja are usually explained in terms of seen and unseen, light and shadow, yin and yang. John Nelson in a monograph entitled ‘Of flowers and phalli’ goes even further, claiming that archaic, pre-Yamato sexual symbolism is evident at the shrine. One of the mounds is male (two pine needles protruding at the summit), the other female (three pine needles), he claims. He also suggests that the aoi emblem around the shrine is depicted simply with limp leaves at various yin points but with an erect flower at yang points.

There are strong yin-yang and phallic elements in the Kamo founding myth, in which Princess Tamayori was sat by a river (feminine yin symbol) when a red arrow came floating past (male yang symbol). The result of her taking the arrow home was a rather magical pregnancy, which just shows the potency of yin-yang combinations. Sitting here now in downtown Kyoto, I can’t help wondering if something of the distinctiveness of this wonder-full city, which has given so much to the world in terms of arts and aesthetics, may not derive from the yin and yang energies tapped into by the city’s ancient shrines.

If power spots are like acupuncture points for the earth, the shrine locations may be harnessing powerful male and female energies. Perhaps the aoi and katsura signify more than we realise…

Standing at the confluence of two rivers, Shimogamo may be a power spot with a feminine orientation.

Shimogamo is located at the confluence of the Kamo and Takano Rivers, a place associated with high energy flows

A sign of Shimogamo's feminine leanings? Kawai Jinja, a subshrine, specialises in prayers by women to be more beautiful.

Hinduism 1) Kami

May 28, 2013 / John D. / 3 Comments

Hinduism and Shinto seem to share a lot in common. They’re pre-Buddhist, animist and polytheist. The sun enjoys a special place in their pantheon. Their spirit-gods have animal familiars, and they need to be honoured and entertained. The religions are steeped in the mythological past, and worshippers practise ritual ablution and immersion in water.

As A.J. Dickinson has pointed out, there may well have been direct links between ancient India and Japan through the early trading routes, with holy men making their way up the Chinese coast. So why did Hindu gods end up in Japan mostly as Buddhist deities rather than kami?

The fire festival which originated in India has found a home both in Japanese Buddhism and Shinto

It’s a question that Green Shinto friend Anuradha put to Videshi Sutra, an expert on Hindu matters. “I’d say the reason the Devas and Kami never merged, is because Devas are embedded firmly in Buddhist cosmology,” he responded. It followed a lengthy article entitled ‘Hindu devas take a Silk Road trip to Japan‘.

The fact that Devas were adopted at all in Japan probably owes to their conceptual similarity to Kami. Buddhism in other places like Central Asia didn’t place nearly so much emphasis on the Devas. The other major factor is the presence of the esoteric Shingon sect of Buddhism, which placed a big emphasis on Devas. Esoteric sects typically brought a lot more from the Vedic tradition than more mainstream sects. Shingon also uses Sanskrit based Siddham script, and has a Goma (Homa) (Havan) fire ritual.

It’s in Shingon and early forms of Japanese Buddhism that one finds the closest links to Hindu deities in Japan. Mark Schumacher’s amazing onmark site has a list of over 80 such cases. Nearly every Buddhist deity has its Hindu counterpart, he writes, and there are an awful lot of Buddhist deities in Japan!

Nonetheless there are also some correspondences between Hindu deities and Japanese kami, the most notable being the Seven Lucky Gods where Benten, Bishamonten and Daikokuten can all trace their origins to India. In the posts that follow, we’ll explore some of these connections and the curious links between prehistoric India and modern-day Japan.

Back to the roots? A shrine with Sanskrit inscriptions in the top left and right

Alternative to Yasukuni

May 28, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

Even as fellow nationalist Hashimoto Toru is creating an international storm about remarks regarding comfort women, prime minister Abe shows that Japan has a way of honouring its dead without insulting other nations. One might think the lesson would be learnt, but nationalists are notoriously bull-headed and thrive on provocation… In the words of one commentator on the article:

“Given Chidorigafuchi’s lack of extremist undertones, unlike Yasukuni, I hope that this cemetery does increasingly come to replace Yasukuni as Japan’s Arlington National Cemetery, acting as a sacred place for Japanese government officials and others to honor those who have died for their country. Much healthier for the Japanese people, its economy, and the country’s relations with its neighbors.”

***************************************************

In memory of WWII victims
MAY. 28, 2013 Japan Today

Abe shows there is a straightforward way to honour Japan's war dead (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares to offer a flower during a ceremony commemorating Japanese World War II victims who died overseas, at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo on Monday. The newly-repatriated remains of 1,628 unknown Japanese soldiers and civilians were buried in the facility on Monday.

Kawaii (Cuteness)

May 27, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

The cult of cuteness epitomised in ema

Britain’s Independent newspaper carries an article today about the fashion for ‘kawaii’ which has arrived from Japan (click here.)

I’ve written before of how the phenomenon of ‘kawaii’ might link to notions in Shinto (click here). There are two comments on the Independent article (see below) which pretty much sum up why ‘kawaii’ is unlikely to prosper in my opinion in the unreceptive climate of British culture.

gs: “ Yeucchhhh, cute is for children, children are cute, pets can be cute, the rest of us just get old and fat eventually or old and skinny.”
Jacksmilingblack: “ Japanese girls, when are they going to grow up and become women? ”

********************************************

Will Coldwell writing in The Independent 26 MAY 2013

Familiars of the kami can often take cute forms

Cats in leather jackets, polka-dot pinafores and pastel-coloured cartoons only begin to explain the aesthetic of Japan’s culture of kawaii. Roughly translating as “cute”, kawaii describes the adorable physical features of things like babies, small animals, and indeed anything that evokes feelings of love, nurture and protection.

But what was once simply an adjective is now an all-encompassing ideal, rearing its lovable wide-eyed head in all aspects of Japanese life. Increasingly, girls not only want to own things that are kawaii, they want to be kawaii too, adorning elaborate eye-catching clothing and intricately detailed accessories to transform themselves into the cutest kawaii characters they could possibly be. And you don’t have to travel to Tokyo to get a hint of this unique fashion; kigurumi animal onesies, cat cafés, and Hello Kitty are all examples of the steadily growing influence kawaii has in the West.

“In the UK and the States it appeals to the people who like the exoticism of it – it’s a new fresh culture,” says Manami Okazaki, author of Kawaii! Japan’s Culture of Cute, a book published this month that takes a holistic look at the trend. “It’s cute, innocent and different to the mainstream pop cultures in the West,” Okazaki says. “It might be appealing to those who don’t feel an affinity to the more sexy and glamorous mainstream styles. A Japanese girl would prefer to be called kawaii than sexy or pretty.”

For Grace St John, a 21-year-old drama student and kawaii convert from Birmingham, this is one of the key appeals. “A lot of UK fashion is low-cut tops or short skirts, designed to look sexy, but kawaii fashion tends to focus more on a fantasy and cute style,” she says. “I like to wear puffy dresses, wigs and lots of bows in my hair to bring in all the cute colours! It’s fun and makes me feel really good about myself, the fashion has an ability to make you feel excited to go out and get dressed up – I don’t think I’d feel particularly excited to put on a pair of jeans.”

A Tenjin ox with Winnie the Pooh bib

She is already looking forward to this July’s Hyper Japan expo in Earls Court – a showcase of all aspects of Japanese pop culture. One of the main attractions is the kawaii fashion catwalk, which gives a chance for British fans to parade their take on Tokyo street style.

In the UK, kawaii fashion and accessories are often popular with the comic-book and gaming community. At the MCM Comic Con event, which took place at the weekend, there was an entire section dedicated to Japanese and Asian culture. Along with manga and anime, kawaii products are a popular purchase.

One stallholder at Comic Con was Thomas Andersson, owner of Artbox, the UK’s leading retailer of kawaii products, which has shops across London. He started distributing kawaii bags in 2004 and now stocks a range of more than 2,500 products from around 70 different brands. He sells everything from 50p stickers to a metre-high, £200 stuffed version of the popular character Rilakkuma the bear.

“We actually sell quite a few,” Andersson says. “I think that kawaii will continue to spread; we have customers such as Claudia Schiffer, Dave Grohl and even Jude Law sometimes comes into the shop, well, with his kids.”

But while interest in kawaii is growing around the world – it is particularly popular in France and Mexico – it is unlikely to infiltrate daily life in Britain the same way it has in Japan. As Okazaki explains: “In Japan it’s not a subculture thing, it’s the norm.”

St John, however, lives in hope: “I think there are a lot of people who will never understand or accept the fashion, as you do get people shouting at you in the street, but I hope that with the growing community and exposure of kawaii people will be more accepting about getting a little kawaii fashion in their lives!”

Shichi-go-san is an occasion when the Japanese proclivity for cuteness is allowed full rein

One of those cute 'characters' manages to get on stage at a Shimogamo shrine event

Daigo-ji’s shrines

May 27, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

The Benten Pond at the World Heritage site of Kyoto's Daigo-ji

Daigo-ji is one of Kyoto’s many treasures, and deserves to be better known. It’s a Shingon temple with an upper and lower part on a hill one hour’s walk from each other. Amongst the many structures, it boasts a wonderful pagoda, a picturesque Benten pond, and a striking Momoyama garden (in a subtemple called Sambo-in). As is usual with Shingon temples, it has protective Shinto shrines – in Daigo-ji’s case, rather a lot of them. Some are simple hokora (small shrines), but some are substantial.

This prompts a number of questions. Are they included in the 80,000 or 90,000 shrines commonly cited as the total number in Japan? Who looks after them and in what way? And can we categorise them as World Heritage shrines – according to what I understand, the whole of Daigo-ji is included in the World Heritage registration, which means the shrines are too. So that would add a good number to the list of W.H. shrines, because I can recall passing at least five or six on my last visit.

Because of its location, Daigo-ji is not as visited as some of Kyoto’s other sites, yet within its wooded grounds are 18 National Treasures. Most famous is the Sanboin subtemple with its magnificent garden. Amongst the other attractions are an unusually well-stocked Treasure House, Kyoto’s oldest standing structure (a pagoda from 951), as well as a picturesque pond popular with photographers. For those who wish to escape the crowds, here just 20 minutes from downtown is an opportunity to hike in the hills while enjoying World Heritage properties.

The temple was founded in 874 by a monk of the Shingon sect after a spring near the summit was revealed to him in a vision. The building he erected became the basis of Upper Daigo. Imperial patronage led in 926 to more substantial structures at the base, which formed Lower Daigo. Though the complex was destroyed on several occasions by fire, a tenth-century pagoda survived together with the paintings it contained.

In the late sixteenth century the languishing temple was restored, thanks to the ruler, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He lavished particular attention on Sanbo-in, ordering construction of an unusual garden based around a pond which used ‘dry landscape’ techniques. Boulders were brought from around Japan, some with a unique history, and arranged with precise care to produce what can only be described as a rock extravaganza.

The subtemple was used by Hideyoshi in 1598 as the base for an extravagant cherry-blossom event, when accompanied by some 1000 people he was carried up the slopes to admire the views (which on a clear day extend as far as Osaka). It’s an occasion recalled each spring by the temple in a colourful recreation of the procession – evidence that Daigo-ji’s treasures are not just in the material realm.

Gateway to Upper Daigo; from here it's one hour walk up the hill to the other part of the temple

One of the wayside shrines that are passed on the path leading up to Upper Daigo

The Seiryudo (Pure Dragon Hall), a magnfiicent platform-style Worship Hall that is now a National Treasure. It was first built in 1088, rebuilt in 1434, for worship of the holy spring that led to the foundation of the temple by a monk called Rigen Daishi.

Worship at the holy spring with which Daigo-ji originated

A protective shrine that didn't do its job - this small shrine was the protector for a large temple building that stood in the space before it - and which recently burnt down

Shrine at Upper Daigo, amidst the shugendo buildings. The temple has close connections with practitioners of mountain austerities.

Daigo-ji's trademark tenth-century pagoda, oldest one in Kyoto

Shinto Shrines (book reviews)

May 25, 2013 / John D. / 0 Comments

Torii tunnel at Fushimi Inari, one of the 57 shrines given detailed attention in 'Shinto Shrines'

I’m happy to be able to report that Shinto Shrines has been garnering good reviews, and I’m especially pleased for the main author Joseph Cali who put in an inordinate amount of effort into the book. Here are two of the reviews so far, the first being by one of the best writers on Japan now that Donald Richie has passed on. The other is from a reviewer for the British Chamber of Commerce, who seems to be (surprisingly) well-informed on the subject.

********************************************

A double dose of guidance offers more than usual information
BY STEPHEN MANSFIELD APR 28, 2013 Japan Times

SHINTO SHRINES: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan’s Ancient Religion, by Joseph Cali with John Dougill. University of Hawaii Press, 2012, 328 pp., $24.99 (paperback)

Irrespective of whatever faith you might hold, or if you count yourself among the growing ranks of the agnostic, shrines can be appreciated as much as a cultural experience as a religious one. For native religions to flourish, an appropriate national character or mind-set has to exist.

Accordingly, the writers of this new and much needed guide, two well-established authors on Japanese culture, examine the fertile socio-psychological ground that made it possible for Shinto to secure a firm purchase in Japan.

With no central book, the religion must be practiced and well supported to thrive. Shrines are generally very well maintained in this country. It is a rare case to come across a truly dilapidated one. It would be like abandoning the gods.

While the book covers well-known places of worship like the Meiji and Ise shrines, there are structures that may not be familiar to all readers, like the modest Aiki Jinja in Yoshioka, Tsubusumu Jinja, a shrine located on a small island in Lake Biwa, and Yukoku Inari Jinja in Kyushu, its main structure built on vermilion-colored scaffolding. The guide provides detailed background information on architecture, customs and rituals, clothing, symbolism and much more. It also gives the reader a rundown of all the major deities, a necessarily short list given that there are a whopping 8 million of them.

I’ve always thought of Shinto as a pantheistic belief, the mother faith in many ways of all people, the religion having its roots in the animism and shamanism that defined the practices of many ancient communities in the world.

And with no founders, prophets, miracles, or divine channeling of messages, Shinto may be one of the more credible of today’s faiths, it’s reverence for nature sitting well with the concerns of a green age. Predicated on the idea of coexisting with the forces of nature, rather than exploiting them, there is much to be learned from this non-doctrinal faith and this fine guide to all its intriguing aspects.

*****************************************

– British Chamber of Commerce in Japan: Acumen (Feb. 2013)

Shinto is the indigenous and older of Japan’s two main belief systems (the other being Buddhism, a 6th-century import). It rests on faith in kami (spirits) – although gods is the usual, though slightly misleading, translation – that are to be found in everything, from people and animals, to places and even inanimate objects such as rocks or trees. Thus. it is a faith that is at the same time polytheistic. pantheistic, animistic, and something that is surely special. Shinto rites and practices are very much alive in today’s Japan. so much so that most Japanese take them for granted and many would be surprised if reminded that they were practising Shintoism.

For the majority of non-Japanese. the most obvious encounter with Shinto is at the many shrines that are all around us (an estimated 80.000 nationwide). Cali and Dougill’s impressive book, presenting itself as a guide to just a select few of these, is far more than that. The introduction is easily the clearest and most accessible explanation of Shinto that I have read. There is an immense amount of detail about the history of Shinto, the types of kami, and how this most Japanese of faiths interrelates with Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity, among other belief systems.

There are numerous helpful illustrations, including ones of the most important features of a typical shrine, as well as of the clothing worn by priests and shrine attendants. In addition, of great interest is the way that the authors pose the question: “What benefit might there be in visiting a shrine for someone who has grown up in another country with different cultural and religious values?” Their answers are compelling.

The authors’ enthusiasm is infectious and the depth of their knowledge, and obvious love and respect for the subject, is evident on every page. Thoroughly researched, well written and cleverly illustrated, the book should be a must-read for anyone wishing to delve into this most fascinating aspect of Japanese culture.

Kasuga Taisha, another of the 57 shrines described in detail in the book