1. Of a total 220 homon uta , 218 are on Buddhism, the exceptions being nos. 193 and 229; about 40 of the 204 shiku no kamiuta are on the same topic; while niku no kamiuta and the imayo in book 1 contribute minimally, with six and four songs, respectively. In fact, all four such songs in book 1—nos. 18, 19, 20, and 21—duplicate the homon uta nos. 194, 25, 23, and 22, respectively.

2. Shinma and Shida, eds., Kayo II, p. 33.

3. Monju is usually depicted riding a lion, while Fugen is shown riding a white elephant with six tusks. Fudo, who is known for his power to destroy the devils who interfere with Buddhist practice, is represented as a wrathful figure, holding a sword in his right hand, to smite the wicked, and a rope in his left, to catch and bind them, as flames rage around him. Kongosatta is the second of the first eight patriarchs of the Shingon school, to whom Dainichi directly transmitted the esoteric teaching. Myoken was worshiped in Japan for his power to cure eye diseases.

4. These are the flowers of two of the four trees in Indra's paradise; see NKBZ 25:213.

5. The verse refers to a scene in the chapter where the jeweled stupa decorated with seven gems—gold, silver, lapis lazuli, giant clam shell, coral, pearl, and carnelian—emerges from the earth and hangs suspended in midair. Although the verse does not specify, the stupa contained in it the Buddha of Many Jewels (Taho Nyorai; Prabhutaratna), a bodhisattva who had once lived in the land of Pure Jewel and had entered nirvana after making a vow that he would appear in the jeweled stupa wherever the Lotus Sutra was preached.

6. King Suddhodana was the ruler of the Sakya tribe in Kapilavastu, and Suprabuddha was a rich elder from the city of Devadarsita nearby.

7. Both the horse and Chandaka are supposed to have been born on the same day as the prince. Mount Dantaloka is located in Gandhara in the northern part of India.

8. This sutra is an important scripture in both the Tendai and Shingon schools.

9. See Mochizuki Shinko, Bukkyo daijiten , 7th ed. (Sekai Seiten Kanko Kyokai, 1972), 2:1446-47.

10. See Gary L. Ebersole, Ritual Poetry and the Politics of Death in Early Japan (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989), pp. 74-75, 165, 174-75, 257-61.

11. See Tsuchihashi and Konishi, eds., Kodai kayo , pp. 239-47. For an English translation and study, see Roy Andrew Miller, "The Footprints of the Buddha": An Eighth-Century Old Japanese Poetic Sequence (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1975).

12. Actually the prince's father ruled in Kapilavastu, not the Magadha Kingdom. Magadha, the most powerful kingdom in India during Sakyamuni's time, was ruled by King Bimbisara.

13. Mount Gaya was located in the Magadha Kingdom.

14. The song is based on the story of the magnanimous faith of Sudatta (Anathapindika), a wealthy merchant of the Sravasti Kingdom, who be-came an early convert to Buddha's teaching. According to the story, the elder, to offer a place of retreat for the Buddha, attempted to buy a park owned by Prince Jeta of Sravasti Kingdom by covering the ground with gold, as he was told to by the prince. But the prince stopped his prank and donated the land to the Buddha, which later became the Jetavana Monastery, the Buddha's favorite resort where he spent summer rainy seasons for the last twenty-five years of his life. See Edward J. Thomas, The Life of Buddha as Legend and History (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, n.d.; reprint New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927), p. 104.

15. Legend says, for example, that Ananda, to protect the Buddha from harm from animals, kept fires lit through the night on their journeys in the wilds.

16. Ananda is considered especially responsible for reciting the Buddha's teaching, which later became the basis of various sutra texts. See Thomas, Life of Buddha , pp. 166-67.

17. Pava was within a day's journey from Kusinagara, the site where the Buddha died. See ibid., p. 149.

16. Ananda is considered especially responsible for reciting the Buddha's teaching, which later became the basis of various sutra texts. See Thomas, Life of Buddha , pp. 166-67.

17. Pava was within a day's journey from Kusinagara, the site where the Buddha died. See ibid., p. 149.

18. The full name of the River Vati is Hiranyavati. The actual site where the Buddha took the meal was in the mango grove of Cunda, rather than on a seat between the twin gala trees. See "The Book of the Great Decease: Maha-parinibbana-sutta," in Buddhist Suttas , trans. T. W. Rhys Davids, The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 11 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1881; reprint New York: Dover, 1969), pp. 70-72.

19. See Thomas, Life of Buddha , pp. 149-51.

20. The Buddha is said to have passed away at midnight on the bed prepared by Ananda between twin Sala trees; see ibid., pp. 151-53.

19. See Thomas, Life of Buddha , pp. 149-51.

20. The Buddha is said to have passed away at midnight on the bed prepared by Ananda between twin Sala trees; see ibid., pp. 151-53.

21. The assembly, which had five hundred participants, was held at the

     Pippala Cavern in Rajagrja, the capital of the Magadha Kingdom; see W. Woodville Rockhill, The Life of the Buddha and the Early History of His Order (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1907), p. 151.

22. Two persons were mostly responsible for forming the canon: Upali, known for his knowledge of monastic rules, contributed to the formation of the Vinaya (regulations for the Sangha); and Ananda, through his recitation of the Buddha's oral teaching, laid the foundation for the sutras. See N. A. Jayawickrama, trans., The Inception of Discipline and the Vinaya Nidana : Bahiranidana of Buddhaghosa's "Samantapasadika ," Sacred Books of the Buddhists, vol. 21 (London: Luzac & Co., 1962), pp. 11-13.

23. The arhats are Buddhist saints. It is not clear who these sixteen saints are, but they are believed to have promised to propagate the Bud-dha's teaching eternally. See NKBT 73:500.

24. See Rockhill, Life of the Buddha , pp. 152-57.

25. Mochizuki, Bukkyo daijiten 1:842-43.

26. The Dragon-flower tree is said to be the site where Maitreya will be preaching the Buddha's Dharma.

27. Shida Nobuyoshi, Kayokenshi , 4 vols. (Shibundo, 1982), 4:376-90. Kawabata Yoshiaki sees wider implications of the interest in setsuwa expressed in homon uta ; he points out that Ryojin hisho shares a trend similarly reflected in Konjaku monogatari, a setsuwa collection presumably compiled during the reign of Emperors Shirakawa and Toba. See Geinoshi Kenkyukai, ed., Nihon geinoshi 2:127-30.

28. The Triple Body, sanjin (Tri-kaya) is a Tendai interpretation of the identity of the Buddha as existing simultaneously in three dimensions. The first, the "Body of the Dharma" ( hosshin ; Dharma-kaya), sees the Buddha as the eternal metaphysical principle, transcending all human perceptions. This aspect of the Buddha can be termed the universal Buddha-soul, embodied in his teachings; it may be roughly equated with the divine logos in Christian theology. The second, the "Body of Manifestation" ( ojin ; Nirmana-kaya), refers to the historical Buddha, manifested in physical form to make the Dharma accessible to human sense perceptions and to save the people. The third, the "Body of Reward (or Bliss)" ( hojin ; Sambhoga-kaya), means a nirvanic state of celestial wisdom obtained through enlightenment. See Anesaki Masaharu, History of Japanese Religion (Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle, 1963), pp. 113-18.

29. The ten evils are killing, stealing, adultery, lying, flattery, defaming, duplicity, greed, anger, and stupidity or perverted views. The five vices vary depending on the sutra cited, but the most commonly accepted are patricide, matricide, killing an arhat , injuring a Buddha, and causing disunity in the community of believers. Transgression of any of these will cause one to fall into a hell of eternal suffering.

30. The content of this song is based on an Amidist convention that

     allows a dying person to hang threads in five colors on the hands of Areida's statue and hold the end of them in the hope of salvation in the Pure Land. The song is based on poem no. 1925, Shinkokinshu , composed by the priest Hoen of the early eleventh century.

31. Amida, being supernatural, is endowed with forty teeth instead of the usual thirty-two.

32. ''The eastern gate of the Pure Land paradise" in the song refers to the Tennoji Temple in Osaka, founded by the Prince Shotoku. See NKBZ 25:244, note to song no. 176.

33. Mochizuki, Bukkyo daijiten 1:802.

34. Among Yakushi's twelve vows, the seventh is his pledge to gratify mundane needs such as curing illnesses and providing clothes and house-hold supplies.

35. This song is the same as the one sung by Go-Shirakawa at Otomae's sickbed; see chapter 1.

36. Jizo, known to live on Mount Karavika, is credited with power over the hells. He is devoted to saving all creatures during the period between the death of the historical Buddha and the advent of Maitreya, the future Buddha.

37. The four major disciples are Subhuti, Maudgalyayana, Mahakatyayana, and Mahakasyapa; in some groupings, Subhuti is replaced by Sariputra. This homon uta was sung by Enju, an accomplished female imayo singer of kugutsu origin, when she was praised by Emperor Go-Shirakawa for her superior command in imayo singing. See NKBT 73:459-60.

38. Shinma and Shida, eds., Kayo II , p. 85. The fascination with cormorant fishermen appears already in Man'yoshu —Kakinomoto Hito-maro touched upon cormorant fishermen in passing (no. 38; Kojima Noriyuki, Konoshita Masatoshi, and Satake Akihito, eds., Man'yoshu , 4 vols., Nihon Koten Bungaku Zenshu, vols. 2-5 [Shogakkan, 1971-75], 2:84) and Otomo Yakamochi has two poems on the subject (nos. 4011 and 4156, ibid., 5:221, 302). Heike monogatari also includes a remark on a fisherman's killing a turtle to feed his cormorant (Ichiko, ed., Heike mono-gatari 1:466). Later in the medieval period, the same topic is given a new Buddhist interpretation in the Noh drama "Ukai," attributed to Zeami; see Yokomichi and Omote, Yokyokushu 1:174-80.

37. The four major disciples are Subhuti, Maudgalyayana, Mahakatyayana, and Mahakasyapa; in some groupings, Subhuti is replaced by Sariputra. This homon uta was sung by Enju, an accomplished female imayo singer of kugutsu origin, when she was praised by Emperor Go-Shirakawa for her superior command in imayo singing. See NKBT 73:459-60.

38. Shinma and Shida, eds., Kayo II , p. 85. The fascination with cormorant fishermen appears already in Man'yoshu —Kakinomoto Hito-maro touched upon cormorant fishermen in passing (no. 38; Kojima Noriyuki, Konoshita Masatoshi, and Satake Akihito, eds., Man'yoshu , 4 vols., Nihon Koten Bungaku Zenshu, vols. 2-5 [Shogakkan, 1971-75], 2:84) and Otomo Yakamochi has two poems on the subject (nos. 4011 and 4156, ibid., 5:221, 302). Heike monogatari also includes a remark on a fisherman's killing a turtle to feed his cormorant (Ichiko, ed., Heike mono-gatari 1:466). Later in the medieval period, the same topic is given a new Buddhist interpretation in the Noh drama "Ukai," attributed to Zeami; see Yokomichi and Omote, Yokyokushu 1:174-80.

39. See Takagi Yutaka, Heian jidai hokke bukkyoshi kenkyu (Kyoto: Heirakuji Shoten, 1978), pp. 248-50; also p. 224 for further details.

40. They are nos. 35,110-19, 208, 231, 291-93,424, and 492.

41. The enmity between the cousins is believed to have begun when Sakyamuni, as a twelve-year-old boy, took care of a goose wounded by an arrow shot by the mischievous Devadatta. The five charges against De-vadatta were (1) destroying the harmony in the Sangha, (2) injuring the Buddha with a stone, shedding his blood, (3) inducing a king to let loose

     a rutting elephant to trample the Buddha, (4) killing a nun, and (5) putting poison on his own fingernails and saluting the Buddha with his hands, intending to kill him. See Mochizuki, Bukkyo daijiten 4:3352.

42. The Buddha could obtain the privilege of transmission of the Lotus Sutra from Asita by serving him for a thousand years. His service included picking fruits, drawing water, gathering firewood, preparing food, making a couch for him of his own body—and being patient under all circumstances. See Hurvitz, Scripture , p. 195.

43. The Dragon King, a ruler in his ocean palace in Sagara, north of Mount Sumeru, is said to possess priceless pearls; see Mochizuki, Bukkyo daijiten 3:2117.

44. The notion of the five obstacles refers to women's inherent inability to become any one of the following five beings: (1) the Brahmas King, a god who resides on Mount Sumeru and rules this world; (2) the Indra King, another god who protects this world; (3) the King of Mara, a devil king; (4) the wheel-turning Cakravarti King, the preacher king; and (5) the buddhas.

45. See Nancy Auer Falk, "The Case of the Vanishing Nuns: The Fruits of Ambivalence in Ancient Indian Buddhism;' in Unspoken Worlds: Women's Religious Lives in Non-Western Cultures , ed. Nancy Auer Falk and Rita M. Gross (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1980), p. 216.

46. Diana Y. Paul, Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in Mahayana Tradition , 2d ed. (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985), p. 5.

47. Kasahara Kazuo, Nyonin ojo shiso no keifu (Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1975), pp. 5-6.

48. Ibid., p. 6. The Shinjikankyo (or Daijohonjo shinjikankyo , Sutra of the Contemplation on the Base of Mind) has as its central theme the achievement of buddhahood by renouncing the world and by discarding all delusions through meditation.

49. Ibid., p. 11.

47. Kasahara Kazuo, Nyonin ojo shiso no keifu (Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1975), pp. 5-6.

48. Ibid., p. 6. The Shinjikankyo (or Daijohonjo shinjikankyo , Sutra of the Contemplation on the Base of Mind) has as its central theme the achievement of buddhahood by renouncing the world and by discarding all delusions through meditation.

49. Ibid., p. 11.

47. Kasahara Kazuo, Nyonin ojo shiso no keifu (Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1975), pp. 5-6.

48. Ibid., p. 6. The Shinjikankyo (or Daijohonjo shinjikankyo , Sutra of the Contemplation on the Base of Mind) has as its central theme the achievement of buddhahood by renouncing the world and by discarding all delusions through meditation.

49. Ibid., p. 11.

50. "This chapter" refers to the Devadatta chapter.

51. According to Diana Paul, "the Naga princesses in general were especially renowned for their beauty, wit and charm, and were claimed to be the female ancestors of some South Indian dynasties. They were delicate water-sprite creatures similar to mermaids" ( Women in Buddhism , p. 185).

52. Hurvitz, Scripture , p. 264.

53. Takagi, Heian jidai hokke bukkyoshi kenkyu , pp. 192-93. Among the five recommended activities, the first ever undertaken were lectures by Prince Shotoku in 605, during the tenth year of the Empress Suiko's reign (592-628).

54. Ibid.

53. Takagi, Heian jidai hokke bukkyoshi kenkyu , pp. 192-93. Among the five recommended activities, the first ever undertaken were lectures by Prince Shotoku in 605, during the tenth year of the Empress Suiko's reign (592-628).

54. Ibid.

55. A good number of songs extol the value of listening to the Lotus

     Sutra; examples are nos. 32, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 81, 85, 87 , 117, 122, 133, 134, 138, 149, and 154. Besides these songs, close to ten songs in homon uta stress the importance of listening to the sutras in general.

56. There are nine songs on the efficacy of reading, three on chanting, two on expounding, and only one on copying.

57. The Medicine King (Bhaisajya-raja) is a bodhisattva who cures all illnesses. He is the central figure in chapter 23 of the Lotus Sutra, "Yakuo" (Medicine King), which recounts the austerities he endured in his previous life in order to aquire such healing power.

58. Arjaka trees grow in India and other tropical regions. It is said that when a branch of this tree falls to the ground it splits into seven pieces. NKBZ 25:240.

59. The following discussion is based largely on Takagi, Heian jidai hokke bukkyoshi kenkyu , pp. 196-250.

60. Several such events are worthy of note. Hokke hakko (eight recitations of the Lotus Sutra) is a ritual in which the eight scrolls of the Lotus Sutra are recited, usually in association with the memorial service. Hokke jikko (ten recitations of the Lotus Sutra), first established by Saicho in 798 on the anniversary of death of Chih-i, covers the opening and closing scrolls in addition to the eight main scrolls of the sutra. Hokke sanjuko (thirty recitations of the Lotus Sutra) is based on the chanting of the twenty-eight chapters of the sutra plus its closing and opening chapters. And hokke choko (long recitation of the Lotus Sutra), a ritual performed first by Saicho in 809, is in essence a prayer for the country's security accomplished by reading selected parts from the sutra. See Takagi, Heian jidai hokke bukkyoshi kenkyu , pp. 202-5.

61. He collaborated on a sequence of waka , titled "Ei hokkekyo nijuhachis hon ka" (Songs in Praise of the Twenty-eight Chapters of the Lotus Sutra), in 1002 with such nobles as Fujiwara Kinto, Fujiwara Tadanobu, Fujiwara Yukinari, and Minamoto Toshikata (960-1027); the work was dedicated to the memory of his sister, Tosanjo-in. Together with Hosshin wakashu (Collection of Poems on Religious Awakenings, 1012) by Princess Senshi dai Saiin, this work is considered to be the harbinger of the shakkyoka , waka on Buddhist themes. See ibid., p. 209.

62. Ibid., pp. 233-42.

63. Ibid., pp. 244-47.

64. Ibid., pp. 247-50.

60. Several such events are worthy of note. Hokke hakko (eight recitations of the Lotus Sutra) is a ritual in which the eight scrolls of the Lotus Sutra are recited, usually in association with the memorial service. Hokke jikko (ten recitations of the Lotus Sutra), first established by Saicho in 798 on the anniversary of death of Chih-i, covers the opening and closing scrolls in addition to the eight main scrolls of the sutra. Hokke sanjuko (thirty recitations of the Lotus Sutra) is based on the chanting of the twenty-eight chapters of the sutra plus its closing and opening chapters. And hokke choko (long recitation of the Lotus Sutra), a ritual performed first by Saicho in 809, is in essence a prayer for the country's security accomplished by reading selected parts from the sutra. See Takagi, Heian jidai hokke bukkyoshi kenkyu , pp. 202-5.

61. He collaborated on a sequence of waka , titled "Ei hokkekyo nijuhachis hon ka" (Songs in Praise of the Twenty-eight Chapters of the Lotus Sutra), in 1002 with such nobles as Fujiwara Kinto, Fujiwara Tadanobu, Fujiwara Yukinari, and Minamoto Toshikata (960-1027); the work was dedicated to the memory of his sister, Tosanjo-in. Together with Hosshin wakashu (Collection of Poems on Religious Awakenings, 1012) by Princess Senshi dai Saiin, this work is considered to be the harbinger of the shakkyoka , waka on Buddhist themes. See ibid., p. 209.

62. Ibid., pp. 233-42.

63. Ibid., pp. 244-47.

64. Ibid., pp. 247-50.

60. Several such events are worthy of note. Hokke hakko (eight recitations of the Lotus Sutra) is a ritual in which the eight scrolls of the Lotus Sutra are recited, usually in association with the memorial service. Hokke jikko (ten recitations of the Lotus Sutra), first established by Saicho in 798 on the anniversary of death of Chih-i, covers the opening and closing scrolls in addition to the eight main scrolls of the sutra. Hokke sanjuko (thirty recitations of the Lotus Sutra) is based on the chanting of the twenty-eight chapters of the sutra plus its closing and opening chapters. And hokke choko (long recitation of the Lotus Sutra), a ritual performed first by Saicho in 809, is in essence a prayer for the country's security accomplished by reading selected parts from the sutra. See Takagi, Heian jidai hokke bukkyoshi kenkyu , pp. 202-5.

61. He collaborated on a sequence of waka , titled "Ei hokkekyo nijuhachis hon ka" (Songs in Praise of the Twenty-eight Chapters of the Lotus Sutra), in 1002 with such nobles as Fujiwara Kinto, Fujiwara Tadanobu, Fujiwara Yukinari, and Minamoto Toshikata (960-1027); the work was dedicated to the memory of his sister, Tosanjo-in. Together with Hosshin wakashu (Collection of Poems on Religious Awakenings, 1012) by Princess Senshi dai Saiin, this work is considered to be the harbinger of the shakkyoka , waka on Buddhist themes. See ibid., p. 209.

62. Ibid., pp. 233-42.

63. Ibid., pp. 244-47.

64. Ibid., pp. 247-50.

60. Several such events are worthy of note. Hokke hakko (eight recitations of the Lotus Sutra) is a ritual in which the eight scrolls of the Lotus Sutra are recited, usually in association with the memorial service. Hokke jikko (ten recitations of the Lotus Sutra), first established by Saicho in 798 on the anniversary of death of Chih-i, covers the opening and closing scrolls in addition to the eight main scrolls of the sutra. Hokke sanjuko (thirty recitations of the Lotus Sutra) is based on the chanting of the twenty-eight chapters of the sutra plus its closing and opening chapters. And hokke choko (long recitation of the Lotus Sutra), a ritual performed first by Saicho in 809, is in essence a prayer for the country's security accomplished by reading selected parts from the sutra. See Takagi, Heian jidai hokke bukkyoshi kenkyu , pp. 202-5.

61. He collaborated on a sequence of waka , titled "Ei hokkekyo nijuhachis hon ka" (Songs in Praise of the Twenty-eight Chapters of the Lotus Sutra), in 1002 with such nobles as Fujiwara Kinto, Fujiwara Tadanobu, Fujiwara Yukinari, and Minamoto Toshikata (960-1027); the work was dedicated to the memory of his sister, Tosanjo-in. Together with Hosshin wakashu (Collection of Poems on Religious Awakenings, 1012) by Princess Senshi dai Saiin, this work is considered to be the harbinger of the shakkyoka , waka on Buddhist themes. See ibid., p. 209.

62. Ibid., pp. 233-42.

63. Ibid., pp. 244-47.

64. Ibid., pp. 247-50.

60. Several such events are worthy of note. Hokke hakko (eight recitations of the Lotus Sutra) is a ritual in which the eight scrolls of the Lotus Sutra are recited, usually in association with the memorial service. Hokke jikko (ten recitations of the Lotus Sutra), first established by Saicho in 798 on the anniversary of death of Chih-i, covers the opening and closing scrolls in addition to the eight main scrolls of the sutra. Hokke sanjuko (thirty recitations of the Lotus Sutra) is based on the chanting of the twenty-eight chapters of the sutra plus its closing and opening chapters. And hokke choko (long recitation of the Lotus Sutra), a ritual performed first by Saicho in 809, is in essence a prayer for the country's security accomplished by reading selected parts from the sutra. See Takagi, Heian jidai hokke bukkyoshi kenkyu , pp. 202-5.

61. He collaborated on a sequence of waka , titled "Ei hokkekyo nijuhachis hon ka" (Songs in Praise of the Twenty-eight Chapters of the Lotus Sutra), in 1002 with such nobles as Fujiwara Kinto, Fujiwara Tadanobu, Fujiwara Yukinari, and Minamoto Toshikata (960-1027); the work was dedicated to the memory of his sister, Tosanjo-in. Together with Hosshin wakashu (Collection of Poems on Religious Awakenings, 1012) by Princess Senshi dai Saiin, this work is considered to be the harbinger of the shakkyoka , waka on Buddhist themes. See ibid., p. 209.

62. Ibid., pp. 233-42.

63. Ibid., pp. 244-47.

64. Ibid., pp. 247-50.

65. The six roots refer to the six sensory organs of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, which are regarded as the source of earthly desire, attachment, and spiritual defilement.

66. Joseph M. Kitagawa, Religion in Japanese History (New York: Columbia University Press, 1966), pp. 69-70.

67. Murayama, Honji suijaku , pp. 212-19, 251-302.

68. Mount Tendai is in fact Mount Hiei, on which Enryakuji Temple,

     the center of the Tendai school, is located. The Eastern Shrine means the Hie Shrine complex, located at the foot of Mount Hiei, to the east of the Heian capital.

69. The term comes from Lao-tzu's Tao-te ching (The Way and Its Power), where it refers to the value of self-effacement as a moral precept. Chih-i first borrowed the aphorism and gave it a Buddhist twist in his work Mo-ho chih kuan . See Sekiguchi Shizuo, "Wako dojin: Ryojin hisho to honji suijaku shiso," Nihon kayo kenkyu 17 (April 1978): 10.

70. Besides the songs so far discussed, nos. 242, 243, 245, and 417, among others, are also related to the Tendai-Hie syncretism.

71. For details of the ranks and syncretic identities of these shrines, see Okada Yoneo, Jinja , Nihonshi Kohyakka, vol. 1 (Kindo Shuppansha, 1977), pp. 172-74. The Sanno syncretism was presumably designed to win over to Buddhism the peasantry in the Mount Hiei area, who were closely tied to the kami , believed to govern their agrarian existence. See Daigan Matsunaga and Alicia Matsunaga, Foundation of Japanese Buddhism , 2 vols. (Los Angeles: Buddhist Books International, 1976), 2:294.

72. It was under the Bodhi tree that Sakyamuni is reported to have attained his enlightenment.

73. The interest in the Hie syncretic mandala is proved by the fact that among extant mandala on Shinto shrines, those dealing with the Hie complex outnumber all others. See Murayama, Honji suijaku , p. 283.

74. The Mount Kinbu compound is divided into forty-one quarters, just like Maitreya's Tusita Heaven is supposed to be. See NKBZ 25:266-67.

75. Murayama Shuichi, Shinbutsu shugo shicho (Kyoto: Heirakuji Shoten, 1957), pp. 79-80.

76. For a complete list of these divinities, see Okada, Jinja , p. 226.

77. The Nagusa Beach and Waka Bay are located near Mount Nagusa in Wakayama City, Kii Province. An almost identical song was sung by Emperor Go-Shirakawa at the Nagaoka Shrine on his first Kumano pil-grimage in 1160. See NKBT 73:461.

78. Murayama, Honji suijaku , pp. 169-70.

79. "Buddhist Pilgrimage in South and Southeast Asia," in The Encyclopedia of Religion , ed. Mircea Eliade (New York: Macmillan, 1987), 11:348.

80. Joseph M. Kitagawa, On Understanding Japanese Religion (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987), p. 129.

81. Ichiro Hori, Folk Religion in Japan: Continuity and Change (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968), pp. 159-60.

82. Laurence Bresler, "The Origins of Popular Travel and Travel Literature in Japan" (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1975), p. 39.

83. The Kamo River, originating in the north of Kyoto, flows south-ward through the eastern part of the capital and empties into the Katsura

     River. The Yodo ford was at the site where the Katsura and Uji rivers joined, to the southwest of Kyoto. Yawata, where the Iwashimizu Hachi-man Shrine is located, is where the three tributary rivers, the Katsura, Uji, and Kizu, converge to form the Yodo River.

84. Hachiman was given the title of "Great Bodhisattva," a shortened form of "Great Bodhisattva of National Protection with Miraculous and Divine Power," in 781 by the Nara court. For details of Hachiman's Buddhistic deification, see Murayama, Honji suijaku , pp. 60-61.

85. The Saikoku circuit pilgrimage covers thirty-three temples that have Kannon as their main object of worship, the number coming from the thirty-three different forms Kannon is believed to take. The pilgrimage begins at Seigantoji Temple at Nachi Falls in Kumano and ends at Kegonji Temple in Gifu Prefecture. The Shikoku pilgrimage, undertaken in memory of Kukai, is confined to the island of Shikoku and covers eighty-eight sites. It begins at Ryozenji Temple and ends at Okuboji Temple. For detailed explanations and lists of the temples on these two circuit routes, see Nakao Takashi, Koji juntel jiten (Tokyodo Shuppan, 1979), pp. 90-107, 112-51. The Shikoku pilgrimage was supposedly established during the twelfth or thirteenth century; see Kitagawa, On Understanding Japanese Religion , pp. 133-34.

86. For a discussion on the development of this circuit, see James H. Foard, "The Boundaries of Compassion: Buddhism and National Tradition in Japanese Pilgrimage," Journal of Asian Studies 41 (1982): 231-51.

87. They were called goeika (holy chant) or junreika (pilgrim's chant); see Kitagawa, On Understanding Japanese Religion , p. 131.

88. Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto is the sixteenth stop; Ishiyama Temple, located in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, is the thirteenth; Hase Temple, in Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture, is the eighth; Kogawa Temple, in Waka-yama Prefecture, is the third; and Rokkakudo Temple (Chohoji), in Kyoto, is the eighteenth. Hikone Temple, in Shiga Prefecture, does not, however, belong to this pilgrimate route.

89. Many sites quoted in the song no longer exist as such or are unidentifiable. The following are those that have been identified. Kyogoku is the street that ran from north to south in the eastern end of the Heian capital, while Gojo Street is one of the major east-west streets through the middle of the capital. Rokuharado refers to Rokuharamitsuji Temple, founded by Kuya Shonin and located in Higashiyama-ku in Kyoto; Otagi-dera is located to the north of Rokuharamitsuji. Yasaka Temple is in fact Hokanji Temple, one of the seven major temples in the Heian capital; most of its buildings are gone now except for the five-story pagoda popularly known as the Yasaka Pagoda. Gion Shrine refers to the Yasaka Shrine, famous for the Gion festival. The "curious waterfall" is Otowa Falls, a small cascade emerging from Mount Otowa at the back of Kiyomizu Temple. An interesting feature of the falls is its three-forked stream

     issuing from the rocks, as noted in the song. See NKBZ 25:280-81; Kanaoka Shuyu, Koji meisatsu jiten (Tokyodo Shuppan, 1970), pp. 87-88.

90. Uchi no Dori refers to the area where the imperial palace was located. Nishi no Kyo is the area to the west of Suzaku Oji Street, which ran down the middle of the capital, dividing it into the eastern and western sections. The Tokiwa forest was to the west of the capital, near Koryuji Temple. The Oi River passes along the Arashiyama area, where courtesans often gathered. NKBZ 25:278; Kanaoka, Koji meisatsu jiten , p. 305.

91. The Ima-Kibune Shrine mentioned here may be one located in the village of Fusamoto in Isumino District, Chiba Prefecture, though there were many Ima-Kibune shrines throughout Japan (see NKBT 73:516). Just as the divinites at the Kumano and Hie shrines were invoked and moved to new shrine sites called Ima-Kumano and Ima-Hie, the deities worshiped in the Kibune Shrine must have been transferred and enshrined at sites other than the main site in the Heian capital. See NKBZ 25:269.

92. Most Japanese scholars use the terms yamabushi, shugenja , and shugyoja interchangeably.

93. Ichiro Hori, "On the Concept of Hijiri (Holy-Man)," Numen 5 (1958): 134, 199, 229. Gyogi's public service work for lower-class people included founding a charity hospital, a charity dispensary, an orphanage, and an old people's home; the establishment of free rooming houses; the excavation of canals for navigation and for irrigation; reservoir building; and bridge and harbor construction. For his work, Gyogi was popularly called "Bodhisattva" during his lifetime.

94. Hori, Folk Religion in Japan , pp. 177-78.

95. According to legend, En no Gyoja, after a one-thousand-day confinement on Mount Kinbu, received magical power from Kongozao gongen, who revealed himself to the ascetic, bursting from the depths of the earth with flames emanating from his back. See Miyake Hitoshi, Yamabushi: sono kodo to soshiki (Hyoronsha, 1973), pp. 29-30.

96. Ibid., pp. 21, 29-30, 175.

95. According to legend, En no Gyoja, after a one-thousand-day confinement on Mount Kinbu, received magical power from Kongozao gongen, who revealed himself to the ascetic, bursting from the depths of the earth with flames emanating from his back. See Miyake Hitoshi, Yamabushi: sono kodo to soshiki (Hyoronsha, 1973), pp. 29-30.

96. Ibid., pp. 21, 29-30, 175.

97. See Nakao Takashi, Koji junrei jiten , p. 104.

98. See Kanaoka, Koji meisatsu jiten , pp. 61, 65; and Okada, Jinja , p. 211.

99. See Kanaoka, Koji meisatsu jiten , pp. 321-22.

100. See Joseph M. Kitagawa, "Three Types of Pilgrimage in Japan," in On Understanding Japanese Religion , pp. 127-36.

101. See Okada, Jinja , pp. 272, 277; Kanaoka, Koji meisatsu jiten , pp.

150, 214, 264-65; and Nakao, Koji junrei jiten , p. 124.

102. Shida, Kayokenshi 4:390-91.

103. The "Kumano sankei" (Kumano pilgrimage), a soka (a fast-tempoed song or enkyoku , banquet song—a song genre that flourished during

     the Kamakura and Muromachi periods) included in Enkyokusho (Selected Enkyoku , ca. 1296) by Myoku, a prolific Kamakura-era composer of songs, lists a number of subshrines on the Kumano pilgrimage route and obliquely refers to the difficulties involved in the long journey. For the text of the song, see Takano, ed., Nihon kayo shusei , 5:71-75.

104. Murakami Toshio, Shugendo no hattatsu (Unebo Shobo, 1943), pp. 196, 304-18.

105. Miyake Hitoshi, Shugendo : yamabushi no rekishi to shiso (Kyoikusha, 1978), p. 112.

106. The Suzu Cape, located at the tip of the Noto Peninsula in Ishi-kawa Prefecture, is one of the most rugged areas in northeastern Japan. The Koshi (or Hokuriku) Road, in one of Japan's roughest regions, covers the area from Wakasa and Echizen in Fukui Prefecture to Echigo and Sado in Niigata Prefecture.

107. A stole is made of small pieces of cloth sewn together and worn over a monk's robe; it stands for his ability to withstand insults and persecutions. See NKBZ 25:277, 519. The wicker basket contains various items, including small icons, clothing, and foodstuffs. An ascetic with the basket on his back stands for an embryo; that is, he is a spiritual child about to be born. See Miyake, Yamabushi , pp. 147-48. The Complete Shikoku circuit required about sixty very difficult days on foot, and some-times resulted in deaths owing to its severity; see Nakao, Koji junrei jiten , p. 113.

108. Carmen Blacker, The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1975), p. 92. The practice was also highly valued in the Kumano pilgrimage and performed as often as circumstances allowed en route; see Miyaji, Kumano sanzan no shiteki kenkyu , p. 403.

109. See Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1959), pp. 183-84. The hardship of "walking" in pilgrimage is also the topic in shiku no kamiuta nos. 258 and 300.

110. The tree knots are hollowed out and used as begging bowls; see NKBZ 25:278. The deer horns are used as a decoration on top of the ascetic's staff. The dotted deerskin is worn over the ascetic's outer garment. His staff has six metal rings inserted into its head; their clanking noises when shaken are used to beat rhythms for chanting or to warn off harmful animals in the mountains. See Miyake, Yamabushi , p. 146.

111. At least sixteen items constituted the typical yamabushi necessities: headband, hat (or headgear), robe, stole, bugle, rosary, a staff deco-rated with metal rings, a wicker basket in which a wooden box is inserted, a wooden stick, a piece of cloth or animal skin, leggings, fan, knife, ropes, and straw sandals. For the esoteric meaning of each, see ibid., pp. 21, 141-53.

110. The tree knots are hollowed out and used as begging bowls; see NKBZ 25:278. The deer horns are used as a decoration on top of the ascetic's staff. The dotted deerskin is worn over the ascetic's outer garment. His staff has six metal rings inserted into its head; their clanking noises when shaken are used to beat rhythms for chanting or to warn off harmful animals in the mountains. See Miyake, Yamabushi , p. 146.

111. At least sixteen items constituted the typical yamabushi necessities: headband, hat (or headgear), robe, stole, bugle, rosary, a staff deco-rated with metal rings, a wicker basket in which a wooden box is inserted, a wooden stick, a piece of cloth or animal skin, leggings, fan, knife, ropes, and straw sandals. For the esoteric meaning of each, see ibid., pp. 21, 141-53.

112. Murakami, Shugendo no hattatsu , p. 132.

113. Mount Hira, located to the north of Mount Hiei, is one of the eight scenic views of the Omi region. Horsetails are plants related to ferns.

114. Hori, "On the Concept of Hijiri, " p. 228.

115. For details of their associations, see Nakayama, Nihon mikoshi , pp. 425-41.

116. Most of the jinja uta are taken from "Congratulations," "Shinto," or "Miscellaneous" sections of the imperial or private anthologies.

117. For the related subject of poems of praise, see Ebersole, Ritual Poetry , pp. 34-50.

118. In this section, bracketed references following the Ryojin hisho song number identify the source waka on which the songs were based.

119. The literal meaning of the name of Iwashimizu Shrine, "rock-clear water," supposedly originates from the water that gushed out of the rocks at the front of the shrine. See Nihon chimei daijiten , 7 vols. (Asakura Shoten, 1967), 1: 726.

120. Mount Matsuno-o, where the Matsuno-o Shrine stands, is located to the south of Mount Arashiyama in the western outskirts of the Heian capital.

121. The poet was one of the compilers of Gosenshu . The headnote says that the poem was composed to celebrate the birth of a son in a Minamoto family. The Hirano Shrine is located to the north of the capital. The Imaki no Kami, one of the divinities worshiped in the shrine, is the tutelary divinity of the Minamoto clan. See NKBZ 25:331.

122. The headnote to this waka says that it was composed for the coming-of-age ceremony in 935 at the residence of Fujiwara Saneyori (900-970), one of the powerful Fujiwara regents. Mount Oshio is located to the west of the capital, and the Oharano Shrine stands at its foot. The shrine was regarded with great respect by both the imperial family and the Fujiwara clan.

123. The Mitarashi River flows through the middle of the Kamigamo Shrine and then joins the Kamo River. Kamiyama refers to Mount Kamo, located to the east of the shrine.

124. No source poem has been identified for this song.

125. The headnote says that the poem was written during the winter festival at Kamo Shrine.

126. The headnote says that the poem was composed on the occasion of Emperor Ichijo's first visit to Matsuno-o Shrine in 1004.

127. The headnote says that the poet composed the poem on the morning of the winter Kamo festival, for which she was chosen as a messenger. She attached the poem to the decorative wisteria blossoms and sent them to the wife of Fujiwara Michinaga.

128. The headnote says that the poem was composed when the poet served as a messenger at the Hirano festival for the first time.

129. The poem was composed during the waka competition on the congratulatory theme held at the mansion of Fujiwara Morozane (1042-1101). Mount Mikasa is located near Kasuga Shrine in Nara, which is the Fujiwara main tutelary shrine.

130. Inari Shrine is located in the Fushimi-ku, to the south of the Heian capital.