#hieizan

[crazyfox-archives]

A hanging scroll of the Hie Sanno Mandara (日吉山王曼荼羅), a mandala depicting the local deities of Hie Jinja Shrine (日吉神社), i.e. present-day Hiyoshi Taisha Grand Shrine (日吉大社) in Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, as manifestations of the Buddhist divinities of Mount Hiei (比叡山) north of Kyoto, with the deities and divinities matched up throughout the landscape of the mountain

Color on silk dating to the Kamakura period (1185-1333) from the collection of Hyakusaiji Temple (百済寺) in Higashiōmi, Shiga Prefecture

Image from "Shintō: The Sacred Art of Ancient Japan" edited by Victor Harris, published by the British Museum Press. 2001, page 173

[odaclan]

In “defense” of the Enryakuji invasion

This is the clash of two military and political powers that finally came to a head, not a one-sided oppression

When people cite the invasion of Enryakuji to accuse Nobunaga of all sorts of horrible things, it’s usually because they were under the impression that an unreasonably large number of people were killed, or that it was an oppressive massacre against a community that weren’t posing a threat.

It’s very unfortunate that it’s very rarely clearly explained to the general public that Enryakuji has armed forces. In a lot of ways it’s almost functioning like a samurai lord’s castle, inhabited by both warriors and civilians alike. They also had massive political power and influence. They’re not a quiet little temple whose inhabitants were peaceful or helpless.

The warrior monks of Enryakuji themselves have committed massacres and invasions. They do not accept other sects rivalling them, either out of genuine religious zealotry and considering the other sects “heretics”, or because they  simply want to maintain their sect’s influence and authority in Kyoto. They were not politically neutral, nor were they pacifists. 

(A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism, page 178)

I emphasise the part where it says the Enryakuji warriors wrecked Kyoto so badly, it’s equal to -- or even worse than -- the destruction in Kyoto when the Onin War broke out. These monks are vicious and violent. 

They were still meddling in politics and battle in Nobunaga’s time. During Nobunaga’s battles with the Azai and Asakura, these monks joined in the forces opposing Nobunaga. They took part in besieging Usayama Castle, which resulted in the death of one of Nobunaga’s brothers and some other senior vassals. 

The killing of thousands of combatants and civilians alike regularly happens when any one lord invades another territory. There are no stipulations to spare civilians. If a lord decided to evacuate civilians first before the invasion, then it is a benevolent act. Otherwise, civilian casualties is just a fact of life in that time period.

In which case, how is Nobunaga’s invasion any different than, say, the occasion where Nobunaga invaded Mino and conquered the Saitou? That's rarely, if ever at all, cited that as an example of cruelty. That was just a battle. 

There is no reason to be especially horrified about this Enryakuji incident above any other battle or invasion. This is nothing about this battle that more morally outrageous than what every samurai commander regularly do when engaging another samurai in battle. 

I would grant that many people may think that any mass-death is automatically horrible, and perhaps no amount of reasoning and justification can make the Hieizan invasion and burning defensible. There is no denying that thousands of people were killed in Enryakuji. It’s fine if one were to still condemn this even after knowing the circumstances. Still, knowing and understanding the context matters.

The Hieizan situation only looks different than a regular castle invasion because Enryakuji has the facade and still does operate as a temple. There is something about religious sites that inherently invokes the image of sacredness after all, regardless of the faith, and the general public tends to view them differently than a regular fortress or castle.

It is true that there were contemporary Sengoku writers who severely criticised Nobunaga for his actions. However, for the Japanese at the time, Enryakuji is a holy site with immensely deep cultural and spiritual significance. Not just the temple, but the whole mountain itself. No matter how justified Nobunaga was, or even if nobody was killed, people were going to be up in arms about it simply for the fact that Hieizan was targeted.

Think of the time when the Notre Dame caught on fire. People from all over the world were horrified. Imagine how much worse would it be if, say, there’s a fire in the Vatican. That’s what it was like for the people there at the time.

On top of that, the chief priest of Enryakuji also happens to be the emperor’s brother. This invasion can be perceived to be disrespectful to the imperial court. It only worsens the uproar surrounding this situation, which then supposedly led to the dramatic letter where Nobunaga calls himself the Dairokuten Maou in a spiteful reply to Shingen’s letter rebuking him in the name of the chief priest. 

An additional point in the “defense” is the numbers. For some reason there is a claim that 20 thousand were killed in the Enryakuji invasion. I have yet to find the exact source of this information. Wikipedia and other online articles cite Stephen Turnbull’s book, but I cannot find corroboration for this claim in the original historical documents. 

Shinchoukouki said "many thousands” and did not specify a number, and Luis Frois recorded that he was told around 3000 were killed (about 1500 combatants, and 1500 civilians). 

(They Came to Japan: An Anthology of European Reports on Japan, 1543-1640, page 99)

The claim of 20 thousand people killed also does not make sense as, supposedly, there weren’t even 10 thousand people inhabiting the Enryakuji complex in Hieizan at the time. How can the dead amount to more than double the actual number of inhabitants? 

Lastly, there’s also reports from on-site research that claims that, as of 1980s, they weren’t able to find “proof” of massacre or mass-burning. They have yet to find the human remains of the dead, nor expansive traces of burning in the soil. The burning traces that was discovered were very minimal, compared to the narrative of “the whole mountain was up in flames”. On top of that, there were existing textual records describing many of the buildings were already dilapidated and abandoned as of 1570, and so even if they were burnt, there were no casualty or major losses.

However, this is a decades old report and I haven’t seen any certified updates on this yet. To be able to make a definitive claim, they would have to conduct a scan of the whole mountain, which is difficult to do.

[riku-in-japan]

Day 12 Enryakuji

Finally, reached the top of the mountain and the temple!! Welcome to Enryakuji.

The temple grounds were a lot bigger than I initially expected, meaning I didn't really have time to give everything a proper look before having to go down again. I mostly regret not realizing there was some kind of collaboration going on with Violet Evergarden at the Garden museum until the moment I sat down in the cable car. Would have loved to see what that was about.

So, all I had a look at was the main area and one of the side areas. On my own though. When I arrived at the top, my husband announced he was going back down again. Apparently the cable car had done his fear of heights no good and the idea he had to ride it again stressed him out so much he wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

So, I started exploring by myself.

It was a bit unfortunate that the main building of the whole place was being renovated and barely visible to the eye. Seems it is going to take a few more years before they are done. But I suppose everything else was really pretty. Some parts were newer looking than others.

The oldest were probably located in one of the side parts I decided to visit, which was a roughly ten minutes walk away from the main area. Even though my husband was already asking me to hurry up and catch a cable car, since he was getting antsy about reaching Tokyo too late. (Any time before midnight is still on time! It's only 4PM! Let me explore!)

After a quick look around, and with my husband getting impatient, I ended up rushing back to catch the cable car that would leave half past four. In the end it was a bit further away than I initially expected, but I did make it in time and I got to sit down for the trip.

The ride was nice, apparently it's the longest cable car ride in Japan? But I suppose I do prefer walking up and down a mountain by myself. This time, that was unfortunately impossible.

By the time I reached the bottom, my husband was already at the JR station, telling me I had exactly 18 minutes to make it to the station, or we'd have to wait for the next train. Now guess how long it takes to walk to that station according to google? You guessed it, 18 minutes.

So, walking on full speed, I made it to the station with just 2 minutes to spare!

In Kyoto we grabbed some food at the convenience store, released our suitcases from the locker and sat down in a Shinkansen to Tokyo before eating out very lavish dinner consisting of nikuman and pizzaman.

And thus concluded my birthday...

Ah, no... In Tokyo we still had to find our hotel and my husband very carefully guided us to the wrong one. Like, in what world would a hotel chain need two hotels almost right next to each other? And give them almost exactly the same name? Who would think of that!?

Anyway, paying for a room with a view was definitely worth it! (Photos will follow later, I already reached my 10 photo allowance for this post...)

[lets-take-a-break]

比叡山 横川エリア　Hieizan Yokawa Area

滋賀県大津市　Otsu-shi, Shiga, Japan

2023/05

[matchagyudon]

Charisma, Hitoriboushi (A Solitary Tribute Death) - Iori Motohashi English Lyrics Translation

TL Notes:

奉死 (houshi) is kind of a pun of 奉仕 (houshi) which is service. 奉死 (houshi) isn’t really a common combination, but 奉(hou) does have a meaning to “dedicate” which is what Iori is very well known for. He alone (独り, hitori) dedicates his body, and therefore eventually his death to whomever. 奉 in this case is an auxiliary that shows tribute to something. His death (死, shi) is a tribute to those he works himself to death for.

The “humble” pleasure in the sense of kairaku(快楽) is pleasure from freedom of earthly desires.

回峰行/kaihōgyō: thousand-day walk through the mountains from Hieizan to the old Imperial Palace in Kyoto (ascetic practice of the Tendai sect).

澪標/miotsukushi is a play on words (wow this is happening quite a lot here!) of 身を尽くし/mi wo tsukushi. A Heian-era classic Japanese poem (waka) by Prince Moriyoshi goes: “Miserable, now, it is all the same, channel-markers at Naniwa-- even if it costs my life, I will see you again!” (Translation by Dr Joshua Mostow) < That link goes more in-depth between the two. 

I took a bit of liberty with 記憶の花/kioku no hana. Instead of saying “memory flower/flower of memory” I chose to put “forget-me-nots” as the flower most commonly associated with memory.

Also-- I just wanted to point out that the way they "officially" read "houshi" is "boushi" that's why the transliterated title is "Hitoriboushi" but he clearly says it as "houshi" as a reference to the word for service.

The voice calling me to humble pleasure consumed my brain With no way to shake it off, I return to you

Yielding myself to writhe in pleasant submission Controlling my own desires, aah, it drives me crazy

Chores, serving meals, massages Thousand-day pilgrimage, human sacrifice If anyone tries to steal those from me I’d sooner kill them

From the bone, all the way down to the marrow To the softly falling blossoms I would give up my life And it would come to an end… I would serve, serve, and serve-- until my dying breath This solitary tribute death

My favorite collar shackles me As a sign of my vow, if you would please let me be I cannot help but to be your slave For it is my purpose in life

If you wish for it (let me seek it) Tase me, blaze me, dunk me in an ice bath too My body (remembers it) This sinful love, passionately engraved

Please order me around! Come on! (I’ll bring you food) Do you need an organ donor? (Thank you) I’ll take on burdens from an alternate dimension right away Right now

From the bone, all the way down to the marrow To the softly falling blossoms I didn’t choose to be like this This is just how I live

Oneday… I will fall In the end, I’d like to be by your side Bloom, bloom, blooming bountifully I will become your “forget-me-nots”

And if I could be reborn again I would serve you once more Your esteemed orders Please give me more and more

A Solitary Tribute Death (google.com)

[konjaku]

奥紅葉白熊[Okumomijihaguma] Ainsliaea acerifolia var. subapoda

奥[Oku] : Inner part, back

紅葉[Momiji] : Acer

白熊[Haguma] : White headdress made of yak tail hair

It is so named because grows in the inner(north) part land than Momijihaguma(var. acerifolia,) which has leaves similar to those of Momiji and produces white flowers resemble Haguma. The notches in its leaf are more shallow.

Another name is 叡山白熊[Eizanhaguma]. 叡山 means 比叡山[Hieizan](Mount Hiei.)

[mybeingthere]

When you see these pictures first - a young female artist comes to mind, but Hideaki Kawashima (Japanese, b 1969) is a man who trained in classical Buddhism at Hieizan Enryakuji Temple and was a practicing monk for two years. 

His work featured alongside that of artists such as William Kentridge, Antonia Bandeira, Keith Haring and Fernand Léger. 

“Each painting was an act of suffering. Until I was done with one piece, I couldn’t move on to the next one.” – Hideaki Kawashima.

Hideaki Kawashima has developed a distinctive representational style characterized by exaggerated proportions, androgynous and sensuous figures, and monochromatic or minimal palettes—a result of the artist considering himself to be “bad at colours.” 

Many critics have suggested the possibility that all of Kawashima’s works are versions of self-portraits, but Kawashima is careful about this association: “It was not an ideological thing like a self-portrait. I think it was more like painting a character. Instead of being someone’s likeness, it was my own character.” 

His works touch upon themes of spirituality, mythical narratives, anxiety, depression, and isolation.

[greeen-monster]

Eddie Lawson Replica

KZ1000J/R🇺🇸

Hieizan Driveway

Mount Hiei🇯🇵

Temperature 19℃

CR-S33 MJ-125→128👍

[tuulikannel]

Tuuli's adventures on Mt. Hiei, once upon a time (with pics!)

Storytime! This happened on Feb 2018 when I was on student exchange in Kyoto. I’m half wondering if I even want to tell you all about this, but… heh, it’s kind of a funny story, anyway. ^^ It came to my mind when jackiewepps talked about missing the last train in Japan.

Anyway, I spent half a year living basically at the root of Mt. Hiei, the holy mountain of Kyoto, and I always planned hiking it. Somehow it just didn’t happen, and then I had less than a week left in Japan. All days were booked except one, and on the night before I checked the weather forecast which was quite nice, and decided that it’s now or never. So I googled a while about stuff, figuring from where the path starts etc. The plan was climb up there, check out the temples & the summit, and then take the cable car back down.

Off I went then! This pic is taken from very close to where I lived, like I said, Hieizan was close by.

I took the Kirara-oka trail. (Kirara! Hazama, is that you?) Luckily I’d read online that the first part was hardest, or I might have been somewhat discouraged. There were also times when the path (if it can be called that) divided and I wasn’t sure which way to go. I always took the one that seemed to be going (more) upward, and apparently that was the right decision.

Somewhere along the way I came across this. It was there in the middle of the mountain, all by itself. I don’t know who/what that is, but I had a little pause there, offered some of my water, and said that I’m just an idiot gaijin who isn’t sure what she’s doing, so I’d appreciate all help on this hike, to not get lost…

Some random pics I took on the way

Well, I found the summit without trouble. By then it had gotten pretty cloudy. You can see Lake Biwa from there, on the opposite side from Kyoto, and I sort of did see it, but it isn’t visible in any of the pics I took. Anyway, before I went to the summit I walked around the temple areas. And sorry these statues with their knitted hats were just too cute!

Random pics from the temple area

Anyway, then it was finally time to get down. I started heading to the cable car… only to find out that it doesn’t operate in winter. (This was at the very end of February, it would have started running in March. >_>) There was a bus stop on the summit. I went there… and the last bus had gone 15 min earlier, at half past 4 pm.

okay. So I am there at a mountain top with no transport down, and it’d start getting dark in one hour - and when it gets dark, it gets dark. It had taken me closer to two hours to get up there, but of course, I had been taking my time, and going down might be easier than going up. Still, I couldn’t be sure I’d get down before dark.

There were a few cars in the parking lot at the summit. As I stood there, pondering about my options (should I got to knock on the temple doors to ask for shelter for a tired pilgrim XD) I noticed that there was a man sitting in one of them, and went to ask him if there was any other way to get down. (There was, of course, the motor road, but it had signs to forbid pedestrians.)

Anyway, he confirmed what I already knew, no buses or anything this “late” during winter. And then he offered me a ride (which I had kind of been hoping). I had to wait a short while, as he was someone working in the area and was waiting for his coworkers before he could leave, but honestly, that was fine for me! The funniest part? He could have been literally from anywhere around the mountain, but he lived in the same part of Kyoto where my dorm was. At first I was wondering if he was just saying so, but for one thing, he knew exactly where the dorm was, and after he dropped me off, I saw him turn into a residential area from where you can’t really get anywhere.

Huh. Thankfully, back then, after having spent half a year in Japan, I actually could speak some Japanese (unlike now). And, uh, I guess I really should offer that stone thing on the mountain my thanks for making it down safely… ^^;;

But honestly, this is all kinds of ridiculous. I’m someone who always plans things very carefully. Back in the days with no internet on the phone (yep, I’m old enough to remember that XD) I literally drew myself maps and wrote down the bus timetables and routes when I just did a daytrip to another town here in Finland. And then I go to climb a freaking mountain in Japan without checking how to get down from there? Unbelievable. XD

[daeva-agas]

This comment does not apply to me, so I’m just sobbing over this SAKJHDJKFHGKEJ 

No, Yagen, I’ve been saying the exact same thing for at least 2 years now. Maybe 3 years. 

Go tell this to Heshikiri, and kick him in the face if he starts spilling salt again. He promised to stop salting in his kiwame letter, so if he breaks that promise, please beat him up.

(I love Heshikiri, but I want to bully him sometimes)

Also, Nobu trivia: Yes, he doesn’t really believe in Buddha and stuff, but he sometimes believes in ghosts and woowoo. 2 years after the infamous Hieizan burning, he asked a priest “Do you think that Kyoto will get hit with misfortune now?” 

Hieizan the mountain, not the Enryakuji temple, is believed to be a ward to protect Kyoto against evil. The Buddhist temple is irrelevant, but the mountain also got burned, so he’s worried about that part. The priest said “Oh no, it’s probably fine” so he shrugs and moves on. 

[eztouringjp]

[crazyfox-archives]

The central chambers of the Taizōkai Mandara (胎蔵界曼荼羅), the Matrix World Mandala depicting hosts of buddhas, bodhisattvas, wrathful wisdom kings, and assorted other divinities & supernatural beings radiating from the cosmic buddha Dainichi Nyorai (大日如来) in the center, here all represented by their Sanskrit seed syllables in Siddhaṃ script

Color on silk dating to the 14th century, from the collection of Enryakuji Temple (延暦寺) on Mount Hiei (比叡山) north of Kyoto

[odaclan]

Someone really did call Nobunaga “Dairokuten Maou”, once

You might ask: “Wait, isn’t that common knowledge?” Actually, not really. 

First, I’ll explain the backstory. 

Even though Nobunaga being called Dairokuten Maou (Demon King of the Sixth Heaven) is very common in anime and games and such, the original historical source of this is hard to find. For a while, the only origin people seemed to be able to find was Nobunaga calling himself that.

In Father Luis Frois’s writings, he recorded that Shingen sent Nobunaga a letter of condemnation over the burning of Enryakuji in Hieizan. Supposedly, Shingen had signed the letter “Tendai Zashuu Shingen” (High Priest of Tendai Sect). Out of spite, Nobunaga sent a reply signed “Dairokuten Maou Nobunaga”. 

A lot of people were sceptical of this, since the exact artefact of this exchange has not been found yet, but it is what it is. Also, I’ve previously reported that the Japanese translation of Luis Frois’s writings apparently have translation errors, so maybe it’s not even what the actual European manuscript says in the first place.  

Just as an additional context, the Dairokuten Maou, or Mara (sometimes spelled Maara), is a Buddhist demon entity that represents worldly desires, lust and riches. Stories claim that he had tried to corrupt the Buddha himself, once, by sending his daughters to seduce Buddha. Essentially, this character is “the enemy of Buddhism”. Though, as far as I know he’s generally not known as a demon of hellfire and terror.

The reason why Japanese people say “Dairokuten Maou” (in Buddhism, it’s believed that for some reason this demon lives in the “sixth heaven”) and not “Mara” is because at some point in history, the name became so closely associated with lust that “Mara” is essentially the Japanese word for “penis”. You can see it in names such as the Kanamara Matsuri (please do NOT look up this word in public, it’s NSFW).

Now for the actual news. 

In 2017, while examining their archives, the monks of Konsaiji in Toyohashi, Aichi discovered a text that they believed was written by a monk named Kouko Sanjin 江湖散人 shortly after Honnouji happened. The text was a poetic tirade that essentially said “Nobunaga is dead, good riddance” and it was good of Mitsuhide to have offed him. Among many other things, the news reported that the text called Nobunaga “a big monkey”, “the second coming of (Taira) Kiyomori, the black rat”, and “Rokuten Maou”.

I don’t know if the full text was ever published, since a lot of older online news articles got paywalled or disappear altogether after some time, and I’m not longer able to access them now. I was, however, able to find a picture of a little portion of the text that shows the “black rat Kiyomori” part: 

The news report also mentioned that monk Kouko Sanjin was believed to have witnessed the burning of Enryakuji. Maybe not actually on site per se, since I cannot find specific details of his life or where he’s been. It’s also possible that maybe the fire was big enough to be seen from neighbouring areas.

Considering these two reports of Dairokuten Maou usage turned out to be somewhat related to Enryakuji (assuming there’s no misreporting or any other error of transmission), one wonders if the anime and game creators are maybe by coincidence not entirely wrong to present the name with the image of "fire and terror".

To be fair, though, Shimada Daisuke, the professor who was asked to analyse this Kouko Sanjin text, thought that Rokuten Maou was used in the “demon of riches” sense here. This tirade had also contained mentions of Azuchi Castle, and since Azuchi’s extravagance would definitely cost a lot of money, the professor felt that it was a criticism of the flaunting of wealth.

[riku-in-japan]

Day 12 Omi Shrine

The day started early, because we had to leave the apartment at 10:00. In the end, we probably left just after nine, making our way to Kyoto to drop our luggage, before heading over to Otsu (Lake Biwa).

Last Monday, we found loads of coin lockers available at Kyoto station, so what could go wrong?... holy cow, how can all those coin lockers be filled this early in the morning! We walked all around the station, but could not find a single available locker to store our suitcases.

In the end, we decided to just drag our suitcases to Otsu station and pray to find an empty locker there. Then, as our train slid out of Kyoto station, we noticed an abundance of empty coin lockers on platform zero! Crap!!

To our dismay, Otsu had no coin lockers available. The very few it had were already taken, so... We boarded a train back to Kyoto station. (Haha... Eh...) There we dropped our luggage in one of the empty lockers on platform zero and went on our way again. I suppose the ones on the platform are so empty, since they really are only useful to those who will leave via Kyoto station again on the same day (and before 20:00).

All in all we lost quite a bit of time with this little dance. So, adjustments to the plans had been made. My leisure walk by the lakeside was cut, Miidera crossed of the list and eventually I redirected our route to Otsukyo station, from where we walked toward Omi Shrine.

It was quite pretty, but overrun by parents and children for their shichigosan ceremonies, so... It felt a bit odd to be looking around. As a result our visit was rather brief.

From there we walked over to the nearest station, Minami-Shiga. And grabbed the train to Sakamoto-Hieizanguchi.

Despite the delay in my plans , I very stubbornly held onto my plans to actually climb the mountain, up to Enryakuji, instead of riding the cable car (as my husband would.)

Along the way I certainly questioned myself a few times why the plan had been to climb the mountain via the Honzaka trail, rather than descending. Which would have arguably been easier... Just to remind myself I chose this order, because otherwise I might have ended up on a dark trail due to sunset coming earlier than expected.

Anyway, the trail was pretty, but really pushed me to my limits again. Or maybe I'm just trying to go to quickly and that's what's breaking me up. Official maps say the trail should take roughly 2 hours, but I reached the top after a single hour... I just feel that if I went any slower, I wouldn't be making any progress... Of the weather had been nicer, I might have taken a few more breaks though... It is a pretty rough trail though.

[lets-take-a-break]

比叡山 横川エリア　Hieizan Yokawa Area

滋賀県大津市　Otsu-shi, Shiga, Japan

2023/05

[tokyoshrine]

The Japan No One Knows. Ancient Shrines with a Thousand Years of History

Tokyo is amazing in that shrines with such a long history stand casually. It was founded by the Great Monk Genzo (Jiei), the founder of Hieizan and the originator of the Kakudaishi bad luck talisman. Genso Daishi is a Buddhist monk. He was said to have had spiritual power since childhood and was called a spiritual child, He was said to have had spiritual power since he was a child, and he created a scary-looking talisman depicting an evil spirit or a god of pestilence called Kakudaishi to cure an epidemic disease. He saved many people from illnesses.

When you enter the shrine grounds, you will be amazed at the many stone monuments that show the history that has been built up over the years. It was a sanctuary that made me realize that you have to actually visit a shrine to understand it.