The Shinto of Yoshida Kanetomo

The Shinto of Yoshida Kanetomo Author(s): Allan G. Grapard Reviewed work(s): Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 47, No.
1 (Spring, 1992), pp. 27-58 Published by: Sophia University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2385357 . Accessed: 05/03/2012 07:45
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The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

ALLAN G. GRAPARD of Shinto; Heaven and Earth are the scriptures thereof. The Sun and the Moon are the demonstration to NakatomiKamatari. Attributed
Sacred Dances'. In 859 Fujiwara Yamakage #RLLR$builta replicaof the Kasuga Shrine(the shrinededicatedin Nara to the ancestraland tutelary kami of the Fujiwara house) at the westernfoot of the hill, and called it of also knownas Mt Yoshida. The history Yoshida Shrine;thehillis therefore shrines impacton the worldof thathillis littleknownin spiteof its dramatic ideology of premodernJapanese and templesand on the politico-religious 1 society. of a member Duringthe late medievalperiod,Yoshida Kanetomo f theYoshida Shrine,conceived theUrabe hg sacerdotallineagethatgoverned In orderto understand brand of 'Shinto' of greatimportance. a combinatory the historicalrole of the Urabe diviners(fromwhich the that importance, (fromwhichthe and of theNakatomiri diviners Yoshida lineageoriginated) manner. in some preliminary mustbe presented Fujiwara house originated) authoriincreasing with bothin Japanand in theWestsuggest studies As recent ancientJapan it is properto abandon the contemporary ty,when imagining of Korea and Japanas we have of thegeopoliticalarrangement representation took place. events important land masseson whichmost,ifnot all, historically theKorean Peninsulaand the Japanese to envision instead,be better It might,
of Caliis Associate Professorof JapaneseReligiousHistoryat the University THE AUTHOR fornia,Santa Barbara. Initial researchfor this articlewas conductedin Kyoto and Tenri in fellowship 1981-1982,undertheauspicesof theSocial ScienceResearchCouncil's post-doctoral program.The authorwishesto acknowledgethe kind help in editingreceivedfromProfessor Neil McMullin. 1 The only study by non-Japanesescholars is HeinrichDumoulin, Kamo Mabuchi: Ein MN Monograph8, 2 vols., 1943, in Beitragzurjapanischen Religions-und Geistesgeschichte, of Yoshida Kanetomo's YuiitsuShintoMyoboyosha,in 1, whichthereis a Germantranslation pp. 179-235.
'Hill of area of Kyotois a hill calledKagura-oka, IN thenortheastern
The UrabeDiviners
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47:1 Monumenta Nipponica,
Islands as a sea-worldthathas been aptlynamed the Thalassocracyof Wa.2 if it ever reallyexisted,mighthave covered at least the This thalassocracy, partof whatis now Korea, and the seacoast of whatis now western southern of thiscomcenturies Japan. Howeverorganizedit mayhave been in the first mon era, thatsea-worldwas, if we are to believeGari Ledyardand a number by an century around the fourth disturbed of Japanesescholars,profoundly in Japan This invasionwas 'remembered' invasionfromthe Asian continent. Okinaga Tarashi Hime WA in the body of mythsand legends surrounding Kogo pJjtjS) and her son Homuda Wake giHfij (EmperorOjin XM (Jingui theKorean however,Japanis depictedas conquering 'Lsq).3 In thattradition, Peninsula and not as havingbeen invaded. Thalassocracyor not, travelin the sea-worldconsistedmainlyin following in the Straitsof Tsushima. It is not known the coasts and in island-hopping during may have extended how farnorthin the Korean Peninsulathissystem A.D., but some portionof the peninsulawas part of it. The centuries the first islands in the Straitsof Tsushimawereincludedin it, and on the 'Japanese' all of Kyushuand Shikokuwereencompassedby those sea side of the straits chain. routes. It is possible that some routesled as far south as the Ryuikyfu as included, also was Sado to Shimonoseki from Japan The coast of western of the commonera yieldedby of the earlycenturies is indicatedby artifacts archaeologicalexcavations.This does not mean thattherewas, at the time,a of but theremighthave been a loose confederation centralized government; An century. third of the in documents 'kingdoms',whichis described Chinese line was markedby a north-south earlyeasternlimitof that confederation Osaka) and Wakasa Bay. Ships could drawn betweenNaniwa (present-day theYodo River,theSetagawa,and the travelnorth along thislineby following point, Shiotsu, whence northernmost to its up Biwa Lake westernshore of by land to Wakasa Bay, or, as was probablymoreoften cargowas transported FromtheNara periodon, thisroutewas called thecase, in theotherdirection. Waves', or Shio no Michite Sazanami no MichiAo) A, 'Road of theRippling extendedto the south of the the routes As time sea passed, A:, 'Salt Road'. mouth of the Yodo River,went around the Kii Peninsula to Ise, then east coast to theIzu Peninsulaand theIzu Islands,and aroundthe alongthepacific Boso Peninsula all the way northto the port of Kashima, whichappears to at the latest. limitby the sixthcentury have been the northeasternmost practices, was ensuredby magico-religious As travelwas dangerous,safety the most importantof which was divination.No voyage was undertaken withoutassurances that the directionand the day were favorable. Over a
2 The term comes fromthe Greekthalassos,'sea', and kratia,'power'. It was thalassocracy time in the presentcontextby Gari Ledyard in 'Galloping along with the used for the first in jJs 1:2 (Spring1975), p. 230. Horseriders', 3 Those myths and legendsappear in Kojiki. See Donald Philippi,tr.,Kojiki, Tokyo U.P., 1968,pp. 257-98. For theNihongiversionof these,see W. G. Aston,tr.,Nihongi,Tuttle,1972, r Jingu pp. 217-71. For Japanesestudiesof theselegends,see TsukaguchiYoshinobu i gA, Yogensha, Osaka, 1980. F Kogo Densetsu no Kenkyu
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on diviners customarily accompanied periodof severalcenturies, travelers bothlandand sea, and were 'projections' on direcheldresponsible fortheir wereclosely of thetravel. The diviners tion,weather, time, and theoutcome with forthey and offered projections madepredictions associated therulers, The oldest daysand sites, and cropconditions. regarding battles, auspicious shoulder was scapulimancy: diviners placednearfire technique of divination and in which bladesfrom maledeeron which had beenengraved questions bytheheatof thecracks madeinthem holeshadbeendrilled, andinterpreted in Japan longbefore thefire. It is believed this type of divination existed that in theeastern partof theisles.A thefourth century, and thatitwas centered reading cracks moreelaborateformof divination, plastromancy, entailed the namesof plastrons. After requesting caused by heat appliedto turtle thediviners the kamithatlefttheir on thebonesor shells, encodedmarks originated oracles.This technique interpreted thosemarks and pronounced Korea.Although there inChinaandpassedto Japan either directly orthrough of in southern Korea, thereis no evidence is evidence of scapulimancy in Japan. areindications thatit was practiced plastromancy there, butthere certain to be a setofgestures thataccompany Divination canbe understood in divination of a decision since theaccent was on theexpression speech-acts, involved that tooktheform ofdirection-directives. Thispractice ofdivination that a dialectic between nature (thebelief (animalbone or shell)and culture andbetween andinterpreted), marks causedbyheatarecodesto be deciphered thevisible andtheinvisible: Foucault calledthem, thediviners were, as Michel passed fromformal 'readers of the obscure'.4 Whatis more,the diviners and naturalforms 'legibilities': theyinterpreted 'visibilities' to structured translated them intothecultural form theoldest Indeed, writing of language. It seems of Chinaappeared on divination bones.S a syntax) system (including thebridge andritual, byfire that these twoaspects wasestablished connecting foritwasthrough marks to meanthose that theactof passing from obscure instrumental, at statements Thus,notonlywere thediviners ingful occurred. inChina, inthebirth least butthey were alsoresponsible ofthewriting system, fortheevolution and and meaning of a particular attitude toward language thepassagefrom was conceived by marks to meanings: theworld concerning loaded with the came to be themas of natural that morphemes repository the semantic of messages to be decoded.This entailed value,as thebearers in somemysterious butsimilar belief that theworld andwords were structured theworld was theobjectof totaldiscovery through wayand that, therefore, all classical Music was dimension of the phenomenon: language. another theuseofthe texts indivination, mention theroleofmusic especially Japanese found oforder, which for koto.Thediviners were thus they looking principles in ritual, music, and language.
Michel Foucault, The Orderof Things,Vintage,New York, 1970,pp. 17-45. in AncientChina, s See K. C. Chang,Art,Mythand Ritual: The Path to PoliticalAuthority HarvardU.P., 1983, pp. 81-94.
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MonumentaNipponica, 47:1
fromChina evolvedin Japanor wereimported of divination As techniques and Korea, groups of specialistsmade theirappearance. In all probability factorsand to their were selectedaccordingto socio-religious these diviners of the sea routesand such cosmicphenomenaas thewindsand the knowledge of starsand planets. and the positionand movements patterns, tides,weather activities notonlybecausetheir therefore, figures, wereimportant The diviners decisions whose with the rulers connection and dutiesgave theman intimate they influenced,but also because they representedthe cuttingedge of in both 'science' and language. knowledge to the symbolicsubstratum provideda significant The world of divination Kasuga and Hachiman ix cults,among otheroracularcults,if onlybecause the main divinersof classical Japan, the Urabe and Nakatomi sacerdotal of theFujiwara house,whichissuedfrom lineages,came underthegovernance them.The humanancestorof theFujiwara house was a NakatomiKamatari4' ESO, 614-669.6 The name Urabe derivesfromthe termsura,or uranai, H, corps'. The Urabe specialized and be P1,'professional whichmeansdivination, in plastromancy mayhave appearedbeforetheNakatomi,who and, curiously, specializedin the older techniqueof scapulimancy.Recent Japanesestudies proposethattheNakatomigrewout of the Urabe, came to controlthem,and by claimingthattheirancestor,Ame-no-koyanetheirsupremacy symbolized as theydescribed of scapulimancy, was thepatriarch no-mikoto io'J:t-.MO tp, him in Kojiki 7i. shells,which, by way of turtle Because the Urabe specializedin divination thatthey to suspect obviously,are taken fromthe sea, thereis good reason in the main islands and harborsalong the sea routesconnecting werepresent Indeed, textssuch as theFudoki)+?e indicatetheir Japan to the continent. presenceall the way from Tsushima in the west to Kashima in the east. in of Urabe diviners, three concentrations between Scholarsusuallydistinguish explainthe connections Iki, Yamato, and Izu, but theydo not satisfactorily that the sea among the threebecause theyseem to overlook the possibility It is possible,in fact significant. organizedand historically routeswerehighly probable, that the Urabe divinerscame from the westerndistrictof the during and that theirrole increasedin importance maritime tradingsystem, to seventhcenturies).It appears thatthe Urabe the late Kofun period (fifth establishedthemselvesin the harbors along the coast from Tsushima to in Yamato whenpoliticalpower Yamato, and thattheycame to be centered
6 On Kamatari's life and the fact that his cult was connectedto divination, see Allan G. Grapard, 'Japan's Ignored Cultural Revolution: The Separation of Shinto and Buddhist Divinities(shimbutsubunri) and a Case Study: Tonomine', in History of Religions, 3:3 (February1984), pp. 240-65. See also my The Protocol of the Gods: A Study of theKasuga of CaliforniaPress, forthcoming. Cult in JapaneseHistory,University 7 On the topic of the Urabe and Nakatomi sacerdotallineages,see Inoue Tatsuo #4KLE, Kashiwa, 1980,and NagatomiHisae 7J< Bemin -T?{t k 'VR:, Kodai Oken to Shukyoteki ni tsuite' V> X Kokusho 'Urabe no Seiritsu X, in Shint.shiRonso MO e Kankokai, 1984, pp. 86-116. See also Yokota Ken'ichi MtFH-, Nihon Kodai Shinwa to Hanawa, 1982, pp. 221-302. Shizoku Densho Ft tA&NV=Ee
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century. after theevents ofthelate-fourth moved inland to that sitesometime connections with their ancient In theYamatoregion, theUrabe,confirming in the offices withthe thatwerecharged the rulers, secured highpositions didby oftherituals for theemerging court, justas theNakatomi organization followed with theMononobe virtue oftheir connections 1t. TheUrabethen and partsof theislandswerepacified, theexpeditions by which theeastern to already extookresponsibility forperforming rituals thatwerededicated of thenewrulers. thelegitimacy isting kamior to thekamithatsymbolized It is notcertain used.Sompi-bunmyaku when thenameUrabewasfirst 44 states of learned the that a certain Ikatsu-Omi Tsushima wayof -tf fNr thename Urabe theartofplastromancy, andwasgranted divination, mastered of to or takenby specialists by Emperor Chuiai i+A.8 The namewas given the by blood; it was not before divination who did not have to be related time they beganto fifth tookimportance, at which century that bloodlineages function lineage and when, with theimperial as indicators of one's relation (uji Ak) becamepolitically coloredand lineages therefore, ancestor worship ofTsushima and The kamiworshipped bytheUrabein theislands appeared. Iki werenot, originally, their namesindicate ancestral divinities; actually, function more Thetwoshrines bytheUrabeinTsuadministered thanorigin. were terms that refer shima calledNorito directly andFutonorito bf'Jj1 t5RaIA, In other to giving which was therole of thediviners. directives/directions, of human the act of predicting the outcome words,thesekamisymbolize activities and of natural functions. ones.The later as ancestral aredifferent Theshrines that cameto be claimed inTsushima Amateru Urabeancestral shrine is dedicated to thesun;itsname, of the must be related to thesolarkamiAmaterasu , thesymbol WER[@, in Iki; itis named Urabeancestral shrine is located imperial lineage. Another thenamesof these to themoon.Although Tsukiyomi X E, and is dedicated are inshrines with they simply astronomy and astrology, maybe associated lineage, which is symdicative ofa relation between theUrabeandtheimperial be more than recent bolized andtherefore they might bythesunandthemoon, theUrabesecured a believed. Butthoseshrines mayhavebeenrenamed after intheYamatocourt. In an interesting Nagatomi Hisaerecently study position the opposite;namely, that the newlyinstalled emperor simply suggested from those diviners theworship ofthesunand ofthemoon,andleft usurped that notes Nagatomi them a modicum of sacerdotal authority on hisbehalf.9 inEngishiki inwestern listed as many as fifty-three ofthe107shrines X Japan in Tsushima, and Iki: twenty-nine arelocated on theislands ofTsushima insites inIki.Manyofthose that aretoday andtwenty-four shrines arelocated
P
named 'Urabe villages';there are tensuchvillagesin Tsushima,wherenineteen theUrabe of old. Many rites sacerdotallineagesclaimdescentfrom performed at those shrines are stillconnectedto divination, as the following suggests. The shrinesand kami relatedto the Urabe in those islands fall into the
8
Quoted in Inoue, p. 137.
9 Nagatomi,pp. 91 & 102.
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followingcategories.First, naturally,come the kami related to seafaring: Watatsumi Sumiyoshi t, Shikishima fpWNJ, R,, Shikoshima A, Shiga , ,', and Koroku -MU.Second are thekami of Heaven: Takutsutama Amanomoroha TiJ, Amateru,Ohideri t L U, AmanokamiiP, TendO Mitake C Thirdare thekamiof sacredmountains: TK', and Takamitama Otake tk, ShirotakeOk, Hitake ME, and Takenokami30;tp?@. Fourth {h&k, are thunderkami: Ikazuchi-no-mikoto P, and Ikazuchi $. Fifthare kami relatedto divination: Futonorito, Norito,and Kushimachi , And sixth s. All these are the kami of boundaries:Sae-no-kamiAt and Senkamii whole. For example, kamiare relatedto each otherand forma singlecoherent thesea kami,whose shrines are locatedneartheshore,are relatedto travel, to and also to thunder, purification, whichis oftenassociatedwithrainand fire. The thunderkami of Tsushima were called ryujin-L-V (dragon gods) in the medievalperiod,whichmight help explainwhythe dragongod was so importantin theKasuga cultduring themedievalperiod. Villageswereprotected by thekami of boundaries,whichmarkedthe innerand outerrealmsof security. The sacred mountainsare important, for they were (and are) the sites of residenceof kami of Heaven, whichare relatedto the sun. A major ritein Tsushimaconsists of waiting forthesun (himachiE 4); people climbthemountainsat thetimeof thefirst call of therooster at thesummer solstice,and then deportthemselves in dance, song, and drink.In thatritecan be seenthemain structure of the myth thatrelatesthe emergence of Amaterasufromthe cave whereshe was hidden. The FutonoritoShrineof Tsushimawas replicated in theYamato area, near in the the IsonokamiShrine,during theAsuka period. It was again replicated Nara capital duringthe Nara period; and again in Kyoto duringthe Heian 10The Tsukiyomi in Kyoto,and stillexShrineof Iki was also replicated period. iststoday,in thewestern partof thecity,as a subshrine of theMatsuo Shrine. The TsukiyomiShrinemusthave playeda significant role in theliturgy of the and the second rankin the year859. It court,forthe courtgrantedofferings was thenthattheYoshida Shrinewas createdand put underthecontrolof the Urabe sacerdotallineage.It was also in thatsame yearthatthemajor rituals of Kasuga wererestructured to reflect theirimperial connection. Meanwhile,in a the movethatreflected between and theperiphery, a newdistinction thecenter rank. During the originalTsukiyomiShrinein Iki was granteda merefifth Heian periodthe sacerdotallineageof the Matsuo ShrineclaimedthatIkatsuomi was not onlythefirst of theUrabe, but also theancestorof theNakatomi and the Fujiwara houses. TenThis claimwas repeatedbyYoshida Kanetomoin thefifteenth century. tPIgd ,tR statesthatTakami-musubi-no-mikoto i gave orders jin Hongi that in case of an attack on Japan, thirty-two as many kami representing communities were to defendit."1Among these kami were Ame-no-koyane10
Inoue, pp. 129 & 196.
11 Cited in Inoue, p. 131.
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no-mikotoand the sun and moon kami of Tsushima and Iki. Accordingto is said to however, Ikatsu-omi by the Tsushimachieftains, written documents indicatethatthose thismight be descendedfromAme-no-koyane-no-mikoto; werecomposed afterthe Urabe had been put underthe controlof documents was to thetimethemythology roughly correspond theNakatomi,whichmight recorded. In conclusion, it seems that in very early times the Urabe and partof the isles,and that Nakatomisacerdotallineagesexistedin the western whenthe theybecame closelyassociated duringthe sixthor seventhcentury in theIzu Japan.The Urabe werealso present Yamato courtevolvedin central Islands, althoughtheydo not appear in recordsof that area beforethe year 746. And, finally, the Urabe and Nakatomi sacerdotallineages also settled played in Kashima and Katori,in theprovinceof Hitachi. The Urabe diviners a member an important role duringthe Heian period; accordingto Engishiki, of the Urabe lineagewas to accompanyall embassiesbound forChina. Such connectionsbetweenthe Urabe, the Nakatomi, and the Fujiwara lineages need to be made at this point because theyevidencea geopoliticalsphereof has been paid in thepast, and because or no attention to whichlittle influence thathas leftdeep tradition and liturgical historical to form a major came they of Japan. markson the religioushistory The Yoshida Shrine The Yoshida Shrinewas builtbyFujiwara Yamakage in 859 on theplain at the and the footof Mt Yoshida, and facedsouth.The statusof theshrine western one of Yamakage's descendants of itskamiwereelevatedin 987, after ranking became the consortof EmperorIchijo -4. The shrinewas listedin 1081 as thatweresponsoredbythe multiplexes one of theTwenty-Two Shrine-Temple and was grantedestatesforits support.12 government, by theUrabe sacerdotallineagefromits The Yoshida Shrinewas controlled inceptionin 859 up to 1868, the timeof the dissociationof kami fromtheir to tracewithany ceralthoughthatcontrolis difficult Buddhistcounterparts, the taintybefore the Kamakura period. Accordingto the Urabe tradition, of mythology interpretations shrinewas a scholarlycenterin whichspecific The Urabe lineage established and ritualswere elaborated and transmitted. itsconnection withtheFujiwara house, theNakatomi,and theimperial firmly on Nihongiand Kojiki at thecourt,and itsstudiesand lectures lineagethrough requestedand paid for of ritualsthatwereroutinely through theperformance by membersof the imperiallineage and the Fujiwara house. Althoughthe Urabe lineagewas one of the lesserlineagesin the Jingikan 4TTA ('Officeof in the ritual role to a the Kami of Heaven and Earth'), it came play major that mostnotablyYoshida Shrine, variousshrines, worldbecause it controlled to theimperial lineageand to theFujiwara house. Indeed, weredirectly related
12 See Allan Shrine-Temple Ritual,and Ideology:The Twenty-Two G. Grapard,'Institution, of Heian Japan', in Historyof Religions,27:3 (1988), pp. 246-69; and 'Religious Multiplexes Historyof Japan: TheHeian Period, in press. Practicesin theHeian Period', in The Cambridge
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and these in thecourseof history, theUrabe lineagesplitintoseveralbranches Kyoto branches controlledthe Hirano, Umenomiya,and Awata Shrines, withthe Urabe branchat the Yoshida Shrine. whichkept close connections one Whenthehead of theYoshida branchhad no heir,he adopted a son from The Urabe and vice-versa. of the branchesof the Urabe at the othershrines, lineage was headed by the Hirano branch up to the Muromachiperiod, by whichtimethe Yoshida branch became dominant.Thus, the Urabe lineage was, togetherwith the Shirakawa, Imbe, Nakatomi, and other sacerdotal in Kyoto, and and of theirtraditions lineages,a pillarof the realmof shrines duringthe medievalperiod and evolvedinto wereformalized thesetraditions whatwe now call Shinto. of theUrabe lineagestandout in theyetpoorlyunderstood Severalmembers of sacerdotallineages. One of them was Hiramaro 9g,, 806-881, history and was called to serveat the court;he was sentto himself who distinguished bythetimehe died. Hiramaro,who was also China, and was deckedwithtitles of the Hirano Shrinein Kyoto, is regardedby the Yoshida the head-priest branchof the Urabe lineage as its founder.In 1273 Kanebumi *iZ, another , the oldest of the Urabe lineage,composedKojiki Uragaki member at thecourt.Supon Nihongi on Kojiki,and gave lectures knowncommentary portingthe position of Kofukuji, the Fujiwara templein Nara, he argued of Pure Land Buddhism and foughtparticularly against the establishment His son Kanekata againstthe notion of 'decline of the Law' (mappo *i' composed ShakuNihongi FH ft, the summa of the Urabe sacerdotal 13 lineage's knowledgeon the topic at the time. of the Hirano Shrine members AlthoughKanebumi and Kanekata were branchof the Urabe, the Yoshida branchwas also active. Perhaps the most Urabe Kenko 1V k (Yoshida figure famous of its membersis the literary theauthorof Tsurezuregusa Kenko), 1283?-1350?, Jt_ ('Notes in Idleness').14 scholars believe that (some Jihen unknownbrother Kenko's relatively Z he was adopted) appears to have been an importantfigurein Kamakura on him.15 but thereis scant biographicalinformation systems, combinatory Accordingto HonchoKosoden,JihenstudiedTendai Buddhismat the Yokawa Compound at Mt Hiei, at a time when Enryakujiwas developingits the concerning Jihen'sthinking withthe Hie Shrines.16 system combinatory combinationsbetweenkami and buddhas owed much to that culticcenter, of Yoshida. In the the development is apparentthroughout whose influence latterpart of his life Jihenseems to have devoted himselflargelyto those
In KuroitaKatsumi MWE, ed., Kokushi Taikei . Yoshikawa, 1923,Volume 8. See Donald Keene, tr., Essays in Idleness, Columbia U.P., 1967. 15 Jihen is discussedin Kubota Osamu Xf,Chusei Shintoshi no Kenkyiu dP~t!VlP 5, ShintoshiGakkai, 1959, pp. 396-428. 16 On the Hie/Hiei shrine-temple multiplex, see Allan G. Grapard, 'LinguisticCubism: A of Pluralismin the Sanno Cult', in JapaneseJournalof ReligiousStudies, 14:2-3 Singularity a (1987), pp. 211-34; thearticle offers a detaileddiscussion of one aspectof thecultand provides of the main workswritten bibliography in Japaneseon the topic.
13 14
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ofcombinations, systems formost of hiswritings deal with those systems and
Nihongi.
Jihen lamented thestate ofaffairs intheBuddhist lineages ofhisday,andinspired bya dream in around1330, inwhich thekamiencouraged him to study their MtHiei. He wanted within teachings, he left to reform transmissions the lineages of Mt Hiei, and to restore thestructure of theimperial government to whathe thought was its original and correct form. Uncertain times and in the theperceived threat of Mongolinvasions had causedrenewed interest of government In thatcontext definition and in interpretations of history. thecombinations ifonly between shrines andtemples were important, because they encouraged a search for an ultimate divine entity that couldbe called upon to protect theimperial government. The Hie system, which claimed thatits divine SannOSET wassuchan entity, combinatory entity Ise competed against inthat andother cultic combinatory centers, suchas Iwashimizu Hachimangui, search. Consequently, Jihen decided to travel to Ise to study itscombinatory system: he befriended a member oftheWatarai p sacerdotal lineage of Ise, inKyoto. and found with certain theteachings commonalities he had received Bothlineages equally revered Kuji HongiIHs*fEandbothstudied Kojikiand Jihen cameto be heavily influenced by Ise thought, and authored treatises that played someroleinthemedieval formulation ofShinto as an independent system colored bypolitical and historical thought. In thatsystem, was history notso much a lucidinvestigation ofthepastas a specific ofprophecy: the form system's emphasis on theorigins of Japanwasbotha challenge to thepreocwith cupation etiology found in Buddhist cultic for centers, and a foundation Shinto's definition of Japanas an entity on buddhas or thatdid notdepend bodhisattvas for itsconstitution, orfuture. views on thematter Jihen's present canbe traced to hisreactions ofthe'Chroniclers' totheworld (kike-2) ofMt Hiei.18His writings ofthe reflect theideology of theUrabesacerdotal world, combinatory system of Hie-Hiei,and of theWataraicombinatory realmof
Isei19
17 18
are criticalof them.Of theseworks,onlyKogorui Yoshu ti?, partsof TenchiJingiChin'yoki . ToyoashiharaShimpu Waki WF1J-qR and five of theoriginal tenfascicles of Sendai Kuji Hongi Gengitj14W* 5ffW, suchas Shinkairon ' havebeenlost.17 others, fAA areextant;
Osumi Kazuo 51P,fnt,Chusei Shintoron41t4AM.N,Iwanami, 1977,pp. 375-78. Kuroda Toshio MfHtt, 'Kenmitsu Bukkyoni okeruRekishiIshiki' L - - t, Yoshikawa, 1985. My translation Shakai to Ikko Ikki 4tt? of this A, in Chiusei articleappears in George J. Tanabe & Willa J. Tanabe, ed., The Lotus Sutra in Japanese Culture,University of Hawaii Press, 1990, pp. 143-58. 19 For studiesof WataraiShinto,see Oyama Kojun ykUj11[R, Shimbutsu Koshoshi L Rinsen,1975,pp. 210-385,and twoworksbyMurayamaShuiichi tLiW- : Honji Suijaku tLh Shicho : Yoshikawa, 1974,pp. 322-48, and Shimbutsu Shuigo IBM,Heirakuji,Kyoto, 1957,pp. 215-32. See also Kuroda Toshio & Hazuuchi Kenji VNH&, 'Ise Shintono Seiritsu to Kirisuto-kyo' L- 9 J ht, in Kawasaki Tsuneyuki & Sasahara Kazuo 4 )11JfJL )t; M, ed., Shakyoshi , Yamakawa, 1980,pp. 256-80, and Kubota, pp. 1-138. See also Endo Masafumi `YCEii, 'Ise Shinto: Trajectoriesof Discourses on Time', Master's thesis, Department of ReligiousStudies,University of California,Santa Barbara, 1990.
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is enwas his notionthatall nature contribution mostimportant Jihen's This (shinsei hecalledkami-nature dowedwith a divine character, which Mt1I). Budthenotion ofuniversal is part that echoes system belief ofan immanentist shift madea decisive ButJihen byTendaiphilosophy. propounded dha-nature endowwere andbodhisattvas buddhas that even byclaiming theory from that achievemystery wasthemystic this to perceive andthat ed with kami-nature, of was therendition view,history to Jihen's According ment par excellence. In and bodhisattvas. theworldof buddhas pervades thewillof kami,which to ofthecourt thereign (obo 3Ef) wasequivalent times, usedin Jihen's terms (buppofL), multiplexes framework ofshrine-temple thecombined ideological Andwhowas to thekami.20 accorded a superior position with time, but,this To descendants? the their the will of kami than better placedto concretize Thisis why ruler. couldbe thelegitimate theimperial court mind, only Jihen's ShimpuWaki Toyoashihara he composed political: wereintensely his works 1334, Restoration, theKemmu Go-Daigojustafter for thespouseofEmperor of combinatory of the production background the political whichformed thoseideologies age. Most schoolsthatproduced in themedieval ideologies crisis, dynastic theNambokucho Courtduring tookthesideof theSouthern in associagrounded oflegitimacy a rationale itwith andprovided 1336-1392, themainphilosophical kamiand buddhas.Thischaracterized tionsbetween to theFujiwarahouseand the related and ritual tenets of all culticcenters Chikafusa thatKitabatake It willbe recalled lineage. imperial b1EiL , 1293J thatsidedwiththe to the politicalrole of some Zen institutions contrast in theGozan system was established 1342.22 shogunate:
1354, composed his JinnoShotoki V1EijfKL in 1339.21 This was in marked
Factor TheSecrecy Transmissions: inwhich their lineages transmission complex developed MostBuddhist schools transmissions oral These orally. were transmitted nature teachings of a secret from were taken terms that C k,or hiden , kuketsu were calledkudenC f{A, and tobecome part statements ideological esoteric Buddhism andthus allowed soon spread This tendency politicalactivity. parcelof the culticcenters' on lineageand secrecy and the emphasis beyondthe major multiplexes, durofknowledge ofthetransmission became theoverwhelming characteristic that period.It was not onlythe lineagesof esotericism ing the medieval sacervarious theZenlineages andthe for secretly, transmitted their knowledge dotallineages also did so. comto be surprising and socialorganization appearon thesurface Secrecy and use of tiedto thespread is fundamentally secrecy panions.Nonetheless, such ofauthority andpatterns andinformation, as wellas to power knowledge
20 Kuroda Toshio, Obo to Buppo I'- k t#4? fLM,Hazakan, Kyoto, 1983,and JishaSeiryoku M7j, Iwanami, 1980. 21 See Paul Varley,tr.,A Chronicleof Gods and Sovereigns, Columbia U.P., 1980. 22 See MartinCollcutt,Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan, HarvardU.P., 1981.
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of truth. or manufacture relationships and the formulation as master-disciple whicha cerin houses (ie *) within Japanesemedievalsocietywas structured a seriesof through was jealously keptand transmitted tain typeof knowledge initiations. Justas thereweresub-housesand branchesof houses, therewere and techniof specific knowledge also 'branches'(ha (j) and 'streams'(ryu"AL) Knowledgewas couchedin a difficult froma mainstream. ques thatoriginated language to ensurethat it would not be easily understoodby non-initiates; thatwerehandtransmissions transmitted slowly,it was layeredlikethesecret knowledge Those who wantedto acquirea specific ed down in themultiplexes. had to be adopted by a lineagethatpossessedit and to whichabsoluteloyalty was secretive and fragmented. theworldof knowledge was sworn.As a result, and because natureand history, And yetit was richbecause of itscombinatory to become a achievement: and mystic it belonged to the realm of mysteries realization. in anytypeof knowledge wenthand in hand withspiritual master theperfection was necessarily of knowledge In medievalJapan,theperfection of a 'way' (do ).23 or throughinitiationis knowledgesecretly The practice of transmitting Buddhism.It seems,however, believedto have originated in esoteric generally of theseformsof Buddhismin Japan and to have predatedthe establishment levelin shrines. Evidenceforthislies to have existed alreadyat an institutional (doctrine) and also thetechof mythology in the factthatboth theknowledge within the lineagesof essentially niques of ritual(practice)weretransmitted sacerdotalhouses; thiswas trueof theImbe,Nakatomi,Shirakawa,and Urabe of classicalJapan.Thereis, of course, lineages,and of theothermainritualists thekamiof specific between no doubtthatwhenassociationswereestablished Buddhistsecret temples, shrines and the Buddhistdeitiesof theirneighboring of sacerdotalhouses both in form influenced the transmissions transmissions and in content. During the Heian period the contentsof those Buddhist of non-Buddhist sacerdotaltransmistransmissions mergedwiththe contents comof Shinto-Buddhist sions. This processgave birth to themedievalculture and spreadthem refined in form and substance, thosecombinations binations, of house and lineage. Certaintypesof throughsocietyalong the structures possessionof sacerdotalhouses and ritualmodesweretheexclusive knowledge and templelineages(whichalso became houses as soon as monks,usuallyof aristocratic theirknowledge to their'true disciples', birth,began to transmit of the textsproduced thatis, theirnaturalsons). The overwhelming majority or concluded themedievalperiodare either prefaced during by themultiplexes with statements the degree of secrecyof the materialcontained regarding that interpretatherein.Those statements are usually followedby reminders tionsin depthshould not be discussedor taughtlightly. The knowledge in such a manner was in some cases power;in all transmitted cases it was a prizedpossession,and it came to be sold. This economicpractice
23
, Michi:Chiusei no Rineni: rt +J'nIr-
For a perceptive studyof theconceptof Way in themedievalperiod,see KonishiJun'ichi
Kodansha, 1975. i2,,
38
pervaded the world of culture (the iemoto *Tr system)and the realm of one could, duringthe Muromachiperiod and later, religioustransmissions: or 'answers'to Zen koan, forexample.The commertransmissions buy secret of knowledgeinto a cialization of secrecyand the ensuingtransformation of thepractice had a consequence:it destroyed and a commodity publicsecret of the notionof Way, and the spirituality of perfection, the slow attainment of secrecy anotherside to thecoin. The practice Therewas, however, learning. that accompaniedit hamperedthe spread on orthopraxis and the insistence werebreached thewalls of secrecy of ideas; when,therefore, and development of dissemination the on effect a positive therewas commercialization, through forthesocial unit however, itself, That effect was slow to manifest knowledge. did not disappear. of the house and lineage,the social arenas of secrecy, transmisof secret seemsto have been theinitiator Urabe Kanetoyo 1 centhe fourteenth of middle in the in Yoshida matters of sions combinatory tury.He is the authorof Miyaji Hiji Kuden -gs4fP nfy('Oral Transmissions of the Secret Rituals of the Shrine'), a textthat remainedsecretwithinhis In lineage.Kanetoyo's son Kanehiro e dates unknown,wenteven further. 1398 he decided to place in frontof the Yoshida Shrinecopies of Nihongi, Kogo Shui, Engishiki,and the textsof divinationused at the time of rites requested by the state. This practice parallels that of chantingBuddhist in frontof the kami, but it had a new dimension;namely,those scriptures textsbecame sacred and were incorporatedinto the 'Cult of the Book', a bibliocracyof sorts that prevailedat that time. Kanehiro gave lectureson and achievedsuch at the courtof EmperorGo-Kameyama X mythology thename Yoshida, successthatin 1375he decidedto givehis children worldly a new branchwithinthe Urabe lineage. That branchregarded thus forming Hiramaro as its ancestor.From that point in history, the above-mentioned Yoshida was the name taken by the main priestsof the Urabe lineagein the written by Yoshida Shrine,and thisremainedso up to 1868. Many scriptures centurywere attributedlater to Yoshida Kanetomo in the late fifteenth Kanehiro, which indicatesthat Kanehiro's successorssaw him as a pivotal in the evolutionof the Yoshida Shrine.Toward the end of his lifehe figure turnedto Buddhism,took a masterfromthe Ji ~4 lineage,and remainedin (thejinguji tIW of the Yoshida Shrine)withhis spouse to the Jinkojit the invocationto the Buddha Amida. end of his days, chanting in Japanat thetime,Kanehiro'sson, life-cycle thiswas thetypical Although Kanena , dates unknown,did not understandhis father'sbehaviorand him forit, but to no avail. From thattimeon, the positionof the reproached imporin therealmof sacerdotallineagesbecame increasingly Yoshida priests visited manycultic in recordsof thetimeand tant;Kanena is oftenmentioned In 1441, in regard to ritualand othermatters. recommendations centers, giving for example, eminentYoshida priestsvisited Tonomine, the shrine-temple dedicatedto the human ancestorof the Fujiwara house. multiplex
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the authorof Chikafusa, such as Kitabatake thinkers Politico-religious oftreatises theauthor 1402-1481, and IchijoKanera Jinno Shotoki, ofthesocio-cosmic systematic expressions provided and literature, on history during visionof thecourt thatwas to becomethemainideological rationale oftheFujiwara member An influential period. ofthelatemedieval theentirety whowastheabbotof wasthefather of Jinson 34, 1430-1508, Kanera house, of Yoshida and a contemporary theDaijo-inmonzeki .-*F:v of KOfukuji had been 1358-1418, IchijoTsunetsugu Kanera'sfather, Kanetomo. -*P, himself Kanera andalthough byUrabeKanehiro, onNihongi instruction given instrongly he remained of theUrabelineage, was wellawareof thetheories houses bysacerdotal proposed of thestate The vision fluenced byBuddhism. of Japanese levels on many itself theFujiwara housemanifested surrounding and social economic to on sacred geography fromperspectives culture, with literature, whichis replete in medieval it is illuminated organization; that kamiand buddhas between from theassociations taken directly concepts that Literature of legitimacy. rationale a particular weregearedto support in of Japan thebelief thesacredness notions and popularized these supported was actively takenfromthe culticcenters tenets to ideological according textsof thatgenreare: period.Important the medieval during developed i in 1309;24Shasekishu completed Kasuga GongenGenki4 H ft%Rkw, immense an i d. 1312;25 by MujuiIE, composed Keiranshuiyoshu by the kike 'Chroniclers' as transmitted of popularreligion compendium in 1347byKoshui ;26 Shintoshu was completed lineages of Mt Hiei,which tIf-nr' (also called appearedin 1358;27 and ShindaiKuketsu 1tFIt, which by Imbe Masamichi NihonShokiKuketsuE caffr'iR),composed UfIEHA in 1367. which lineages, of their thetransmissions housescompiled The sacerdotal that within lineages: those tended to remain secret andto be passeddownonly wrote At the same time,variousmultiplexes is the worldof Shintoron.28 In these of their cultsites:thatis theengi tL literature. popularhistories housessurfaced of sacerdotal of thetransmissions tenets ideological writings to needed andtherefore ofpilgrimages, those sites theobject became justwhen inform manner, andto then in a different to themselves, themselves, represent on.29 of thevisions rested they thepilgrims and devotees
24 Noma Seiroku 1f',\, Kadokawa, 1963. ed., Kasuga Gongen Genki-e U H of this documentis given in Royall Tyler, The Miracles of the Kasuga Deity, A translation Columbia U.P., 1990. 25 Watanabe Tsunaya Iwanami, 1966. ed., Shasekishiu A 26 In Taisho Daizokyo LXXVI, 2410, pp. 503-880. !E)if, 27 Kondo Hiroshi iRL, ed., Shintoshut@L6, Kadokawa, 1968. 28 On the topic of medievalShintotreatises, and Ishida Ryoichi;Ew see Chusei Shintoron, * Chikuma, 1970, pp. 3-37. a-, ed., ShintoShiso-shu 29 See, among others,Sakurai Tokutaro Iwanami, 1-#tfitt et al., JishaEngi 1975.
40
that political,philosophical,and ritualproductions This worldof literary, of assumptions concernon a number characterized themedievalperiodrested ing the nature of the socio-cosmicorganizationof Japan. Some of these assumptionswere of a classical nature,perhaps because many of the land possessions of cultic centersgrantedby the classical state were being taken prohibited warriors thefourteenth century. In 1340theshogunate away during from takingovertheculticcenters'estates.But themedievalworldwas also in of the divine,and thisit producedwiththe searchof an adequate definition combinedvocabularyof Shintoand Buddhism,to whichrenewedinterpretations of Taoism and Confucianismwere added. The vernacularlanguage, reserved for poetryand, perhaps,for sacerdotal whichhad been exclusively quest. lineages,became acceptablein the realmof philosophicaland religious written in 'Chinesemixthustexts, This is evident in theworldof culticcenters; in their reflected linguistic ed withJapanese'(kana-majiri kambunit _Z), structure the associationsbetweenkami and buddhas and bodhisattvas-the kami symbolizedthe native (vernacular)tradition,while the buddhas and bodhisattvas symbolized the imported cultural discourse that had been in Chinese. But it became clearin some circles transmitted thatthe divineand its manifestation as a political discourse belonged no more to a Shinto than to a Buddhist(foreign)one, and thatit might (Japanese)interpretation be essentially or thatit mighteven be beyondlanguage. In this combinative, searchthe organizationof multiplexes along the lines of theirspheresof inand specific lineages,was territories fluence, whichweregroundedin specific an obstacle.The searchwas also restricted areas or to certain people to certain because of the secrecyfactor.That is whyeach multiplex produced its own and thisis one of the basic reasons forthe theoretical and practicalsystems, birthof the Yoshida system. Yoshida Kanetomo, son of Kanena, was born in 1434 and died in 1511. In in the Japanesemedievalworldand in the of thatfigure spiteof the centrality of theJapanesetradition in general, thereare no studiesof himand his history in English.30 In Japan,DemuraKatsuakiconcentrates hisbrief butexthought done in orderto improve on thebasic research cellent studieson textsand rites
30 Most manuscripts todayin a special collectionof the of theYoshida lineageare preserved and bydescendants of Library TenriUniversity Library;therestis keptbytheSendai University in Tenri,I theYoshida lineagein Tokyo. AlthoughI have perusedmostof themanydocuments I have a systematic timetable forKanetomo'sactivities. have not foundanydocument providing in Tokyo. seen neither the Sendai Collectionnor the privateYoshida documents 31 See the following YuiitsuShintoGyoji Shidai Pf-i worksby Demura Katsuaki fft4UWHA: 'Yuiitsu Gendai Shisosha, 1980; on the date of authorship of the Myobo Yoshu7, Aq:RE, 'C, in Shintoshi ^ @Zt%ci-2 Shinto Myobo Yoshu no Seiritsukini tsuite', in Kenkyu 20:2 (1972), pp. 36-59; 'Yoshida Shinto no Seiritsu' EFPiO&iz, i! ni Shintoshi Kenkyu7, 21:5 (1973), pp. 23-59; on ritual,see 'Rokkon Shojo Oharae no Seiritsu 'C, in Geirin , 24:4 (1974), pp. 184-205; 'MishinaHarae no tsuite' .F i v( 'C, in Kogakkan Ronso F=X,PMgA, 8:3 (1975), Ise, pp. 46Seiritsuni tsuite' tfl@c Z
Yoshida 'Enemy of theKami' Kanetomo,
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by Kubota Osamu,31whileFukuyamaToshio specializesin the architectural historyof the Yoshida Shrine.32The school of thoughtand practicethat Kanetomocreatedand thatcame to rulemuchof theworldof 'Shinto' during in books on Japanesereligious evermentioned periodis hardly thepremodern that,in of a movement even thoughKanetomo set the foundations history, pervadedthesacerdotalworld anomaly,swiftly spiteof itsbeinga formidable sourcesthatKanetomohad a short We know fromsecondary of his country. claimsmade himenemies.Yet he sucand thatsome of his incredible temper and competed traditions, else in theworldof shrine ceededmorethananybody that were issued from traditions withsome success againstthe combinatory Being politicallyastute,he managed to establisha strong othermultiplexes. 1440-1496, the spouse of the shogun rapportwith Hino Tomiko f'F, Ashikaga Yoshimasa tl]AJiA, and withvarious membersof the court. It is of theNoras a sub-branch worthnotingherethatthe Hino house originated it provided branchof theFujiwara house, and that,in a classicpattern, thern Hino Yoshimasa, Ashikaga time of spouses to the Ashikaga shoguns.At the she is even said to have been a directcause Tomiko wieldedgreatinfluence; in figure KatsumitsuIt was also a prominent of the Onin War. Her brother of the Left,he came to be seen as the politicalworldof the time; as Minister in aesthetic Yoshimasa was more interested the real shogun, for apparently than in politicalpower.33 pursuits whenthe Onin War eruptedin Kyoto and when Kanetomowas thirty-three firesset by the rival armiessweptover the cityand reducedto ashes all the countheentire nearMt Yoshida. Even thoughthewar did not destroy shrines try, its impact was sweeping, for it shook most concepts of power and in its at theirveryroot and leftthe major houses of Japan reeling legitimacy Ichijo Kanera escaped fromKyoto and lived forten yearsin the aftermath. was abbot.34 wherehis son Jinson Daijo-in monzekiof the Kasuga multiplex, the Yoshida that told when Afterthese events,Kanetomo was outraged Shrinewould be rebuilt,but would be put under the controlof the Kamo and unify Shrines.It was probablyat that point that he decided to reform the 'Unique' or to whathe termed in orderto 'return' traditions variousshrine 'One-and-Only'Shinto (Yuiitsu Shinto Pt -1A), whichhe believedto have of Budtheintroduction of Japanbefore ideologyand practice beenthecentral
' YoshidaShintoni okeruKenrokyo 54; on secret transmissions, no Hiden ni tsuite' WEB{Ji t'S, 1t4k6f0D{8, 'C in Kogakkan Ronso, 7:4 (1974), pp. 21-56, and 'Yoshida Shinto ni 4 okeruIn'yulkyo no Hiden' ts ~t; Kenkyu,23:2 (1975), pp. F WMO)Vfi, in Shintoshi 2-21, and 23:3 (1975), pp. 32-63. On the history of the Urabe lineageat Yoshida, see Okada in Takigawa SeijiroSenseiBeiSeishi[A1 no Hatten' I fFIrW, fBEEi, 'Yoshida Urabe-shi ju Kinen Rombun Kankokai, ed., ShintoshiRonso, Kokusho Kankokai, 1984, pp. 699-720. 32 Fukuyama Toshio ThL1k-S, ed., Chusei no Jinja Kenchiku rtet?to34PW, Shibundo, 1973. 33 See JohnWhitney Hall & Toyoda Takeshi, ed., Japan in theMuromachiAge, University of CaliforniaPress, 1977. , Soshiete,1983. 3 See Suzuki Ryoichi . Daijo-in JishaZojiki
42
within had been transmitted exclusively dhism.He claimedthatthistradition that and sincetheage of thekami, after generation his own lineage,generation thetimehad come to revealitto theworld.In factKanetomocreatedan entire and, to his forefathers, his own writings attributed and ritualsystem, doctrinal erectednew shrineson Mt Yoshida. He left on the basis of those writings, of the more ancientYoshida Shrineto a laterdate, forhe the reconstruction the sacerdotalduties of his lineage, which in continuing was less interested his the Kasuga kami, than he was bent on creating consistedin worshipping to whichhe gave precedenceover the Yoshida Shrine,which,it own system will be recalled,is the Kasuga Shrine of Kyoto. Indeed, Yoshida seems to of his own cultcenter. have become forKanetomono morethan a sub-shrine live in the shrinehouses on the groundsof Kanetomo did not originally of the Yoshida; instead,he residedin a house in Muromachineartheresidence contained residence Muromachi his to variousdocuments, shogun.According of hislaterconwhichis seenas theprecursor a 'cultsite' (saijo [sho] W [-fy]), country. thevariouskamiof theentire and at whichhe worshipped structions, theOnin to Mt Yoshida after Kanetomomovedthatcultsiteand his residence War, and dedicatedhis energiesto the creationof his doctrine.He needed and in 1478he proposedthatthegovernment moneyto build thenew shrines, of the artsinto and out of Kyoto, by performers levya tax on all movements thegovernment be givento him. It is not knownwhether and thatthisrevenue Kanetomo funds the that and not, it did that it seems but his request, approved 1480 to the around moved he case, needed came fromanothersource. In any the 'cult site' of his former foot of Mt Yoshida, to which he transferred therewere of the shrines residencein the Muromachiquarter.The precincts to include the area bounded by Imadegawa Avenue on the then redefined theKamo Riveron thewest,Konoe Avenueon the south,and the foot north, as of that of Mt Yoshida on theeast. The Yoshida Shrinehad not been rebuilt date. of theNakamikado vt1wrhouse thathad a member A certain NoritanewAJL, as a sub-branchof the northern descendants been created by Michinaga's Noritaneused branchof theFujiwara house, livednearKanetomo'sresidence. werenot theKasuga kamiat Yoshida; as longas theKasuga shrines to worship rebuilt,he worshippedtheiremblem (shintai jPft) in Kanetomo's personal and came to knowhimquitewell. One day in 1481he complainedthata shrine builtby Kanetomo forhis ordainedson Kugo, had been temple,Shinryui-in, was settledwhen erectedpartlyon land that belonged to him. The conflict theproperwayof concerning Noritanean oral transmission Kanetomooffered the kami; Noritanewrotein his diarythathe was overcomewith worshipping Joy.35 Kanetomo approachedthe effort, Having failedin his originalfund-raising thattheyhelp him powerfuland richpeople of his timewiththe suggestion It was in to be thesole caretaker. rebuildthepast, of whichhe claimedhimself
35
Fukuyama,p. 56.
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'to rebuild him2,000kammon in 1484HinoTomiko granted that context this requested also successfully Kanetomo thecultsiteas itwas in thebeginning.' in order ofEchigo, thegovernor Fusasada i Uesugi from 200kammon court the requested and task to that set He then Shrine. Yoshida the to rebuild himself; by theemperor written himwithsix portalinscriptions to provide pastwhen forthisin theremote had beena precedent thatthere he claimed which,he said, and Saga wrotesuch inscriptions, Jimmu the emperors wrote duringthe Onin War. EmperorGo-Tsuchimikado were destroyed Kaneto a kind of imprimatur thus granting inscriptions, the requested for his and erected buildings Kanetomothen designed tomo's activities. at them around1484or 1485.Hino Tomikovisited them completing rituals, sitewas attracting thenewcultic later months NewYear's in 1485,and four crowds. wasa rumor andthere byfire of Ise was destroyed Shrine In 1487theOuter of an official inspection The courtordered had beenburned. thatitsshintai the sacerdotal inspector; thatKanetomobe appointed Ise, and suggested elsewas sent.Meanwhile, so someone housesof Ise balkedat thissuggestion, of extraoron a number to theemperor secretly reported Kanetomo however, rainwas falling blowing, as galeswere one night, For instance, events. dinary over of blackcloudssettled streaks eight was crashing, andthunder furiously was As Kanetomo descended. theYoshidaculticsiteand two raysof light shrines. the object' fellbetween a 'numinous worship, to offer preparing of theOuterShrine it as theshintai pickedit up, and identified Kanetomo in the theYoshidaShrine illuminated as a radiance of Ise. A fewdayslater, Kaneobject,which another theheavens fellfrom there of thenight, middle of Ise. He tookthem Shrine of theInner as theshintai tomodulyidentified them, inspected theemperor palace,where of theimperial to theSeiryoden thatthese to theeffect a statement to write and he thenaskedthesovereign himto place ordered then of Ise'. The emperor theshintai were'truly objects cult 'for fitting a them theseobjectsin the Yoshida Shrineand to render power.'Kanetomo of imperial peace underHeavenand fortherestoration house,and was able of theimperial in gaining theconfidence thussucceeded of 'Shinto'in 1489. a transmission to giveGo-Tsuchimikado Nakamikado indignant; became people spread, Whennewsof thoseevents of theShirakawa member to themostprominent forone, wrote Noritane, be done. By then, thatsomething Tadatomi , asking lineage, sacerdotal to had flown thattheshintai to the effect statement theimperial however, do to impossible therefore was it and issued, been Yoshida had already a theemperor to calling for itwouldhaveamounted aboutthematter anything aggravated, greatly ofIse were houses thesacerdotal liar.As canbe imagined, But Kanehislineage. from namebe struck thatKanetomo's and requested in grew and hisshrines in hisposition he remained tomowas wellprotected; the documents in official He evenbeganto add to his signature importance. closeto dangerously a term of Shinto', Shinto Ch-jo iq AR , 'Superior title
44
a positionthenheld by the Shirakawalineage. Kanetomo's Jingikan Choeyjo, the country,even thoughthe sacerdotal fame began to spread throughout of the Urabe lineage the participation lineagesof Ise succeededin forbidding to Ise. missionof imperialofferings in the yearly in detail The new cultsitebuiltby Kanetomoon Mt Yoshida was described time that 1490. in it who visited By by a Nanzenjimonk,Keijo Shuirinf PA, the site had the same appearance as it has today, apart fromsome buildings with rebuilt in 1868. The moreancientYoshida Shrinewas, finally, destroyed available became which of Nara, Shrine Kasuga original the from materials in 1493. This workwas completed in 1487.36 theperiodicreconstruction after In 1500 a firedestroyedabout two thousand residencesin Kyoto. Naka, then moved to mikado Noritane and the kampaku, Ichijo Fuyura the foot of Mt Yoshida, and Kanetomo became even closerto the members of the court. A memberof the Nakamikado house marriedKanetomo's broughtKanetomo courtier'srank; his granddaughter,and this ultimately in 1527. son, Kanemitsu-*, became a courtier (Afij) visited the The shogun Ashikaga Yoshizumi (Yoshitaka) tItJfiIR him to perform asked and with Kanetomo, talked 1500, in Yoshida shrines in be victorious would the armyof the capital to findout whether divination thewar againstthedaimyo.It willbe recalledthattheUrabe lineagecustomaforthe court,and thatthe spiritof the timeswas divinations rilyperformed The statueof Nakatomi in the supernatural. a belief with fear and suffused of times during the number a Kamatari, located at Tonomine, cracked themeaningof thisphenomenon concerning and divination century, fifteenth in Kyoto. performed was regularly of the In his lateryearsKanetomo preparedhis eldestson fortransmission to had therefore He 1499. in prematurely died but the son secretteachings, had a as child, who, to his second son, Kanenaga 7 the doctrine transmit been adoptedbytheHirano Shrinelineage.This caused a disputeoverfiliation of the Hirano Shrine,and in 1509Kanetomocut all ties in the administration At thelineageof transmission. withKanenaga and evenerasedhis name from that that point the shogunate sided with the Hirano Shrine and ordered Kanenaga be its next head-priest.Kanetomo died two years later, leaving of his lineage still unresolved.In 1517 the the matterof the transmission to reconKanetomo's grandson,Kanemitsu, and Kanenaga shogunateforced Kanemitsu, in 1525, The disputewas then settled,but cile theirdifferences. set his upset over a domesticmatterabout which we have no information, house on fire.
36 Like theIse Shrine, rebuilt.It was commonforvarious theKasuga Shrinewas periodically in good condition thathad remained of theshrine to buymaterials or local worthies sub-shrines to enhance obviously or to serveas a basis fornewconstructions, shrines to add themto existing the statusof the buildings.
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Kanetomo's Main Work It is notknown exactly when Kanetomo wrote hismainwork,Yuiitsu Shinto Myobo Yoshu"t--!V ('Essentials of Terminology and Doctrine of YuiitsuShinto'),but it is clearthathis maintheories musthaveexisted by 1471,fordocuments issuedaroundthattimemention secret transmissions to his 'exoteric'doctrine. belonging The Myobo Yoshu is, at first sight, obscure, butitwasoneofthemost important combinatory treatises composed during themedieval period.It is onlywhen connecting theideascontained in thattextto theritual and political worldof thetimethatwe can achieve a privileged vantage pointfrom which to consider therealm of ideasand practicesof thefifteenth century. The Myobo Yoshu is important for this and otherreasons.First,the Yoshida system becamean orthodoxy cum orthopraxy of sortsduring the Tokugawa period.Second,a basiccontention of thatwork is thatbothBuddhismand Confucianism are second-hand versions of 'Shinto'. The main result of thissecretly transmitted contention wasthatthevarious kamiof the pantheon were no longer seenas manifestations ofbuddhas andbodhisattvas, as their but,rather, origins. Thiscontention deflated all claims suddenly for legitimacy on thepart ofBuddhism as an explanation oftheworld. Kanetomo stated that Buddhism wasthefruit ofthegreat religious tree ofAsia,that Confucianism and Taoismwereitsbranches and leaves,and thatShinto was its root.He attributed this theory to Shotoku Taishi, although in fact ithadbeen a Chinese theory since theTangdynasty andhad beenresurrected in byJihen theUrabelineage (in Japan, Taoismwasreplaced byShinto). Kanetomo even claimedthat Shingonwas the Shintoof India. This contention mustbe in thecontext understood of theKasugacult'sbelief thatJapan'is' India.37 Thiscannot be explained unless werecognize ifShinto-Buddhist that relations were grounded in a metaphorical system, Kanetomo's 'Shinto'was grounded in an inability to differentiate a metaphor from an identity-relation. Kanetomo went to great lengths to create a ritual system that hepresented as the'true'Shinto of Japanas it had beentransmitted within hislineage. This couldnothavebeenpossible without thefollowing elements. First, thesecrecy oftransmission, which allowed oneto fabricate doctrines andpassthem on as agelessteachings dulytransmitted frommaster to disciple.Second,Kanetomo'scontention that'Shinto'was composed oftwoparts: one exoteric and theother esoteric. The exoteric partwas madeup of thevariousteachings andpractices inKojikiandNihongi. found Theesoteric which part, Kanetomo considered to be themarrow of 'Shinto', had beensecretly transmitted within hislineage since thetime when theancestral andtutelary kamioftheFujiwara housedescended to pacify theworld. Kanetomo that suggested theLordofthe PolarStarhad transmitted that'Shinto'to Ame-no-koyane-no-mikoto, who, in turn, transmitted it to theUrabelineage.
37
See RobertE. Morrell,'Passage to India Denied', in MN 37:2, (1982), pp. 179-200.
46
stateof because of thedeclining Kanetomodecidedto revealtheseteachings back to harking and thushe was a sortof millenarianist in thecountry, affairs During manufactured). of whichhe himself an ideal past (the representation in 1481, he claimed publiclythat a ritualassemblyat the Kitano multiplex buddhas and bodhisattvaswere hypostasesof kami and not vice versa. In on thebasis of whichthe realm Jihen'stheories, he was following thisrespect light:ithad begunto searchfor in a different had come to viewitself of shrines whichwas believedby sacerdotalhouses to have existed its originalidentity, of Buddhism and other teachingsto Japan. The prior to the introduction name 'Shinto' was givento thisnew identity.38 changesin Japanese The Muromachiperiod is markedby manystructural and society.An essentialaspectof thesechangesis thetransformation culture Many investigated. a topicthathas yetto be thoroughly of ritualmorphology, to classical and pure of those changes were claimed to be part of a return of new, or weretransformations forms,but in facttheywere eitherentirely ritualsborrowedfromBuddhistesotericlineages.Yoshida remainsan anomclaims.And yetnot of Japanbecause of its fanciful aly in theculturalhistory and of impacton the evolution ritualpractices onlydid it have a tremendous duringthe Edo period, of Shinto,but it was also responsible, on the history for the mood that culminatedin the subordinationof Buddhism, in the of Shinto as the essence of Japan, and in Shinto's manifold glorification nationalist. It remains to be seen political uses. That mood was fiercely were the naturaloutcome of the medievalconthese developments whether and politics,or betweenreligion ceptionof poweras a subsetof the relations The successof Yoshida in subsequent formthereof. inflated simplya grossly hypothesis.39 moves one to espouse the first centuries thatdeeplyimbuedhis of severaltrends Kanetomo'sviewsare representative to accompaniedby attempts and politicalauthority, age: a fusionof religious Buddhist between therapport malaisetainting an ever-growing history; rewrite whichaccompaniedmultiideas, and practices, institutions, and non-Buddhist goldenage to a putative desireto return of association;a nostalgic ple theories of theCodes, of Buddhismand theformulation thatpredated theintroduction an and whichwas accompaniedby a search for 'Japaneseness';and, finally, on lineage. It may an insistence use of secrecyaccompanying overwhelming that among the aristocracy have been thatthesetrendsarose quite naturally had lost control over the countryand was looking for solace in nostalgic of its grandpast. But thisexplanationleaves some centralquesrecollections realmof thesequestionsare relatedto the epistemological tions unanswered; and over again medievalJapanat large,and to a questthathas hauntedJapan and the search for an in its history, namely,the quest for culturalidentity ultimate essenceof things.
7:1 (1981), pp. See Kuroda Toshio, 'Shinto in the Historyof JapaneseReligions',in JJs, 1-21. 39 See Herman Ooms, Tokugawa Ideology, Princeton U.P., 1985.
38
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47
in These questionscannot be addressedhere, but theycan be formulated orderin Japanwerealwaysaccomof socio-political some detail. New forms of forthe writing of the country, the history to reformulate panied by efforts the nature of historywas based on philosophical speculationsconcerning instituThe reasonwhyreligious of its legitimacy. powerand the foundations religiousand political tions were involvedin this process was twofold:first, wereat thesame institutions relatedthatreligious authority wereso intimately werereligious;and second,the timehighly political,and politicalinstitutions were also intimately centralrites of the political and religiousinstitutions merged,and this goes a long way to explain why related,if not completely political, was intensely ritualschangedwhenthe social orderdid. Mythology realmaffected was a symbolic the beliefthatthe country and ritualsreflected by ritualbehavior. It is not possible to come to termswiththese issues if religionis studied fromritualand politics,and unlessthe vocabularywithwhich independently the termshu Translating those issues are addressed is altereddramatically. - as 'lineage' rather otherwise dimension than 'sect' opens up a fundamental but theydid not of transmission, and ritualswerea matter hidden:teachings correspondto each other.That is, certainritualsdid not always necessarily and exclusively accompany certainteachings,and vice versa. For instance, or even nonin non-Shingon a Shingonformof ritualcould be transmitted therein.The Yuiitsu brand of Buddhist lineages, and become orthopraxy 'Shinto' is a primeexample of that phenomenon,but it was not unique, as of the emperor.Those rites is clear in the case of the ritesof enthronement markedby of Confucian and Taoist elements were Japaneseinterpretations forms ritual Shingon impacted by they were rites, but agricultural indigenous thatthe sacerdotallineagesof the Kamakura and Muromachi so profoundly is found periods were unaware of the fact. Evidence of Shingon's influence in medievalinterpretations Rite of the Nakatomi, of the Grand Purification and in representations of emperorssuch as Go-Daigo, who receivedesoteric anointings(kanjo Nip) withthe double purpose of enhancingboth his imshrine-temple and power of specific and also the legitimacy perial authority thatsupportedhis cause. multiplexes Another dimension of this phenomenon needs to be underscored. so well,to was groundedin ritualforms;as Kanetomounderstood Legitimacy was to possess power and become the ritualguarantorof politicallegitimacy status,althoughnot rank. That was what Kanetomo saw as the sacred duty between of his lineage,and in a sense he was not wrong,forthe connection the imperiallineage and various sacerdotalhouses was a matterof extreme had ritual,political,and social to all concerned,and thismatter importance dimensions. Kanetomo wanted to establish his ritual lineage as the sole of thestate') rituals, unadulterated form of chingokokka jWX ('protection of the 'Shinto-ness' originally Shingon but he could do so only by affirming of theimperial rites,and by claimingthatthe emblemsof Ise, the guarantors
48
lineage, had flownto his shrines.Thus, ritesthat he claimed to have been withoutchange fromthe age of the gods werein factcomposed transmitted and partly of Confucian of Shingonrituals,partlyof Taoist practices, partly rituals. Kanetomo subsequently revealed to the world 'Shinto' mudraT (Shingonpotentformulas), 'Shinto' dharani (Shingonritualhand-formations), of the body, speech, and the mind, 'Shinto' goma F 'Shinto' mysteries Shingon rituals,'Shinto' mandalas, and 'Shinto' altars on whichessentially and to whichKanetomo added Taoist ritual typesof ritualswereperformed Thus his 'Shinto' was, like the restof formsand Confucianinterpretations. world. a combinatory the Japanesetradition, 'Shinto' was partof an effort The claim that Shingonriteswereessentially but it was also groundedin a beliefthat Shingonwas the history, to rewrite to people whose Shinto of India. This belief was probably self-evident practices, Shingon by centuries the over influenced liveshad been profoundly phenomenon.Indeed, combinatory was an eminently and whose religiosity Kanetomo believedthat the place of Hinduismvis-a-visBuddhismin India Buddhismin Japan. was similarto the positionof Shintovis-'a-vis lineagewas an of theimperial theauthority Kanetomo's desireto strengthen he did not that however, It should be emphasized, history. to influence effort of whathe he was obsessedsolelywiththeconservation wishfora new society; of classical social withthe crystallization believedwere traditionalpatterns, thoughhis system of things.Combinatory forms,and withthe Japaneseness and perxenophobia of againsta background mayhave been, it was presented he turned,Kanetomo Wherever of insecurity. vaded by an oppressivefeeling to him as it had beenideallypresented of society to thetexture saw onlythreats duringhis education. His experienceof the Onin War was crucial to the his death,thePortuguese yearsafter of his ideology.Some thirty development even morethe insularinsecurity. landed in Kyushu,exacerbating
thatKanetomowrotetheworkaroundthetime thought period. It is generally in 1485. of his system, of thecreationof theTaigenkyu ttMg, themain shrine five priorto 1485, and the first But Kanetomo composed secrettransmissions by 1471. Thus his doctrine of his Shintowerealreadyin existence regulations had taken place, priorto 1485. and some of his transmissions was formed, masterbefitting form of questionsand answers Composed in thetraditional the Myobo) Yoshuremainedhidden fromthe general discipletransmissions, public and was passed among the heads of shrinelineagesup until 1868. It of the various trendsof associationsbetweenkami and containsdefinitions buddhas and bodhisattvasas Kanetomo understoodthem,an expositionof of the ritualworld in whichhe lived. It his doctrine,and his interpretation in his tradition. to be observedby all initiates concludeswithregulations
Contents of theMyobo Yoshu Shinto Myobo Yoshushedsan unusual lighton Japan's late medieval Yuiitsu
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49
>
-'
5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--------
Yoshida Collection42/5 1, Tenri University Library.
The altar forthe performance of Yuiitsu ritual. rendition of hand-drawn Computer-assisted copy.
50
of whatthe Kanetomo's understanding partof theworkpresents The first of Shinto. majorforms three in his time.He proposes term 'Shinto'meant of the oral, oftensecret, First,Honjaku-engi Shinto 4A{KE4FA consisting type is Ryobu-shugo The second sacerdotal lineages. ofvarious transmissions he alternately, shrines andtemples; between combinations Shinto A1W>Na!V., calls thattypeShidaishiShoi w.%Pm, 'The Shintoof the Four Great
Masters',thesebeingSaicho Ri, Kuikai9i%, Ennin F3C,and Enchin FHS,to
during the systems wereattributed combinatory texts describing whom many Shinto Itc typeGempon-sogen callsthethird medieval period.Kanetomo had been handeddown of transmissions thathe asserts consisting NVIVA, within hisownlineage. sincetimes immemorial category to thefirst belonged Shinto Kanetomo's Naturally, Gempon-sogen houses, sacerdotal type)within of transmissions (thoseof theHonjaku-engi inhistime was buthecouldnotsayso. Overall, hisdescription ofthesituation intheworld ofcombinations trends for atleasttwomajor there were accurate, in of buddhasand originating thesuperiority at thattime, one emphasizing originating kami and of the the superiority stressing temples, and theother
in shrines.
of exposition a systematic The secondpartof theMyobo Yoshupresents Shinto is unadulterated that true, with theclaim Shinto. It begins Kanetomo's Nobodyin and esoteric. exoteric of doctrine: madeup of twotypes properly fortheworldwas ruled Japanat thetimewouldhave foundthisstrange, (kenmitsu lineages' and exoteric in large of esoteric partbythe'combination bythosedistinctions: pervaded world was in fact taisei Wv$IJ). The cultural as did interpretation, and a depth a textalways had a surface interpretation thescriptural thenestablishes rituals, poems,and songs.Kanetomo statues, booksofmyShinto is basedon three evidence for exoteric those distinctions: revealed scriptures Shinto is basedon three and history, and esoteric thology to and, hence, bytheLord of thePolar Starto Ame-no-koyane-no-mikoto, byclaiming political couldhavebeenintensely theUrabelineage. Kanetomo era, and he couldhave thatthesescriptures calledfora newsocio-political had ocmovements beenmore millenarianist had he realized thatmillenarian in Chinaunder of Taoismand Buddhism. curred several times theinspiration theEdo period.Instead, Suchmovements did nottakeplacein Japan before hada theemperor to which he simply states that theclassical order, according him.Even with to be preserved. agreed Everybody status, ought quasi-divine ofthe a status equalto that theshogun wouldnever haveclaimed (at thetime) which revered this so the was as Ashikaga house, regards especially emperor; doesnot status exalted is that thecourt. WhatKanetomo failed to understand the Sengoku periodthatlocal rulers meanactualpower.It was not before to thedoctrine according precisely deified themselves before their owndeath, that theEdo period figures ofYoshidaShinto; and itwasnotbefore religious on earth.40 manifest as a divine entity beganto see theshogun defines specific Kanetomo After his presentation of the threescriptures,
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51
Riu
implA
en all apectsof
YitsuSim.Knto. r impembegnts ngof iycetudal
uefra
he claimedto existamongall aspects therelations to explicate correspondences

40 Regarding the factthatthe deification of livingpersonsevolvedalong Yoshida lines,see Kato Genchi tnAU, Hongo Seishino Kenkyu $tfI11POFW, Isseido, 1932, and Ooms,
Tokugawa Ideology.
52
calledtheepisteme bywhat Michel Foucault oftheuniverse; hewaspossessed that wemake today towhich theformal distinctions ofresemblance, according system were ignored infavor ofan all-encompassing between classes ofobjects ofsameness andidentity, andinwhich theconcept ofsimilitude, convenience, 'Shinelements with itself.4' ThusKanetomo combines Taoist kept reaffirming similarities: to' and Buddhist morphological terms on thebasisof perceived to the (Yin and Yang) corresponded thetwo essential bases of theuniverse in which theimperial andsuki4?Xpavilions of thesacred precincts yukiIMcA tothetwomanenthronement andfurther corresponded rituals areperformed, hadbeensetin modalasofesoteric Buddhism. He proposes that theuniverse tionbya divine utterance basedon thesound[a]; thisallowshimto propose and were sacred that a number ofwords that appeared intheliturgy ofshrines Buddhism. to the mystery by esoteric of speechpropounded corresponded on Thus Kanetomo a practice of meditation on sounds,especially develops of all thesound[a], which he callsthe 'apex of language, themind-ground He dehe seesas thematrix of thekana syllabary. phenomena', and which to divine clares thatpoetry is theform of language thatis closest utterances, andhewasthusfollowing a tradition intheearly medieval period popularized and according to which was of divine essence. poetry In thenext at considerable Kanetomo explains section oftheMyoboYoshu, oftheformula Shinto length theesoteric meaning mujoreiho kaji M?41 rPi He prowhich and on amulets. cameto be usedin mostYoshidarituals hI14, the indicates that theterm corresponds to theTaoistterm posesthat mujohere heassimilates to oftheuniverse, andthis Purple Cloudsituated at theconfines ofHeaven). theHighHeavenly ofthekami Plain(takamagahara, theresidence to the in factcorresponds to Kanetomo, the term reiho,which According exfurther He Taoistterm refers to theessential energy of matter. ling-pao, andthe theterm itcorresponds to thetentreasures that plicates byproposing Kanetomo three thatsymbolize thelegitimacy of theimperial lineage. regalia to the theterm in which term refers thefirst Shinto as a compound explains whilethesecond heart-mind theentire universe, as something thatpervades of 'form, to the triple distinction termoughtto be interpreted according Buddhism. and aspect',a classical to esoteric distinction belonging substance, on the ThisallowedKanetomo basedentirely to offer a simple cosmography term he the of resemblance and identity. Finally, interprets episteme kaji in a and butthepractices to esoteric Buddhism, belongs surprising way:theterm that withit in Japanwereso integrated creeds thatcame to be associated utdid not hesitate to proposethatthewordwas also a divine Kanetomo divine another vibration thatguaranteed efficacy, phonetic terance, primeval withthenameof the identifies thisterm protection, and grace.He further alof thetwowords Katori(Kajitori) becausethephonetic similarity Shrine, was to helpthe lowedhimto declare function of divine efficacy thatthefirst
41
Foucault, especiallyChapter2.
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53
emperor to govern, andthat this efficacy wasguaranteed bythekami worshippedinKatori andinthesecond shrine ofKasugaandYoshida.Kanetomo then briefly dabblesin the Ideation-Only philosophy of Kofukuji by proposing, without anyexplanation, thatall aspects of Heaven,Earth, and Mankind are products of ideation, which Kanetomo equateswith kami. tance ofritual, on theimportance ofetiquette atthecourt, andon thecentralityof protocol, which he defines as the'proper expression of thecultto the aforementioned 'treetheory' and proposesthatwhereas exoteric doctrines viewthebuddhasas manifestations of the kami,theesoteric doctrines expoundthatthebuddhasare hypostases of thekami.To ground thevalidity and transmission of thisesoteric Kanetomo discusses various levels doctrine, of secrecy. He insists thathisform of Shinto is unique(yuiitsu), in virtue of the factthatthere is one ruler and not two,thatthere is onlyone lineage (theUrabelineage, in thecourse which, of history tookthenames Nakatomi and Fujiwara),and thatJapanis a sacredland without equal in theworld. The Myobo Yoshuconcludes with thebasicregulations of thisnew'ancient Shinto'. In theMyobo Yoshu,Kanetomo did nothesitate to include transmissions that he hadreceived from other branches of Shinto: forexample, formulas of purification transmitted byShirakawa Tadatomi, theheadof theJingikan in histime, and others. ManyofKanetomo's practices were ofpurification; rites forinstance, one consisted in thepurification of thetwo eyes(representing Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi), which was effected theeyeswith the bytouching
hands folded in specificmudras while breathingwas controlled.One recognizesin this ritea combinationof the 'Shinto' emphasison purification, Taoist techniquesfor swallowingthe energy of the moon and the sun, and elements of Buddhistmeditation. These wereaccompaniedby thechanting of which Kanetomo called norito. dharani, kami'. He then deals briefly withthe relationsbetweenthe threeteachings (Confucianism,Taoism, and Buddhism)and withhistory;he expounds the In the next sectionof the Myobo Yoshu, Kanetomo insistson the impor-
Kanetomo designed several buildings as thesitesfortheperformance of his 'Shinto' rituals.Only one of those buildings remains today; that is the Taigenkyui ('Palace of the GreatFoundation'), whichbest represents the symbolism of hissystem. TheTaigenkyu, nowa National Treasure, is a thatch-roofed octagonal construction flanked, on thenorth side,byan hexagonal room, so that theshrine is oriented on a north-south axis.It is setinthecenter ofa courtyard surrounded by shrines dedicated to all thekamienshrined in thewholecountry, the number of which (3,132)corresponds to thatof thekamilisted in Engishiki. The crossbeams (chigi-f-t)of the Taigenkyui are cut differently from the
Kanetomo's Shrineof Symbols
54
no Jinja 1977. Toshio,Chz7sei Kenchiku, Fukuyama Shibund6, Taigenkyti, front view. rendition (not to scale) of originaldrawings. Computer-assisted
to symare cut horizontally norm:in the front side), theextremities (southern bolize theYang aspectof theuniverse, and in theback (northern side) theyare cut vertically to symbolizethe Yin aspect. The katsuogi ~ty, which stand across the summitof the roof, are also arrangedin a symbolic horizontally roundbeamsto thesouth(thenumber manner.Thereare three groupsof three threeand the circleare Yang emblems),and two groupsof two square beams to the north(the numbertwo and the square are Yin emblems). In the middleof the summit of theroof standsa decorationthatmarksthe one of of the shrine theyatano kagami center and symbolizes mirror, J.'R_o?AW and lotus theimperial regalia.The decorationis embeddedin-aseven-petalled a hole in the roof and down the thisreceives rain water,whichflowsthrough centralverticalbeam of the shrine.This beam is set in an octagonalbase on and thebase standson a bed of whichan octagonalwheelis placed vertically, to thenumberof kamimenblack pebbleswhose number, 3,132, corresponds was designed of theYoshida system tionedin Engishiki. Thus, themainshrine in classical Chineseand Japanese to symbolize the cosmos as it was described all terms.The symbolism of the pebblesindicatesKanetomo's desireto unify
GRAPARD:
55
Fukuyama,Chusei no JinjaKenchiku.
cutview. front Taigenkyui, one in the of Japan, and to posit Yoshida as the most important the shrines under the roof in the frontand back of country.The panel inscriptions by EmperorGo-Tsuchimikadoand Hino Tomiko, the buildingwere written on the spouse of the shogunAshikaga Yoshimasa. The hexagonal extension sat. ritualist side of the buildinghouses a room wherethe officiating northern The main shrinegates are neveropened today, even at the timeof the lunar New Year rites. on each side of themain door, are two in front of the main shrine, Slightly trees:to the westa bamboo tree,and to the east a sakaki. At the back of the shrinecompound is an elevated area on which used to stand eightshrines theseweretorndown in dedicatedto the kami that symbolizethe Jingikan; compounds,in thewoods, is a sacredpine tree 1871. To the east of the shrine surrounded by a stonefence;it is said thatitwas plantedovera box containing of the umbilicalcord of EmperorMeiji. Yoshida's two otherritualbuildings, to theFoundations,were whichone was dedicatedto theSourcesand theother are available, of thesebuildings in 1871. No plans or drawings also destroyed are. therein of the altarsthatwerebuilt but representations
56 Kanetomo After
A cult dedicatedto Kanetomo was established,at an unknowndate, on Mt leading thatstillstandsat theend of a stonestairway Yoshida in a smallshrine as Daimyojin there Shinryui *AUBPA4 to the top of the hill; he is worshipped before to be conducted remains ('Divine Dragon GreatKami'). Much research of the Yoshida culticcenterduringthe Edo period can be a clear description It is knownthatthe Yoshida lineagebegan to grantlicensesto shrine offered. and shrines in the Tensho era, 1573-1591,and thatthereweretwenty priests decree a issued nine temples at Yoshida in 1711. In 1665, the shogunate withthe excepA) thatall shrines, hatto ?S (shoshanegikannushi such as Atsuta, Shrines,and some major shrines tion of Ise, the Twenty-Two to be licensYoshida to priests their send should Suwa, and Kashima, Katori, Yoshida lineagecontrolled ed. As a result,by the end of the Edo periodthe on the natureof thatcontrol,or on 198,000priests.There is no information thatmusthave been createdat Yoshida, butit is system thevastadministrative clear thatthe controlwas not total. The Confucianand Neo-Confucianscholarsof theEdo periodrealizedthat thus, systems; the decadenceof combinatory represented Kanetomo's system once again. The Neo-Confucianscholarsproduced had to be rewritten history shiftthat allowed the Japaneseto get freeof the neverthe epistemological in whichKanetomolived. Kanetomohad called endingprisonof resemblance followedhis of things;his compatriots of the Japaneseness fora rediscovery advice and, in the process,rejectedmost of his claims. Indeed, a numberof to scholarswho read Kanetomo'sworksquicklydenouncedhisviews.The first 1583-1657, Razan was Hayashi were views 41*0j, those false see how blatantly a Confucian scholar who counseled Tokugawa Ieyasu fJII1* and called Kanetomo 'Japan's greatliar and enemyof the kami'. The policyof secrecy had meant, duringthe Kamakura and Muromachiperiods, that knowledge was not publiclydebatable, and that therewere no safeguardsto prevent gone are thebestexampleof a tendency Yoshida Kanetomo'stheories heresies; to discern task of attempting awry.Burdenedas he was withthe tremendous rightfrom wrong in the realm of historyand of religioustransmissions, in his attackson Kanetomo. But althoughcorrect, Hayashi Razan was fierce, to an claimingto return equally 'Shinto', of brand he also createdhis own down toned to do so. Razan seemsto have and equally failing originalpurity, his attacksagainstYoshida as he grewolder. Indeed, the Yoshida branchof centhe Urabe lineage regainedsome composureduringthe late seventeenth political of great of deification cults the of control to take tury.It attempted p3a grandcultto ToyotomiHideyoshim leaders,and succeededin devising for whichthe Hokoku Shrinein Kyoto was establishedin 1598. Kanetomo, betweenthe Urabe and the legendsof Jingui trueto the ancientconnections thatconauthoreda documentdetailing Korea, of conquest Kogo's putative based was document the that woman warrior.He claimed quest by the fierce himself. on an oral transmissiongiven to him by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
GRAPARD:
57
Fukuyama,Chusei no JinjaKenchiku.
Taigenkyui, seenfrom above.
theYoshidalineage Perhaps had someinfluence on Hideyoshi's decision to invade Koreain 1596. WhenTokugawaIeyasudiedtheYoshidalineage tooksteps to gain to try control of thecultthatwouldbe created in hishonor.It builta sumptuous shrine on Mt Kuno,butitsattempt failed whenTenkaiTRi managed to put thatcult underthe controlof the SannOcombinatory in Nikko. system Thereafter Yoshidano longer controlled of deification of Japan's majorcults and it specialized in licensing political leaders, instead of secondary priests
58
shrines, and in deifying a fewlocal leaderswhilethey werestillalive. A number of priestswho receivedthe higherdegreesof secrettransmission at Yoshida createdtheir own brandsof 'Shinto'. Yoshikawa Koretari iJFI'[E,1616-1694, is perhapsthemostimportant example.Sponsoredby Hoshina Masayukigf4 iEiB,Tokugawa Iemitsu'syounger he becamean advisoron Shintoto brother, the shogunate, refined the Yoshida doctrine, and taughtYamazaki Ansai LLi. SWW, 1618-1682,who foundedthe school called Suika Shinto FNI a. Thus theYoshida anomalycontinued to have some influence during theEdo period, and at a deep levelit continued to shape in subtlewaysthepremodern worldof 'Shinto'. The culturalawakening in theMuromachiperiodbore thatoccurred much fruit, the most important of which was the development of Nativist Studies(kokugaku thatgreatly marked D), an impossiblesearchforpurity thespirit of theEdo periodand theevolution of Japaneseculture. Kanetomo's rolein theformation of thattrend cannotbe ignored.But thedirect impactof the Yoshida brand of Shintograduallysubsidedto the pointthat,by the end of the Edo period,its influence was virtually nil. Seeingthissituation, Yoshida Ryogi F AX,theleaderof thelineageat the timedecided in 1867 to purify the doctrineof his lineage and 'return to the reallytrueand pure AncientWay.' He asked the courtfor fundsto build a school and received a thousandpiecesof silver, as wellas three thousandkoku from theShimazuhouse of Satsuma. Withthatfunding he builta largeschool, called Shingakkan side of Mt Yoshida. The dissociations !Vfr, on thewestern of Shinto and Buddhistdivinities, however,occurredin the following year, and all Buddhisttemplesbelonging to the Yoshida lineageweredestroyed, as were some of the shrineson Mt Yoshida. The head of the lineagemoved to Tokyo and settled there witha European titleof nobility. The Shingakkan was and was replacedby a highschool which,in turn,was replacedby destroyed Kyoto ImperialUniversity in 1897. Today the Yoshida Shrine consists of two parts: the Yoshida (Kasuga) Shrine,whichis runby priests underthecontrolof theJinja Honcho ?4zFi*, and theTaigenkyui, protected bythegovernment foritshistorical and architecturalvalue. Few people visitthe shrine, althoughat the timeof the Setsubun festival marking the vernalequinox, Yoshida changesdrastically: of throngs people come to visitKanetomo's Taigenkyui Shrineand collectamulets,which are purified in one of the most famousSetsubunritesof Japan. by fire
The author's annotatedtranslation of Yoshida Kanetomo's YuiitsuShintoMyobo Yoshul will be publishedin thesummerissue.

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The Shinto of Yoshida Kanetomo Author(s): Allan G. Grapard Reviewed work(s): Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 47, No.

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

'Hill of area of Kyotois a hill calledKagura-oka, IN thenortheastern

47:1 Monumenta Nipponica,

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

Quoted in Inoue, p. 137.

9 Nagatomi,pp. 91 & 102.

Inoue, pp. 129 & 196.

11 Cited in Inoue, p. 131.

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

ofcombinations, systems formost of hiswritings deal with those systems and

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

, Michi:Chiusei no Rineni: rt +J'nIr-

For a perceptive studyof theconceptof Way in themedievalperiod,see KonishiJun'ichi

Kodansha, 1975. i2,,

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

Yoshida 'Enemy of theKami' Kanetomo,

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

See RobertE. Morrell,'Passage to India Denied', in MN 37:2, (1982), pp. 179-200.

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

Yoshida Collection42/5 1, Tenri University Library.

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

YitsuSim.Knto. r impembegnts ngof iycetudal

he claimedto existamongall aspects therelations to explicate correspondences

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

Kanetomo's Shrineof Symbols

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

The Shintoof Yoshida Kanetomo

Taigenkyui, seenfrom above.

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