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Japanese Folklore
Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, Tradition, customs, and material culture. In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The Folklore studies, academic study of folklore is known as . Folklorists also employ the term or to refer to the objects and arts they study. Folk religion Men dressed as namahage, wearing ogre-like masks and traditional straw capes (''mino (straw cape), mino'') make rounds of homes, in an annual ritual of the Oga Peninsula area of the Northeast region. These ogre-men masquerade as kami looking to instill fear in the children who are lazily idling around the fire. This is a particularly colorful example of folk practice still kept alive. A parallel custom is the secretive ritual of the Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa which does not allow itself to be photographed. Many, though increasingly fewer households maintain a kamidana or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folk Tradition
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material culture, such as traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also encompasses customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, including folk religion, and the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas, weddings, folk dances, and Rite of passage, initiation rites. Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a Cultural artifact, folklore artifact or Cultural expressions, traditional cultural expression. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain from a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts. Instead, thes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shinto
, also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoists'', although adherents rarely use that term themselves. With no central authority in control of Shinto, there is much diversity of belief and practice evident among practitioners. A polytheism, polytheistic and animism, animistic religion, Shinto revolves around supernatural entities called the (神). The are believed to inhabit all things, including forces of nature and prominent landscape locations. The are worshipped at household shrines, family shrines, and Shinto shrine, ''jinja'' public shrines. The latter are staffed by priests, known as , who oversee offerings of food and drink to the specific enshrined at that location. This is done to cultivate harmony ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edo Period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by prolonged peace and stability, urbanization and economic growth, strict social order, Isolationism, isolationist foreign policies, and popular enjoyment of Japanese art, arts and Culture of Japan, culture. In 1600, Tokugawa Ieyasu prevailed at the Battle of Sekigahara and established hegemony over most of Japan, and in 1603 was given the title ''shogun'' by Emperor Go-Yōzei. Ieyasu resigned two years later in favor of his son Tokugawa Hidetada, Hidetada, but maintained power, and defeated the primary rival to his authority, Toyotomi Hideyori, at the Siege of Osaka in 1615 before his death the next year. Peace generally prevailed from this point on, making samurai largely redundant. Tokugawa sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mount Fuji
is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), and List of islands by highest point, seventh-highest peak of an island on Earth. Mount Fuji Hōei eruption, last erupted from 1707 to 1708. It is located about southwest of Tokyo, from where it is visible on clear days. Its exceptionally symmetrical cone, which is snow field, covered in snow for about five months of the year, is a Japanese cultural icon and is frequently depicted in art and photography, as well as visited by sightseers, hikers and mountain climbers. Mount Fuji is one of Japan's along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku. It is a List of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special Natural Monuments, Special Place of Scenic Beauty and one of Japan's Monuments of Japan, Historic Sites. It was added to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yakushi Nyorai
Bhaiṣajyaguru (, zh, t= , , , , ), or ''Bhaishajyaguru'', formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabha-rāja ("Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"; zh, t=藥師琉璃光(王)如來, , , ), is the Buddha of healing and medicine in Mahāyāna Buddhism. Commonly referred to as the "Medicine Buddha", he is described as a doctor who cures suffering (Pali/Sanskrit: dukkha/ duḥkha) using the medicine of his teachings. The image of Bhaiṣajyaguru is usually expressed with a canonical Buddha-like form holding a gallipot and, in some versions, possessing blue or deep green skin. Though also considered to be a guardian of the East, in most cases, Akshobhya is given that role. As an exceptional case, the honzon of Mount Kōya's Kongōbu Temple was changed from Akshobhya to Bhaiṣajyaguru. Origin Bhaiṣajyaguru is described in the eponymous ''Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabha-rāja Sūtra'', commonly called the ''Medicine Buddha Sutra'', as a bodhisattva who ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fudō Myōō
or Achala (, "The Immovable", ), also known as (, "Immovable Lord") or (, "Noble Immovable Lord"), is a wrathful deity and '' dharmapala'' (protector of the Dharma) prominent in Vajrayana Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism., Jp. rel. dict., pp. 242–246 Originally a minor deity described as a messenger or acolyte of the buddha Vairocana, Acala later rose to prominence as an object of veneration in his own right as a remover of obstacles and destroyer of evil, eventually becoming seen as the wrathful manifestation of either Vairocana, the buddha Akṣobhya, or the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. In later texts, he is also called (, "Violent Wrathful One", ) or (, "Violent One of Great Wrath", ), the names by which he is more commonly known in countries like Nepal and Tibet. In East Asian esoteric Buddhism, Acala is classed among the Wisdom Kings () and is preeminent among the five Wisdom Kings of the Womb Realm. Accordingly, he occupies an important hierarchical position ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kannon
Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as male in Indian Buddhism, Guanyin has been more commonly depicted as female in China and most of East Asia since about the 12th century. Due to sociogeographical factors, Guanyin can also be historically depicted as genderless or adorning an androgynous apprentice. On the 19th day of the sixth lunar month, Guanyin's attainment of Buddhahood is celebrated. Guanyin has been incorporated in other religions, including Taoism and Chinese folk religion. Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a sacred lotus in religious art, lotus and then sent to the western pure land of Sukhāvatī. Guanyin is often referred to as the "most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity" with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yama-no-Kami
Mountain Gods () are Asian tutelary deities associated with mountains. They are related to Landlord deity, landlord deities and tudigongs and City God (China), City Gods. They are well-known in Korea and some prominent Chinese mountains have shrines to similar deities in the Daoist traditions, called ''Shanshen''. The Japanese equivalent is the ''Yama-no-Kami'' (; also pronounced as ''yamagami'') and the Vietnamese equivalent is ). Houtu is the overlord of all the Tudigongs ("Lord of Local Land"), Soil and grain, Sheji ("the State"), Shan Shen ("God of Mountains"), City God (China), City Gods ("God of Local City"), and landlord gods worldwide. China In China, legends about ''Shanshen'' () have a long history. The Classic of Mountains and Seas (), which was written more than 2,000 years ago, has already recorded various legends about ''Shanshen''; specifically the Wuzang Shanjing () part contains a detailed description of the appearance of the mountain gods. The Taiping Guangji () ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kōshin
or is a folk belief in Japan with Taoist origins, influenced by Shinto, Buddhism and other local beliefs. An event related to the belief is called , held on the Kōshin days that occur every 60 days in accordance with the Chinese sexagenary cycle. On this day some believers stay awake to prevent , entities believed to live inside the bodies of believers, from leaving during that night in order to report the deeds of believers to the god Tentei. It is not known when this belief arrived in Japan, but it was widespread among the nobles of the imperial court by some time in the 9th century. The Japanese monk Ennin, visiting Tang China in 838, wrote that "This night no one sleeps. It is the same as New Year's Eve and the nights of ''Kōshin'' in our country." In the Muromachi period, Buddhist monks started to write about Kōshin and spread the belief to a wider public. Numerous monuments or pillars called (or also ) were erected all over the country, and the belief remained ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ise Shrine
The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inner Shrine, Naikū (also officially known as "Kōtai Jingū"), is dedicated to the worship of Amaterasu and is located in the town of Uji-tachi, south of central Ise, where she is believed to dwell. The shrine buildings are made of solid cypress wood and use no nails but instead joined wood. The Outer Shrine, ''Gekū'' (also officially known as "Toyouke Daijingū"), is located about six kilometers from Naikū and dedicated to Toyouke-Ōmikami, the god of agriculture, rice harvest and industry. Besides Naikū and Gekū, there are an additional 123 Shinto shrines in Ise City and the surrounding areas, 91 of them connected to Naikū and 32 to Gekū. Purportedly the home of the Sacred M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kōjin
Kōjin, also known as , is the Japanese ''kami'' (''god'') of fire, the hearth and the kitchen. He is sometimes called Kamado-gami ( 竃神), literally ''the god of the stove''. He represents violent forces that are turned toward the betterment of humankind. Mythology The name ''Sambō-Kōjin'' means ''three-way rough deity'', and he is considered a deity of uncertain temper.Ashkenazy, Michael. ''Handbook of Japanese Mythology''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003. 244 Fire, which he represents, is a destructive force, as shown in the myth of Kagu-tsuchi, the original fire deity, whose birth caused his mother's death. However, Kōjin embodies fire controlled and turned toward a good purpose. He is said to destroy all impurity. He is also responsible for watching over the household and reporting any misdeeds to the ''kami'' of the village or city. These reports are discussed, and the according rewards or punishments assigned, by an assembly of gods in Izumo province in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
