Dōsojin

is a generic name for a type of Shinto ''kami'' popularly worshipped in Kantō and neighboring areas in Japan where, as tutelary deities of borders and paths, they are believed to protect travellers, pilgrims, villages, and individuals in "transitional stages" from epidemics and evil spirits.Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version. "Sae no kami" and "Dōsojin" Also called , or . Dōsojin are often represented as a human couple, carved male or female genitals, large stones or statues, or even tall poles along a road.

''Dōsojin'' are sometimes housed in small roadside Shinto shrines called ''hokora''.'''' In rural areas ''Dōsojin'' can be found at village boundaries, in mountain passes, or along byways, and in urban areas they can be seen at street corners or near bridges. When shaped like a phallus, they are associated with birth, procreation, and marital harmony. When represented as a human couple, ''Dōsojin'' are revered as deities of boundaries, marriage, fertility and protection.

History

The origin of ''Dōsojin'' stone markers is uncertain and has no exact date. It is known, however, that after Buddhism was introduced, Jizō became a tutelary god of travelers and pilgrims.

Important ''dōsojin''

Batō Kannon

Batō Kannon is the bodhisattva of compassion and keeps a watchful eye over the animal state of Karmic Rebirth. Atop Batō Kannon's head rests a horse's head. Stone statues of this deity can be found beside perilous paths and byways, like Jizō statues, in northern Japan. However, ''Dosojin'' in Batō Kannon's form not only protect travelers, but their horses as well.

Chimata no Kami

, according to the Kojiki, was born when ''kami'' Izanagi threw away his trousers to wash himself after returning from Yomi, the land of the dead. The Nihongi and Kogo Shūi tell the same myth, but call the ''kami'' Sarutahiko. Chimata-no-kami symbols can be found at crossroads, perhaps because of the deity being associating with joining, and some famous onsens, to cure sexual or fertility issues.

Jizō

Jizō is the Japanese version of Bodhisattva '' Ksitigarbha'', a Buddhist bodhisattva worshiped mainly in East Asia. His assimilation within a group of ''kami'' is an example of the Japanese syncretism of Buddhism and Shinto ('' shinbutsu shūgō''). Originally from India, in Japan he was given new attributes and has become the guardian of children, expecting mothers, firemen, travelers, pilgrims, and unborn, aborted, or miscarried children. He is depicted as a plain monk, sometimes holding his in one hand and the in the other. Statues of Jizō can be found along mountain passes or harrowing roads in Japan, often dressed in red, sometimes white, caps and bibs by distressed parents. Small stones are frequently piled in front of a Jizō statue, a tradition believed to relieve a child of their penance.

Jizō statues commonly appear in groupings of six, called Roku Jizō. Six because of Jizō's vow to exist concurrently at all six states of Karmic Rebirth. A Roku Jizō appears in the Japanese folktale Kasa Jizō.

Sae no Kami

In modern times, ''Dōsojin'' have become fused in popular belief with a different deity having similar characteristics called "Sae no kami", whose birth is described in the Kojiki. When one of the ''kami'', Izanagi-no-mikoto, sought to leave after going to the realm of the dead ( Yomi no Kuni) to visit his spouse Izanami-no-mikoto, he was chased by the demoness . To stop her, he threw her a stick from which Sae no Kami was born. For this reason, he is the ''kami'' who prevents the passage of the spirits of the dead into the world of the living, and therefore a god who is a protector of boundaries. He is represented by large rocks set at the edges of villages. Because of the rocks' elongated shape, he came to be associated also with childbirth, children and matrimonial happiness. As a consequence, he was in turn associated also with Jizō, the bodhisattva who is the protector of children.

Worship

Every January 15 in the village of Nozawaonsen, Nagano the ''Dosojin'' Matsuri is held. The ''Dosojin'' Matsuri is a fire festival meant to celebrate the birth of a family's first child, exorcise yōkai, and ensure blissful marriages. The day prior to the ''Dosojin'' Matsuri, a hundred or so residents of Nozawaonsen construct a shaden. Meanwhile, across the glade are two wooden poles that represent a human couple, the village's version of ''Dōsojin''. On the day of the festival the shaden is burned in a scuffle between men ages twenty-five and forty-two—considered unlucky ages for men in Japan—and the rest of the villagers who bear reed torches. As the shaden burns, the village men of forty-two years sing to the ''Dōsojin''. The men ages twenty-five and forty-two play a key role in the festival to attain the protection of the ''Dōsojin,'' so that the misfortune brought about by their ages will be nullified.

In popular culture

* In chapter 34 of the supernatural manga Hyakki Yakoushou by Ichiko Ima, the male protagonist Ritsu and his cousin Tsukasa are compared to a ''Dōsojin''.
* In the twentieth game of the bullet hell series ''Touhou Project'', one of the bosses is an Egyptian-themed ''Dōsojin'' named Nareko Michigami ().

See also

* A-un
* Castor and Pollux
* Gate deities of the underworld
* Glossary of Shinto
* Hecate
* Hermes/ Mercury
* Janus
* Kṣitigarbha
* Liminal deity
* Lugal-irra and Meslamta-ea
* Menshen
* Nio
* Ox-Head and Horse-Face
* Pan
* Pushan
* Terminus

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dosojin
Japanese folk religion
Shinto
Shinbutsu shūgō
Liminal deities
Kṣitigarbha
Tutelary deities