The is a Japanese ''

setsuwa ''Setsuwa'' () is a Japanese literary genre. It consists of myths, legends, folktales, and anecdotes. Among the , those that are full-length are generally referred to as . In Japan, the term is also applied to similar works around the world. '' ...

'' collection in ten volumes, believed to date from the

Nanboku-chō period The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 ...

(1336–1392).Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version It illustrates with tales about various shrines the

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

honji suijaku The term in Japanese religious terminology refers to a theory widely accepted until the Meiji period according to which Indian Buddhist deities choose to appear in Japan as native ''kami'' to more easily convert and save the Japanese.Breen and Te ...

'' theory, according to which Japanese ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'' were simply local manifestations of the Indian gods of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. This theory, created and developed mostly by

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...

monks, was never systematized but was nonetheless very pervasive and influential.* The book had thereafter great influence over literature and the arts.

History

The book is believed to have been written during the late Nanboku-chō period, either during the Bunna or the Enbun era. It carries the note but who exactly wrote it is unclear. Divided into ten volumes and 50 chapters, it supports the Tendai and Ise Shinto ''

'' theory according to which Japanese ''

'' were simply local manifestations of the Indian gods of

. This theory was never systematized but became nonetheless the most important tool through which foreign Buddhism was reconciled with local ''kami'' beliefs. The book illustrates it through tales dedicated to various shrines and to the Buddhist gods which are the true nature of the ''kami'' they enshrine. It deals mostly with shrines located west of Tonegawa in

Kōzuke province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered Echigo Province, Echigo, Shinano Province, Shinano, Musashi Province, Musashi and Shimotsuke Province, Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abb ...

(like Akagi Daimyōjin, Ikaho Daimyōjin and Komochiyama Daimyōjin), the Kumano Sanzan and other Kantō shrines, explaining the reason for their ''kami's'' rebirths, and telling tales about their previous lives. The common point of the tales is that before being reborn as a tutelary ''kami'' of an area, a person must first be born and suffer there as a human being. The suffering is mostly caused by relationships with relatives, especially wives or husbands. The book had a great impact on the literature and arts of the following centuries.

References

Works cited

* Shinbutsu shūgō Shinto texts Japanese Buddhist texts Muromachi-period works 14th-century Shinto {{Shinto-stub