Pathway to Japanese Literature

The Suwa Honji of the Shintōshū.

Shinano Buddhist Invocation.

The Azumi Uprising Legend.

An era deciphered through written characters.

Izumi Kotaro—the Ama.

The sea and the deep holes in the mountains.

Ōkuninushi·Susanoo·Suseri-hime’s Hirasaka.

Various ceremonial cloths and the lands of the four seasons.

Purification Rituals and Yomi.

Izanagi and Kōga Saburō.

Mount Ibuki and the Hell Valley Legend.

The Religion of the Kōga People.

A religion centered on lakes.

Purification Rituals and Hot Spring Rivers.

The hot spring of the Izumo Kokuzō and Ōnanushi.

Izanagi·Izanami and Ōmi Province.

Taga·Hiyoshi Shrine

Are Izanagi and Izanami equivalent to Ōnanushi’s deliverance of Suseri?

The water that liberated Kōga’s transformed body was attributed to Buddhist virtue.

The Kumano Buddhist invocation narratives include elements of Izumo origin.
The hot spring resurrection was precisely this.

Kōga—Serpent Form.

Ajisuki·Homuchi·Ingyō—Deformity (Wandering Soul).

Oguri—Flesh-Body Transformation.

Hot springs for young deities—deformed bodies.

A woman drawing hot spring water.

Men (Yamaji, Yuriwaka, et al.).

The place name Taima.

Did the sequential relay along the Tōkaidō Highway, having incorporated the customs of the time, extend as far as Kumano in ancient times?

Oguri and Katsugorō the Lame.

Terute and Hatsuhana.

Kumano and Hakone.

The princess's adultery (with a man from another land) and exile.

If there was a soul, a body could form.
If there was a body, the soul would enter.

The Daijōden's Imperial Storehouse.

The healing power of the sacred hot spring waters.

The journey through the otherworld as its prerequisite.

The tale of Ōnanushi's journey through Yomi was a narrative of provincial purification rituals.

Kisagahi.

“Is the *Kisage-shū* a collection of bones, measurement wood, and other components to be assembled?”

Kisari-mochi · Above the Waterfall · Zōzan · Small River · the place name Kisa.

Oguri’s story transferred the purification rituals of lakes and seas to the sacred mountain waters.

The journey of the deformed deity who came from the Kumano River.

In accordance with the pilgrimage routes of Buddhist monks, their place of origin had been relocated to the distant eastern frontier where many devotees dwelled.

The central hub also became the midstream region of the Sagami River.

The story of Chūjō-hime—the shrine maiden who raised the deformed deity from the divine realm—gave rise to Terute-hime.

The legendary archetypes of Chūjō-hime and Utsubo interwove.

The young deity and the noble lady—the stepmother and the deity nurturer.

Terute—Teruhi: the shrine maiden’s name.

A misreading.

Kishū Hibariyama.

The shrine maidens of Kumano's deities.

The Buddhist nuns who transmitted the Tale of Chūjō-hime.

The Morning Sun's principal icon.

The origin narratives of nuns' ascetic devotions.

Chūjō-hime of the chanted nenbutsu prayers and the loom-weaving maiden.

The ecstatic bearing of shrine maidens serving as divine vessels.

The Noblewoman’s Exile Narrative.

The Encounter of Husbands and Fathers.

The Chastisement of Fathers and Elder Brothers.

Since Susano-o.

The shrine maiden Teruhi of Mino.

Did the fusion of the shrine maidens’ narratives with those of the ascetic monks and blind monks unite Oguri and Terute as one?

Human Trafficking Narrative.
Resale.

Yakanegane Torture.

Water-Drawing ―― Standing Servitude.

Village Elder.
Sengen Village.

The abbreviated daily quota and.
Sacred service and.

The issue of the Eight Views of Ōmi.

Tamaya’s gate.

Inn proprietor.

The Tōkaidō Highway and the Ōji Pilgrimage Route.

The Shuntoku Highway and the identification of the Sacred Procession Route.

The Hitachi Oguri clan as a horse clan.

Deities as gods of horses (Kannon).
That shrine maiden.

Oguri’s Appellation.

An imperial edict narrating the tale of the Oguri family’s ancestors.

Onikage Tale.

Man-eating horse.

The Ainu Oguri Tale.

Entry Into Ainu — The Nature of Ezo Purification.

Bridal Capture.

Horseback Riding; Thereafter, a Separate Matter.

Bridal Capture and the Land of Yomi.

The Land of Yomi and the Sacred Waters of Purification.

The Incorporation of Shrine Maidens’ Narratives.

Yokoyama was a horse breeder.
Oguri was a hero.
Terute was the horse breeder’s daughter.

The mysterious resurrection of nenbutsu practitioners unfolded.

The stories narrating ways of death converged and diverged at Taima.

The land of Uenohara.

The eastern extremity—Hitachi—the reason the name Oguri became affixed to the house of horsemanship.

The Taima Tale, interwoven with the bridal capture narrative.

The Tale of the Expelled Princess.

The Horse's Imperial Edict — Blind Monks.

The Shrine Maiden Teruhi’s Propagation of Divine Teachings.
A Woman’s Penitence — Chūjō-hime.

The founding site of the Ji-shū sect’s nenbutsu and the shrine maidens’ tale.

The Tale of One Who Returned from Hell with Life Yet to Live.

A Tale of Spirit-Praising.
Chanted Nenbutsu That Tells of Resurrection.

The horse’s imperial edict transformed.

After being incorporated into the Fujisawa Temple Engi, various associations likely became intertwined. The temple’s narrative probably merely incorporated elements such as Hell, Uenohara, and Kumano, inserting Terute Hime—whose name derived from that of a shrine maiden—into its framework.

The Tokugawa family’s sacred era.

Groups of mountain ascetics in the guise of holy men, and a small number of itinerant monks.

In the Asahi Shunjōki and Oshōji Shimawatari lineage traditions, elements of horse trials were incorporated within the horse-raising regions of Tōgoku.

To Oguri as well, Terute likely bestowed the method of horse-calming.

Princess Jūrō and Princess Terute.

Between the islands and Tenjiku on one hand, and the mortal realm on the other, the islands were new, while the mortal realm was old.

Terute had not been in the mortal realm, yet she took on death's form.
Moreover, the various trials and journeys across the land manifested as aspects of the mortal realm.

Rather than narratives of men performing rescues, stories of being nurtured by women became predominant.

This narrative proved more composite than that of Kōga Saburō and distinctly modern in nature.

Themes emerged of techniques transforming human forms into animals and other shapes, alongside accounts of transfigured bodies.

Takeminakata's metamorphosis into something resembling standing ice constituted a transfigured body, having assumed the form of a viper entwined with *itadori* flowers.
This transformation served resurrection's purpose.

Having performed purification rituals at Lake Suwa, he shed the form of a viper and *itadori* flower before taking up residence there.

In Kōga Saburō’s earlier archetype as well—having been cursed to take forms akin to a viper and *itadori* flower—the condition had been healed in Lake Ōmi’s waters. This archetype moved eastward and remained in Shinano. Progressing further still, it became a serpentine form that evolved into tales of women by water’s edge and daughters wedded to water deities.

Oguri too had originally lost the form retaining his embodied spirit and obtained a transformed body. Thus did he come to be known as a hungry ghost who had lost his corporeal form—moving from Kumano to Yamato Taima, then Hakone; establishing ties with Ōmi before relocating once more to the Sagami River.

The scarcity of Taima’s connection to water—was this due to later additions?

The Hakone narrative was of course related to the Sagami River narrative, but this one appeared to be older.
The name Hatsuhana was also likely related to chanted nenbutsu.
Oguri’s poison-feeding served as an explanation for the transformed body brought about through food.

Oguri’s association with a serpent form stemmed from his exile after forming a pact with the Snake of Shinsen-en.

This appeared to be an older-form narrative unconnected to the main storyline.

Through this ordeal, he acquired horsemanship.
Here manifested the visible shape of his serpent form.

The act of pledging oneself to a serpent-bodied woman held ties to ancient legends of water-dwelling women.

In Oguri’s case, the mortal realm narrative was brief.
It transformed into persistent bodily metamorphosis and distant pilgrimages within this world.
The name Hitachi Kohagi and slavery.

The origins of Koeda, Kohagi, Chūjō, Shōshō, Katsurahime, Hatsuhana, Anju, Kikumaru, and others.

The solidification of the names Sodehagi and Kohagi, and the common name for female attendants.
The origin of substituting invocations of true names.
Female court attendants.

Yatsuka Kobone and the life of a toneri.
The impression of one who served in the capital (the death of the fox courier).
Was he seen as a stranger in monstrous form from foreign lands?

Both Hitachi and Owari Kohagi being subjected to hot iron branding was a mark of slavery. Simultaneously, the wings of Yatsuka Kobone and such were likely remnants crafted with tendons around the ankles to prevent escape.

To make *eda* into maidservants and to designate *eta*—was this too a vestige of the custom of marking the *eta*?

Those called *katāi* (*katāizari*) derived their name from having their tendons removed—which prevented them from sitting cross-legged—was this too a slave designation? Are terms like “the bone-deficient” and “four-legged” (four) also among these?

Was “boronji no boro” an abbreviation of “yoboro”? The account of Tameyoshi’s severed tendons likewise pertained to this category. Compared to Anju and other medieval religious names, Kohagi held greater antiquity. Terms like *totsupa* and *sutsuipa*—referring to stripping methods such as *toraehagi* and *surihagi*—likely involved denuding, yet carried associations with the shin. Did the practice of *koshiyuki* also belong here? The expression “Obiwai no Ōkimi no haki” likely emerged from such connotations and adhered to Toyonari. Was the preference for *yozu* over *oru* when handling bush clover flowers and branches meant to evade these associations? Perhaps it ought to be read as *Yohagi*.

Similarly, “weaving” related to this matter; “to curse” also pertained to that. Through weaving, there came to be many names in later generations such as *Nani-ori* and *Ori-nani*. Names such as Ogi-ori and Kohagi exhibited traces of this. It was not an association with the Weaving Maiden. Was the thread-breaking fold also a rite of subduing through breaking to dedicate one’s years? The *tayo* referred to the cord at the hollow of the knee; breaking the cord constituted its principle. The Gosechi ritual too presumably avoided the rite of Gosechi-ori’s breaking. Bending the hollow of the knee five times appeared to constitute the rite of pacifying souls.

The story of Taiyōi Well.
The narrative shifted from tales of plains where well water proved difficult to draw to stories of coastal watersides.
Anju’s tide-drawing came later.

The Hagihara Village recorded in the *Harima Fudoki* had likely been Hagiihara Village.
One night, entwined with bush clover, a story emerged of a maiden’s death.

“Hagigahanazuma”—though an archaic term—originated from associations with women of the lower legs: female servants who served through their beauty. Later, it came to be thought of simply as bush clover, akin to a deer’s mate.

The reason one did not recognize them even when encountering them was not only due to their transformed bodies but also because one could not bring along those who belonged to Yomi.

Were provincial guards not [merely] villagers?
As a phonetic reading, this stretched too far.

Hikagami and similar terms appeared to be the etymological source of “lame person.”
This was because they removed the tendons from the hollow of the knee.
Terms like “Asazuma no hika no osaka” derived *osa* from *hikagami* (lameness), with *osa* referring to those whose legs were not free—individuals who sat to perform their duties.
The term “Asazuma” likely derived from maidservants being kept at home and made to grind [grains] until morning.
The “hika” in *Ikari* also appeared to be of this nature.
Through phonetic corruption of *hika*, it corresponded to the dwelling regions of the Emishi.
*Toneri* appeared to share the same etymological origin as *osa*—namely, *tone* from *soto-ne* (外根)—and seemed to be a fusion of *ori* (折り, “breaking”) or *suwari* (坐り, “sitting”).
Uneme referred to the Unemebe (female court attendants’ bureau), and une denoted Uchitogi (inner attendants), likely representing an older form of Uchitoneri (inner chamberlains).
Hayahito was a name for Kashichō (courier-attendants), referring to fast-footed individuals.
Hayabusa was likely an ateji.
Did “hito no to” refer to excluding everything below the ankle?
They were porters for divine service and seemed to be the owners of sacred feet.
Hayato seemed to be a term denoting fast-footed sacred servants.
The terms “temple attendants” and “shrine servants” both inherently carried connotations of servitude or enslavement.
The Ama-be (sea people) and Yama-be (mountain people) also belonged to this category.
The reason Kashichō were employed in the imperial court was to make use of their swiftness of foot.

While male attendants may have had names like *hagi*, it was likely primarily for females that *hagi* and *kohagi* were employed. The processing of *hagi* was particularly characteristic of barbarian tribes; Yatsuka Kobone and others were classified as mountain folk.

“To fully raise the cord to the shin.” Phrases like “Hoya no Izushi… raised to the *hagi*” also derived some stylistic conception from such associations with female servants’ concealed areas.

The use of *Akihagi* and applying *aki* was likely intended to avoid such associations. *Haku* was the verbalization of *sune* (shin). The term *haku* (佩) constituted a distinct word. It referred to the act of donning garments through both upper and lower limbs. There was inevitably a sexual connotation. There was reason why such sashinuki hakama—not skirts to be worn but wrapped and draped garments—were written as “servant hakama.” Mukabaki meant front-donning. It formed a simplified version of *baki* that came to resemble *mukabaki* the older it became. That which clung closely to the shin would be called *tsutsuhakama* (tube hakama). This became the new meaning of *haku*: kasaneorikamishimo. This tied up the hakama. The original form of sunebaki no habaki existed here. Leg wrappers made solely to fasten the lower hem of the *habaki* came to be called *habaki* before being renamed *sashinuki*.

“Raising to the shin” also referred to rolling up the hem and tucking it near the upper limb’s concealed area.

This was because male and female attendants normally concealed their bare feet.
“Habaki-mo” denoted this—a surface robe worn over the lower robe, hence being Osu-hi no mo.
The term *himo* appeared to be an abbreviation of *himono-o* (cord fastening).
Properly speaking, it was *himono-o*.
The observation that terms such as *hire*, *hirami*, and *hishigi* saw common use—given how they hung down from the nape past the toes—meant their designation as *hiraobi* represented later folk etymology.
Mi likely indicated a robe.
The terms *hire* (flounce) and *hira* (flat piece) likely derived from *hikagami* (lameness) through *hina*’s phonetic shift to *hira*.
The *hirami* had evolved into a flounce.
The flounce of flounce-laying was not flat either.
The flounce also referred to the fabric’s edge.

Mukabaki originally covered only the front, perhaps.
“Did ‘...to the front of the shin’ derive from this?”
It appeared designed to conceal young maidens’ fronts.
This later became *hirami*.

“The cord of companions who flounce hems” referred to the exclusion of Uneme attendants, Toneri officials, and Hayato tribesmen.
Toneri—having become military officers—could no longer retain even ceremonial flounces.
The flounce inseparable from the kasaneoromo robe was the robe itself: draped over the head to hang down and conceal the body’s front.
Thus they stood nearly naked.
The phrase “scattering zelkova leaves” poetically alluded to menstrual blood staining kasaneoromo robes—not arboreal imagery.
This constituted a misinterpretation.
Yamato Takeru’s era and Yūryaku’s reign had diverged so profoundly in these practices.

The zelkova tree stood near the *tsukigomori* huts—the etymological origin of “tsugomori” (last day of the month)—where one would seclude oneself during menstruation and other occasions. The Sacred Zelkova fell into this category. “Beneath the Sacred Zelkova of Hase’s hot springs”—this phrase too implied confinement in zelkova huts when concealing hems. It was a separate hut for ritual seclusion. They regarded menstruation as a sign of divine summons and confined them once a month in the zelkova purification huts.

They built all shrines beneath zelkova trees and others. Here, having forgotten to observe menstruation days as ritual service, they came to conceive of it as a hut for seclusion during menstruation.

The beginning of the month was determined by the day when high-ranking shrine maidens’ “tsuki no mono” became visible. It was both the day when the month began and what was termed *tsukitachi*. They considered the day of the god’s arrival to be New Year’s Day, and when abbreviated, they deemed it the first day of the month.

“Hashiride” referred to a *hashiridei*—a *dei* with all doors closed as if shut tight.
It was a *dei* for welcoming the deity, and above it stood a zelkova tree.
In ancient poems, the abundance of zelkova songs stemmed from the impression of zelkova huts.

“Hanachi-de” referred to a *dei* without doors.

“When counting the moon’s phases, night had yet to deepen.”
“Phrases like ‘this moon alone’ and others carried a wealth of associations with the word *tsuki*.”
Phrases like “The moon had risen, yet still a crescent—scratching my brow’s root” might have superficially referred to “crescent moon eyebrows” as a later stylistic contrivance, but beneath this lay an older rhetorical device containing the meaning “three days since menstruation began,” thereby allowing “scratching the brow’s root” to function [as wordplay].

“Threading the moon traversing heaven onto a cord” likewise symbolically evoked—through this new chamber’s kudzu roots—the shrine maidens’ monthly seclusion beyond the moon’s lid, as they reverently lay down as their own; this was a bedding-in song. It was likely the song of His Highness the Prince’s bridal chamber. In Narihira’s poem “Is the moon already hidden so early?” as well, even though this custom had faded, people continued to pass down the tradition of celebrating with the moon during the bedding-in of those seated formally at banquets.

The phrase “The moon shines for the nation’s prosperity” was likewise repurposed into ritual hymns to the palace that invoked lunar imagery; thus, on this night, His Majesty and the high-ranking shrine maidens would share a bed.
The prince conceived on this day was made one of the sun-succession princes as a child of the gods.

The palace was the Ando (temporary palace).
They treated the day’s ritual as a deity and, with the shrine maidens, called it “yasumi (shishi) sesu.”
It represented the supreme form of ritual observance and signified the principle wherein the deity deigned to dwell temporarily within the earthly realm.
The imperial consorts of the Heian court, because they had borne imperial children, were deemed able to serve in the resting place.
Ando was the shinden—that is, the main hall.
Later, the Seiryōden became that.

The restfulness inherent in sleep—this persisted precisely because it had endured since ancient times through terms like *oyoru* (to retire).
“Peaceful sleep” required as its condition the presence of shared bedding.
Yasumiko did not denote an Uneme’s name but rather a term indicating that the foundation for the Imperial Consort had existed since ancient times; it referred to women once granted imperial favor by the Emperor.
Was the Empress of Murakami called Yasuko because they had already forgotten the meaning of *yasumu* (“to rest”), or had they begun applying the common noun *yasumi* (“rest”) child even to an empress?

The reason Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto killed Ōgetsuhime was also because the moon is a marebito (divine visitor).

In Susanoo’s case, he descended to Awa.

Uke Mochi no Kami likely defiled herself with blood from slaughtered sacrificial beasts.

Emperor Heizei—known as Prince Yasumiya—appears not as an ostentatious figure but rather as a prince of Yasumidono, marking what seems to be the final instance of a name linked to the Royal Bath Chamber.

The root *yasu* signified the principle of deities descending and dwelling; the term “eighty” carried this associative connotation.
From this, it came to be used for counting ritual participants.
The Eighty Tomo-o, Eighty Mononobe, and Eighty Kami recorded in the *Suijin-ki* represent ancient examples.
When describing those receiving deities during visitations, this state came to be termed *yasu*; the word *segare* (“scion”), deriving from *yaseukara*, transformed into both *yatsugare* and *segare*.

The villagers of Yase appear to have derived their name from *yase*’s semantic implications.
The emergence of “*Oyase*” in regional rituals likewise stems from this.
The terms *yatsuru* and *yatsusu* also developed through this phonetic evolution.
Yatsuko too—rather than meaning “household child”—may originate from this “Yasu child.”
The association between “emaciated man” (*yase otoko*) and “slender man” (*hosoko otoko*) likewise arises here.
The *yashiyome* were either Yase women or emaciated women.
They constituted virtuous women participating in sacred rites and vendor women from areas like Katsura.

Yasugi, Yasugawa, Yaso Bridge, and others—all these names seemed to speak of divine descent.
Yaso Bridge and others referring to the "heavenly eighty people" remained logically consistent.
Yasui was also an amakudari well.

Yasu had been considered in association with fuyasu ("to increase") and similar concepts.
This derived from their nature as sexual rituals.

Could nurturing too belong to this domain?
Through hot water, milk, and rice, they made deities reside while reverently nurturing them.

In *Yasumike* ("Divine Sustenance") and *Yasumitegura* ("Divine Offerings"), there likely lay principles of proliferation.
The names Haniyasu Pond and Haniyasuhiko were seen as both nurturing soil through water and expanding the realm.
Taking soil from Haniyasu Pond to fashion it into various symbols would ensure their faction's victory.
With Haniyasuhiko too—through this destruction—the Yamato court's power had increased.

Yasu, yasura, and yasumu were expressions of full satisfaction uttered by guest deities dwelling in new chambers. In congratulatory addresses too, they celebrated by anticipating that state.

“Urayasu no Kuni” served as a laudatory term for the land; Yasojima and Yasokuni were phrases steeped in benediction. Ooyashima also carried favorable phonetic resonance in its “yashi” syllable.

“Yasashi” did not function as an adjective meaning “emaciated” but instead described putting guest deities at ease while also conveying the dual sense of shame when welcoming their divine visitation.

Tsukumo hair denoted the birth-hut coiffure—a hairstyle for ritual abstinence. It was mourning hair. Resemblance in appearance likely stemmed from conventional misunderstandings. They had hung shadow-filtering vines upon them because sunlight-dappled creepers were suspended there. Falling short by one year out of a hundred did not constitute the pillow word for “tsukumo.” Thus it naturally signified not ninety-nine (a hundred being distinct)—continuing, perhaps nineteen or ninety-nine? Not perishing upon reaching a century but perpetually extending just shy by one year—though unlike the sun vines adorning the shrine maiden’s monthly-mourning coiffure within this Katsura dwelling newly thatched with tsukumo grass, that person undoubtedly yearned for me. They were said to have manifested as an apparition.

Does "tsukumo" refer to hairstyles fashioned by court ladies and shrine maidens within the divine chamber?

Kumano and Izumo.

Tokoyo and the Isle of Death.

The dead’s pilgrimage to Three Mountains.

Myōshitsu Mountain.

Land of Resurrection for the Dead.

Convergence Point of Spirits.

A single stem of shikimi flowers brought along.
Proof of having become a woman.

Namariyama.

Mine no Yu - Kaigiwa no Yu.

The Sovereign who sought Distant Waters.

Imperial prince pilgrimages.
Naruko Dance.

To speak of the Tōkaidō was to indicate the beginning of imperial prince pilgrimages.

This stemmed from ancient times when the site of the imperial prince’s rites remained unfixed—the origin of recounting antiquity.
The shrine of Oguri in Mishima District.

Cart-pulling.
The golden age of ceremonial events in full flourish.

Songs of the Kumano pilgrimage journey.

A narrative germ of being drawn by a lover from the chihiki lineage.
They came to a halt at Yorozuya’s gate.

The *Chihiki* shrine maiden’s figure.

Lumberjack chants, stone-sawing songs, tatara furnace ballads, hammering rhythms.

Stone-sawing and Anao labor.
Rokujō, Nagoeshi, and the tatara dance.

Buddha statue fundraising – Buddhist statue casting – consecration rites.

Divine Hands and Divine Torso fundraising’s Buddha-pulling procession.

The faith of those who had seen the next world.

Tales of karmic causality concerning birds, beasts, and humans reborn from the next world.

A transfigured afflicted one who told tales of the next world.

In their place were the karmic causality storytellers.

Native Japanese lexicon.

*Jōruri* twelve-part lineage.

The lexicon of song-divining shrine maidens.
The *uta-bikuni*’s love-letter scribing.
Fujisawadera.

Ōkusazōshi’s new entry.

Leaving Buddhist invocation behind, toward sermon ballads.

The ancient form of *honji-mono* (origin tales).

Prologue: The Cause of the Noble Exile.

In the end, he prospered as a human.

Narratives not yet fully transformed into sermon ballads.

Shrine Maiden’s Ritual Chants (not mediated by mountain ascetics).

Blind monks’ sermon ballads.

The sacred dance’s ritual edict.

Stable-praising and demonstrations.

Later, they forgot about horse control, and the shrine maiden ritual chants grew more pronounced.

It began with tales from the people of the Eastern Provinces. Afterward came Kumano and Fujisawa.

The Buddhist invocational monks, divine shrine maidens, and chanting nuns urged Kumano proxy pilgrimages.

From Taima (minor base) Fujisawa—to Kumano (major base).

The distinction between Yūzū Nenbutsu and Ji-shū Nenbutsu.

Buddhist invocation dances’ mansion-praising and stable-praising.

Karmic causality tales adhered.

Fujisawa Origin Tale.
Buddhist Invocation merit.

The lineage of warrior awakening tales.
Confession narratives.

Kumagai · Kyōshin…

The Hangan’s appellation, rich in patronage.

The warrior of tragic fate and the woman left behind.
The nun’s confession.

(Oguri) ┌Banzai→Mountain Ascetics

1. *Uma Senmyō* (Horse Ritual Edict) – Sacred Dance┤Kōwaka

└Blind Monks

(Teruten)

2. Shrine Maiden’s Ritual Chants——(Divine Deities)

Yamato Taima Origin Tale.

3. The founding of Muryōkō-in Temple in Taima.

(Buddhist invocational monks)

Teruhi as wife of the Ji-shū sect (Shinran's wife).

The wife is a shrine maiden.
The husband is a god.

↓

The wife was a spirit medium.
The husband was a discerner of deities.

↓

┌Chanted Nenbutsu ┌Buddhist Invocation

Wife: ┤Jōruri Husband: ┤

└Chanted Sermon Ballads └Sermon Ballads

4. Kumano Pilgrimage.
Merit Propagation.

5. The Ōji Shrines’ Fundamental Vow.

6. Fujisawa Temple Origin Tale.

7. Adaptations of Chinese Novels (*Water Margin*).