Ten Different Versions of the 30 Kami of the 30 Days SANJŪBANSHIN SHRINES

IN OR NEAR THE CAPITAL The vast majority of the 30 kami reside in shrines near the capital region (Kyoto, Mt. Hiei or Ōtsu, Nara, Osaka). When Nichizō 日像 (1269-1342), a disciple of Nichiren, decided to expand the Hokke (Lotus) teachings in the capital region, he went to great lengths to establish ties with these shrines. Part of his strategy was to promote worship of the sanjūbanshin, for the kami in this grouping were already popular among clerics and residents of the capital. KYOTO SHRINES (KAMI)

Iwashimizu Hachimangū 石清水八幡宮

Kamo Jinja 賀茂神社 (Kamo)

Matsunō Taisha 松尾大社 (Matsunō)

Ōharano Jinja 大原野神社 (Ōhara)

Hirano Jinja 平野神社 (Hirano)

Fushimi Inari Taisha 伏見稲荷大社 (Inari)

Yasaka Jinja 八坂神社 (Gion)

Sekisan Zen-in 赤山禅院 (Sekisan)

Kitano Tenmangū 北野天満宮 (Kitano)

Ebumi Jinja 江文神社 (Ebumi)

Kibune Jinja 貴船神社 (Kifune)



ŌTSU / SHIGA SHRINES (KAMI)

Hiei Taisha West 日吉大社 (Ō-Hiei)

Hiei Taisha East 日吉大社 (Ko-Hiei)

Hiei Taisha Usamiya 日吉大社 (Shōshinji)

Hiei Taisha Shirayama 白山姫神社 (Kyakujin)

Hiei Taisha Hachiōji 八王子社 (Hachiōji)

Takebe Taisha 建部大社 (Takebe)

Shinja 御上神社 (Mikami)

Hyōsu Jinja 兵主神社 (Hyōsu)

Nahaka Jinja 那波賀神社 (Nōka)



NARA SHRINES (KAMI)

Kasuga Taisha 春日大社 (Kasuga)



OSAKA SHRINES (KAMI)

Sumiyoshi Taisha 住吉大社 (Sumiyoshi)



HYŌGO SHRINES (KAMI)

Hirota Jinja 広田神社 (Hirota)

Sanjūbanshin Scroll, Dated 1580

Chishaku-in Temple 智積院

Nichiren Sect Temple

Gamagori City 蒲郡市 (Aichi Pref)

Photo this J-site Ten different Sanjūbanjin groupings developed over the centuries out of Tendai syncretism, Hokke (Nichiren) Shintō, and Yoshida Shintō. Two types are prevalent. The first type reflects the grouping's origin within the Tendai sect, which invoked the 30 kami to protect the Lotus Sutra during ritual copyings of that scripture, although in later centuries the 30 kami served as guardians of other Buddhist scriptures as well. This first type is commonly considered the prototype for all subsequent groupings. The second type includes those promoted by Yoshida Shintō, which relate more specifically to the political world (protecting the capital, the imperial palace, the nation, and heaven/earth/eight directions). In addition, the Nichiren school associated its own protective deities with the 30-kami set, giving rise to a distinctive genre of mandala paintings that included the Sanjūbanjin, Kishimojin 鬼子母神 (demon mother who repents and embraces the teachings of the Lotus Sutra), Shichimen Daimyōjin 七面大明神 (guardian deity of the sect's main temple on Mt. Minobu), and the Rasetsu 羅刹 (10 female demons who convert and thereafter pledge to protect devotees of the Lotus Sutra). The ten groupings as commonly known today are: Thirty tutelaries protecting the Lotus Sutra (Tendai sect). 法華守護の三十番神. Supposedly the kami solicited by Saichō 最澄 (767-822), the Japanese patriarch of Tendai in Japan. This grouping is considered apocryphal, for in the Chōkō Ninnō Hannyagyō Eshiki 長講仁王般若經會式 (T.74, p. 261, or DZ 4), a work attributed to Saichō, the patriarch mentions only six kami (Ōbie, Kobie, Kamo, Sumiyoshi, Kibi, and Kita).

Thirty tutelaries protecting the Sutra of the Lotus of the Wonderful Dharma. 妙法経守護の三十番神. Those invoked by Tendai monk Ennin 円仁 (794-864) before he traveled to China to study Tendai teachings. Considered apocryphal, for records indicate that Ennin venerated only twelve kami, those associated with the twelve signs of the hours of the day (jūnishi 十二支). Ennin's list is said to start with Amaterasu and Hachiman. <Lucia Dolce, p 225

REFERENCES:



Dolce, Lucia (2003) Hokke Shinto. Kami in the Nichiren Tradition. In: Teeuwen, M. and Rambelli, F.,

(eds.), Dolce, Lucia (2003)In: Teeuwen, M. and Rambelli, F.,(eds.), Buddhas and Kami in Japan. Honji Suijaku as a Combinatory Paradigm. Curzon Routledge, pp. 222-54. >

Thirty tutelaries protecting the Dharma (Buddhist Law). 如法守護の三十番神. The group of kami venerated by Tendai monk Ennin 円仁 (794-864) after he returned from China. Keywords: 如法経守護三十番神, Nyohōdō 如法堂, Yokawa 横川. See Table Two below for a complete listing.



REFERENCES:



Dolce, Lucia (2003) Hokke Shinto. Kami in the Nichiren Tradition. In: Teeuwen, M. and Rambelli, F.,

(eds.),



See page 228, where Dolce says "Although Nichiren never mentioned the thirty kami, legends were later created to suggest that these deities had been part of the pantheon of the Hokke school since the time of its founder. One that can be found in early biographies of Nichiren recounts that the sanjubanjin appeared to Nichiren while he was reading the Lotus Sutra in the temple were he lived during his years of study on Mount Hiei. According to these sources, Nichiren wrote down the names of the deities and drew their images; these inscriptions are said to be the jinmyocho (kami register) kept at Myokaiji in Numazu, and the pictorial representation preserved at Rissh?ji in Yamanashi. 14 The story clearly is a later fabrication of sectarian hagiographers who wanted to trace back a current practice to the founder, but it was influential in reinforcing the worship of the sanj?banjin within the Hokke school."



Later on the same page, she says: "The development of a cult of the thirty deities may be more properly linked to the youngest disciple of Nichiren, Nichizo (1269-1342), who went to spread the teachings of Nichiren in the area of the capital. Evidence of his interest in the sanjubanjin comes from the mandalas that Nichizo drew." Dolce, Lucia (2003)In: Teeuwen, M. and Rambelli, F.,(eds.), Buddhas and Kami in Japan. Honji Suijaku as a Combinatory Paradigm. Curzon Routledge, pp. 222-54.See page 228, where Dolce says "Although Nichiren never mentioned the thirty kami, legends were later created to suggest that these deities had been part of the pantheon of the Hokke school since the time of its founder. One that can be found in early biographies of Nichiren recounts that the sanjubanjin appeared to Nichiren while he was reading the Lotus Sutra in the temple were he lived during his years of study on Mount Hiei. According to these sources, Nichiren wrote down the names of the deities and drew their images; these inscriptions are said to be the jinmyocho (kami register) kept at Myokaiji in Numazu, and the pictorial representation preserved at Rissh?ji in Yamanashi. 14 The story clearly is a later fabrication of sectarian hagiographers who wanted to trace back a current practice to the founder, but it was influential in reinforcing the worship of the sanj?banjin within the Hokke school."Later on the same page, she says: "The development of a cult of the thirty deities may be more properly linked to the youngest disciple of Nichiren, Nichizo (1269-1342), who went to spread the teachings of Nichiren in the area of the capital. Evidence of his interest in the sanjubanjin comes from the mandalas that Nichizo drew." Hokke Shinto

REFERENCES:



Hokke Shinto. Literally "Lotus Shinto," a syncretic form that sprang from the Nichiren Sect of Buddhism. The Nichiren sect originated in the Kamakura era (1185 to 1332) and preaches that unmitigated faith in the Lotus Sutra is the sole means of liberation and salvation. Hokke (Lotus) Shinto did not appear until the subsequent Muromachi period (1392 to 1568). It includes worship of the Sanjubanshin (30 Tutelary Deities of the Lotus Sutra) and belief that the deities will protect or abandon the nation based on the people's practice (or neglect) of the teachings in the Lotus Sutra. The development of Lotus Shinto was strongly influenced by Yoshida Shinto.



For more on Japan's many Shinto schools of thought, see Hokke Shinto. Literally "Lotus Shinto," a syncretic form that sprang from the Nichiren Sect of Buddhism. The Nichiren sect originated in the Kamakura era (1185 to 1332) and preaches that unmitigated faith in the Lotus Sutra is the sole means of liberation and salvation. Hokke (Lotus) Shinto did not appear until the subsequent Muromachi period (1392 to 1568). It includes worship of the Sanjubanshin (30 Tutelary Deities of the Lotus Sutra) and belief that the deities will protect or abandon the nation based on the people's practice (or neglect) of the teachings in the Lotus Sutra. The development of Lotus Shinto was strongly influenced by Yoshida Shinto.For more on Japan's many Shinto schools of thought, see Shinto Schools & Sects (this site).

Thirty tutelaries protecting the Humane Kings Sutra 仁王経. Attributed to 11th-century Tendai monk Ryōshō 良正.

Thirty tutelaries protecting heaven, earth, and the eight directions (Tenjin Chigi 天神地祇 or 天地擁護三十番神). Attributed to Yoshida Shintō circles. Consists of 32 deities in a 4 X 8 matrix. The four groups (of eight deities each) are east, north, west, and south. See list at this outside J-site.

Thirty tutelaries protecting the Naishidokoro 内侍所 (inner sanctum of imperial palace, the location of the sacred mirror). This grouping is known as the Naishidokoro Sanjūbanshin 内侍所三十番神. It is attributed to Yoshida Shintō circles. Includes 32 deities. See list at this outside J-site.

Thirty tutelaries protecting the ruler's castle 王城守護三十番神. Attributed to Yoshida Shintō circles. Composed of 32 deities in a 4 x 8 matrix. The four groups of eight deities are classified as (1) left, blue-green dragon; (2) front, red bird; (3) right, white tiger; and (4) back, turtle. See list at this outside J-site. These four creatures are ancient Chinese mythical animals associated with the four cardinal directions. See Four Guardians of the Four Compass Directions for details.

Thirty tutelaries protecting the nation 吾国守護三十番神. Attributed to Yoshida Shintō circles.

Thirty tutelaries protecting the imperial palace 禁闕守護 (Kinketsu Shugo). Attributed to Yoshida Shintō circles; used as well by Ryōbu Shinto 両部神道 (Shingon Sect 真言系); sometimes includes 32 kami, yet still referred to as Sanjūbanshin (30-Kami Group). See Table Three below for a complete listing.



<sources: gleaned from various resources, including J-site #1 and J-site #2> school of the 14th and 15th centuries, although the systematization of the sanjūbanjin is commonly attributed to Ryōshō 良正, superintendent (chōri 長吏) of Shuryōgon'in in the year 1073. believes this set most likely emerged with the Thirty tutelaries protecting the Lotus Sutra 法華経守護の三十番神. The most common grouping both in the past and today. Attributed to Nichiren, although he wrote nothing about them. Scholar Lucia Dolce