30/08/2014

Yakubyogami

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- - - - - eki-ki 疫鬼 Oni bringing disease - see below
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Yakubyoogami 疫病神 / 厄病神 Yakubyogami, Deity of Diseases
eyami no kami えやみのかみ gyooyakujin 行疫神 gyoyakujin
ekijin, yakujin 疫神 / byoshin 病神 / yakushin 厄神 (ヤクシン)

A deity that brings epidemic diseases.
It was feared a lot, since there was no medicine for empdemic diseases in former times.
He takes on the form of an old man or woman with pale skin color and appears in all parts of Japan. He walks into homes and brings epidemic illness and misfortune to its inhabitants.
Many villages hung a sacred rope (shimenawa) in front of the village entrance to keep him out.

疫病神 Yakubyo-gami

- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

During the Heian period, it was thought of as a demon, like the Demon of Illness 疫鬼 from China.

There were some rituals to appease him and keep him out of the town.
People also bought amulets to keep healthy.


To hang an image of Shoki 鍾馗, the Demon Queller, in a room was also thought to keep him out.


Shoki fighting against the demons
Kawanabe Kyosai 河鍋暁斎画
. Shooki 鍾馗 Shoki The Demon Queller .


Images of Ganzan Daishi 元三大師, priest Ryōgen 良源 were also presumed to keep off epidemic diseases.


source : en.wikipedia.org

. Ganzan Daishi 元三大師 . - (912 – 985)

Abe no Seimei was also fighting the Yakubyogami folks.
. Abe no Seimei 阿倍晴明 .
(February 21, 921 – October 31, 1005)

. Yōka 八日様 Yoka Sama, the Honorable Day Eight .
with rituals for Yakubyogami

. Rokusan Sama 六三さま Six-Three Deity of Illness .
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. hashika, mashin 麻疹と伝説 Legends about measles, rubeola .

. hoosoo 疱瘡 伝説 Hoso - Legends about Smallpox .
- tennentoo 天然痘 / toosoo 痘瘡 smallpox, variola

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不動利益縁起絵巻 - Fudo Riyaku Engi Emaki
- 鎌倉期14Cより - 泣不動縁起絵, 証空絵詞
From temple 三井寺 Miidera.



This piece is also known as Naki Fudō Engi-e (Story of Crying Fudō) or Shoukū Ekotoba (Illustrated Story of Shoukū).

There are parts missing before and after this emaki, but the story is roughly the following. Chikoo 智興 of Mitsui-ji 三井寺 temple became ill, and his disciple Shoukū 証空 decided to take on the illness in his place.
The first picture depicts a scene where Shoukū's mother is grieving upon hearing his decision.
In the second scene, Chikou and the demon of ill health are in his quarter of the temple, and following that, Abe no Seimei sets up an altar and prays for the substitution of the ill body. There are ghosts in front of the altar.
In the third scene, Shoukū, who took on the illness, prays to Fudou Myouou (a powerful deity) for help. Then Fudo Myo-o takes on the illness, thereby Shoukū's pain disappears. Fudou Myouou was tied up and sent to the realm of the dead. The ruler of the realm was astounded by that, and released Fudou Myouou immediately. He returns riding on a cloud. After this scene, only the words survived, which says that Shoukū, recovered from illness, meets his mother again, rejoicing.

The story seems to have been popular in the medieval period, as there were a number of versions produced in that period that have survived. Among them, this piece is a rare one for its time of production in the late Kamakura period, which is indicated by its features of the solid lines for the shapes of buildings, and the free and easy style of the landscapes and mists, which is not formalized yet.
This piece can be said to be one of the most valuable emaki in the history of Japanese art.

「泣不動縁起絵」、「証空絵詞」の名でも知られる。
絵巻の前後に欠失があるが、およその話は次の通り。三井寺の僧・智興が病にかかり、弟子の証空が師に代わってその病を受ける決意をする。
第一段の絵は証空がその決意を母に告げ、母が嘆き悲しむところ。
第二段は智興の坊に病の彼と病魔がおり、つづいて阿部清明が祭壇を設けて病身身代わりの祈祷を行うところ。祭壇の前にはもののけたちがいる。
第三段では病を受けた証空が、苦しみのなかで不動明王の画像に助けてくれることを祈ると、不動明王がその病を受け、証空の病は消える。不動明王は縛られて冥府に向かうが、冥王はそれを見てびっくり。不動明王は直ちに解放され、雲に乗って帰還する。このあとは第四段の詞のみが残り、病の癒えた証空が母と再会し喜ぶことが書かれている。
- source : www.emuseum.jp/detail


. Naki Fudo 泣き不動 / 泣不動 Weeping Fudo .

. Fudō Myō-ō, Fudoo Myoo-Oo 不動明王 Fudo Myo-O
Acala Vidyârâja - Vidyaraja - Fudo Myoo .


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. shimenawa 注連縄 a sacred rope .

. yakuyoke 厄除け amulets to ward off evil .
ekibyooyoke 疫病除 ekibyo-yoke, to ward off disease and illness

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ekijin 疫神 ekijin
. Ootokuji 王徳寺 Otoku-Ji . - Matsumoto, Nagano


gyooyakujin 行疫神 gyoyakujin
The god of epidemic diseases 行疫神(ぎょうやくじん) had to be appeased by scattering cherry blossoms in the wind.
. Mount Miwa (三輪山, Miwa-yama, Miwayama) .
Hanashizume matsuri 鎮花祭 "appease the blossoms"


. Kakinomoto Hitomaro 柿本人麻呂 Hitomaru 人丸 / 人麿 . .
seen as yakubyoo yoke no kami 疫病除け神 - Yakubyo Deity to ward off infectious diseases

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. akamono, aka mono 赤もの red things .
They ward off smallpox and other diseases of children. Also to ward off evil generally.
doll of aka Tenjin 赤天神 red Tenjin sama

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Yakubyogami - by Kurokawa Hiroyuki

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source : Matthew Meyer

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- quote
Monster Papercraft - Yakubyogami


Yakubyogami - a demon that causes illness, misfortune, and sorrow.
Until the late 19th century, Japanese people believed illness was spread by evil gods called yakubyogami. At first these gods were thought to take human form, but later, influenced by thinking in texts from China, some people came to think of them as little beasties small enough to enter the body.
- source : paperkraft.blogspot.jp

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- - - The three deities most feared in Japan:

. Shinigami 死神 God of Death "Grim Reaper" .

. Binbogami, Binboo Gami 貧乏神 Bimbogami, God of Poverty .

. Yakubyoogami 疫病神 Yakubyogami, Deity of Diseases .

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- Reference : 疫病神
- Reference : yakubyogami

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疫鬼 eki oni (エキオニ) // eki ki, eki-ki (えきき) Oni bringing disease
ekki 疫鬼(えっき)



source : www.emuseum.jp/detail...
Painting from the Heian period

. tsuina 追儺 "demon exorcism" rituals .

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説 民話 昔話 – ABC-List .

疫鬼 eki-ki
During epidemics people made small dolls and let them flow away in rivers, especially on the 30th day of the 6th and 12th lunar month.
The origin was the purification ritual at 伊勢神宮 Ise Jingu in the sixth lunar month.
Tsuina 疫鬼 eki-oni,家鬼 ie-oni (home-Oni) exorcist rituals were also performed at the Imperial palace.

In China it was also customary to drive out the 疫鬼 yakuki,疫神 yakugami Deity of Illness by putting an image of them on a boat and let if float away.

................................................................................. Hiroshima 広島県
三次市 Miyoshi

yakuki 疫鬼,yakugami 疫神,binbogami 貧乏神
Once upon a time
at 備後国三好鳳源寺 the temple Hogen-Ji in Miyoshi an old skinny man with white hair and a pale face wanted to come in. But the priest threw him out and the figure soon disappeared.
Around this temple there had been an epidemy, but since this event, the village had been spared any contagious disease.



................................................................................. Shizuoka 静岡県
浜松市 Hamamatsu

yakuja 疫邪 / yakuoni 疫鬼
Once upon a time
some people from Hamamatsu met a huge old priest of more than 180 cm hight clad in red robes, with 錫杖 a red walking staff in his left hand and 払子 a priest's fly-whisk in his left. The old priest had many disciples walking with him.
They had a session of questions and answers. The old priest opened a box he had carried and showd them a cut-off head, which gave of a very bad smell. When the villagers begun to shout in disgust, the old priest suddenly disappeared.
But the bad smell remained in their noses and many of them fell ill very soon after that meeting.



................................................................................. Tochigi 栃木県

. オカイモ Okaimo potatoes to keep away Yakubyogami .



................................................................................. Yamanashi 山梨県

. Yamanokami and Yakubyogami .


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source : ameblo.jp/blue-hiro-bigboy.....
hōsōshi 方相氏 Hososhi, demon exorcist with a mask of four eyes


寃鬼 enoki, enki ,疫鬼 eki-ki
In former times, even Tengu were seen as some kind of enoki, yuurei 寃鬼(ゆうれい) ghost.
They take over the curse of someone killed or who died unnaturally.

Legend knows that the three children of a Chinese emperor became Eki-Ki after a violent death.
In Japan they are mentioned first in a book called
儺祭詞 - なのまつりのことば Nanomatsuri no Kotoba : 穢悪伎疫鬼」きたなきおに - kitanaki oni - "dirty demons".
They were driven out at the Imperial palace with the Tsuina rituals.
They are also known in Korea.

When a person has just died and his soul is still hanging around, it might become a konpaku 魂魄 Enoki demon and visible to other people. This is also called yuurei 幽霊 a ghost.
This Enoki looks like clouds and haze. Just like weather clouds and haze can gather in the sky and the earth, the vapor of an Enoki can gather and become visible.
If someone has died a while ago and Enoki is seen, it will turn into a yookai 妖怪 apparition of a Fox or Tanuki badger.
If the soul hangs inbetween the realm of Yin and Young and becomes hardened, it is called 疫鬼 Eki-Ki, a "Disease Demon".

Once upon a time
a priest went to a bookstore to buy 易経 the I-Ching. When he read some of the hand-written comments in the book, be begun to laugh. That night he developed a fever and headache and was about to die.
Just then at the nearby home of a Master Confucianist a strange thing happened. One of his disciples, who had died some months ago, came to the gate and wanted to visit him.
He explained that after his death his wife had written some comments in the I-Ching and a priest, who had read them today and laughed in mockery, was now just about to die. He had gotten angry and knocked the priest on his head, but wanted to see his Master to have a look at the priest too. The Master suggested that his disciple would agree to have his grave built at the temple to save the priest. And indeed, the priest came back to life and begun reading the sutras for the Eki-Ki disciple.

. konpaku 魂魄 legends about two souls .

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takebungani 武文蟹 / 武文ガニ Takebun crabs
- - - onigani 鬼蟹 demon crabs
- - - kimengani 鬼面蟹 crabs with demon faces

a kind of Heikegani 平家蟹 Crabs of the Heike clan - Heikea japonicum
... a species of crab native to Japan, with a shell that bears a pattern resembling a human face which many believed to be the face of an angry samurai hence the nickname Samurai Crab.


source : blog.livedoor.jp/ufodouji-tec_rec/archives.....

These crabs are also called
Shimamuragani 島村蟹
named after 島村武文 Shimamura Takebun

. Heikegani 平家蟹 Crabs of the Heike clan and Heike legends .

................................................................................. Hiroshima 広島県
尼崎市 Amagasaki 大物町 Daimotsucho

takebungani 武文蟹 Takebun crabs
In the port of 摂州大物浦 Daimotsu-no-Ura there are Takebun crabs, Samurai crabs.
attributed to the soul of 秦武文 Hata no Takebun, who had to kill himself in the port of Hyogo 兵庫湊 in 1331.
His Enoki demon soul eventually shape-shifted into a crab.
(They are a kind of Heikegani 平家蟹 Heike crabs, Heikea japonicum).

People hang the these crab shells at the entry of the home to prevent demons and bad luck to come it.


- and the opposite reading, another Yokai monster

kanioni, kani-oni 蟹鬼(かにおに) Crab-Demon monster


source : youkaiwiki.com/entry...


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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -
56 病神 byoshin to collect
28 厄神 Yakushin to collect

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- - - - -  H A I K U  - - - - -

疫病神貧乏神もお立ちかな
ekibyogami binboogami mo o-tachi kana

the god of disease
and the god of poverty
are both leaving . . .


Maruyama Ryuugen 丸山柳絃 Maruyama Ryugen

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. Shrine, Shinto Shrine (jinja 神社) - Introduction .

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- #yakubyogami #ekibyo #akamono #yakushin #yakujin -
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6 comments:

Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Kanagawa, 川崎市 Kawasaki

Mikaribaba, Mikari Basan 蓑借り婆さん / ミカリバアサン "old hag Mikari"
みかり婆


yookadoo ヨウカドウ Yokado
Mikari Basan comes on the first day of the 12th lunar month. She comes with flames, picks up any rice grains and makes dumplings so that there will be no fire.
Hitotsume no Ba 一つ目の婆 The old hag with one eye does not like baskets with many openings (eyes). She can fly all the way to Hakone, but might hit the mountains and fall into the see. So she avoids the Western direction.
Until the 8th day, she writes all the names of ill people in her choomen 帳面 business ledger and brings it to the deity of the fields, サイノ神 Sai no Kami.
This ledger is burned in the ritual fires of サイト焼 Saitoyaki on the 14th day. But she comes back on the 8th day of the 2nd lunar month.
On the 8th day, she passes above the roof, so people put up a basket on a pole.
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https://kappapedia.blogspot.com/2018/07/mikaribaba-mikari-basan-yokai.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Akita
平鹿郡 Hiraka district

At the entrance to the 平柳 Hirayanagi hamlet there was a huge tree.
They say it was a 卒塔婆 Sotoba they had planted there many years ago during a ritual for Ekijin 疫神 Yakubyogami, the deity of diseases.
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https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2019/11/sotoba-grave-marker-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

byooshin 病神 Byoshin, deity of diseases
When a child became ill and sees something black attacking it in a dream. it must be the Byoshin 病神 Deity of disease.
In former times, when someone got diarrhea during an epidemy, they said it must have been the attack of the Byoshin.
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https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2019/11/geri-sekiri-dysentery-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...


hayariyamai はやり病 / 流行病と伝説 Legends about epidemics
densenbyoo 伝染病 Densenbyo contagious diseases

with legends about the Deity of Disease
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https://heianperiodjapan.blogspot.com/2020/02/hayariyamai-epidemic-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Legend from Tokyo, Asakusa
.
. Yakubyogami 疫病神 / 厄病神 Deity of Diseases .

In the year 1848 in Autumn, a pandemic was in the city. An old woman from Asakusa was walking with a strange youg woman, who said she had not eaten for some days. The old woman cooked some soba そば buckwheat noodles for her. After the meal the young woman thanked her and said she was in reality ekijin 疫神 the Deity of Disease. She instructed the old woman that if she would feel ill, she should soon eat some dojoo どじょう loach to get better soon.
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https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2020/05/asakusa-legends.html
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Gabi Greve said...

Kanagawa
一つ目小僧は厄神の使い。
Hitotsume Kozo is the messenger of Yakushin.
.
shinshi 神使 messenger of god, divine messenger
kami no o-tsukai 神のお使い / 神の使い
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https://japanshrinestemples.blogspot.com/2020/03/shinshi-otsukai-messenger.html
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