Kumano faith - Kumano faith

The faith, centered on the Kumano Sanzan, became popular during the Insei period (1086-1192). The Kumano region, which covers Higashimuro and Nishimuro districts in Wakayama Prefecture, Shingu and Tanabe cities, and Kitamuro and Minamimuro districts in Mie Prefecture, Kumano and Owase cities, has long been considered a mysterious place, perhaps due to its topography. One of the chapters in the Kamiyo chapter of the Nihon Shoki records that Izanami-no-Mikoto was buried here, and the Nihon Ryōiki records that Buddhists were practicing asceticism here at the end of the Nara period. In the early Heian period, Shugendo training halls were opened from Mount Kinpu in Yoshino, Yamato (Nara Prefecture) to Kumano, while Emperor Uda visited Hongu and Shingu in 907 (Engi 7), and it is said that Emperor Kazan also visited and practiced at Nachi at the end of the 10th century. It was with the visit of Emperor Shirakawa in 1090 (Kanji 4) that Kumano faith, centered around the three Kumano mountains, suddenly flourished. At that time, the retired emperor donated 100 hectares of rice fields, created the position of Sanzan Kengyo for the first time, giving him the rank of Zoyo, and appointed the head priest of the mountain, Chokai, to the rank of Hokkyo, thus establishing the religious and economic foundations of the Kumano Sanzan.

After that, temples and pagodas were erected for each successive visit, and the temple saw a great development due to visits by the retired Emperor Toba, the retired Emperor Goshirakawa, the Empress Dowagers, and the nobles. On the one hand, people at that time were afraid of the Latter Day of the Law and longed for Amida Pure Land, but when they learned that Mount Hodaraka (Mount Fudaraku) in the south, where the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara lives, as mentioned in the "Entry into the Dharma Realm" chapter of the "Avatamsaka Sutra," was to be Kumano, and that the original Buddha of the main shrine was Amida Nyorai, that of the new shrine was Yakushi Nyorai, and that the original Buddha of Nachi was Kannon Bodhisattva, they sought to reach the Pure Land while still alive. Also, at that time, pilgrimages were popular among the general public, and so many people made pilgrimages from the Nakahechi and Ohechi routes in Kishu, as well as from the Ise route, that it was said that there were many pilgrims making the pilgrimage to Kumano. Under the Kengyo system, each of the three mountains had its own organization, with masters and guides, but on the Kishu route, Kumano pilgrims would visit the Oji Gongen, also known as Nyakuichioji and Tsukumooji, and stay at the lodgings of the three mountains while on their pilgrimage. Eventually, the masters would travel to various provinces, forming relationships with their followers, and Kumano faith became widespread throughout the country.

Kumano faith thus originated from Pure Land faith and the belief in longevity, but later it became a widespread faith, with the distribution of the Kumano Goohoin, a stylized symbol of the eight-headed crow. Furthermore, the three mountains had abundant economic power, and during the Muromachi period the Oshi (master priests) had already started a foreign exchange system, and during the Edo period they provided financial loans to feudal lords and lower classes, while also working to widely spread the faith to the masses. As a result, Kumano shrines were established as far away as the Tohoku region, Kyushu, and Okinawa, and the faith spread throughout the country.

[Junichi Kamata]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

熊野三山を中心とする信仰で、院政時代（1086～1192）より流行した。和歌山県東牟婁(ひがしむろ)・西牟婁郡と新宮(しんぐう)市・田辺(たなべ)市、三重県北牟婁・南牟婁郡と熊野市・尾鷲(おわせ)市にわたる熊野の地は、その地勢からか、古くから神秘の地とみられ、『日本書紀』神代巻の一書に、伊弉冉尊(いざなみのみこと)を葬ったとも記されているが、『日本霊異記(りょういき)』では、奈良時代末期に仏教者がこの地で修行していたことを記している。そして、平安初期には大和(やまと)（奈良県）吉野金峰山(きんぶせん)より熊野にかけての修験(しゅげん)の道場が開かれ、一方では907年（延喜7）宇多(うだ)法皇が本宮・新宮に御幸し、10世紀末には花山(かざん)法皇も御幸、那智(なち)で修行したと伝承されている。そのような熊野の三山を中心に急激に熊野信仰が隆盛を極めるようになったのは、白河(しらかわ)上皇の1090年（寛治4）御幸よりのことである。そのとき、上皇は田100町歩を寄進、三山検校(けんぎょう)職を初めて置いて、これに増誉(ぞうよ)をあて、当山別当長快(ちょうかい)を法橋(ほっきょう)に叙したことで、熊野三山の宗教的、経済的な基盤が確立した。

　そのあと続いての御幸ごとに堂塔の建立も行われ、さらに鳥羽(とば)上皇、後白河(ごしらかわ)上皇、女院方の御幸、貴族たちの参詣(さんけい)によって飛躍的な発展をみた。それは、一方に当時の人々が末法の恐怖におびえ、阿弥陀浄土(あみだじょうど)にあこがれていたが、『華厳経(けごんきょう)』入法界品(にゅうほっかいぼん)にいう観自在菩薩(かんじざいぼさつ)のすむ南方の補陀洛迦(ほだらか)山（補陀落(ふだらく)山）を熊野にあて、本宮の本地仏を阿弥陀如来(にょらい)、新宮の本地仏を薬師(やくし)如来、那智の本地仏を観音(かんのん)菩薩と説かれると、生きながら補陀落浄土へ至ることを求めたためである。また当時、一般に物詣(もう)での風が盛んとなっていたためであり、紀州の中辺路(なかへち)、大辺路(おおへち)、また伊勢(いせ)路の両道から「蟻(あり)の熊野詣で」といわれるほど多くの参詣者を出したのである。三山では検校職のもと、それぞれ独自の組織で、師職、先達(せんだつ)を有していたが、熊野道者は紀州路では、若一王子(にゃくいちおうじ)、九十九王子といわれる王子権現(ごんげん)に詣で、三山の宿坊に泊まり参詣するようになると、師職はやがて諸国に出かけて師檀(しだん)関係を結んで熊野信仰を全国的なものとするに至った。

　熊野信仰は、このように初めは浄土信仰、また延命長寿を求めての信仰より発したが、のち八咫烏(やたがらす)を図案化した熊野牛王宝印(ごおうほういん)を配布するような広い信仰となる。さらに三山は豊富な経済力をもって、室町時代にすでに御師(おし)は為替(かわせ)制度を始め、江戸時代には諸大名以下に金融貸付をするとともに、衆庶に広く信仰を説くことに努めたので、遠く東北地方、また九州より沖縄にまで熊野神社が勧請(かんじょう)され、まさに全国的な信仰となっていった。

［鎌田純一］

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