Seven Demon Stories from Medieval Japan
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the non-duality of a living human and Buddha. Any doubt about the imme-
diate realization of Buddhahood was solved that day, and from then on
Shingon esoteric Buddhism has prospered. Everyone, I urge you to pursue
the teaching of the Shingon sect and attain enlightenment,” and every one
of the tool priests joyfully embraced the Shingon teachings.
As tsukumogami were all from birth great vessels (capable of holding vast
knowledge), the reality and wisdom of the Two Mandalas as preached in the
King of Sutras (Mahāvairocana Sutra) were transmitted to them completely,
with nothing left out. Holy Ichiren said, “That Ryūchi Daishi (Nāgabodhi)59
of old was waiting for Konchi (Vajrabodhi)60 and Kōchi (Amoghavajra)61
for 800 years, so he took an elixir to (extend his life and) transmit esoteric
Buddhism. As for me, fortunately I am blessed with you disciples and can
teach all doctrines of the Shingon sect. My wish is realized.” So saying, at
the age of 108, Ichiren entered the state of samadhi by reciting mantras
and attained Buddhahood in the sitting posture, there, before his disciples.
Immediately, the west gate of his hut opened, releasing a brilliant light, and
the room transformed into the Paradise of Mahavairocana.
To witness a person attain enlightenment is unheard of even among
the most advanced Bodhisattvas at the tenth stage on the path, let alone
among ordinary and stupid mortals. However, because of the skillful means
of miraculous grace, the practitioners of the Shingon sect are sometimes
able to see it. After witnessing Holy Ichiren attain Buddhahood, the old tool
monks applied themselves to the ascetic practices all the more.
After some time, one old tool monk declared, “While living together
like this is good to teach one another and deepen our knowledge, we may
become lenient toward each other, and this may disturb our practice. That’s
why the scripture says, ‘Go deep into the mountains and seek the way of
Buddha.’ So we should go to the deep mountain valleys, severing any con-
nection with the secular world, and devote ourselves to training.” The rest
of the tool monks agreed, and, though reluctant to part, they went their
separate ways. one decided to live on the carpet of moss between rocks in
deep mountains; another under a pine tree in a valley.
Thus, each tool monk matured in its ascetic practices and attained the
state of Samadhi in their bodies. Depending on the principal Buddha or
national
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The Record of Tool Specters
239
Bodhisattva each tool revered for his or her ascetic practices, the charac-
ter of their attainments varies. Some master the mantra of Kudonsen62
and attain the power of enlightenment associated with that Buddha and
his mantra ( jimyō shicchi ); others attain the power of enlightenment of all
the various Buddhas ( shobutsu shicchi ) by abiding in the central realm of
the mandala [where Dainichi Buddha resides and from whence all other
Buddhas emanate] and from whence one sees the true nature of all things
( chūdai hosshō ).
Regarding the teaching of non-sentient beings realizing Buddhahood,
although both the Tendai and Kegon sects also preach this, their teachings
are amorphous and they have not mastered all the subtleties. Therefore,
while other sects advocate only sōmoku jōbutsu (the enlightenment of plants),
the teaching of the Three Mysteries of the Shingon sect alone goes so
far as to say that sōmoku hijō hosshin shugyō jōbutsu (plants and non-sentient
beings can become Buddhas by arousing the desire for enlightenment and
performing ascetic and religious practices). There is nothing in the jikkai
(ten worlds)67 that does not possess the virtue of the letter A 阿 [which is
the substance of the universe, symbolizing the unity of the whole world,
the origin of all elements of the world].68 If attainment of Buddhahood by
awakening and training is possible for animate beings, how much more so
for non-sentient beings? Now, listening to the tale of how these old tools
came to spiritual awakening, you must believe even more in the profundity
of the yoga of the Three Mysteries.
Scholars of the exoteric Buddhist schools say that according to Agon,69
oni and deities reside on the streets and in the houses, filling every inch of
space. The exoteric Buddhists believe the transformation of old tools into
specters is a result of the deities and oni possessing them. They ask, “How
could inanimate objects have souls?”
Indeed, the difference between esoteric Buddhism and exoteric Buddhism
is great. The self-nature of the letter A exists inherently in both the ani-
mate and inanimate, and the uncreated A does not disappear or become
exhausted. How, then, could the tools—also inanimate objects—need to
borrow the nature of others to become themselves?
If you wish to know the deepest meaning, quickly escape from the net
of exoteric Buddhism and enter Shingon esoteric Buddhism.
nOtes
1. For the study of yōkai, see Foster, Book of Yokai; Foster, Pandemonium and Parade.
2. Kabat writes that tool specters thrive in eighteenth-century kibyōshi (yellow-backed
comic books) of the early modern period. In many cases, these specters are little helpers to
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humans and not the abandoned, aged objects that bear grudges against people. In that sense,
as Kabat suggests, it might be better not to call them “tool specters tsukumogami” (“ ‘Mono’
no obake”).
3. For a brief explanation of otogizōshi, see the introduction.
4. The founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism. He founded Kongōbu-ji in Mt. Kōya
in present-day Wakayama prefecture.
5. Following Tanaka Takako ( Hyakki yagyō no mieru toshi 163), who views the variety of
extant Tsukumogami ki texts as parodies of traditional Chinese ki 記 (descriptions, records), I use the title Tsukumogami ki to refer collectively to all Tsukumogami ki manuscripts discussed in this chapter.
6. I follow Kakehi’s classification (5). There is only one Type A manuscript: the Sōfukuji
scrolls, dated to the sixteenth century (okudaira 180–87; Shinbo and Kaneko
121–29 [pic-
tures] and 222–32 [text]; Gifushi rekishi hakubutsukan 67–73). The painter and calligrapher
of the scrolls are not known. As for Type B texts, several Edo-period scrolls exist, including
manuscripts in the possession of the National Diet Library ( MJMT 9: 417–25); Kyoto Uni-
versity Library (Kyoto daigaku bungakubu kokugogaku kokubungaku kenkyūshitsu 337–47;
Kyoto daigaku fuzoku toshokan; Iwase Bunko in Nishio City; Tokyo National Museum;
Waseda University Library. Except for the Waseda University manuscript, in terms of illus-
trations and language, the Type B scrolls are all very similar. See Shibata, “Tsukumogami kaidai” 392–93.
7. Susuharai is not only a large annual housecleaning event but also a part of the preparation rituals for welcoming a Shinto god of the coming year or a harvest god. It is the day to
remove the accumulated misfortunes of the year ( yaku), as well as to expunge one’s defilements and crimes. See Kagiwada 120. An entry for the sixth day of the twelfth month of
1236 in Azuma kagami (Mirror of the East, ca. thirteenth century) records the susuharai event at the Kamakura military court. It also recounts that susuharai activities were not carried out in a newly built residence for three years ( KT 33: 185). Later, commoners are said to have followed this custom.
8. The Sonshō Darani is more properly known as the Butchō Sonshō Darani (Dhāranī of the victorious Buddha crown). It was widely used to prevent natural disasters, secure longevity,
and ward off evil.
9. Guardian spirits who protect the Dharma from its enemies. Regarding gohō dōji, see
Blacker.
10. Tōji is the head temple ( daihonzan) and central training center ( konpon dōjō ) of the Shingon sect of esoteric Buddhism in Kyoto. “Yataku schools” refers to the ono 小野 and
Hirosawa 広沢 schools. Combining the second character from each school’s name, that is,
野 and 沢, they are together called “Yataku” 野沢. They arose within the Shingon sect in the
mid-Heian period. Each school was further broken down into six sub-schools.
11. Similar to the Sōfukuji text, Kōbō daishi gyōjō ekotoba (owned by Tōji) includes a paragraph describing the Tōji school’s superiority. The paragraph explains that in response to a
prince’s command to summarize the teachings of the Shingon sect, Priest Seison (ca. early
eleventh century) of the ono school of the Shingon sect wrote that “there are various
schools that teach esoteric Buddhism. But the Tōji school follows the teachings of Kūkai
and possesses ten aspects that are superior to other schools” ( ZNET 5: 114). Kōbō daishi gyōjō ekotoba also includes this explanation of Kūkai writing a waka poem at Muroto: “As a custom of Japan, [he] wrote the following waka” ( ZNET 5: 109). The sentence is similar to a sentence in the Type B texts, to the effect that “[composing] waka is a traditional Japanese
custom.”
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241
12. Kakehi surmises that the length of the original first and second scrolls would have
been more or less the same. While the first scroll of the Type B texts is slightly shorter than
the second scroll, the first scroll of the Type A text is considerably shorter than the second
scroll (Kakehi 7). Tanaka follows Kakehi’s assumption.
13. The transmission of Shingon teachings from Huiguo (746–806; the seventh patriarch
in the lineage of Shingon esoteric Buddhism) to Kūkai is sometimes said to have resembled
“[water] pouring into an earthenware pot” ( ZNET 5: 114).
14. For a discussion of enlightenment for plants and trees, see LaFleur; chapter 1 of
Rambelli.
15. See Stone, especially chapters 1 and 3. Also see Kushida 720–31.
16. The question of “universal Buddhahood” has been an important issue in Japanese
Buddhism, eventually encompassing the idea of the attainment of Buddhahood by non-
sentient beings. A major example of this debate is that between Saichō or Dengyō Daishi
(d. 822), the founder of the Tendai sect of Buddhism, and Tokuitsu, Saichō’s contemporary
and a revered priest of the Hossō sect. The former contended that every person can attain
Buddhahood, whereas the latter argued that the attainment of Buddhahood depends on the
individual.
17. Furthermore, according to Buddhist cosmology, the natural world ( shizenkai ) is also
called the material world or container world ( kisekai or kikai ), in accord with a view of the universe as a container. Thus, ki 器 encompasses not only the natural world but also the
environment in which we live. By casting “containers” as the story’s protagonists, the Tsuku-
mogami ki author cleverly incorporates a Buddhist metaphor of the universe.
18. Shibusawa Tatsuhiko calls material objects dai ni no shizen, or Second Nature. He
explains that as material civilization progresses, man becomes more skeptical and souls/
spirits become separated from the materials in which they were believed to reside. With
technological progress, more complex tools are produced and the souls/spirits find their
homes in those artifacts. Shibusawa writes that man’s attitude toward the tools resembles the
relationship between man and nature, and tools become substitutes for nature. The produc-
ers of the objects are excessively fond of what they create, and the objects easily become a
fetish. See Shibusawa 89–92.
19. For a study of hyakki yagyō emaki, see Lillehoj.
20. For the definition of hyakki yagyō, see Foster, Pandemonium and Parade 8–9.
21. The tsukumogami ’s encounter with the prince regent on his way to the imperial palace refers to the story of Fujiwara no Morosuke (908–60) in Ōkagami ( SNKBZ 34: 166–67; McCullough, Ōkagami 136). Further, the Sonshō Darani charm on the regent that protects him from the demons is described in Konjaku monogatarishū 14: 47 (“Sonshō Darani no genriki ni yorite oni no nan o nogaruru koto”) in SNKBZ 35: 508–12; Tyler, Japanese Tales 237–39).
Komine (“Hyakki yagyō emaki and Parody” 12) asserts that the various hyakki yagyō emaki
are parodies of Heian hyakki yagyō, while Tanaka considers them just variant representations of Heian hyakki yagyō ( Hyakki yagyō no mieru toshi 160–61).
22. Translation by Helen Craig McCullough ( Tales of Ise 125).
23. For the original text of Sou shen ji, see Gan, Sou shen ji 146–48. For a Japanese translation, see Gan, Sōshinki 232–35. A similar story of objects’ transformations appears in an account of yōkai in volume 6 of Sōshinki. See Gan, Sōshinki 105; Gan, Sou shen ji 67.
24. Concerning the characters 付喪神, the commentary Reizei-ke ryū Ise shō (Reizei School
Annotations to the Tales of Ise, ca. thirteenth century) explains that “[the woman who
appears in the sixty-third story of Ise monogatari] is not exactly ninety-nine years old. However, she makes nocturnal strolls, peeks at Narihira, and creates wretched, painful misfortune 喪
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[glossed wazawai (misfortune or calamity) in small katakana characters]” (Katagiri, Ise monogatari no kenkyū 358). Tanaka ( Hyakki yagyō no mieru toshi 175) surmises that the characters 付喪
神 ( tsukumogami; lit. adding/joint mourning deities) was created from つくも髪 ( tsukumogami; lit. hair of tsukumo) by applying phonetically equivalent characters that look monstrous.
25. Hanada (434) posits that the view of old tools as oni reflects a Muromachi-like mate-
rialistic interpretation of hyakki yagyō.
26. Konjaku monogatarishū 27: 23, “Ryōshi no haha oni to narite ko wo kurawamu to suru
koto” (How the hunters’ m
other became an oni and tried to devour her children), in SNKBZ
38: 76–78; Ury, Tales of Times Now Past 163–65.
27. one day a mysterious young woman of peerless beauty and intelligence appears in
the palace of the retired Emperor Toba (1103–56). The retired emperor falls in love with the
woman, who is named Tamamo no mae, and he becomes seriously ill. A diviner attributes
the retired emperor’s illness to the mysterious woman, whose real identity is an 800-year-old
fox with two tails. The fox had earlier disturbed India as the malicious consort Huayang, who
asked for the head of the king; in China, the fox had become the wicked consort Taji. In
the end, Tamamo no mae was killed and turned into a stone. The stone then killed the living
creatures that came near it by emitting a toxic gas from within.
28. The Fudō riyaku engi story concerns a monk who sacrifices his life to save his master.
A revered monk is afflicted by a serious illness, whereupon a diviner reveals that the monk
will be saved if someone takes his place in death. An obscure monk, who regularly prays to
Fudō, volunteers. Fudō is so moved by the obscure monk’s sincerity and physical suffering
that he deigns to save both men.
29. For Onmyōdō , see note 1 of chapter 3.
30. Konjaku monogatarishū 27: 6, “Higashi Sanjō no akagane no tama hito no katachi to
narite horiidasaru koto (How the spirit of red copper on East Third Avenue took human
form and was excavated),” in SNKBZ 38: 33–35.
31. In’yōzakki. The work is assumed to be in classical Chinese. However, nothing about
this work is known; there is no known text with this title.
32. The story appears in Zuo Zhuan (Chronicle of Zuo, ca. fourth century BCE), the earliest Chinese narrative history. Quoted in the head note of Washio 16.
33. The reference is unknown.
34. Traditionally, on the night of setsubun, people scatter beans, one for each of their years alive, saying “oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi” (demons out, fortune in). In some rites, a male from
the community goes to a house pretending to be an oni (wearing a paper oni mask) and is
chased out while people scatter their beans.
35. Mt. Funaoka, which is more like a hill, is located northwest of the capital, Kyoto
(present-day Kita-ku).
36. Nagasaka is a mountainous road that leads to Tanba Province (an area that straddles