would color-swapped Kuuya be Juuya or Luuya?

OKAY but this is actually perfect!!!!! *Quick disclaimer that i dont know japanese that well and i feel like im completely free-balling in terms of cultural nuance, but anyways:

Kuuya's name written in kanji could be 空也, and the character "空" means "emptiness/ absence (of something)" ; and Juuya can be written as 充也, which 充 means "to be full (of something)" so it all works out!!!! what!!!!!!!!!!!!

juuya also looks like he runs pyramid schemes.

Horned hermits and immoral immortals: an inquiry into Zanmu's background

As you might remember from my previous post covering Zanmu, I was initially unable to tell how her historical background led to ZUN choosing to make her an oni. The historical, or at least legendary, Zanmu seemed to be, for all intent and purposes, a human. That has since changed, and the matter now seems considerably more clear to me. Read on to learn more about the real monk Zanmu is based on, and to find out what she has in common with the most famous Zen master in history, Taoist immortals, and Tsuno Daishi. Even if you are not particularly interested in Zanmu, this article might still worth be checking out, seeing as the discussed primary sources are also relevant to a number of other Touhou characters, including Byakuren, Yoshika and Kasen.

As in the case of the previous Touhou article, special thanks go to @just9art, who helped me with tracking down sources advised me while I was working on this.

The historical Zanmu

Statue of Zanmu from the Sazaedo pagoda (Fukushima Travel; reproduced for educational purposes only) As already pointed out by 9 here even before my previous post about Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost, Zanmu is based on a real monk also named Zanmu. His full name was Nichihaku Zanmu (日白残夢), and he also went by Akikaze Dōjin, but even Japanese wikipedia simply refers to him as Zanmu. ZUN basically just swapped one kanji in the name, with 日白残夢 becoming 日白残無. The character 無, which replaces original 夢 (“dream”), means “nothingness” - more on that later.The search for sources pertaining to the historical Zanmu has tragically not been very successful. In contrast with some of the stars of the previous installments, like Prince Shotoku or Matarajin, he clearly isn’t the central topic of any monographs or even just journal articles. Ultimately the main sources to fall back on are chiefly offhand mentions, blog articles and some tweets of variable trustworthiness. The only academic publication in English I was able to locate which mentions Zanmu at all is the Japanese Biographical Index from 2004, published by De Gruyter. The price of this book is frankly outrageous for what it is, so here’s the sole mention of him screencapped for your convenience:

The book referenced here is the five volume biographical dictionary Dai Nihon Jinmei Jisho from 1937. I am unable to access it, but I was nonetheless able to cobble together some information about Zanmu from other sources. Not much can be said about Zanmu’s personal life. He was a Buddhist monk (though note a legend apparently refers to him as “neither a monk nor a layperson”, a formula typically designating legendary ascetics and the like) and a notable eccentric. Both of these elements are present in the bio of his Touhou counterpart.

The Sazaedo pagoda (Fukushima Travel; reproduced for educational purposes only)

Zanmu’s tangible accomplishments seem to be tied to the temple Shoso-ji, which he apparently founded. He is enshrined in the Sazaedo pagoda near it, though this building postdates him by over 200 years. It’s located in Aizuwakamatsu in Fukushima. You can see some additional photos of his statue displayed there in this tweet. It’s a pretty famous location due to its unique double helix structure, and it has a pretty extensive article on the Japanese wikipedia. It’s also covered on multiple tourist-oriented sites in English, where more photos are available (for example here or here). There’s even a model kit representing it out there. Sazeado’s fame does not really seem to have anything to do with Zanmu, though. While many Buddhist figures ZUN used as the basis for Touhou characters in the past belonged to the “esoteric” schools (Tendai and Shingon), Zanmu was a practitioner of the much better known Zen, specifically of the Rinzai school.

The kanji mu (無 ) caligraphed by Shikō Munakata (Saint Louis Art Museum; reproduced for educational purposes only) Since the concept of “nothingness” or “emptiness” represented by the kanji 無 (mu) plays a vital role in Zen (see here or here for a more detailed treatment of this topic; it’s covered on virtually every Zen-related website possible though), and there’s even a so-called mu kōan, it strikes me as possible this is the reason behind the slightly different writing of the names of ZUN’s Zanmu, as well as the source of her ability. Granted, the dialogue in the games makes it sound like Zanmu (and by extension Hisami) just talks about nothingness as a memento mori of sorts, which is not quite what it entails in Zen. Of course, ZUN does not adapt Buddhist doctrine 1:1 (lest we forget Kasen seemingly being unaware of the basics of Mahayana in WaHH) so this point might be irrelevant.

The legendary Zanmu

The eccentric monk Ikkyū (center), as imagined by Kawanabe Kyōsai (Egenolf Gallery; reproduced for educational purposes only)

A number of legends developed around the historical Zanmu. If this blog post is to be trusted, there is a tradition according to which he was a student of arguably the most famous member of the Rinzai school, and probably one of the most famous Buddhist monks in the history of Japan in general, Ikkyū. He is remembered as the archetypal eccentric monk, and spent much of his life traveling as a vagabond due to his disagreements with Buddhist establishment and unusual personal views on matters such as celibacy. As I already said in my previous article pertaining to Zanmu, long time readers of my blog might know Ikkyū from the tale of Jigoku Dayū and art inspired by it, though since this motif only arose in the Edo period it naturally does not represent an actual episode from his very much real career. 

A page from Ikkyū Gaikotsu (wikimedia commons)

In art a distinct tradition of depicting Ikkyū with skeletons developed, as seen both in the case of works showing him with his legendary student Jigoku Dayū and in the so-called Ikkyū Gaikotsu. Skeletons also played a role in Zen-inspired art in general (for more information see here). Whether this inspired ZUN to decorate Zanmu’s rock with bones is hard to determine, but it does not seem implausible. It would hardly be the deepest art history cut in the series, less arcane of a reference than the very existence of Mai and Satono or Kutaka’s pose. Obviously, it does not seem very plausible that Ikkyū ever actually met the historical Zanmu. Ikkyū passed away in 1481, and Zanmu in 1576, with his birth date currently unknown. Even if we assume he was a particularly long-lived individual and by some miracle was born while Ikkyu was still alive, it is somewhat doubtful that an elderly sick monk would be preaching Zen doctrine to an infant. However, apparently legends do provide a convenient explanation for this tradition. Purportedly Zanmu lived for an unusually long time. The figure of 139 years pops up online quite frequently, and does seem to depend on a genuine tradition, but even more fabulous claims are out there.

Kaison Hitachibō, as imagined by an unknown artist (wikimedia commons)

According to another legend, Zanmu was even older, and in fact remembered the Genpei war, which took place in the Heian period - nearly 400 years before his time. Supposedly he told many vivid tales about its famous participants, Yoshitsune and Benkei. A tradition according to which he was himself originally a legendary retainer of Yoshitsune, the warrior monk Kaison Hitachibō (常陸坊海尊) developed at some point. This has already been pointed out by others before me in relation to the Touhou version of Zanmu. From what I’ve seen, some Japanese fans in fact seem excited primarily about the prospect of Zanmu offering an opportunity to connect Touhou and works focused on the Genpei war. The tradition making Zanmu a centuries-old survivor from the Heian period must be relatively old, as his supposed immortality is already mentioned in Honchō Jinja Kō (本朝神社考; “Study of shrines”) by Razan Hayashi, who was active in the first half of the seventeenth century, mere decades after Zanmu’s death. While I found no explicit confirmation, it seems sensible to assume this legend was already in circulation while Zanmu was still alive, or at least that it developed very shortly after he passed away. Perhaps he really was invested in accounts of that period to the point he sounded as if he actually lived through it.

The choice of Kaison as Zanmu’s original name in the legend does not seem random, as there was a preexisting tradition according to which this legendary Heian figure was cursed with eternal life for betraying Yoshitsune by fleeing from the battlefield instead of remaining with his lord to die. You can read more about this here. Apparently there is a version where he instead becomes immortal to make it possible to pass down the story of the Genpei war to future generations (this is the only source I have to offer though), and there's even a well-received stage play based on it, Hitachibō Kaison (translated as "Kaison, priest of Hitachi") by Matsuyo Akimoto. Another thing worth pointing out is that Kaison was seemingly a Tendai monk from Mount Hiei, which means that even though Okina isn’t in a new game, you can still claim she’s metaphorically casting her shadow over it in some way if you squint (and that’s without going into the fact sarugami are associated with Mount Hiei). I've seen two separate sources which mention that according to a legend he trained Benkei there, and that the two did not get along because Kaison was a corrupt monk (lustful, keen on substance abuse, greedy, the usual routine). You can access them here and here,but bear in mind they're old. Zanmu’s Genpei war connection does not really seem to matter in Touhou, though, as ZUN pretty explicitly situated his version in the Sengoku period, with no mention of earlier events. Granted, if you like it, this should not prevent you from embracing the view that Zanmu is an alter ego of Kaison as your headcanon - as I said people are already doing that. It seems equally fair game as “Okina is Hata no Kawakatsu”, easily one of the most popular “historical” headcanons in the history of the franchise. According to this twitter thread, the legends about Zanmu’s longevity (or immortality) have a pretty long lifespan themseles, as they were referenced by relatively high profile modern writers, like Orikuchi Shinbou and Tatsuhiko Shibusawa. 

Buddhist immortals

A word carving of a sennin, "immortal" or "hermit" (wikimedia commons)

Legends about long-lived (or outright immortal) monks, such as Zanmu or Kaison, are hardly uncommon. A work which seems to be the key to understanding their early development, and by extension possibly also the portrayal of Zanmu in Touhou, might be Honchō Shinsenden, “Records of Japanese Immortals”. This title refers to a collection of setsuwa, short stories typically meant to convey religious knowledge or morals. Its title pretty much tells you what to expect. Honchō Shinsenden is an interesting work in that while it in theory deals with Buddhism, and largely describes the individual immortals as, well, Buddhists, it ultimately reflects a Taoist tradition. There is a strong case to be made that it was an inspiration for another Touhou installment, specifically Ten Desires, already, seeing as it mentions prince Shotoku and Miyako no Yoshika and its Taoist-adjacent context has a long paper trail in scholarship, but I will not go too deep into that topic here - expect it to be covered in a separate article later on. Stories of immortals are pretty schematic, and their protagonists can be categorized as belonging to a number of archetypes. I think it’s safe to say this has a lot to do with the self-referential character of this sort of literature - compilers of new works were obviously familiar with their forerunners, and imitated them for the sake of authenticity. In China, literary accounts of the lives of immortals circulated as early as in the first century BCE, with the concept of immortals (xian, 仙, read as sen in Japanese; this term and its derivatives have various other translations too, with Touhou media generally favoring “hermit”) itself already appearing slightly earlier. It seems Shenxian Zhuan (Biographies of Spirit Immortals) by a certain Ge Xuan, certified immortals enthusiast and cinnabar-based immortality elixir connoisseur (discussing and developing immortality elixirs was a popular pastime for literati in ancient and medieval China), can in particular be considered the inspiration for the later Japanese compilation. While the concept of immortals was largely developed by Taoists, tales focused on them were already not strictly the domain of Taoism by the time they reached Japan. They were embraced in Chinese culture in general, both in strictly religious context and more broadly in art. In Japan, they came to be incorporated into Buddhist worldview, and in fact Honchō Shinsenden states that their protagonists can be understood as “living Buddhas” (ikibotoke), a designation used to refer to particularly saintly Buddhists. Their devotion to both Buddhas and other related figures, and to local kami, is stressed multiple times too.

Presumably this was the result of the influence of the Japanese Buddhist concept of hijiri (聖), a type of particularly rigorous solitary ascetic in popular imagination regarded as almost divine. Needless to say, most of you are actually familiar with the hijiri even if you never read about them, as this is the source of Byakuren’s surname and a clear influence on her character too. In Honchō Shinsenden, it is outright said that the sign 仙, normally read as sen, should be read as hijiri in this case.

A portrait of Huisi (wikimedia commons)

The notion of extending one’s lifespan was not incompatible with Buddhism, as evidenced by tales of adepts who lived for a supernaturally long period of time to show their compassion to more beings or to get closer to the coming of Maitreya. Even the founder of the Tiantai school of Buddhism (the forerunner of Japanese Tendai), Huisi, was said to meditate in hopes of extending his life to witness Maitreya. At the same time, Chinese compilations of stories about immortals do not list Buddhists among them, in contrast with Japanese ones. This might be due to the rivalry between these religions which was at times rather pronounced in Tang China, culminating in events such as emperor Wuzong's persecution of Buddhism. Let’s return to Honchō Shinsenden, though. Its original author was most likely Ōe no Masafusa, active in the second half of the eleventh century. No full copy survives, but the original contents can nonetheless be restored based on various fragmentary manuscripts. Some of the sections are preserved as quotations in other texts or in larger compilations of stories, too. I have seen claims online that the historical Zanmu is covered in some editions of the Honchō Shinsenden or works dependent on it. So far I was only able to determine with certainty that Zanmu is covered alongside the immortals from Honchō Shinsenden in at least one modern monograph (Nishi-Nihon-hen by Kōsai Chigiri; if anyone of you have access to it I’d be interested to learn what exactly it says about Zanmu) and a number of posts and articles online. However, he lived around 400 years after this work was completed, so he quite obviously does not appear in its original version, contrary to what the Touhou wiki says right now. Masafusa does not necessarily portray the immortals as pinnacles of morality, and indeed moral virtues do not seem to be a prerequisite for attaining this status in his work. It is therefore possible that despite being setsuwa, his tales of immortals were an entirely literary endeavor and were not meant to evoke piety, let alone promote the worship of described figures.

A recurring pattern which unifies all of these tales is describing immortals as eccentric. As I already noted, this is a distinct characteristic of the historical Zanmu too, and it comes up in the bio of his Touhou counterpart as well. She has “reached the absolute pinnacle of eccentricity”. It seems safe to say ZUN is aware of that pattern, then, and consciously chose to highlight this. He also stresses that Zanmu has lived through an era of marital strife, specifically through the Sengoku period. The inclusion of such episodes is another innovation typical for Japanese immortal tales, and does appear to be a feature of the tradition pertaining to Zanmu’s counterpart too, as discussed above. Horned hermits?

A modern devotional statuette of Laozi with horns, found on ebay of all places; reproduced here for educational purposes only.

There is a further possible feature of Zanmu that might be tied to Honchō Shinsenden. While there are numerous physical traits attributed to immortals in Chinese sources, Masafusa decided to only ever highlight two. One of them are unusual bones, the other - horns on the forehead. Tragically one of my favorites, square pupils (mentioned in Liexian Zhuan), is missing. Masafusa relays that an anonymous hijiri, the “Rod-Striking Immortal”, grew stumpy horns as a sign of attaining his supernatural status.This might be a stretch, but perhaps Zanmu, due to being the Touhou version of a legendary immortal, also already had horns before becoming an oni. You have to admit it would be funny.

The two horns - or rather small bumps, based on available descriptions -  characteristic for some immortals were known as rijiao (日角; “sun-horn”) and yuenxuan (月懸; “moon crescent”). Such unusual physical features were already attributed to various legendary and historical rulers and sages in China in the first century CE, so this is not really a Taoist invention, but rather an adoption of beliefs widespread in China in the formative years of this religion. They also intersected with the early Buddhist tradition about the so-called “32 marks of the Buddha”, documented for example in Mahāvastu and later in Chinese Mahayana tradition which Taoist authors were familiar with. Yu the Great, the flood hero, was among the legendary figures said to possess horns in Chinese tradition. It is even sometimes believed Laozi had them when he was born, which according to Livia Kohn was meant to symbolically elevate him to the rank of such mythical figures as Fuxi.

While this is ultimately a post focused on Zanmu, I think it’s worth pointing out this belief in horned ascetics has very funny implications for Kasen. Being a “horned hermit” is not really an issue, it would appear. If anything, it adds a sense of authenticity. Clearly Kasen needs to study the classics more.

Immortals (and mortals) in hell

One last connection between Zanmu and legends about immortals is her role as an official in hell. However, this is much less directl. Early Chinese sources mention “Agents Beneath the Earth” (dixia zhu zhe 地下主者), a rank available to low class immortals choosing to serve in the land of the dead. They could be contrasted with the immortals inhabiting heaven, regarded as higher ranked than them. However, note that there are also many narratives focused on mortals becoming officials in hell - in Japan arguably the most famous case is the tale of Ono no Takamura, a historical poet from the early Heian period. In Chinese culture there are multiple examples but I think none come close to the popularity of judge Bao. It does not seem any immortals playing a similar role retain equal prominence in culture. Ultimately this paragraph is only a curiosity, and a much closer parallel to Zanmu's role in hell exists - and it’s connected to materials ZUN already referenced to booth.

Corrupt monks, oni and tengu

Ryōgen, the most famous monk turned demon, and his alter ego Tsuno Daishi (wikimedia commons)

In addition to characterizing Zanmu as eccentric, ZUN also wrote in her bio that she is a corrupt monk. As we learn, she developed a belief that the best way to reconcile the Sengoku period ethos which demanded boasting about the number of enemies killed with Buddhist precepts was to focus on spirits rather than the living, since she will basically deliver salvation to them. She ultimately “absorbed some beast-youkai spirits, thus discarding her life as a human”. This to my best knowledge does not really match any genuine tradition about the historical Zanmu, related figures or anyone else. As far as I can tell, it’s hard to find a direct parallel either in irl material or elsewhere in Touhou... at least if we stick to the details. More vaguely similar examples are not only attested, discussing them was for a time arguably the backbone of Buddhist discourse in Japan, and neatly explains why Zanmu became an oni. The idea that monks who broke Buddhist precepts in some way turned into monsters is not ZUN’s invention. It first appears in sources from the Heian period, and gained greater relevance in the Kamakura period. Particularly commonly it was asserted that members of Buddhist clergy who fail to attain nirvana turn into tengu. However, oni were an option too. Bernard Faure points out that Ryōgen, the archetypal example of a fallen monk (see here for a detailed discussion of this topic, and of his return to grace as a demon keeping other demons at bay), could be described as reborn as an oni, for example. The Shingon monk Shinzei is variously described as turning into an oni, a tengu or an onryō (vengeful spirit). Oni are also referenced in a similar context in Heike Monogatari alongside tenma, a term referring to demons obstructing enlightenment in general.

Corrupt monks turned into tengu in the Tengu Zoshi Emaki (wikimedia commons)

Typically it was believed that monks who turned into demons went to a realm variously known as makai, tengudō or madō. As you may know, normally there are three realms one should avoid reincarnating in - beasts, hungry ghosts and hell - but this was basically a bonus fourth one. Granted, this view was not recognized universally, and the alternative interpretation was that it was just a specific hell with a distinct name. At the absolute peak of this concept’s relevance, the foremost Buddhist thinkers of these times, including Nichiren, were accusing each other of being demons. Additionally, some of the past emperors, especially Sutoku and Goshirakawa, could be presented as tengu, for example in Hōgen monogatari. There was also an interest in finding gods who could keep the forces of disorder at bay. You can see echoes of these beliefs in rituals pertaining to Matarajin, which ZUN rather explicitly referenced in Aya's route in Hidden Star in Four Seasons. Typically the reason behind transformation into an oni, tengu or another vaguely similar being were earthly attachments. Alternatively, it could be pursuing gejutsu, “outside arts”, essentially teachings which fell outside of what was permitted by Buddhism. Note this does not necessarily mean anything originating in religions other than Buddhism, though, the term is more nuanced. So, for instance worship of kami or following Confucian values are perfectly fair game. A synonymous term was gedō, “heretical” way (on the use of the term “heresy” in the context of study of Buddhism see here). We can make a case for Zanmu’s bio alluding to that - she wanted to adhere to the social norms of the Sengoku period by symbolically taking in a headcount by absorbing spirits, I suppose. That’s not really a thing in any Buddhist literature, though, and I assume ZUN came up with this himself. Conclusion While this article is slightly less rigorous than my recent research ventures pertaining to Matarajin, let alone the Mesopotamian wiki operations, I hope it nonetheless sheds some additional light on Zanmu. I will admit I already liked her even before I started digging into the possible inspiration behind her, and finding out more only strengthened my enthusiasm. While there are clear parallels between Zanmu, her namesake and a variety of other characters from Japanese and Chinese literature and religions, as usual for a character made by ZUN her strength lies both in creative repurposing of these elements and in adding something new.

Postscriptum: Zanmu and Tang Sanzang?

Xuanzang, as depicted by an unknown Qing artist (wikimedia commons) While much about Zanmu’s character - her backstory as an eccentric fallen monk who became a demon, her apparent zen theme, and so on  - all form a coherent whole, there is a tiny detail which does not really match anything else discussed in this article. It does not come from her dialogue or bio, but rather from Enoko’s. As we learn, she became immortal herself after eating a piece of Zanmu’s body back when the latter was still a human. Or rather, the combination of that and subsequently consuming a magical gemstone as recommended by Zanmu did it - I’m pretty sure I misread this before. As 9 pointed out to me, probably the implications are just that Enoko’s backstory is a partial reference to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense, which does state that consuming the flesh of a monk would be a particularly suitable way for an ordinary animal to turn into a youkai. Still, comparisons between this tidbit and Journey to the West have been made by others before already, so I figured it would be suitable to address them here even if they lie beyond my own argument about the inspiration behind Zanmu. In this novel, many demons want to devour its protagonist Tang Sanzang because his flesh is said to make anyone who consumes immortal. This is because he is a reincarnation of Master Golden Cicada (Jinchan zi, 金蟬子), a disciple of the Buddha invented for the sake of the story. Interestingly, Sanzang is portrayed as an adherent of Chan Buddhism, the school from which Japanese Zen is derived (note that his historical forerunner Xuanzang belonged to the Yogācāra tradition instead). Despite the vague similarities, I ultimately do not think there are particularly close parallels between Zanmu and Sanzang. For starters, Zanmu is meant to be a corrupt monk, while Sanzang is the opposite of that. Their respective characters couldn’t differ more either. Throughout the entire novel, Sanzang is a pretty poor planner, shows doubt in his own abilities, and regularly misjudges the situation. Needless to say this does not exactly offer a good parallel to Zanmu. Sure, she creates a bootleg Wukong, but Sanzang did not create Wukong, the famous primate was just assigned to him as a bodyguard. Therefore, until evidence on the contrary appears (for example in an interview) I would personally remain cautiously pessimistic regarding a possible connection here.  Recommended reading

Bernard Faure, Rage and Ravage (Gods of Medieval Japan vol. 3)

Noga Ganany, Baogong as King Yama in the Literature and Religious Worship of Late-Imperial China

Zornica Kirkova, Roaming into the Beyond: Representations of Xian Immortality in Early Medieval Chinese Verse

Christoph Kleine & Livia Kohn, Daoist Immortality and Buddhist Holiness: A Study and Translation of the Honchō shinsen-den 

Livia Kohn, The Looks of Laozi

James Robson, The Institution of Daoism in the Central Region (Xiangzhong) of Hunan

Haruko Wakabayashi, From Conqueror of Evil to Devil King: Ryogen and Notions of Ma in Medieval Japanese Buddhism

Idem, The Seven Tengu Scrolls. Evil and the Rhetoric of Legitimacy in Medieval Japanese Buddhism

I've been reading Journey to the West for Fire Opal (its an old ass book that she apparently struggles with. My obsession with classical lit FOR THE WIN!)

Now, for background, we started off our knowledge from a summary given to us by Overly Sarcastic Productions. It's great. You should watch it.

Then, we watched Lego Monkie Kid, a TV series designed to be a sequel to the book with a lot of references to the series in a high energy action series with great animation. It's great. You should watch it.

But, if you're not familiar with Chinese folklore (or Japanese if you're a needy anime fan like me who liked Inuyasha and a few other series with Buddhist references (kinda did not realize how often those get in these shows, seriously)) you're going to miss a few jokes/references.

(The one about Mei, the dragon/pony descendant getting excited to meet her dragon/pony ancestor who must've been super helpful on their journey (He was FREQUENTLY forgotten by the authors of being a mother friggin DRAGON, they kept getting hung up on the whole acting as a horse thing) is HILARIOUS when you know how BADLY she's about to be disappointed.)

Anyway, back on topic, when we were checking out our book at the library, it was divided into several books (not surprising considering how big it is) and the first book was missing, so we picked up an abridged copy (only 700 pages. Yeah. Journey to the West is a door stopper at a whopping 20,000 pages.) It leaves out a lot of details, but even with OSP's summaries of each adventure, it was a LIFE SAVER.

Why?

Each friggin' character has like 8 names. You'd think the translators would give a quick rundown ahead of the book too, you know as a refresher for those who didn't have book 1, but NOPE!

The abridged version keeps each character with their easiest to recall nickname at all times and simplifies and explains a lot of mythology that English Speakers may not know as well.

Did you know that a winking wish is secretly a human? Because I did not. I've heard of talking carp, and wish granting carp. But not winking carp secretly being human.

Then there's the fact that the underworld can ask for bank loans from wealthy families on behalf of the emperor? What? Like, how does that work? Do you get a vision in a dream and your money's gone? Does a spirit collect it for you? Is it a blink and you miss it fortune? I am way too invested in these freaking underworld money lending deals.

Both are in Tang Sangzang's complicated backstory, and even with the abridged version walking me through it step by step, I can see why OSP shortened it into "basically He's the reincarnation of the Golden Cicada, former pupil of the Buddha and the goodness boy ever"

Anyways: a few comments

Why OSP did you call the spell that tightens the circlet on Monkey King's head a migraine spell? I mean, that is REALLY underselling the horror of that little do-dad. I was completely unprepared for the description of it squeezing Monkey King's skull until it resembled a vase as he begged for Tang to stop. That's a teeeeeny bit more than a migraine.

2. Also, why in the heck is Tamg so obsessed with his friggin' alms bowl?

For reference, Buddhist monks are not allowed to carry money, so to eat, they carry around a bowl you can leave food in to feed them, allowing you to support your local Buddhist monks and earn good karma. This is completely socially acceptable and is seen as a good thing to do. For this reason, most monks serve in urban environments so they can serve a large enough community to support this.

Tang Sangzang is in the middle of a pilgrimage with DAYS of rural country where there may be no one to beg from around. And YET, he seems adamantly against foraging.

One of his detractors' major complaints is that he's so gullible and soft-hearted he keeps falling into obvious traps, but honestly. That's forgivable compared to sending your companions to scoure WHOLE MOUNTAIN RANGES for some rinky dink little cabin that may or may not be there and may or may not be willing to part with their food and may or may not be able to accomodate a vegetarian diet when they are living by themselves ON A MOUNTAIN.

Is foraging REALLY against Tang Sangzang's brand of Buddhism? Is it too much to ask for him to just...asks his companions to forage and make him a meal? He doesn't mind making them beg for him.

OSP keeps describing it as Monkey going to get him food, but I genuinely thought he was using his skills to forage, not cloud hop around till he found a house to beg from.

Granted, the group would have probably gotten attacked/tricked/captured/etc. another way, but SERIOUSLY?

3. OSP describes the fight against White Bone Lady as Monkey King just hits her and she dies, but Monkie Kid makes a BIG deal out of her. So, I figured this was one of OSP's jokes. NOPE!

Ivory white bone demon or whatever is literally one-hit KO-ed THREE times by Monkey King. Her special ability appears to be illusions and the ability to drop her body and escape into an immaterial form at the last second.

However, narratively speaking, her fight is what drives Monkey King away to leave the first time, so apparently adaptations love upping her abilities so she's more of a legitimate threat.

This DOES however make her line that she's grown stronger since Monkey King last fought her VERY funny. Because I don't think there's another major demon who gets KO-ed that quickly, especially one that has that happen 3 times! (You'd think she'd have learned and called it quits by the third time. Or at least distract the freakishly strong evil-detecting bodyguard somehow, but no.) So, yeah. You survived a single punch. You leveled up girl!

Honestly, rewatching her scenes knowing this makes all her talk of being powerful very funny. She's terrifying, yeah, but also it's funny.

Edited 9/25: forgot to add a read more line. Whoops

Holy Sites of the Len'en Series

This might seem very out of place for those of you who aren't the most up-to-date with the latest Len'en news, so before we go into today's topic, let's go over some background.

Kanae Tabinoki

On 14 Jan 2023, JynX made their Vtuber debut under the persona of "Kanae Tabinoki", the gamedev Vtuber.

Kanae mainly streams around 22:00 (JST) every night. On weekdays, he works on Len'en for an hour on stream, under the "surveillance" of the viewers, enabling work on Len'en to be done on weekdays as well, which he apparently hadn't been doing prior.

On Saturday and Sunday, he does approximately 2-hour long chatting and gaming streams respectively. And this is where our main point comes in.

Holy Sites of the Connecting Chains

On one such chatting streams (Summary Here), Kanae was asked if the Len'en series has any "holy sites", here referring to real-life locations highly impactful or significant to a fictional series.

Since Len'en takes so much inspiration from Japanese history and mythology, the answer was of course "yes". In fact, there are many such holy sites all across the world, not just in Japan!

However, in fear of spoiling future developments, Kanae only shared a few obvious ones with us. Nevertheless, let's take a look at some:

Taira no Fumikado — Masakado in Tokyo

The most detailed examples given were the many locations in Tokyo related to Taira no Masakado, one of Fumikado's bases and their once-target of revival.

There are many more than the one's Kanae listed on-stream, but here I'll only go over the ones he mentioned:

Masakado Mound

The "Masakado Mound" (将門塚), also simply called the "Head Mound" (首塚), is, as the name suggests, where Masakado's head is said to have been buried.

It's location is said to be where the head landed after exhausting its power while flying towards the eastern regions of Japan (long story, irrelevant today).

This place was once Shibasaki Village (芝崎村), the villagers that found the head made it a burial mound, but the village later fell under a mysterious epidemic.

A wandering Buddhist priest determined that this was a curse from Masakado's vengeful spirit. He christened Masakado with a Dharma name and erected a stone grave marker on the mound, instructing the villagers to worship him in order to pacify him.

Kanda Shrine

This next location Kanae gave was the Kanda Shrine (神田明神), which is actually related to the mound we've discussed above. In fact, the Kanda Shrine used to be found next to the mound!

The Shinto shrine (along with its previously accompanying Buddhist temple) used to be called Masakado's "body". This later got corrupted, "karada" (体 body) in Japanese got warped into "kanda", giving the shrine its modern name.

Of course, due to its close relation to the Head Mound, the Kanda Shrine also enshrines Masakado, as a god who wards off calamities. Though the shrine would later be relocated, no longer next to the mound, it would retain its enshrinement of Masakado.

Mount Narita Shinshō Temple

Finally, Kanae gave us the Mount Narita Shinshō Temple (成田山新勝寺), a Buddhist temple established in 940 to commemorate the victory of the Heian capital against Masakado.

According to the temple's origin tale, a bunch of Buddhist priests were ordered by the court to pray for their force's victory and Masakado's defeat.

Emperor Suzaku personally issued a similar decree to the priest Kanchō (寛朝), who brought with him a figure of the deity Fudō Myōō (不動明王), Acala in Sanskrit, said to have been carved by the founder of the school he belonged to.

When Masakado really was defeated, Emperor Suzaku rejoiced, thinking that Fudō Myōō himself must've heard and answered the monks' prayers.

When he later heard Kanchō's report that the statue suddenly got too heavy to bring back, he thought it was a sign that the deity wanted a temple dedicated to him built where the statue no longer moved from, and hence, the Mount Narita Shinshō Temple was founded.

Tenkai Zuifeng & Tsurubami Senri — Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine

Another location Kanae gave was one related to Tenkai Zuifeng and Tsurubami Senri, the Nikkō Tōshō-gū Shrine (日光東照宮).

The shrine is where Tokugawa Ieyasu, the basis for Tsurubami Senri, was buried and enshrined. Additionally, Tenkai Zuifeng makes numerous references to the shrine in their spell cards.

To learn more, check out my analyses of Tenkai and Tsurubami, if you'd like~.

??? — Kumano Grand Shrine

You remember how I said Kanae wanted to be careful with their words in order to avoid potential spoilers? Well he wasn't careful enough, oops~!

Ever considerate of his viewers, Kanae wanted to list places from all across Japan so that everyone can visit one of these holy sites without having to travel so far.

This lead to him considering the locations in Izumo (出雲), this is when he blurted out: "The Kumano Grand Shrine?" He quickly realises that he didn't tell the story related to the shrine yet, and asks the viewers to forget about hearing that bit.

Even so, I'll have to apologize to JynX/Kanae here, because I'm definitely digging into this. So, let's see what the shrine is about~!

Kumano Grand Shrine, First Shrine of the Izumo Province

While I wasn't originally sure whether he was referring to modern-day Izumo City (出雲市) or the historical Izumo Province (出雲国), the mention of the shrine confirms it to be the province.

This is because Kumano Grand Shrine used to hold the rank of First Shrine in the Izumo Province (it still holds onto the title in an unofficial capacity), "First Shrine" being the highest ranking shrine in a province back then.

Below: The gate to the shrine, an impressive shimenawa rope hanging from it.

The shrine is said to be where fire was first discovered, and is thus also called "Hinomoto-Hidezome no Yashiro" (日本火出初之社 shrine of the first appearance of fire in the land of the rising sun).

I would love to learn more, but the tale behind this name has already been lost to time, and any theory I make based on this little bit would simply be too vague and unsubstantiated.

Looking at the shrine's history doesn't do us much good either, it's just one of those shrines that is so old it's seemingly been there since the dawn of time (or at least, the written record).

Our first record of the shrine comes from the Nihon Shoki, Japan's second-oldest chronicle of its own history, where the gods themselves are said to have ordered the creation of this shrine. Nothing else is known about its origins, a dead end again.

God of the Kumano Grand Shrine

Finally, we can look at the one lead we do have, the gods of the Kumano Grand Shrine, or rather, the god of the shrine.

Below: The prayer hall of the shrine (right), behind which you can barely see the main hall, where the god's spirit is said to dwell.

Curiously, the shrine enshrines but a single god, his name?

Izanagi-no-Himanago Kaburoki-Kumano-no-Ōokami Kushimikenu-no-Mikoto

伊邪那伎日真名子　加夫呂伎熊野大神　櫛御気野命

Yeaaaah... That's a long name, like really long. In fact, it's the longest deity name I think I've ever encountered in researching Japanese mythology (just by a single character but hey).

Still, the name can be broken down:

Izanagi-no-Himanago (伊邪那伎日真名子): "August and beloved child of Izanagi"

Kaburoki-Kumano-no-Ōokami (加夫呂伎熊野大神): "Divine ancestor god, the Great god of Kumano"

Kushimikenu-no-Mikoto (櫛御気野命): Another name for the god Susanoo-no-Mikoto

"Kushimikenu" (櫛御気野) is not too clear, although scholars propose that "kushi" (櫛) means "wondrous" and "mike" (御気) means "food", thus the name is understood here to denote a food god.

And so, the name can be interpreted to be:

"The august and beloved child of Izanagi, divine ancestor god, the great god of Kumano, Kushimikenu"

Yep, that's a name.

I'll be honest we didn't really need to delve into the name so much, but it's one of my favourite parts of Japanese mythology so I couldn't help myself, ehe~.

What Could This Mean?

Now that we have one clear lead, the Shinto god Susanoo, here's a few possibilities of what this shrine could potentially inspire/lend itself to in Len'en.

Possibility 1: Revelation of the Adagumo's Downfall

Susanoo is the god who, most famously, slew Yamata no Orochi, the serpentine monster who served as the inspiration behind Adagumo no Yaorochi, Saragimaru and the clan leader they spawned from.

So one possible way to interpret this little leak, is that we might get to learn about the people who caused the downfall of the ancient Adagumo clan from all the way back then.

That, or we may get to learn more about how the Adagumo siblings, the orochi youkai, fell throughout the ages.

Possibility 2: Conflicts with and amongst the gods

Another key story about Susanoo, is his banishment from the heavenly realm of Takamagahara.

I won't recount the story here, but most notable to me personally, in the relation of the Len'en series, is that Susanoo traces his lineage back to the heavenly gods.

However, after his banishment, he never went back to Takamagara even after patching things up with them, nor did he go to rule the domain originally granted to him, the sea. Instead, he chose to go to Ne-no-Katasukuni (根の国), the "land of roots".

The nature of Ne-no-Katasukuni is not well understood. It's commonly thought of as an underground realm, perhaps related to the realm of the dead, Yomi.

However, other scholars and even traditional prayers contradict this, proposing that it's a location on the surface of the world, or a mystical location across the "great plains of the sea".

Nevertheless, Susanoo's banishment from Takamagahara and subsequent move to Ne-no-Katatsukuni means that he has transformed from a heavenly god, to an earthly god.

This of course ties into a curious line uttered by Hoojiro in AWTIF:

AWTIF [Baclside] - Alice Leaping Atop Lily Pad Ice

Hoojiro "Have you ever heard of it? The story of the imperial family and the Earthly Gods buried by history's darkness."

I have a more detailed analysis and theory on it here, so go check that out if you want more context.

If a Susanoo figure really is going to show up in Len'en, perhaps we'd get to learn about Len'en's own version of events from them. What dark secrets do the heavenly and earthly gods hide, and what has been lost to the flow of time? Maybe it's time to find out~.

And that's concludes that. We covered a lot this time, none of them too detailed, since they don't really directly impact Len'en's lore, but interesting stuff nonetheless.

And most curiously, we went over two possible directions the story is taking us in, all thanks to an unfortunate slip of the mouth. It's alright Kanae, nothing was spoiled and the intrigue is greater than ever~!

As a side note, there's actually a surprising amount to analyse in regards to Kanae's himself (as a character I mean, design and such, I'm not about to analyse him as a human being), so if you're ever interested in that, it'd be an interesting dive too.

Well then, that's all I have. I hope you enjoyed~! :)

Not what you asked @olloollo but here's the martial arts and adjacent films that live rent free in my head

I'll watch anything by Sammo Hung. Always entertaining but mostly because I love Wheels on Meals. Not the least because, as I've written before, it has a scene on (ON!!!!!!) Sagrada Familia.

Similarly anything by or with Stephen Chow.

I keep meaning to watch more films by Xu Haofeng. And I really wish someone might translate some of his books into english. I was so obsessed with The Final Master (sometimes just The Master) I wound up via tenuous IG connections tracking down the owner of a record label in China to get a copy of the soundtrack. So that's a must but maybe even more so is Judge Archer which is the last movie I actually bought a physical copy of. It conspicoulsy references and plays with Spaghetti Western man with no name tropes. Also the "close-up" duels/challenges between masters are unlike anything I've seen elsewhere.

As for unlike anything, let's spare a moment for Six-String Samurai one part samurai flick of course, one part Road Warrior, one part Wizard of Oz, one part The Stand and it's a comedy. Its star and co-writer Jeffrey Falcon is a bit of a mystery and occasional internet rabbit hole of mine: apparently chucking the movie business and maybe possibly now married in China, or a maybe a monk in a buddhist monastery or maybe working security at LAX. He's also supposed to have some good fight scenes against fellow anglo in Hong Kong actioners Cynthia Rothrock which I do keep meaning to check out.

Another mystery is Man of Tai Chi which may not break any new ground but has some decent fight scenes. But did you know Keanu Reaves directed this movie?!?! Did you know he casts himself as and plays the oddly affectless anglo baddie typical in a Chinese martial arts flick? Not sure why I don't see this mentioned more.

More traditionally Five Deadly Venoms. Of course, right! But also from around the same time Black Lizard which brings a more ghostly vibe to the action. Which is a perfect jumping off point to a double feature of Legend of The Mountain and A Chinese Ghost Story two radically different takes on similar material straight out of Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio.

And how about a wuxia flick with almost no fighting? Aren't there all sort of tales of masters staring at each other wordlessly as they stage their fight in their heads and then they just walk away? Or maybe something closer to if you haven't bested your opponent in three moves you have essentially lost? Regardless Hsiao-Hsien Hou's The Assassin based on a 17th century story/legend is a revelation I long to see on the big screen.

Honorable mentions to War of The Arrows: the drama portions are a bit slow but the chase that takes up the last hour maybe hour and a half of the movie is for me some of the best action as story outside of Fury Road. And Sword of Doom: holy shit is that a movie that messes with your expectations in the best possible way. I saw it leave a whole sold out theater slack jawed and thrilled to be so and have not stopped thinking about it since.

Family tree anon here, this time I'm plagued with the knowledge of knowing Tripitaka's family tree history! Long story short (it may not seem like it but this really is the short version), his father got murdered by a boatman who wanted to bang his mom and got lucky when it turned out that the guy he just killed was an incredibly important person in the Tang empire! So not only did this guy get a free wife but he's now a governor! Unfortunately for him, the wife of the guy he just killed was pregnant with her husband's baby (everyone say hello to the unborn Tripitaka!) and when he was born she decided the only way to protect him was- and this isn't even the most fucked thing in the entire family history- to bite off his pinky toe, write a letter in her own blood, tie him to a piece of driftwood and send him down a river and leave him in the hands of the gods. Now, since the gods had reincarnated the Golden Cicada in this newborn, they weren't about to let him die. So newborn Cicada gets found by a guy on the river, said man names him Riverflow, he hands him off to the nearest monk temple because he's not about to get involved in that hot mess, the monk in charge of the temple names him Xuanzang and raises him as a good Buddhist monk for his entire 17 years of life. Then one day when Xuangzang is hanging out with the other monks, some kid goes "haha parentless behavior" and Xuangzang bursts into tears (i'm not exaggerating that he actually starts crying. he does that quite a lot actually), runs to the monk who raised him and is like "you're not my real dad1!!11!!!" and the monk says "Oh yes I know I forgot to give you this letter written in blood that you had when you were found" so Xuangzang reads the letter, starts crying again and goes and finds him mom and there's a big tearful reunion and then his mom is like "wait!! the boatman who murdered your father must never know we met, but i must see you again, so i will say i've fallen ill because i promised to donate a bunch of shoes to monks and donate them to your temple!" the plan works, somehow, she goes to his temple, he shows her his missing toe and oh boy! another tearful reunion because apparently the letter written in blood wasn't enough! So then they go to the mothers parents (Who are also incredibly important people!) and tell them everything and the parents are like "Oh sweet daughter! If only we had known!" drag the boatman and his accomplice (yeah he just up and fucked off for 17 years idk i forgot he existed until this point) and have both publicly executed in painful and horrific ways, the boatman gets disemboweled while alive and the other guy gets decapitated for his troubles. But oh! after they dragged those guys out in the first place, the mom tries to commit unaliven't because she's too ashamed of the whole thing and her dad is like "Daughter please stop being dramatic you're not at fault for this" and Xuangzang is just crying in the corner. So the mom decides not to commit die and they hold a funeral for the deceased husband, which she tries drowning herself at because it's at the river he died at, and oh horror of horrors! His corpse washes ashore completely undecayed even after rotting at the bottom of a river for 17 years! AND THEN IT SITS UP!!! But oh wait turns out he's alive because he saved the dragon king of the river when he bought a fish at the market that moved its eye and threw it back in the river it came from and the dragon king saved him in return and then kept the body preserved with a magic pearl and returned him to life when the funeral happened. Yay!! Happy family after all! Right? WRONG the mom decides to take a permanent trip to the underworld after all. And all because Xuangzang didn't like being called an orphan. So instead of having a mom intent on finding all the new ways one can traumatize their child, he now has a zombie for a dad! Truly, a story to read to your children at night.

Yeah, Tripitaka's chapters were so long I had to skip them because my ADHD brain couldn't handle them

Hi! I'm looking forward to more character analysis, great job as always :D I have a question: Did you find any other prominent animal motif tattoos during your research? For instance, I just looked up 'komainu' and apparently boars and foxes were also used as guardian statues (I'm familiar with foxes in Japanese culture, but the boar thing is new to me)

Thank you! And goodness that's a HELL of a question! The short answer is "Yes, LOTS!"

I've learned a lot while researching myths, legends and symbolism in Japan while researching for this page. Japanese religion, myth, and culture has a diverse range on influence. China had a big impact, since Japan was once a part of the empire, but they also took quite a bit from India, by way of China. This is on top of the native religion, Shinto, AND the beliefs of the various indigenous people that inhabited its various islands.

All this outside influence means that Japan has mythology not only pertaining to their own wildlife. Animals that the average historical Japanese person would ever see crop up as well. A notable example is the tiger, which was often conflated with the kirin as "big, powerful mythical being" not knowing that tigers were not just another myth.

Also, the Christian influenced mythology and symbolism I am used to like assigning "sins" to various animals. As a result there are a host of creatures that get categorized as "evil." From what I have read, Eastern cultures don't really do this as much. Plenty of animals are harmful to humans, dangerous and destructive, but the same animals can also bring prosperity, luck, and good fortune. Yes, a viper has deadly poison, but being bitten seems to be seen as more punishment from the gods than evil intent by the snake.

(image from ukiyo-e.org)

You mention boars specifically, so I will say that in Japan the boar replaces the pig in the Chinese zodiac, as there were no domesticated pigs in Japan at the time it was introduced. In myth they are known for being reckless and violent, but are also symbols of fertility and prosperity. Putting a clump of boar hair in your wallet was believed to bring wealth.

Their role as shrine guardians and messengers of the gods originates from a story where a monk named Dōkyō schemes to become emperor by claiming the oracle Usa had declared him destined for the throne. A devout Buddhist aristocrat named Kiyomaro went behind the monk's back,actually speaking the oracle, who said that the line to the sun goddess must not be broken. Dōkyō ordered Kiyomaro to be beaten, hamstrings cut, and exiled. On his way to exile, Kiyomaro wished to be able to visit Usa at her shrine to thank her for protecting the royal line. 300 boar then appeared to escort him to the shrine, healing his leg in the process. (source)

The Darumaka Family

Darumaka is quite the interesting design, I think. You’d be forgiven for not really understanding what it’s supposed to be, but this round little Fire type is meant draw connections to Daruma dolls, which are often colored red and given pale faces. Darumaka is even shown to be able to tuck its limbs into its body, returning to a fully rounded shape more similar to its inspiration. It definitely feels like a little spiritual-fantasy monster, not resembling any animal in particular but being some odd corruption of a person, like a miniature goblin or elf of some kind.

Darmanitan takes things in a more straightforward direction, with its arms and feet making it much more closely resembling a primate of some kind, though the patterns on its stomach and elongated eyebrows (as well as the triangle-toothed style of its upper face) almost being like an owl of all things. This odd combination is what bolsters that fantasy monster reading I got from Darumaka, and is welcome in my book. I did praise some of the previous families for their more realistic portrayals of animals, but there’s no problem with the odd fiery goblin or ogre inclusion as well.

Interestingly, Darmanitan has an alternate form as well – titled as its Zen Form. Daruma dolls are actually based upon a Buddhist monk who popularized the titular idea of zen and meditation. As such, Zen Mode Darmanitan becomes a stoic, statue-like being that adds the Psychic type to its previous sole Fire typing. It’s a neat idea to tie Darmanitan to its inspiration further, and is probably helpful to soothe Darmanitan’s wilder habits.

Because like, god damn. They could use a breather.

Score: 5/5

A creative combination of ideas that makes for a nice fantasy creature.

Oh yeah, Darumaka and Darmanitan also gained Galar forms in Gen 8 which leaned further into their primate-ness. Darumaka becomes a more thickly-furred Ice type in Galar, said to have atrophied its flame sac due to living in the harsh cold for too long, though now seems to be empowered by frigid temperatures. It’s okay, I like the frostbitten blue skin and frozen eyebrows, but it’s not a whole lot.

Darmanitan, meanwhile, is… pretty weird. It gets an afro-like ball of fur on top of its help, and a bulbous spot of mustache and beard around its mouth. It’s likely meant to make Galarian Darmanitan resemble a snowman at a glance, with the diamond-shaped ice bits in its hair resembling eyes and a nose, but comes up a bit short. Darmanitan feels a bit too roundly and smoothly drawn in my opinion, like a simplified drawing rather than the proper design it should be portrayed with.

I also don’t know exactly what Galarian Darmanitan is suppose to have as like, a special gimmick if that makes sense? Like, why was it decided to give Darmanitan an alternate form that just amounted to arctic ape? The city located in the snowy area of Galar has a natural hot spring in it, so I would’ve expected Darmanitan to have been based off macaques which inhabit frigid areas and frequently bathe in hot springs (and also may have been used for part of Darumaka’s name). Not that those can be found in Britain, what Galar is based off of, but whatever. But no, no connection between Darmanitan and the hot springs are made, and as such Galarian Darmanitan feels kind of shallow where other regional forms feel more developed.

Galarian Darmanitan’s Zen Mode (which lacks anything close to official art) was changed as well to become, well… the opposite of zen. This Zen Mode hops around frantically, as Darmanitan’s flame sac has apparently been fully reignited and created an Ice/Fire type. Fire now spews out of the top of Darmanitan’s head like a blowtorch and melts the snowman face around it, but the rest of the design looks… really incomplete. I get that Darmanitan’s arms retract into its body in the normal Zen mode form, but that made sense with the whole meditation and regression into a Daruma doll thing. Galarian Darmanitan is trying really hard to be a snowman but it doesn’t fit with how much the damn thing bounces around like rubber. Maybe if it actually became static and more closely resembling a snowman for camouflage I could stomach it? As it stands though this feels like a messy combination of ideas.

Score: 1.5/5

Why does a singular cone of fire spew from Darmanitan’s head anyways???

[Gen 5 Archive]

End of Ren era

Baekje, one of the Three Ancient Korean Kingdoms, made the transition from tribal state to centralized state as a result of its absorption of people from Liaodong in north China who introduced advanced technology and literati culture. In subsequent centuries Baekje forged a close cultural collaboration with Yamato Japan that facilitated the growth of Sinicization and an efflorescence of Buddhist civilization in that state. Baekje fell to the joint Silla-Tang forces in 660 ce and, although the people of Baekje launched a spirited resurrection movement, it was crushed in 663. Numerous Baekje emigrants who crossed to Japan after the loss of their land continued to influence and shape the cultural and religious development of Japan.

The Samguk sagi, the oldest surviving historical work on early Korea, traces back the foundation of Baekje to 18 bce; however, neither archaeological record nor Chinese sources lend credence to this story. Baekje appears for the first time in Sanguozhi, the Chinese historical text composed in the 3rd century ce, as Boqi, apparently the Chinese equivalent of Baekje, which was one of more than 50 tribal settlements or petty states grouped as the Mahan confederacy. The process by which these petty states became subordinated to Baekje is still unclear, but apparently a series of events, including political instability in north China and the attendant exodus of a large number of people to the southern part of the Korean peninsula in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries, accelerated this process of state formation.

Samguk sagi is doubtless erroneous in its chronology, but it is correct in recording that the Baekje royal line emerged from northern tribes. The Weishu, the 6th-century Chinese history, cites a memorial of a Baekje king to the Wei emperor of China in which the former acknowledges his “origin from Buyeo, similar to Goguryeo.” The family name that Baekje rulers adopted was “Buyeo” or “Yeo,” the shortened version of Buyeo. It is also remarkable that the last capital of Baekje was named Buyeo. It appears that in 286 when Xianbei Murong warriors invaded and crippled the state of Buyeo, its princes and their retinue took shelter first in Okjeo, then subsequently fled to the Mahan region where they subjugated the chieftains due to their understanding of the Chinese form of statecraft and advanced technology, as well as skill in horse-riding and military affairs. A system of specialist craft led to economic centralization in Baekje that also facilitated the process of state formation. The recent discovery of Pugnnap walled castle in Seoul, believed to be the site of the Baekje royal house in the early phase, has yielded evidence of the rituals of royalty. Apparently Baekje royalty combined political and sacerdotal authority and they proclaimed that their sacred power was vested in certain symbols such as swords, bronze, and jewels.

Baekje accepted Buddhism as an official ideology of the state in 384 when the Chinese emperor of the Jin dynasty sent a monk named Marananda. Baekje rulers lent generous patronage to Buddhism because of its significance to a range of social, political, and cultural needs of the state. Since Baekje absorbed a large number of refugee Chinese literati, escaping from the chaos of north China in the late 3rd and early 4th centuries, it became the most Sinicized state and equipped itself rapidly with advanced political institutions. The Baekje court regarded Buddhism as a religious ideology of universal orientation, essential to the ideological unity of the envisioned centralized state. The recently discovered tomb of King Muryeong (501–523) provides evidence of distinct Buddhist influence. Apparently Baekje displayed remarkable political maturity after importing Buddhism and the related aspects of the continental civilization. When King Gwanggaeto assumed power in Goguryeo, Baekje suffered reverses in a battle with Goguryeo; however, in 434 Baekje forged a military alliance with Silla to keep Goguryeo's military ambition under leash. King Gero (455–475) consolidated central authority by introducing a 16-rank title system and reorganized previously semi-autonomous regions into administrative units governed by officials, appointed by the ruler.

Baekje played an important role in shaping Japanese culture in its formative phase. Several scholars have argued that a group of horse-riders from Baekje crossed to Japan at the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 4th century, and because of their skill in horse-riding and their technological superiority they established themselves as the rulers of the archipelago. However, there is no evidence, either literary or archaeological, to suggest that a large exodus of Baekje migrants, capable of effecting a major political transformation of the entire Japanese archipelago, occurred. Baekje sent a scholar, named Wang In, to Japan where he introduced Chinese writing and the Confucian texts. In 552 King Song of Baekje sent an image of Buddha in gold and copper and a number of Buddhist sutras, along with a memorial in which he extolled the power of the Buddha as “capable of fulfilling every prayer and realizing every wish,” and in subsequent decades sent numerous Buddhist priests, including Gwalleuk.

Close cultural collaboration was indeed an outcome of solid political understanding between Yamato Japan and Baekje. According to the Nihon shoki, the Japanese historical work of the early 8th century, the first Baekje embassy reached Yamato in 367, and, indeed, the alliance between the two states is testified to by an inscription on the so-called Seven-Branched Sword from the Isonokami shrine in Nara which states that “the King of Baekje and his Crown Prince made this sword for King Shi of Wa, that he may transmit it to his posterity.” An inscription on a bronze mirror, made by King Muryeong of Baekje and preserved in Japan's Sudahachiman Shrine, records that in 503 the Great King (Muryeong) made this bronze mirror for his younger brother King Keitai, the ruler of Wa (Japan). After Baekje was conquered by the joint Silla-Tang forces in 663, a restorationist movement was launched in the former Baekje territory and Japan dispatched a fleet of 30 000 men to help revive the kingdom. Baekje lost its independent identity in 663 and subsequently became a part of the Unified/Greater Silla. A large number of Baekje emigrants who crossed to Japan after the loss of their land continued to influence the cultural and religious world of Japan.

REN Riya and Japan new beginning after Catherine Chien

Video Game Cooking: Sugars (Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice)

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a standalone historical fantasy made by the famous people who also created Dark Souls and Bloodborne. It became an instant hit, and garnered massive critical acclaim. You control the broody shinobi Wolf as he battles entire armies and legendary beasts.

One of the many consumables in-game are the Sugars; Gokan’s Sugar, Ako’s Sugar, Yashariku’s Sugar, Ungo’s Sugar, and Gachiin’s Sugar. These candies are named and colored differently, and each offer a different effect. One raises your attack power, another makes you more stealthy, and so on.

Today, we’re gonna be re-creating these Sugars with our own recipe. And true to my tradition when it comes to Video Game Recipes, we’re gonna be taking our ingredients accurate to the setting. Which in this case is Sengoku period Japan. This recipe meta draws especially true to my own heritage, as a Taiwanese person.

Sekiro Senpou Temple Sugars: Recipe (makes 10-20 individual candies, depending on the size)

Base candy recipe:

3 3/4 cups granulated raw cane sugar

1 1/2 cups golden syrup/brown rice syrup

1 cup water

Corn starch for mold making (optional)

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Flavorings:

Fresh ginger slices (Gokan’s Sugar)

Dried lotus seeds (Gokan’s Sugar)

Red cherries (Ako’s Sugar)

Dried Astragalus (Ako’s Sugar)

Ginseng (Ungo’s Sugar)

White peaches (Ungo’s Sugar)

Sake (Yashariku’s Sugar)

Dried Cocklebur fruit (Yashariku’s Sugar)

Dried Orange peel (Gachiin’s Sugar)

Dried Goji berries (Gachiin’s Sugar)

Food coloring

(Sekiro won the 2019 Game Of The Year award, the first FromSoftware game to do so.)

To make our Sugars, we’ll be infusing a traditional candy base with various ingredients, unique for each candy. Every ingredient is based off of TCM, which is an acronym standing for Traditional Chinese Medicine. For those unacquainted with TCM, it can be hard to explain its influence. There’s no true western equivalent because it’s more than just ‘old household remedies’, it’s almost a given that Asian citizens take various TCM practices seriously to a degree. Like westerners do with honey lemon tea, or chicken noodle soup.

It’s also accurate to the game. Sekiro takes its setting very seriously. Everything from weapons, to hairstyles, to interior decor, even down to the kanji on Emma’s note in the beginning of the game is true to the Sengoku period, and some levels even go backwards a bit to the Heinan period, to reflect an ancient atmosphere. You can reasonably minus the historical inaccuracies on your own volition; giant snake gods, lightning powers, and automatic prosthetic grappling hooks weren’t indigenous to Japan.

Except there’s in fact one tiny detail that you might be surprised to learn is actually anachronistic; disk-shaped hard candies. The Sugars.

Hard candies aren’t traditional East-Asian treats. Sugar was always readily available in the form of sugar cane, true, but sweets almost always took the form of fruit, and candy-coated/infused ingredients. This is true worldwide until refining sugar into its white form became common, but East-Asia in particular wasn’t munching on lozenges while Marie Antoinette already had cough drops.

The Sengoku period stretched from the early Renaissance to the Baroque period. While Wolf was parrying his way through the Ashina Outskirts, the first King James Bible was published. There was plate armor and court jesters, but also firearms and photographs. Japan didn’t get access to matchlock firearms until 1542, and since the Sunken Valley clan seems to define themselves by the expert use of these guns, it makes sense that the intro to the game itself dates Sekiro as specifically taking place in the latter years of the Sengoku period.

All throughout this stretch of two centuries, Japan has been under constant war and political strife, lending to the Sengoku period’s alternative name, the ‘Warring States Period’. Japan consisted of separate nations, all led under Daimyo and warlords and various nobles that demanded their armies scramble for more land and resources. Living under this kind of conflict for so long means that innovations and education are rare. There’s no opportunity to invent the telescope when you’re all constantly worried about your lives.

This means that the food of Sekiro would have very much been the same it’s been since centuries beforehand. Even though by this point, the Columbian Exchange has been well underway and Europe was experimenting with tomatoes in their food, Japan wasn’t enjoying this same golden period. Any developments would have been weaponry, not candy making methods.

This means that, for our recipe, we’re not using anything that a Senpou monk wouldn’t have access to. No potatoes, corn, vanilla, etc. No beet sugar, or fruits that aren’t native to Japan. Even the raw cane sugar we’re using is pushing the authenticity envelope, because the ‘raw’ granulated sugar you find in grocery stores aren’t completely raw, they’ve still been refined using lye and carbon to strip much of the molasses. True raw cane sugar, when boiled down from its juice form, makes a traditional Asian ingredient called black sugar, which is very dark in color and not suited for making the brightly-colored candy disks that the Sugars appear to be.

(Shinobi aren’t samurai, but Wolf’s relationship with Kuro is so clearly samurai-ish that we can assume Wolf was being paid buckets as a high-prestige warrior. He also would have access to better food, including white rice; which, while already genetically modified through breeding by the Sengoku period, wouldn’t have looked like modern rice. Or maybe Wolf wasn’t enjoying the high life, because he dresses in rags compared to Genichiro and apparently didn’t know rice was supposed to be cooked.)

Knowing all that history about the Sengoku period, it’s almost silly to see candy consumables in-game, looking like they came right out of a bag of Werther’s Originals. The developers of Sekiro made many lengths to ensure everything was authentic, so why are the candies so modern-looking when they could instead have been a traditional Sengoku period sweet like something mochi-based, or agar (seaweed) jellies?

The lore behind the Sugars are that the evil Senpou monks were mass-producing these candies, and selling them all across Ashina to fund their crooked child experiments. They’re not just (presumably) tasty, they offer benefits to your health. That’s definitely in line with TCM culture, and gives us some inspiration for how to pursue replicating them.

One important note; the Sugars are some of the lesser consumables Wolf can use. Almost all other consumables are better, offering more powerful effects for a longer duration. So what if these candies were true to TCM and were mere treats infused with medicinal ingredients, only capable of giving you a small boost? Especially in comparison to the Divine Child’s rice, which would be like an Epi-Pen in this analogy.

But there’s even more depth to the consumables than that. Kuro gifts Wolf a ‘sweet rice ball’ at some point, which is almost certainly an Ohagi bun; made out of glutinous rice, red beans, and sugar, and its a traditional offering for the Buddhist observance of seasonal equinox. Eating it is sometimes said to bring protection. In order for Kuro to make Wolf this rice ball, you gotta give him some of that special rice from the Divine Child. Wolf offhandedly mentions that her rice is “sweet when you bite into it”, and Kuro realizes that Wolf has been eating these rice grains raw all this time, like the feral 5′5 goblin he is. Kuro vows to give his loyal protector something nice to eat, for once, and makes him three Ohagi dumplings.

The food of Sekiro is symbolic. The Divine Child is able to make rice out of thin air, like a deity of fertility. Kuro takes this divine rice, and his sweet rice ball is more powerful than the magical blessed Sugars because it was made with compassion. And eating Kuro’s lovingly-made rice ball reminds Wolf of once being fed a rice ball when he was young and starving, given to him by his assfuck of a father who’s compassion is heavily in question.

The Sugars are described as giving the eater a ‘benediction’ of power, and who knows what the translators were thinking, but the word choice reminds us of communion, and the flesh and blood of Christ. It’s not a true comparison; communion is about replicating and worshiping the Last Supper, reminding Christians about Jesus willingly dying cause humans are sinful. Consuming the ‘flesh and blood’ of Jesus in the form of bread and wine is very different than eating a candy apparently blessed by an ancient Japanese warrior. It’s not like communion wafers are supposed to empower you, or protect you.

Looking at the in-game image of each Sugar, you can see the likeness of a person behind it, likely the very warrior the Sugar is named after. We don’t know if these people actually had a hand in these Sugars, somehow transplanting their power into each individual candy, or if the monks just named the candies after them. Either way, the process of receiving the benefits of the Sugars isn’t just about crunching it between your teeth, Wolf also takes a moment to strike a‘warrior stances’, which, according to the descriptions, is a required detail to properly absorb the candy’s effects. Each Sugar has their own corresponding ‘stance’ that Wolf performs. It’s a weird detail, and raises even more questions about the Sugars, the monks, and the warriors behind the candy.

(Observant players will note that the five Headless boss enemies drop ‘spiritfalls’, each of which share names with the five Sugars, and offer upgraded versions of their corresponding Sugar; Ako’s Spiritfall is basically a better version of Ako’s Sugar, and so on. We can assume that the Headless are, in fact, the very same legendary warriors that powered the Sugars, especially since the game itself states that the Headless are undead remains of powerful individuals.)

True to FromSoftware tradition, details are included with purpose. And also at the same time, some details are just meant to be taken at face value. The various centipede-themed enemies in Sekiro are associated with kegare - spiritual defilement, death - explaining visually their willing abandonment from Buddhism. But there’s likely no lore explaining why Wolf can automatically hoover up all nearby enemy loot like a vacuum with the press of a button.

The inexplicable details of FromSoftware games are almost certainly because of gameplay convenience. Many characters are 9-10 feet tall for no reason, towering over Wolf, who’s already short to begin with. Lore-wise, it doesn’t make sense for so many completely human characters to be so gratuitously large. Gameplay-wise, it’s a lot easier to observe an enemy’s telegraphed movesets if their model is scaled up. Helpful, in a game like Sekiro.

The ‘stances’ of the Sugars might fall into both these categories. They exist for both gameplay and story reasons. The developers wanted a lag between consuming these powerups and being free to fight, so the player is forced to time these powerups carefully. You need to avoid enemies taking a free hit while Wolf’s animations are occupied. Then they storified this gameplay-based lag into a lore-based reason. Wolf has to take a ‘stance’ when eating these candies to receive its powers. For some reason.

I wasn’t able to further research the ‘stances’ Wolf strikes. Maybe they’re based off of known martial arts. But the description also offers some additional insight; according to the game, these Sugars contain ‘excess karma’ that is apparently the source of their power. Now, Buddhist karma doesn’t run in ‘excess’, a better choice of word would be ‘transfiguration’. One person can experience another’s karma through a variety of means.

“Bite the candy and take the Yashariku stance to impart its inhuman benediction.” In accordance with Buddhist folklore, these warriors are dead and imitating them can impart their previous life’s karma unto you. Our recipe won’t have magical karma powers, but we can certainly infuse our candies with medicinal herbs. You can just imagine the Senpou monks stirring up a big pot of sugar solution, and throwing in handfuls of dried Goji berries.

(This isn’t the first FromSoftware game that draws heavily from Buddhism. Dark Souls’ stagnant world of undeath is a rejection of Buddhist rebirth, clinging onto your legacy in a bid for immortality. Bloodborne decided to further explore the ‘time and madness’ angle of the same concept, while Sekiro went in the opposite direction to expand the ‘death and karma’ side.)

To make our Sugars; begin by first boiling the 1 cup of water with the corresponding flavor ingredients. Essentially, we’re making a batch of 10-20 candies with one flavor at a time, to make things easier on us. Ako’s Sugar requires you boil sliced ginger and dried lotus seeds, and so on.

After the water has been properly infused with the medicinal ingredients, strain the water and add it to another pot with the rest of the candy base ingredients, then boiling it all down until it reaches 300f. It’ll take a while, and you’ll notice that there’s gonna be a point where it seems like the temperature isn’t rising again. But keep at it; all the water needs to be boiled away. But the flavor will remain.

Once it reaches 300f, add the food coloring, and then keep boiling again until it reaches 310f. Then immediately take it off the heat and pour it into molds. Disk-shaped candy molds do exist, but you can easily make your own by pouring a lot of corn starch into a pan, then pressing a disk-shaped object (like another candy) into the starch to make indents. When you pour the candy mixture into a corn starch mold, you can use a spoon to gently and accurately fill each hole without distorting the powder. After perhaps three hours, the candies should be completely set and cool, and you can tumble away the powder and store the candies. Any mold method is gonna give the candies a flat side, but a true disk candy requires factory-standard molds that we don’t have.

We’re not using natural food colorings, ‘cause I tried my best to research natural alternatives that could retain their dye after boilings. And it was super hard, especially blue. Take it from me that Sekiro’s Sugars shouldn’t have been so brightly colored; intensely colored food did exist, but it was with things like powdered dried beets and matcha and pepper powder. Boiling these ingredients (rather than mixing it with dough or jelly) will change the colors drastically, sometimes completely bleaching it, or changing red to purple and so on.

As for the various medicinal ingredients; I took a gander in my mom’s soup-making cabinet and took stock of the medicinal herbs we ourselves use in our lives. The ones included in this recipe are some of the more commonly used ingredients of modern TCM.

Gokan’s Sugar, as a posture-retaining consumable, is described as a popular choice amongst shinobi hunters, a job that requires “a body with an unshakable core”. Ginger and lotus seeds are great for restoring energy through chi, a person’s lifeforce.

Ako’s Sugar raises your attack power. This candy actually proved one of the hardest to find medicines for, since, you know, most medicine is about preserving your health. Astragalus root increases energy and resistance to stress, and red cherries are a warming food according to TCM; warming meaning that its a yang property that further enhances your energy levels. (Keep in mind that food warmness-coolness is more about keeping those two in balance for optical health.)

Ungo’s Sugar reduces the amount of health Wolf loses. Very protection-centric, so we’re using ginseng, for longevity, and white peach slices for their heavy association with divinity. Both of these ingredients have some of the most well-known history in Asian food culture.

Yashariku’s Sugar is a double-edged sword, since it reduces both your health and posture so Wolf can be super powerful for a little bit. So you’re gonna add sake to the candy mixture around the 300f mark, and the dried cocklebur fruit is an immunity-boosting medicine ... but the plant is mildly toxic and can cause diarrhea. You know, Wolf gets super powerful and aggressive when taking this candy cause he needs to shit his brains out. Don’t worry; we’ve got this in our own pantry, and it personally doesn’t make my mom’s stomach upset, but it does me so it must range from person to person.

Gachiin’s Sugar makes you more stealthy, which I took to translate into ‘quieting your thoughts and emotions’. Like when you hold a baby and it can feel your own inner turmoil and starts to cry? Orange peel and goji berries restore your chi, your vision, an irregular heart rate, and stress.

Enjoy your candies! Pop them before tough situations like speaking before a big crowd, or having to wait in line at the DMV, or when you have to fight the Headless Ape for the first time. Tell your friends to stay away from the Senpou brand, so you don’t support their unethical practices.

Chang’an map, from China's Golden Age. Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty:

1. Forbidden Park - Cherry orchard, pear grove, vineyard, football field, polo grounds.  2. West Park - Ice pits for refrigerating foods during the spring and summer. 3. Daming Palace - Archery hall, bath hall, storehouse for musical instruments, drum tower, bell tower, football field, cockfighting arena, Pear Garden Troupe, Entertainment Ward. 4. East Park - A football field. 5. Barracks for the Divine Strategy Army. 6. A shrine for Laozi’s father. 7. [Yeting Palace - the imperial harem.] The Flank Court, where women were incarcerated for the crimes that their menfolk committed. There was also a school for palace ladies here. 8. West Palace - Archery hall, polo grounds, football field, drum tower, bell tower. 9. East Palace, the heir apparent’s residence. [During Emperor Xuanzong’s reign both crown princes didn’t lived here. They lived in no. 13, together with their brothers.] 10. A branch of the Entertainment Ward that had the finest singers. A carriage park where mandarins attending court in the Daming Palace left their vehicles for the day. [...]  12. A branch of the Entertainment Ward that had the finest dancers. In 730 Emperor Xuanzong had four palace halls dismantled and reassembled as halls and gates for the Taoist abbey in the southwest comer. Formerly, the grounds of the temple were gardens for an agricultural bureau. 13. A residence for princes. [Ten Princes Residence, later renamed to Sixteen Princes Residence.] 14. A Zoroastrian church.[...] 

16. Seat of the eunuch agency. [...] 18. The national Taoist abbey dedicated to the worship of [Laozi] in this ward had statues of Xuanzong and later emperors. 19. A Persian (Nestorian) church. 21. Princess Anle’s mansion. 22. This street was the site of a carnival held in 713. 23. Imperial factories. 24. Service for Supreme Justice. 25. Gold Bird Guard East. [Actually, this is a mistranslation. Should be Guard with Golden Maces 金吾卫. It’s one of the 16 Guards of Chang’an. Historically its name comes from 金吾 - a ceremonial mace, an attribute of an official called zhi jin wu  執金吾 ("carrying a mace"), who was responsible for order in the streets.] [...] The home of an imperial flautist was located here. [...] 26. Princess Tongchang’s mansion. It had a well with a railing made of gold and silver. 27. A court for imperial musicians. 28. A Zoroastrian church. 29. The first site of the Persian (Nestorian) church (no. 19). The home of An Jinzang, who cut his belly open with a knife to defend Emperor Ruizong against charges of treason, was in this ward. 30. Princess Taiping’s mansion. 31. A Zoroastrian church. 32. Gold Bird Guard West. [A mistranslation. See my comment in p.25 above.] 33. A Persian (Nestorian) church. 34. Imperial stables and hay fields for horses.  35. Halls for civil and military examinations. 36. The imperial ancestral shrine. 37. [...] There was a polo field in the western part of this ward. 38. At this former wedding hall for imperial princesses, An Lushan had eighty Princesses, their husbands, and consorts of princes slaughtered in 756. 39. A workshop for a maker of musical instruments. By candlelight the Tang’s most renowned painter [Wu Daozi], while drunk, in a single night executed a mural for 4 gate in the Buddhist monastery east of this ward's northern gate. 40. Three provincial transmission offices. [...] 41. The street where Emperor Xuanzong convened public entertainments, to celebrate his birthdays.  42. Xingqing Palace - Xuanzong's aloeswood pavilion and an archery hall. A Buddhist monastery located in this area was converted into a palace in the early eighth century. 

43. West Market. Lanes: Axes, Ready-Made Clothing, Bridles and Saddles, Weights and Measures, and Pongee. A Persian bazaar. Wineshops and taverns. Vendors of beverages, gruel, and cooked cereals. A safety deposit firm. The government offices for controlling commerce were located in the center block. There was a pond for releasing the living in the northwest corner. The exact locations of the solitary willow under which most executions took place and the pool for storing wood are unknown. 44. A court for imperial musicians, The mansion of an eminent minister here had a “pavilion of automatic rain,” that is, air conditioning. [...] The local school for citizens of the capital was located in the southeast corner. 45. In 720 the walls of this ward collapsed during a heavy rain. Here, Princess Taiping had a mansion, an emperor discovered that courtesans were living in a Taoist convent, and a dwarf illusionist changed herself into a bamboo stalk and a skull. 46. Capital schools: the Sons of State, Grand Learning, and Four Gates, as well as colleges for law, mathematics, and calligraphy. This ward had three provincial transmission offices. 47. North Hamlet (the Gay Quarters). The Alley of the Jingling Hames was located in the southwest. Seventeen provincial transmission offices. The mansion of a princess in the northwest corner of this ward had a polo field. [...]  48. East Market. Ironmongers’ Lane, a tavern, a pastry shop, and a seller of foreign musical instruments. The government offices for controlling commerce were located in the center block. [...] There was a monastery in the market, and a pond for releasing the living in the northeast comer. 49. A Turkish prince had a mansion in this ward [...].  50. The office of Chang’an’s mayor. [...] 51. The monastery occupying the entire southern half of this ward had a pond for releasing the living and the largest number of entertainment plazas in the capital. [...] 52. The offices of Wannian County, the eastern half of the city. [...]  54. A bureau for managing the households of princes. [...] In 656 the throne converted the dwelling into the south-western monastery. 55. A chief minister's mansion here had a pavilion with walls that were covered with a plaster made from an aromatic plant that came from Central Asia. The Tang's Small Goose Pagoda in the northwest comer survives today. 56. A shop that sold fancy pastry. One of the monasteries here had a statue of Buddha carved out of jade from Central Asia. 57. One of the Taoist abbeys in this ward was originally a lavish mansion that Emperor Xuanzong bestowed on An Lushan. In the mid-eighth century the household of a general here numbered 3,000.[...] 59. Zoroastrian church. Felt Alley. [...] There was a large polo field in the vacant land to the west that was attached to the mansion of a princess in the early eighth century. 60. There was a firm here that hired out square-faced exorcists and rented hearses and other equipment for funerals. 61. The offices for Chang’an County, the western half of the city. 62. Graduates of the Advanced Scholars examination held “cherry feasts” at the Pavilion of Buddha's Tooth in the southwestern monastery to commemorate their triumph. A mint for casting copper cash. 63. Xuanzong abolished the shrine for an imperial princess here and bestowed the property on a close aide for use as a polo field. [...] 65. City archives, Directorate for Astronomy, and a garden that Xuanzong bestowed on An Lushan. [...] 66. An Entertainment Ward and the Board for Fife and Drum Music, Two fortune tellers lived here. [...] 67. [...] In this ward crowds of people flocked to the home of a superb physiognomist, or face reader, to have their fortunes told. The Buddhist monastery here had an entertainment plaza.

71. [...] This ward had a pond for releasing the living. 72. A medicinal garden for the heir apparent was located in the northwest corner. A pastry shop stood beside the north gate. The ruins of an ancient shrine marked the highest point in the city. Citizens visited the spot to purify them- selves on the third day of the third moon and ninth day of the ninth moon. 73. The southern half of this ward was entirely occupied by graves. It had no dwellings. 74. An Lushan's garden. 75. Graduates of the Advanced Scholars examination held “peony parties” at a pavilion in a garden here to celebrate their success. [...] 76. A field for training soldiers in the use of the crossbow occupied this entire ward. In the seventh century it had been a market for selling slaves, horses, cattle, and donkeys. 77. A haunted house. The monastery here had a room for making monk’s robes.[...] 78. The monastery on the right had more than ten courtyards and 1,897 bays. Its pagoda, the Large Goose, where graduates of the Advanced Scholars examination inscribed their names in the Tang, survives today. It also had a bathhouse and an entertainment plaza. The monastery on the lower left had 4 pond for releasing the living. [...] 79. Graduates of the Advanced Scholars examination held “peony parties” to mark their achievements at two government pavilions in this ward. 80. The inn here was attached to a rapid relay post station. 81. A garden in this ward provided food for the heir apparent’s household. 82. Among other things, the government garden here supplied pear blossom honey. 83. Apricot grove where graduates of the Advanced Scholars examination celebrated their success with feasts. 84. At the monastery on the right a 330-foot-tall pagoda was erected to counter the adverse yin forces of a lake west of the city. Its cloisters had one of Buddha's teeth, three inches long, that a pilgrim brought from India. 

The Grotto Hall Files

Several entries from the journal I kept during my days living in southern Mie Prefecture regarding the Iwayadō Hall (岩屋堂) in the foothills of Mount Tengura (天狗倉山) in Owase, Mie Prefecture

[Image from Owase’s official twitter account (c.f. source below)]

September 3, 1995

Today I was up in the area around 天狗倉山 [Mount Tengura], and I finally found the elusive 岩屋堂 [Iwayadō Hall], luckily enough. The entrance is small, and one walks up an old stone stepway ducking to avoid the branches of trees. The path widens a bit, and skirts the mountain, and is on the steep side here and there, but it’s a pleasant atmosphere overall. Following the forested path and passing stones on the curving walkway, finally one arrives at the 岩屋堂 [Iwayadō Hall], which true to its name is based around and under a huge rock. At one side is a small graveyard, including a grave to a 平家 [Heike] person (?). On the other side are some unusual miniature shrines, including one to 大海龍王  白蛇明神 [Dragon King of the Great Sea, White Snake Shining Deity].

But the main attraction was the collection of stone statues under the rock, most of whom were 観音菩薩 [Kannon Bodhisattva] and made sometime towards the end of the Kamakura Period [correction: the main image enshrined & hidden dates to this time (1185-1333) but the smaller stone images visible probably date considerably later to the 1600′s or so]. They’re based upon the 33ヶ所 of 観音 [the Western Pilgrimage Circuit of Thirty-three Kannon Temples], and pilgrims would stop here on their way to the first stop in the pilgrimage, down south in the 熊野 [Kumano] region. Also some more recent ones, 地蔵菩薩 [Jizō Bodhisattva] for the souls of the victims of the big tsunami that hit this area in the Edo Period [1707 to be exact].

You could almost feel the worship of countless folks, the history of Buddhism as it spread among everyday people---which, considering I was sweaty & exhausted from the trek, I’m surprised I felt anything.

September 8, 1995

Today at the language lesson with [a friend], I got some good information about last Sunday’s 岩屋堂 [Iwayadō Hall]. For instance, the 白蛇明神 [White Snake Shining Deity]: she wasn’t sure, but often snakes are worshipped as 神 [deities], and especially unusual or large ones are regarded as a good sign. Such snakes or the like are worshipped for the usual kind of thing like prosperity of the household or such. Eggs are the offering. A related sort of folk custom: if you find a discarded snakeskin, put it in your wallet and your money will increase.

On the way is a rock shaped like a turtle staring down people on the path, and some people can’t proceed under this stern (stony?) glare. To be able to pass is a signal that you’re pure. I didn’t even notice, so either I’m really cool or maybe just selectively oblivious.

The graveyard could indeed be the final resting place of Heike refugees, she confirmed.

Inside the main place with the 石仏 [stone statues of Buddhist deities] is a stone called the おもかるいし = 重軽石 [heavy/light stone]. Think of a question in your life, ask it, and try to lift the stone. If you can lift it easily, the answer is yes; if it’s so heavy you can’t lift it, the answer is no. She doesn’t usually go in for such old tales wholesale, but this one’s really mysterious, according to her. For instance. her younger sister asked the rock whether getting married was the right idea a short time before the actual wedding. Pretty risky question, kind of awkward if the stone had turned heavy. Luckily it was light as a feather. 

She knows the place pretty well, because there’s a 命日 [anniversary rite] there every 18th day of the month from around 10:00 AM or so, where goma ceremonies and such are performed. Her neighborhood machi is especially associated in some way.

November 18, 1995

I woke up a bit early and met [my friend’s mother], and we went up to the 岩屋堂 [Iwayadō Hall] together with a friend of hers. [my friend] was busy, and her grandmother had a cold, so they couldn’t make it.

The monk, a smallish guy with a slow & deliberate manner of speech, comes from 新宮 [Shingū] every 18th of the month to perform this 護摩 [goma fire rite] ceremony. On the 護摩木 [goma kindling stick] was written the more elaborate “kanman” 梵字 [Sanskrit syllable] for 不動明王 [Fudō Myōō], not too unexpectedly.

Chanted during the ceremony was the opening stuff, the 般若心經 [Heart Sutra], the 觀音經 [Kannon Sutra], and the धारणी [dhāraṇī] of 不動明王, 観音菩薩, 地蔵菩薩, & 薬師如来 [Fudō Myōō, Kannon Bodhisattva, Jizō Bodhisattva, and Yakushi Buddha]. They chant all of this super fast and then without taking a breath cycle back to the beginning over and over again, making it rather hard to follow along. Here at the 岩屋堂 [Iwayadō Hall] are the 33 観音 [Kannon] and the tsunami 地蔵 [Jizō] so chanting them made sense, but I was a bit fuzzy about the inclusion of the other two. Afterwards, when I asked about this, statues of them were pointed out to me--their non-standard iconography had stumped me, apparently: 不動 [Fudō] with a weird abstract face & 薬師 [Yakushi] with a hood and looking like a normal guy rather than a Buddha.

During the ceremony, a lady waved the food offerings over the 護摩 [goma] fire, very much as if sending them up to 不動 [Fudō] (presumably?) in remarkably Vedic style right here in Japan 1995. Afterwards these offerings were divided up among the participants as お下がり= o-sagari, leftovers from the 神さん [deities]--they have the same habit as the old man at 有久寺 [Arikuji Temple] of referring to any holy being by this term. 

Also we were treated to おにぎり[rice balls] and なます [daikon radish & carrot salad], quite good at that, which is referred to as お接待 =o-settai or お志し = o-kokorozashi, food given to pilgrims for their support. Which reminds [my friend’s mother] of customs in Shikoku, she mentioned.

Retrospectively now in March 2021 and in conclusion, many thanks to my friend of the time for putting up with my odd topics of discussion and for going out of her way to arrange for my participation in her neighborhood’s monthly rites with my unaccountable interest in mind, and to my friend’s mother and the other ladies of Asahi-machi for allowing me to tag along and treating me to exemplary pilgrim’s fare on a pleasant & informative Saturday morning.

Preliminary UM predictions

So... i'm going to be making some predictions on the possible remaining stage bosses(spoilers for CoLA and the demo btw)(also its gonna be cazy long) I'd like to establish beforehand that I don't have any credentials in this and it's mostly stuff I found through google. I probably got quite a few things wrong here.

So after the jewel case was revealed there are two big guesses for our stage six: 1- a dragon 2- Zao Gongen. both of these predictions are strengthened by CoLA which hinted at the cards having values assigned to them which reminds me of the gold standard where paper money is given value by a large stockpile of gold which the money represents a portion of. For a dragon we have the Japanese title: "rainbow dragon cave" after all dragons are known to be hoarders of wealth and there is a motif with a double headed dragon being representative of a rainbow in china. Zaou on the other hand is based on the pose the character on the front has. Zaou Gongen is syncretic shugendo protector god thats said to be the manifestation of variously, the historical Buddha, the Bodhisattva Kannon, and the future Buddha Miroku. He first appeared to Shugendo founder En no Gyōja, who was praying for a tutelary god. Apparently they are also one of if not the most important Shugendo god. On the golden horde front, Zaou gongen allegedly guards a golden treasure in Kinpussen temple(golden mountain) that will only become accessible when Miroku comes to earth in the far future. its also possible that ZUN would syncretize Zaou with another being: Ryuju "dragon shade" Botatsu. A being that En no Gyoja found in a cave behind a waterfall who taught him. From what I can tell this is a another name for famous Buddhist Nagarjuna. However since this person should be dead some believed the being to be the spirit of a dragon "ryu".(Nagarjuna was also sometimes depicted with features of the naga likely for similar reasons). even outside of this a one early depiction had Zao with a dragon as a crown.

Non stage 6 thoughts: My predictions here are mostly going to be limited to things related to En no Gyoja and things that are solidly enemies of dragons. I predict at least a little mimicking of MoF. For stage 4 the most likely to me would be a Tengu. Yamabushi tengu are listed as printers after all and someone needs to print the cards. Also the term Yamabushi refers an ascetic shugendo mountain hermit that affected the popular image of the tengu(this is explained in SoPM). We also know the Tengu are in on it. If the stage 4 is one of those types like Yachie, or Sagume that redirect you to the real enemy then two beings come to mind. A Karura is a bird creature that is something like a missing link between garuda and tengu. Like Garudas go after Nagas, karura go after dragons and serpents and without buddhist protection the apparently cannot survive. Alternatively, we have the centipede which in one folk tale is an enemy of dragons. Additionally there said to know where gold is and are a symbol of Bishamonten(more common than the tiger actually). My best stage 5 prediction(I'll be honest it's not that good) is an Oni. In the youkai hierarchy oni are usually considered above the tengu. Additionaly, En no Gyoja had two oni Zenki and Goki(these oni are husband and wife). If those names sound familiar its because there also said to be Shikigami and Yukari named her crows after them. Anyway the 5 children of these two oni and there descendants ran 5 lodgings for Shugendo monks. Nowadays due to anti-Buddhist persecution in the Meiji period only one family remains. Its a bit of a stretch but it also parallels Sanae's own basis.

And... that's basically it, if you have your own ideas I would like to hear them.

A long time ago, a book about Shinto I read mentioned something about "warrior priests". I sorta gave up researching them after the shrine they were associated with in the book pulled up no results on English google (forgot it's name, but apparently there's an American branch of it that has way more documentation than the Japanese branch I was trying to look into, but this ain't about that shrine).

The concept of a warrior priest intrigues me, as a fan of media where Shinto priests fight, so could you tell me what you know of them?

I'll be completely honest, I've never heard of Shinto priests that also acted as warriors before this. So I was a bit lost as to what to do here.

However, I do know of the much, much more famous Buddhist warrior monks, called sōhei (僧兵 lit. "monk soldiers"), which I originally planned to use as my answer.

Fortunately, it is in the middle of researching them that I believe I came across a good answer to your question, but first, let's go over some history (which I've tried my best to keep brief and relevant to our topic today).

History of Shinto and Buddhism

Shinto and Buddhism have been closely intertwined for most of Japan's history. In fact, for a good part of it, most people would've understood them as a single system of faith, one and the same.

From our modern point of view, we call this shinbutsu-shūgō (神仏習合), the "syncretism of kami and buddhas" (syncretism being the combation different beliefs; Kami being what I usually refer to as the Shinto "gods").

It was not until the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when the "Kami and Buddhas Separation Order" (神仏判然令) was decreed, that the two religions for forcefully split in twain.

Yet even still, the two were never truly and completely separated, many Buddhist temples still house small Shinto shrines, and some Shinto shrines are dedicated to Buddhist deities like any other kami.

Indeed the policy never succeeded in its goals to separate the two religions, many Japanese people still practice both and visit both shrines and temples, but what it did do was create the modern view that they are separate, independent religions.

Practices/Beliefs Under the Syncretism

Right, now we can take a look at the practices under the syncretism that lead to these "warrior priests/monks" that I mentioned prior.

To keep things brief, basically, the Shinto gods and the various Buddhist deities (Buddhas, bodhisattvas, etc.) were fused together. The "how" was never agreed upon, but the mainstream idea was the honji-suijaku theory (本地垂迹).

It suggested that Shinto gods were but local manifestations of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and that they too were not exempt from the cycle of death and rebirth, samsara.

Thus, Shinto gods needed to achieve enlightenment, nirvana, as well, just like us humans. Buddhist temples were built close to Shinto shrines so that the gods can listen to Buddhist sutras, cultivate good karma, all that good stuff.

There's a lot more too, like how Shinto gods later come to be considered the protectors of Buddhism, but the important takeaway here is that Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines slowly get fused with one another, to the point where they're basically the same thing.

Warrior Monks and Priests

It is under these syncretistic beliefs and practices that we move onto classical and feudal Japan, specifically the period from the late Heian period (794 to 1185) until the Muromachi period (1336 to 1573).

During this period, power in Japan was split between three: The imperial court, independent warrior governments, and what is called the "temple-shrine powers" (寺社勢力) (the "why" is a lot of history I really can't).

(Also do note that these are categories, not three unified powers, so all the temple-shrines didn't come together to form their own government or anything like that.)

Temple-shrines then held vast amounts of land and power, enough to compete with the other two powers for authority. A part of this competition and exertion of power is, of course, military fighting.

This fighting, on the part of the Shinto shrines, were often done by what are called jinin/jinnin (神人), low-ranking priests who did chores and odd-jobs for the shrine. Some of them where charged with guard duty, so they owned weapons and knew how to fight.

It was these people who we see join the sōhei (mentioned in the beginning) in their fighting, and we even have many records of people complaining about their violent rampages (yeah not all of these warriors were great people, in fact many weren't, but that's neither here nor there).

And there's what I believe you read about! Warrior Shinto priests, albeit low-ranking ones that were basically the odd-jobs guys. (Also worth noting is that not all jinin were warriors, some were farmers, merchants, artisans, etc.)

Ending

What I couldn't find

I should definitely add that I couldn't find anything about a specific group of jinin tied to a specific shrine.

The only two American shrines that I could find with specific ties to Japanese shrines are the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America and the Izumo Grand Shrine of Hawaii, tied to the Tsubaki Grand Shrine and Izumo Grand Shrine respectively.

However, I couldn't find anything specifically tying them to any temple-shrine powers back them, nor any specific anecdotes about their priests being warriors either.

So yeah I got nothing on that front, sorry 'bout that.

Why all the history?

In retrospect all that history really seems rather unnecessary, doesn't it? But I've already typed all that up, and it'd just be an absolute waste to delete them now.

I originally mentioned all that because I wanted to give an idea on how this could've been obscured, both to me and to anyone else, and hence the topic's obscurity these days.

Shinto was Buddhism at the time (and vice versa, in a sense), so these people who fought with Buddhist monks were simply lumped in with them, they were of one temple-shrine organisation.

There's a lot of stuff in there that you can easily pour literal lifetimes into learning about, so we can always visit some other stuff there if you're interested~.

Final Words

Good gods I crammed a lot in here.

The tricky thing is that any talk about Shinto history also kinda necessitates a basic understanding of Buddhism, so it's tough to pick out what's really needed and what can be saved for some other day.

Also I'm not nearly as good at these top-down perspective stuff, as you may have noticed, narrow topics are a lot easier to work with (though I suppose that's true for most things).

And this intersected with history quite a lot too, which is not really my thing and I'm not nearly as well versed in.

Finally please do note that I'm no expert in Japanese religion and mythology or anything. I just find it all real neat~. So please don't be surprised if any of this turns out inaccurate or straight up wrong, and do tell me I'd love to learn too~.

And that's all I believe! As usual, I hope you enjoyed~! :)

Buddhist Temples In Japan

It is alleged that the Muromachi interval, in which Ginkakuji was built, was an age that blended the aristocratic tradition of samurai warriors, monks and court docket nobles. The constructing was modeled after the traditional Imperial Palace from the Heian Period, but its surrounding space is simply as impressive. You may be required to take off your footwear when getting into temple buildings. Leave your footwear on the shelves on the entrance or take them with you in plastic bags supplied at some temples. If a temple has a temizuya, purify your palms and mouth in the same method you'd at a shrine and head to the altar. At some temples, you might be required to take off your sneakers earlier than entering temple buildings. When you are taking a stroll under the torii, make sure you don’t walk through in actual center, as an alternative walk through a little to the left or proper of the middle pathway. The middle of the trail is taken into account holy floor on which the god walks. Two pairs of gigantic and grimacing gods stand guard initially of the 300 meter-long approach to the temple, lined with stalls promoting an exuberant mixture of traditional crafts and gaudy souvenirs. Eiheiji Temple - Eiheiji is certainly one of Japan's most well-known temples - an lively coaching middle of Soto Zen Buddhism in Fukui Prefecture. Hanazono Shrine - a popular shrine with a energetic festival within the heart of Shinjuku. Nashinoki Shrine - small shrine on the north east facet of Kyoto Imperial Palace well-known for its fresh water spring. Sennyuji Temple - is a giant Shingon sect temple complex with imperial tombs near Tofukuji. Kiyomizu Temple - World Heritage Site - Kyoto's most popular temple particularly with younger people. 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While sizzling springs could be discovered wherever volcanic activity is rampant, the Japanese have had a particular affinity for the mineral waters. Onsens are plentiful across the country, and most located outdoors the city limits, that are accessible by prepare or car, making a weekend getaway affordable. When you get within the sizzling tub don’t let your small modesty towel touch the water, you’ll discover a lot of people fold it up and put on prime of their head. Some say that this might help prevent dizziness, however on the very least it serves a sanitary function. [newline]Going to an onsen is unquestionably a soothing experience and a fun cultural exercise to try however can even seem slightly bit intimidating at first. Especially because the concept of a group bath is a large taboo for most westerners. The closest a lot of us might need come to this would be after school sports or should you frequent a health club, even then, privacy remains to be considerably thought of in these situations. Whatever your trepidation’s about visiting an onsen are, this guide to onsen etiquette will be positive to alleviate a few of that. Friends of mine with smaller tattoos have gotten away with covering them with bandages or even using their small onsen towel to obscure them. For those with back tattoos, leaning against the wall while within the water has labored. A guide to experiencing Japan's sizzling springs - even if you're inked. Finest Time To Go To Japan With Kids Thanks for this record of things to do with youngsters in Tokyo. We’ve lived in Tokyo for 1-1/2 years and haven’t carried out any of these… except Robot Park. I don’t have any particular suggestions for Christmas day in Tokyo. If you are feeling an excessive amount of city time will be taxing and tiring for your family then I’d add one or each of those in. But if you’re snug with busy cities, subways, outlets, and crosswalks then I’d stick with the large three of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Otherwise, Tokyo Station is just a 15-minute journey from Maihama Station, giving access to many issues to do in the city. Lastly, when utilizing public baths in Japan, it’s customary to be nude. However, this make-your-own-noodles-by-hand expertise is by reservation solely. Reservations could be made on the official website however the interface is just in Japanese. Because of this, many international tourist households miss out on this amazing family fun expertise. If your family has hassle making your reservation in Japanese, be at liberty to reach out to us at Kids Travel Japan and we’ll set up a reservation for your liked ones for a small fee. 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So, I remembered that I promised to write about sokushinbutsu 即身仏 a little while ago. I’m trying to keep this short, because it gets complicated fast. Also I’m basically writing this all from memory, so don’t blame me for any inaccuracies.

Sokushinbutsu translates approximately to ‘becoming a Buddha in this very body.’ It was a mummification practice, but as the name might already suggest, its primary goal wasn’t the mummification of the body itself: it’s really about proof of enlightenment. Japan is not the only place to have a practice such as this. There exist numerous practices in regions where Buddhism is practiced, although I’m not sure whether these practices developed (at least partially) independently or not. In the case of Japan, there have been suggestions that Chinese Chan Buddhist practices did influence them. However, the center of practice of sokushinbutsu was Dewasanzan, and Dewasanzan technically belongs to the Shingon school, though the so-called Shugendō that they practice is extremely syncretic and a weird mixture of everything from Shintō to Daoism. Zen was only really introduced in Japan in the 12th century as a Buddhist school, by which time Shingon had already been established a few centuries.

Side note: I hate Buddhist schools. My brain starts to hurt if I even think about explaining this mess to the uninitiated.

Be that as it may, in Japan itself, one of the first mentions of a similar occurence was the ‘death’ of the monk Kūkai 空海 (774–835). Now Kūkai was a massive baller and had his fingers in practically every pie, not least of which was being the founder of the aforementioned Shingon school, which also happens to be one of the last remaining lines of esoteric Buddhism. Don’t ask me what that means, I WILL cry. To do so, he went to China and brought a ton of very smart texts back. And wrote a ton of very smart texts himself. In any time, when the time came for him to die, he was like, ‘wow, not for me, thx.’ He reportedly stopped eating and drinking and meditated in a cave on Mount Koya. According to legend, he never died, but entered a deep meditation and still remains in that cave to this day, awaiting the arrival of the future Buddha Maitreya (which is... going to take a while). 

This story seems to have been quite popular, because it frequently appears in Buddhist-themed literature in the following centuries. During that same time, there are historical records of a number of monks and noblemen who either became mummies didn’t immediately start to decompose after death. Also, several cases of self-immolation, which, yikes. In any case, we have an established pattern here of people who had accumulated religious merit during their lifetime whose body did not decompose after death. You wanna thumb your nose at your archrival? You better make sure your body remains sweet-smelling and lovely after your death. Something something dying well is the best form of revenge, perhaps?

The sokushinbutsu themselves only appear much later, namely mainly during the Edo period (1603-1868). As mentioned, most of the practitioners were from Dewasanzan. The sokushinbutsu that still exist today can primarily be found in Niigata and the Tohoku region, which might suggest that local customs also had an influence, since Tohoku has always been culturally different from Kansai or Kanto. There is one known sokushinbutsu in Kyoto, though, I went to the cave where he’s still supposed to be entombed.

Now I can’t currently find my list of sokushinbutsu, but we actually know their names (well, their titles) and when they lived in nearly all cases. I think it goes without saying that they were all male. None of them was below the age of 40 when they died, and some where like in their 80s or 90s, so they were old old. That generally has to do with the fact that they were expected to complete a really hardcore ascetic practice that took years. This was not very comfortable for the practicioners, but apparently a pretty good income for Dewasanzan, since donations tended to flow for whenever ascetic practices took place (and, I think, some of them basically did their ascetic work on comission. I have to dig up my papers though.)

Generally, it seems like many of the practicioners were former criminals or came from a very poor or otherwise misfortunate background, though I have to double-check that too. In general, however, though there were many different kinds of laypeople, monks and practitioners at Dewasanzan, only an extremely small number ever completed the ascetic practices necessary to be able to ‘ascend’ into this group of people.

Those who aimed to become sokushinbutsu generallly practiced mokujiki, which means they were only allowed a very limited variety of food, things like berries or seeds, though definitely no cereals or rice, and we don’t even need to talk about meat. They also seem to have consumed foods that contain resin, because resin... is an excellent preservator. The exact procedure seems to have differed in every case, but it wasn’t easy, and they did it all while basically living in a tiny hut in the mountains, while adhering to strict religious rules. After this training was completed, many of them became travelling monks for a while, because they were reputed to have gained miraculous powers through their practice and I guess people in the past were wild for that kind of stuff. And again, donations.

Before the final act of becoming sokunshinbutsu, they stopped eating entirely. Like Kūkai, they continued with meditation practices, and some of them let themselves entomb in a cave, while others were buried alive. They died during this practice, presumably while achieving enlightenment(?).

Then they were left in their tombs for a while, before the tombs were reopened. Some of them were smoked like a ham, and their bodies put back into the tomb and left there for a little longer. It’s not like they had no outside help to achieve their goals, if we’re entirely honest. Eventually, they were usually taken out, dressed in nice robes, and placed on an altar in a temple, to be used as an icon for worship. Some of them still remain in temples until this day. (Sometimes you were only allowed to see them when you paid a fee, though. I really need to dig out my papers, there are some interesting stories.)

The practice was eventually banned in 1879, but I know there are one or two cases that happened even after that - in secret, of course.

“10/10, would practice the hell out of it again.”