Shugendo

Shugendō traces its origins to En no Gyōja, also known as En no Ozunu, a figure of the late seventh century. The official chronicle Shoku Nihongi records that a man of this name from Mount Katsuragi was banished to Izu in 699 on accusations of misleading people with magic; later legend made him the conqueror of mountains, master of demons and founder of the sacred route through the Ōmine range. On Mount Kinpu above Yoshino he is said to have summoned Zaō Gongen, a fierce deity who became Shugendō's principal object of worship.

Through the Heian period mountain ascetics attached themselves to the esoteric schools, and pilgrimage to Kumano and Yoshino became fashionable among retired emperors and courtiers, who were guided by yamabushi. By the Kamakura and Muromachi periods Shugendō had become an organised religion with its own rituals, texts, ranks and networks of affiliated temples and shrines across the country.

Shugendō understands the sacred mountain as a mandala, the cosmic diagram of esoteric Buddhism, made physical. The Ōmine range between Yoshino and Kumano is read as the union of the Womb and Diamond mandalas; walking it means passing through the realms of existence and being reborn. Many practices dramatise death and rebirth: the practitioner leaves the ordinary world, is 'killed' through austerities, and returns to the village renewed.

The deities of Shugendō are typically gongen, 'provisional manifestations' in which a buddha or bodhisattva appears in the form of a kami. Zaō Gongen of Yoshino, the three Kumano Gongen and the deities of the Dewa mountains are examples. Fudō Myōō, the wrathful wisdom king, is the yamabushi's model and protector, and the fire ritual (goma) addressed to him is central to their practice.

Yamabushi, 'those who lie down in the mountains', are recognisable by their distinctive dress: a small black cap (tokin) on the forehead, a checked robe with pompom-like tassels (suzukake), a conch-shell trumpet (horagai) used to signal and to purify the mountain, a ringed staff (shakujō) and a portable altar box (oi). Each item carries symbolic meaning connected with the mandalas and with the practitioner's ritual death and rebirth.

The core practice is mineiri, 'entering the peak': a retreat of days or weeks in which groups walk ridge routes, worship at sacred rocks, trees and waterfalls, fast, and perform the rites of the ten realms (jikkai shugyō), from the hells to Buddhahood. Some ordeals have become famous, such as being held by the ankles over a cliff edge to confess and repent (nozoki), standing under waterfalls (takigyō) or walking over the embers of the outdoor fire ritual (hiwatari).

Shugendō centres are spread across Japan, each with its own traditions and seasonal retreats. The Kii Peninsula is the historic heartland: the Ōmine Okugake route, linking Yoshino and Kumano along the crest of the range, is part of the World Heritage property of sacred sites in the Kii Mountains. In northern Japan the Three Mountains of Dewa form the other great centre; their autumn retreat on Haguro-san is among the best-known Shugendō rites still practised.

In the Edo period the shogunate required yamabushi to register with one of two orders: the Honzan-ha, affiliated with Tendai and administered from Shōgo-in in Kyoto, and the Tōzan-ha, affiliated with Shingon and centred on Sanbō-in of Daigo-ji. Many settled in villages as local priests, performing prayers, divination and healing for the community.

After the separation of kami and buddhas in 1868, the Meiji government abolished Shugendō by decree in 1872. Yamabushi had to become Tendai or Shingon priests or return to lay life; shrine-temple complexes such as Dewa Sanzan were converted into Shinto shrines, and much of the tradition's village infrastructure disappeared. After 1945 freedom of religion allowed Shugendō organisations to re-form, among them Kinpusen Shugen Honshū at Yoshino.

The mountains of Shugendō were historically closed to women (nyonin kinsei), a restriction most sites dropped in the Meiji era or after 1945. Sanjōgatake in the Ōmine range remains an exception, its ban upheld by the temple and local community and debated nationally. Several Shugendō groups now admit women to their retreats elsewhere.