#folk history
Who’re Benjogami?
It has been a hot minute since I posted Japanese folklore contents here, so, let’s gradually restart the trend!
Benjogami [便所神] also referred to as Sasugami [サス神] in Okayama Prefecture¹, Kanjogami [閑所神] in Miyagi Prefecture², or Kawayagami [厠神] in general³ are deities (usually a pair of male and female) of toilet mostly enshrined inside a restroom (like the ones above inside the restroom of Sendai City Museum of History and Folklore [仙台市歴史民俗資料館] in Miyagino Ward [宮城野区], Sendai City [仙台市], Miyagi Prefecture) and aside from being venerated due to their connection with securing hygiene via proper swage system³, their folkloric depictions are what inspired the creation of haunting entities in school restrooms from Japanese horror stories such as “Red Paper/Blue Paper” [赤い紙/青い紙] (plus other color variations).
Before we dive into contemporary stories, however, there are few notable features of Benjogami other than solely guarding restrooms. In places such as Ōta Ward [大田区] (Tōkyō), Benjogami are also related with child delivery believing that a family who keeps the restroom clean would be blessed with a good child as a result of appeasing Benjogami who would help the housewife during labor⁴. Another feature of Benjogami worth mentioning is how they’re conflated with Fudōmyō'ō [不動明王]/Acalanātha in many locations within Okayama Prefecture (e.g.: Maniwa City [真庭市])¹. Reasons to why this syncretism occured in Okayama Prefecture alone despite of Fudōmyō'ō not having anything to do with restrooms anywhere else are unclear. However, an educated guess can be made that another Buddhist deity called Ususama-myō'ō [烏枢沙摩明王]/Ucchuṣma (above) could’ve probably been replaced by Fudōmyō'ō due to the latter’s popularity in Japan and how they’re both Myō'ō [明王]/Vidyārāja with the key descriptive difference being that Ususama-myō'ō is traditionally considered as a deity who guard’s (via “purification”) restrooms in temples/monasteries⁵ just as Benjogami would. And now, for the spooky part!
Benjogami are generally feared. Like the belief² from Miyagi Prefecture tells, people would fall on their back and swoon from merely coming across these deities. Henceforth, such characteristics could’ve evolved over time and subsequently giving birth to “Gakkō-no-kaidan” [学校の怪談] (or “Haunting Tales From School”) style of entities like “Red Paper/Blue Paper” mentioned earlier because the most commonly endorsed color combination of red and blue in the said story is seen on traditional Benjogami idols (below) from Kanazawa City [金沢市] (Ishikawa Prefecture)⁶ as well; hinting to the possibility that the story in question could’ve theoretically be founded on Benjogami folklore. Folktales/beliefs of Benjogami as motif/reference in restroom related Japanese horror stories could also be observed during Edo Period such as with the story titled “Kurote-giri” [黒手切り] from modern day Ishikawa Prefecture. This story via “Shifugoroku” [四不語録] (Edo Period) by Yamai Asaka [浅香 山井] (n/a) told of a happening where the wife of a villager named Jingobē [甚五兵衛] reported her husband about how a disembodied hand caressed her butt cheek when she was using the restroom. I won’t go too much in depth here due to the rest of this story being off topic for now, but the point of me referencing it is because Benjogami are also reported to do something similar to unsuspecting people. Like in a legend⁷ from Koshigaya City [越谷市] (Saitama Prefecture), where Benjogami are said to scratch the butt cheek of people who tries to use the toilet at 6 PM.
It has been a while so I apologize for this subpar content, but there you have it!
Source:
1. “Okayamakenshi: Chapter 6 Minkan-shinkō-to-shūgendō…” [岡山県史: 第六章 民間信仰と修験道 第一節 屋敷神と屋内神: (二 屋内神)] (1983) by the Editorial Board of Okayama Prefecture’s History [岡山県史編纂委員会]
2. “Miyagikenshi Minzoku 3:…” [宮城縣史 民俗3: 妖怪変化・幽霊: 妖怪変化] (1956) by the Society of Miyagi Prefecture’s History (NPO) [財団法人宮城県史刊行会]
4. “Seikō-minzoku: Osan-ni-tachiau-kami…” [西郊民俗: お産に立ちあう神 東京都大田区の事例] (1982) by Keiko Nakashima [中島 恵子] (n/a)
5. “Mikkyō-no-seinaru-jumon” [密教の聖なる呪文] (2019) by Akira Masaki [正木 晃] (1953-present)
6.Via Doll Museum [人形ミュージアム] (official website)
7. “Tabi-to-densetsu:…” [旅と伝説: 埼玉県越ヶ谷地方の俗信] (1933) by Kentarō Fukushima [福島 憲太郎] (n/a)
What is the meaning of “compassion” embedded within the Lotus Sūtra?
Buddhist Parables (Chapter 1.): Migawari-jizō And The Great Compassion｜能遮学侶｜note
Buddhist parables from a famous Japanese folktale!
Please make sure to leave a comment and/or reblog with “Namu-myōhō-rengekyō” included!
Rain Making In Japanese Buddhism
Surprisingly, early records of rain making are mostly conducted by Buddhist monks rather than Shintō priests/priestesses. In “Tōdaiji-gusho” [東大寺具書] (Nara Period?), the very first Buddhist monk who performed rain dance was a monk from the Kingdom of Koryŏ [高麗/고려] by the name of Ekan [慧灌] (Asuka Period) who is the founder of Sanron Buddhist Sect [三論宗] in Japan¹. While his stay in Hōkō Temple [法興寺] (today’s Asuka Temple [飛鳥寺] (below) in Asuka Village [明日香村], Takaichi Dist. [高市郡], Nara Period) during the reign of Emperor Kōtoku [孝徳天皇], a series of draught struck Japan. This was when Ekan performed a rain making ritual as he recited verses from Sanron scriptures while wearing a blue dress which successfully brought rain.
Another less successful attempt was recorded from year 642 via “Nihon-shoki” when Empress Kyōgoku [皇極天皇] (594-661) instructed nobleman Soga-no-Emishi [蘇我 蝦夷] (586?-645) to conduct a rain making ritual on July 25th as he recited verses from Māhayāna Buddhist scriptures, but was instructed to desist after four days for the rain he managed to summon were mere drizzles and proper rain came only when the Empress prayed herself.
There’s also a legend² when two monks battled over who could bring down rain. In 1261, Shingon Buddhist Sect [真言律宗] monk Ninshō [忍性] (1217-1303) (below left) of Gokuraku Temple [極楽寺] (Kamakura City [鎌倉市], Kanagawa Prefecture) and another monk called Nichiren [日蓮] (below right) (1222-1282) who later founded Hokke Buddhist Sect [法華宗] fought each other to prove who’s teachings were superior. When Ninshō called upon the rain, it ended up summoning a tempest and failed, but delicate rain came down from the sky when Nichiren did the same; resulting to Nichiren taking the W.
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Based upon these accounts, rain making became an integral part of Japanese Buddhist practice such as the manual for rain making together with drums and strawhats used in the ritual stored in Shindaibutsu Temple [新大仏寺] (Iga City [伊賀市], Mie Prefecture).
新大仏寺雨乞い関係文書 附 雨乞い踊り用具 文化遺産オンライン
This is especially true for Jōdoshin Buddhists [浄土真宗] with their Nenbutsu-odori [念仏踊] which is a Buddhist choreography of rain making practiced even to this day such as the famous Taki-no-miya-nenbutsu-odori [滝宮の念仏踊] performed in Ayagawa Town [綾川町] (Ayauta Dist. [綾歌郡], Kagawa Prefecture).
Sources:
