- Japanese: 八幡 (Hachiman)
Hachiman, commonly described as a god of war, is a Shinto deity, the patron deity of the Minamoto clan, Murakami clan, and others, as well as of the Shô Dynasty of the Ryûkyû Kingdom. Hachiman Shrines are the most numerous category of Shinto shrines in Japan, and worship of Hachiman has been described as "the most influential popular religion in Japanese history."[1]
Hachiman was first worshipped as one of the household deities of the Usa clan of Kyushu, along with a sun goddess called Hibigami. Adopted by the Minamoto shoguns as their chief patron deity, Hachiman later became established as one of the chief protectors of the Imperial family, the Japanese nation, and the cosmos. Usa Hachiman Shrine in Buzen province, one of the chief Hachiman shrines in Japan, was used as the Imperial court's branch court in Kyushu at times, and emperors and empresses made pilgrimages to Usa to pray for the protection of the Imperial family and the nation on countless occasions beginning in 720, up until the time of Emperor Kômei in 1864. The Nata family, lords of territories in the Kunisaki peninsula of Bungo province, hereditarily held the position of high priest at Usa Hachiman from 729 until the 17th century.
During the Mongol Invasions in the 1270s-1280s, Hachiman Shrines throughout Kyushu became major centers of prayers for the protection of the country, and after the successful repulsion of those invasions, Usa Hachiman's prestige as a protector of the nation increased.
The Hachiman legend of course has seen considerable change and expansion over the centuries. At some point, Hachiman was retroactively associated with Emperor Ôjin, and thus as the son of Empress Jingû; various Hachiman-related texts relate that it was the as-yet-unborn Ôjin/Hachiman in Jingû's womb that aided her in succeeding in her mythical invasions of Korea.
A particularly famous and lifelike wooden sculpture of Hachiman in the guise of a Buddhist monk is held at the Tôdai-ji in Nara. Carved by the great Buddhist sculptor Kaikei, the seated sculpture, in usually good condition with its painting intact, is 34 1/2 inches tall, and dates to 1201.[2]
References
- Haruko Nawata Ward, Women Religious Leaders in Japan's Christian Century, Ashgate (2009), 120.