Historical development and characteristics
In pre-Buddhist Japan, religious activities included
shamanistic trances, communication with spirits, and
festivals and rites celebrating the descent of the agri-
cultural deities from the mountains in the spring and
their return to the mountains after the autumn har-
vest. Mountains were also believed to be the residence
of the dead. As Buddhism was being assimilated into
Japanese society in the sixth century (if not earlier), as-
cetics entered mountainous areas to undergo religious
austerities. These persons were not always Buddhist
monks, but included an assortment of solitary hermits,
diviners, exorcists, “unordained” Buddhist specialists
(ubasoku), and wandering religious figures (hijiri). The
most famous of these was En-no-Gyoja (En the As-
cetic, also known as En-no-Ozunu; ca. seventh cen-
tury), a prototypical ascetic with shamanic powers and
the semilegendary founder of Shugendo, stories of
whose activities are in evidence at almost every moun-
tainous area with an ascetic tradition.
By the early Heian period (ninth century) many
Buddhist ascetics, especially those associated with the
tantric schools, entered Mount Hiei and Mount Koya
(the headquarters of the Tendai and Shingon Buddhist
schools), as well as other mountains such as Mount
Kimbu in the Yoshino region. Various mountainous
areas throughout Japan developed their own tradi-
tions, among them Hakusan and Mount Fuji in cen-
tral Japan, the Haguro peaks in the north, Mount
Ishizuchi in Shikoku, and Mount Hiko in Kyushu.
Each had its own religious history, its own set of deities,
its own web of associations with other sacred sites, and
its own community of Shugendopractitioners. Shu-
genjafrom these areas performed religious services and
guided pilgrims to popular sacred sites like Mitake and
Kumano. These shugenjagradually became organized
by the middle of the Heian period (tenth century), usu-
ally in connection with the pilgrimages of retired em-
perors and aristocrats. In time its institutional
structure formed two major pillars: the Honzan-ha
headquartered at Shogo-in and affiliated with Tendai
Buddhism, and the Tozan-ha headquartered at Kofu-
kuji and Daigoji and affiliated with Shingon Bud-
dhism. In this way the older shamanistic and mountain
ascetic practices were incorporated within the teach-
ings and practices of tantric Buddhism, and Shugendo
came to represent a large portion of the dominant syn-
cretistic worldview of medieval Japan. In the early
modern period (lasting from the seventeenth century
to the nineteenth century) the role of most shugenja
shifted from that of ascetic wanderer to that of some-
one settled in a local society as oshi(teacher) or kitoshi
(a diviner who offers “prayers”).
Today Shugendorepresents only a shadow of its for-
mer self, though Shugendo-related activities, such as
the kaihogyoTendai practice of “circumambulating the
peaks” on Mount Hiei and Shugendo-influenced ritu-
als and activities in some of the new religious move-
ments of Japan, are still practiced. A syncretistic mix
of traditions, Shugendowas outlawed in the late nine-
teenth century as part of the attempt by the Japanese
government to “purify” Shinto of its “foreign” ele-
ments. Shugendo specialists were forced to identify
themselves either as Buddhist monks or Shintopriests.
With the postwar declaration of religious freedom in
the second half of the 1940s, Shugendoorganizations
recovered their independence and many activities,
such as the Yoshino-Kumano pilgrimage along the
Omine range and the seasonal retreats at Haguro, have
been revived by their former institutional centers.Buddhist aspects of Shugendo
Buddhist aspects of Shugendoare reflected in its doc-
trinal and ethical teachings, rituals, COSMOLOGY, and
ascetic practices. These are based mainly on tantric
Buddhism as it evolved in the Tendai and Shingon tra-
ditions in Japan. Examples include the reinterpretation
of traditional Buddhist categories, such as the ten
realms of existence (from hell to Buddha) and the six
PARAMITA(PERFECTIONS), in terms of the physical and
spiritual progress made by ascetics as they advance
through the mountain trails and trials. Fire ceremonies
(goma) and other Buddhist rituals also underwent
transformation. Cosmological and symbolic signifi-
cance was assigned to Shugendo geographical sites
based on the configuration of the womb realm
(taizokai) and diamond realm (kongokai) MANDALAs.
In this way the mountains came to be identified with
the body of the cosmic Buddha Mahavairocana
(Japanese, Dainichi), and entering the mountains took
on the added meaning of becoming integrated with the
Buddha and attaining enlightenment. The belief that
buddhahood can be attained within this life is a cen-
tral tenet of Shugendo faith and a major goal of its
practice. Traditional Buddhist and Buddhist-like fig-
ures (buddhas, BODHISATTVAS, and guardian deities)
were incorporated into Shugendoworship, along with
completely new figures. Especially important is Fudo
(myoo; the unmovable), a fiery and angry looking
representation of the role of the cosmic Buddha in de-
stroying the passionate afflictions of this world. Fun-
damental Buddhist practices such as MEDITATIONSHUGENDO