Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia

81. SHUGENDŌ AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE

JAPANESE ESOTERIC SECTS:

A STUDY OF THE RITUAL CALENDAR OF AN

EDOPERIOD SHUGENDŌ SHRINETEMPLE COMPLEX

Gaynor Sekimori

Given the historical circumstances that led to the development of
Shugendō as a discrete religious institution in Japan, it is often difficult
to distinguish it from the esoteric Tendai and Shingon sects. Since the
institutional formation of Shugendō has been the subject of consider-
able scholarly attention, I will give only a brief summary of it here.^1
With the growing importance of Kumano and Yoshino as pilgrim-
age centers from the eleventh century, mountain ascetics (gyōja ,
shugenja ) gathered there and formed loose associations of
sendatsu (pilgrim guides) and oshi (resident shugenja who
provided pilgrim lodgings). Over time, some sendatsu gained author-
ity to the extent that they controlled rights over shugenja and pilgrims
in a particular geographical area (“parish”: kasumiba , dannaba
). During the course of the fifteenth century, the Kyōto Ten-
dai temple Shōgoin , which held the hereditary office of the
Kumano superintendent (kengyō ) that was first granted to the
Onjōji (Miidera) priest Zōyo (1032–1116) around 1090, came
to exert control over many of these sendatsu groups. Subsequently,
Shōgoin became the headquarters of the Honzan group (Honzanha
), the “school” of Shugendō that was closely associated with
Tendai, at first in an administrative capacity but by the Edo period in
terms of liturgy and doctrine as well.
On the other hand, a second “school,” the Tōzan group (Tōzanha
), which in the Edo period was linked closely with Shingon
through its head temple, the Sanbōin of Daigoji , grew
out of regional Shugendō associations (Tyler 1989, 161–63); however,
the Tōzan group was not necessarily limited to Shingon doctrine and

(^1) The following description is based on Miyake 2005, 45–68; see also Miyake 1996,
121–34.