998 gaynor sekimori
organization, at least before the seventeenth century.^2 Previous schol-
arship has tended to distinguish the two groups on the basis of Tendai
and Shingon doctrine, but we can no longer make such an assumption
for the medieval period or even the Edo period.^3
Another factor that must be considered when discussing the rela-
tionship of Shugendō and the esoteric sects is that Shugendō was not a
monolithic entity but a diverse mass of beliefs and practices associated
with specific mountains and areas. While esoteric modes and rituals
underlie much of what is “visible” in Shugendō, we must beware of
assuming that Shugendō automatically subscribes to what might be
termed the philosophical base underlying the esoteric traditions. As
we shall see, fully ordained Shugendō priests undertook the post-
ordination training called shido kegyō in common with all
Tendai and Shingon priests.^4 This then became the basis of their ritual
structure, whether they lived at the head temple or in a village tem-
ple, and a tool to be employed for a variety of ritual modes—and not
necessarily the formal rites performed in strictly Tendai and Shingon
temples.^5 In other words, the “philosophical” interpretation of ritual
meaning was not necessarily understood by Shugendō and the esoteric
sects in the same way.
It is the purpose of this brief article to demonstrate this assertion
through an analysis of the ritual calendar of a Shugendō shrine-temple
complex, Jakkōji on Mt. Haguro. Though its traditional ritual
calendar was lost following its conversion to a shrine in 1873, three
important sources remain that allow us to reconstruct the Jakkōji cal-
endar: Hagurosan nenjū gyōji (1687);^6 Nenjū hōyō
(^2) See Sekiguchi 2000 (English version forthcoming) on the formation of the rela-
tion between Daigoji and Tōzanha.
(^3) A study of the contents of the Koshikidake archive, a collection of records and
texts from a Tōzanha village temple in present-day Yamagata prefecture, provides
evidence of the eclectic nature of Edo-period Shugendō. A detailed analysis, however,
must await further research. See Sekimori, forthcoming.
(^4) See Payne, “The Fourfold Training in Japanese Esoteric Buddhism,” in this vol-
ume. The fourfold training (in mudrās, mantras, visualizations): the eighteen paths
(jūhachidō ), the Womb Realm (Taizōkai ), the Diamond Realm
(Kongōkai ), and goma. For a description of the ritual process, see, for
example, Saso 1991, Payne 1991, and Sharf 2001. 5
For a summary of rituals performed within Shugendō as a whole, see Miyake
- 6
Shintō taikei, Jinja-hen, Dewa Sanzan 1982, 305–22; dated Jōkyō 4.7.2, based on
the Kezōin manuscript. An almost identical version appears in the Shinbutsu bunri
shiryōshū and also in the Nihon sairei gyōji shūsei
.