1004 gaynor sekimori
came to Haguro as a result of the sociopolitical situation in the early
seventeenth century, when Jakkōji developed institutional ties with
Tōeizan.
The importance of this liturgy to Haguro Shugendō cannot be
overestimated: The Hagurosan nyūbu kudokishō
(1829) states that a person’s defilements vanish as a result of recit-
ing and listening to the liturgy during the Autumn Peak practice. An
important point to note is that the musical form of the Lotus repen-
tance ritual makes it much more accessible to non-specialist practitio-
ners than the more austere and difficult forms in the Tendai school
(Ōuchi forthcoming). We cannot know for certain whether the musi-
cal form used during the Autumn Peak among the shugenja was the
same as that used in temple services, though it very likely was.
The ritual structure of the temple also included a number of kami
elements. Four shrine priests (shajin ) and two miko received sti-
pends for services to the complex. The men were hereditary shrine
priests (negi, hafuri) with shugenja qualifications and names; the
women were married and passed their positions to their heirs. The
mikos’ main functions were to provide music for rituals at the main
shrine (though they were not allowed to enter the inner sanctuary)
and at Tōshōgū several times a year, and to perform yudate kagura
, a form of divination using hot water. They usually con-
ducted these in tandem with the gyōnin , a temple sub-class that
was in charge of ritual preparations.
On New Year’s Day gyōnin performed the kudagayu ritual, a divina-
tion for the harvest and the weather, by themselves, but on the morn-
ing of I, 7 another divination, yonemaki, was enacted by both groups.
A gyōnin scattered white rice in the inner sanctuary to bring prosper-
ity to heaven and the earth, and at the conclusion of the rite, the miko
and shajin played music and performed a yudate kagura to divine the
fortunes of the realm and the mountain. The shajin performed a lion
dance for the Tōshōgū (IV, 17) and Haguro Gongen (VI, 14–15) fes-
tival and played a central role in the Oriidō festival (XI, 9), where they
performed yudate kagura.^11 They also provided sacred dances at the
main shrine for summer visitors.
The Shugendō year at Haguro centered on the “Four Peaks” (see Ear-
hart 1965; Sekimori 1995, 2005). The Spring Peak had formerly been
a time of seclusion, but the focus had shifted from the shugenja to the
(^11) For a study of yudate kagura, see Suzuki forthcoming.