. Famous Places and Power spots of Edo 江戸の名所 .
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Legends from Minato ward
. Minato ward 港区 .
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. Legends and Tales from Japan 伝説 - Introduction .
. tanuki 狸 - mujina 狢 － racoon dog, badger legends .
tanuki no kai 狸の怪 Tanuki monster
In the third lunar month of 1828 there was an old woman without any relatives working in a home. She fell ill and could not breath.
Soon many Tanuki came to the home, as if to visit the old woman. As the woman got worse, Amida appeared at her side and took her hand.
Then someone saw an old Tanuki come out of the room
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furudanuki 古狸 old Tanuki from Enokizaka slope 榎坂
At Enokizaka lived some soldiers in a rented home. Often someone strange came there at night.
In 1634, on the 15th day of the first lunar month one man hid after pretending to go to bed to see what was happening.
Something wit great sparkling eyes appeared. He caught an old Tanuki, he said!
But people thought that was impossible in the town and the man must have told a lie. The man soon disappeared.
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bakemono 化物 monster
A yoriki 与力 police officer named Kiribuchi lived in a house where a monster had been seen.
- One day a man called 雪飛 Yukihi visited Kiribuchi. He saw a maid-servant running down from the second floor with a pale-green face of fear, saying she had seen a monster upstairs. When Yukihi carefully went upstairs, the dressing table was open and in the mirror he saw something like a monster.
- One day the wife of Kiribuchi called her maid servant. The servant opened the door, kneeling on the floor asking what was the matter. When the wife looked closely, her face looked like a juubako 重箱 food box with many layers. Later they found a deep hole under the floor. After filling this hole the monster did not appear any more.
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butsubatsu 仏罰 Buddha's punishment
On the 28th day of the 8th lunar month in 1680, there was the ritual of painting eyes to the statue of the Gread Buddha of Edo.
They found four nails in the back of the statue and one parishioner wanted to pull them out, but could not do it. He got angry, but now some wood fell down and he got great wounds on four fingers of both hands.
. Tokyo Daibutsu 東京大仏 Great Buddha of Tokyo .
Joorenji 乗蓮寺 Temple Joren-Ji
板橋区赤塚5－28 / 5 Chome-28 Akatsuka, Itabashi ward
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. hebi 蛇と伝説 Legends about snakes and serpents .
Under a tree, a snake had swallowed a child of 4 years. The father of the child followed the snake and came closer. The snake blew a poisonous breath at him and his eyes could not open any more.
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hako 箱 box
One greedy practitioner of Shinto rituals once performed an exorcist ritual for a crazy man and got a box as reward. He was told never to open the box.
When he came home, others had brought him many treasures and he slept among them with his family.
The next morning, all the treasures had become impure.
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hotaru 螢 fireflies
At 蛇池 the Snake Pond at 龍土町 Ryudo district in Edo, someone went to see the fireflies. But there were so many, they overwhelmed him and he run back home in fear.
This happened in other parts of Japan too. This happens if the weeds turn bad at the beginning of summer.
. hotaru 螢 fireflies and Haiku .
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oootoko 大男 O-Otoko, giant
A man named 小島清次郎 Kojima Saijiro once scooped for fish at the river 古川 Furukawa with a friend.
Kojima had his leg and did not go into the river, he stood outside and held the bucket. A giant appeared and hindered him from walking this road. Kojima was a large man himself, so he was not so surprized and passed the giant by his side. When he looked in the bucket later, the four fish were all gone.
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reiken, reigen 霊験 miracle
In the autumn of 1795, an ill man living in 麻生 Asao had a dream. He went near the fox shrine 椙田稲荷 / 杉田稲荷 Sugita Inari, where there lived an old woman who performed purification rituals for him.
He should go to the Inari Shrine, say prayers and rub his ailing stomach. He did as told and was soon healed. As word spread, more people came to pray here and the man distributed clean rice to them. The Shrine became so popular, the Edo government later forbid people to go thear and soon the fad subsided.
Asao ku 麻生区（あさおく）Asao ward
in 川崎市 Kawasaki town (formerly part of Tokyo)
Asao-ku is one of the 7 wards of the city of Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture.
- source : city.kawasaki.jp/en... -
Under the Nara period Ritsuryō system, what is now Kawasaki Ward became part of Tachibana District Musashi Province.
. Kawasaki in the Edo Period along the river Tamagawa 多摩川 .
. Asao Fudo Temple 麻生不動だるま市 Daruma Market .
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yoobo 妖姥 / ヨウボ old monster hag
In the family of a yoriki 与力 police officer a baby had been born. The sanba 産婆 midwife took the baby in her arms and run to the empty nagaya 長屋 long store house.
When the family members run after her and finally got hold of her, she was indeed the midwife.
The old midwife who had taken the baby out of the house had disappeared. But soon after the whole estate went up in fire.
................................................................................. Akasaka 赤坂
. Hikawa Jinja 氷川神社 Akasaka 赤坂 .
Hikawa Myoojin 氷川明神 Hikawa Myojin and 十一面観音Juichimen Kannon
Around 950, a priest named 連林 Renrin from 近江国甲賀郡 Koga came to study to Hikawa.
That night he had a dream. An old man with white hair came to him and told him to dig out something from the ground and venerate it. This would become 守護神 the protector deity of the area.
When Renrin looked around he saw something golden and dug it out. It was 十一面観音 a statue of Kannon with 11 heads. So he built a Shrine and venerated it.
In 1066 there was a gread drought in the Kanto area and people came here to pray for rain. And indeed, it begun to rain soon.
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In Akasaka there lived a stupid kojiki 乞食 beggar called 亀次 Kameji.
After his death, he was reborn in the family of a Daimyo.
When the baby was born, it could not open its hand. Later when it finally opened its hand, the word KAMEJI was written inside.
. kojiki 乞食 beggar / binboonin 貧乏人 Bimbo, "a poor person" .
and Haiku by Kobayashi Issa
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. 赤坂伝馬町 Akasaka Denmacho .
小伝馬町 Kodenmacho and 大伝馬町 Odenmacho district
In Denmacho there was a strange person seen every night, almost like a monster from Ikebukuro.
One evening a man put a piece of paper and a brush outside. When the strange person passed, it stopped and wrote something like a word.
................................................................................. Atago 愛宕
onigawara 鬼瓦 demon roof tiles
At 天徳寺 temple Tentoku-Ji in 愛宕下 Atago-shita there is a demon roof tile with a tokin 兜巾（ときん）Buddhist cap.
Once upon a time, there was a fire and the sparks seemed to set the roof in flames. From this roof tile water begun to spray and the fire was extinguished.
. onigawara 鬼瓦 demon roof tiles .
Tengu wearing a TOKIN.
................................................................................. Azabu 麻布
iseki 異石 a strange stone
There are five different strange stones in Azabu:
麻布に異石が５種類ある。
寒山拾得石像に切られた痕が残っている。
夜久神の石像は願をかけると験が多く、長谷寺の僧の霊夢によって長谷寺に置かれるようになった。
陰陽石が縁結びの願を成就する。
道路に埋った石が願を成就する。
烏帽子形の石に日月の像が現れた。
Nearby was a rock called takaishi 鷹石 "hawk rock".
When the villagers tried to dig it out a long long time ago, there had a mysterious atmosphere about it, but that is lost today.
source : deepazabu.blogspot.com...
鷹石（烏石）Takaishi
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kieta onna 消えた女 a woman vanished
A man named 玉置清吉 Tamaki Seikichi walked along 麻布古川 Azabu Furukawa (old river) in the evening without carrying a lantern. A beautiful woman of about 40 years came walking toward him. He thought this was strange and wanted to let her pass, but the woman stopped to ask him the way. He told her where to go, and the woman did not even answer, but just went on. When he looked back a few moments later, the woman had vanished, but he heard a strange laughter from the river.
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Azabu Ichibei town 麻布市兵衛町
. kitsune densetsu 狐と伝説 fox legends .
In June 1752, the maid servant of a villager of Azabu Ichibei village was suddenly possessed by a fox. They tried all kinds of exorcism, but nothing helped.
The fox seemed to live in 松平紀伊守様屋敷 the estate of Matsudaira, Governor of Mikawa.
His daughter was from the Inari shrine in the estate of the Lord of Ishikawa 石川近江守様屋敷の稲荷, his wife from the Inari shrine of Sannocho 山王町の稲荷.
So they built a small Inari shrine to honor the fox family and prayed for the protection from fires.
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. unagi うなぎ / 鰻 a crazy eel restaurant owner .
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Azabu Kogaicho 麻布笄町
yashagami 夜叉神 Yasha deity -渋谷金王麿 Shibuya Konnomaru
At Azabu Kogaicho is 長谷寺 the temple Hasedera with a hall for the Yasha deity, 夜叉明王堂 Yasha Myo-O Do.
When Shibuya Shigeie build a castle, he had a stone statue of this deity buried in the Northern corner of the castle.
When later in the Edo period 阿部豊後守の臣安川繁成 Yasukawa Shigenari (1839 - 1906) lived here, he had a well dug out and they found the stone statue.
He kept it close to himself as his protector deity and sometimes saw Konnomaru in his dream, so he enshrined it. Later he had made 鬼の面 a demon mask with a features of Konnomaru.
The story is also told in Kabuki theater.
... Actor Ichikawa Ebizô as Shibuya Konnomaru Masatoshi
金王八幡宮 Konno Hachimangu Shrine
東京都渋谷区渋谷3-5-12 / 3 Chome-5-12 Shibuya
The Shrine was founded by the Shibuya clan in 1092.
河崎基家 Kawasaki Motoie (General of the Heian period), also called 渋谷重家 Shibuya Shigeie.
The Shrine was not destroyed in WWII and still shows the style of the Edo period.
Shinmon gate, Shaden, Haiden, Kaguraden, Homotsuden
- Deity in residence
応神天皇(品陀和気命) Ojin Tenno - Homutawake or Hondawake
15th emperor of Japan
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Konnō Hachiman Shrine 金王八幡社 Konno Hachiman Sha
who had built Shibuya Castle and become the founder of the Shibuya Clan.
It was also famous for a rare cherry tree named 金王桜 "Konnō- zakura" which blooms in the precinct with the mixture of single and double petalled flowers on each branch.
- source : Tokyo Metropolitan Museum -
At the end of the Edo period, the temple 澁谷山親王院 東福寺 Shibuyazan Shinno-In Tofuku-Ji was build next to it.
The eldest son of Kawasaki Motoie, 常光 Tsunemitsu, came here to pray.
He thus became an incarnation of the deity 金剛夜叉明王 Konno Yasha Myo-O. He then called himself
金王丸 / 金王麿 Konnomaru, Konno Maro.
................................................................................. Shiba 芝
Shiba Myojin Shrine 芝神明社 / 芝大神宮 Shiba Daijingu / 芝神明 Shiba Shinmei
1 Chome-12-７ Shibadaimon, Minato, Tokyo
In the 9th lunar month of 1005, in 武蔵国日比谷村 Hibiya mura village in Musashi no kuni it begun to rain 幣帛 ritual wands and 大牙 large animal fangs from the clear sky. An oracle said a Shrine should be built here. This is the beginning of prestigious Shiba Myojin Shrine.
. Shiba Daijinguu 芝大神宮 Shiba Daijingu Shrine .
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. Zoojooji, Zōjō-ji 増上寺 Temple Zojo-Ji .
the family temple of the Tokugawa family - with some legends below
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choozubachi 手水鉢 hand-wash basin
The hand-wash basin of the temple was made from a special stone. Even after many years the water never got dirty.
Come too much rain or drought, the water level always stayed the same.
source : db.nichibun.ac.jp/ja...
water-tank at Shiba, with its monolith columns, on the tops of which festooned drapery in colours and gold is painted...
(Dresser, Christopher, 1834-1904)
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dochuu no fugu 土中の河豚 a Fugu blowfish in the earth
On the 17th day of the second lunar month in 1725 during the construction of a new building at Zojo-Ji they found a very large living fugu 河豚 puffer fish in the ground!
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. kitsune densetsu 狐と伝説 fox legends .
A young priest living in a dormitory at Zojo-Ji was bewitched by a fox and began moving like a woman. He told the head of the dormitory that he had lived in a small sanctuary in the park, but when the head of the dormitory destroyed the sanctuary, he had lost his home. Now he wanted a new 祠 sanctuary shrine.
The headmaster found out that many years ago there was someone called 花崎 Hanazaki, so he had a shrine built with a torii gate and called it
Hanazaki-sha 花崎社 Hanazaki Shrine.
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In the dormitory there was a small sancturay for a fox. The priests came here to have rituals and make offerings there on special days. Once after the offerings, a priest came to the dormitory door the next morning where he saw an ols man wearkng an eboshi 烏帽子 ritual cap asking for a favor. He had lived in the sanctuary for a long time, but now a new sanctuary for 弁天 Benten was putting shadow on his place and he wanted it to be relocated.
When the priest reported this to the head of the dormitory. The head found out that the priest making the offerings had in fact thought of Benten to grant him a wish. Anyway, they relocated the sanctuary and the man wearing the ritual cap came back to express his gratitude.
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. nekomata 猫また monster cat Yokai .
Around 1700 in a side-temple of Zojo-Ji called 徳水院 Tokuzui-In there lived 赤猫 a red cat. Once the cat was running after a mouse when it fell from the ceiling and called the prayer out
南無三宝 Namu Sanbo for help. People thought it might be a cat monster, but the animal disappeared soon after.
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. Onyo 音誉聖観上人 Saint Onyo Shokan Shonin .
音誉上人自ら火車に乗る Onyo Shonin riding the kasha 火車 "burning chariot"
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. Ryogaku 了学上人 Saint Ryogaku Shonin (1549 - 1634) .
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Shiba Tamachi 芝田町
. hebi 蛇と伝説 Legends about snakes and serpents .
In the eighth district of Tamachi lived a woman who had hated her husband. When she died they found a large dead serpent under her futon 蒲団 matres. The husband threw the serpent into the sea, but it came back to life and was back at the home before the husband returned.
After the official 49 days of mourning for his wife he got himself a new wife. But this woman fled the house the next morning.
One can only wonder what terrible thing happened in the house that night !
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- reference : nichibun yokai database -
. Edo, Tokyo 江戸 - 東京 - 伝説 Legends Index .
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. Minato ward 港区 .
. Famous Places and Powerspots of Edo 江戸の名所 .
. Edo bakufu 江戸幕府 The Edo Government .
. Doing Business in Edo - 商売 - Introduction .
. shokunin 職人 craftsman, craftsmen, artisan, Handwerker .
. senryu, senryū 川柳 Senryu poems in Edo .
. Japanese Architecture - The Japanese Home .
. Interior Design - The Japanese Home .
. Legends and Tales from Japan 伝説 - Introduction .
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