Hachiman
Hachiman, formerly known in Shinto as Yahata, is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements from both Shinto and Japanese Buddhism. He was give the title Great Bodhisattva of National Protection and Marvelous Spirit Power .
The first mention of Hachiman is found in the Shoku Nihongi, which writes that offerings were sent in 794 CE to shrines of Hachiman in the event of conflict with the Korean kingdom of Silla.
In Shinto, Hachiman is the divine spirit of the semi-legendary Emperor Ōjin, who is traditionally said to have reigned from 270 to 310. Ōjin was deified and identified by legend as "Yahata-no-kami", meaning "Kami of Eight Banners", referring to the eight heavenly banners that signalled the birth of the divine and deified emperor, and is also called Hondawake. His messenger is the dove, which symbolizes both the bow and arrow found in samurai banners associated to him where he is called "".
Since ancient times Hachiman has been worshiped by farmers as the god of agriculture, and by fishermen, who hoped that he would fill their nets with many fish.
During the age of the samurai, descendants of both samurai clans, Seiwa Genji and Kanmu Taira honored Hachiman, from which the tradition is derived nationwide in which samurai clans honor Hachiman as the deity sacred to them. His other roles include determining a samurai's fate—i.e., whether they are a success or failure in battle; controlling and protecting the martial arts; and proclaiming the victory of an army.
Although often called the god of war, he is more strictly defined as the tutelary god of warriors. He is also the divine protector of Japan, the Japanese people and the Imperial House.
Summary of Hachiman
In the present form of Shinto, Hachiman is the divine spirit of Emperor Ōjin. Emperor Kinmei in his Regnal Year 32 decreed that the deified Emperor Ōjin was revealed for the first time in the land of Usa —the present-day city of Usa, in Oita Prefecture—where he became the patron deity of the city, along with a lesser Shinto female deity called Himegami and the Emperor's mother, Empress Jingū. The trio is known as Hachiman Mikami is enshrined in Usa Jingū which is located in the city.Amongst the Hachiman Mikami, there are many shrines that enshrines other figures apart from the trio, like Emperor Chūai instead of Empress Jingū, the legendary hero and Shinto deity Takenouchi no Sukune or Takeshiuchi no Sukune and the female deity Tamayori-hime, where there is a dedicated prayer for safe childbirth in the Shinto shrine of Umi Hachimangū in Umi, Fukuoka prefecture.
Himegami
The three Munakata goddesses born from the divination ritual Ukehi or Ukei between the goddess Amaterasu and the god Susanoo - that is Tagitsu-hime, Ichikishima-hime and Tagairi-hime - is said where they descended from the heavens as the "Three Pillars of Usanoshima of the ancient province of Tsukushi ", located in a temple complex on Mt. Omotosan in Usa.The Munakata goddesses are thereby the matriarchs of an ancient tribe and clan Munakata-shi which fishermen worshipped collectively as a whole. It is thought that the worship of Munakata goddesses by the Munakata clan was due to Empress Jingū's success in the "Conquest of the Three Kingdoms ". Therefore, they are old Shinto folk deities before the presence of Hachiman.
Himegami is thought to be the consort or aunt of Hachiman, whereas Tamayori-hime possibly and perhaps as the mother viewed by opinion aforementioned. Since the description of Hachiman as the Emperor Ōjin appeared in the "Digest Record of Todai-ji Temple " and "Records of the Age of the Gods from the Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine, the practice of merging Emperor Ōjin into Hachiman is estimated to have begun in the Nara Period or the Heian Period.
There are also different theories and opinions concerning the goddesses Amaterasu and Kukuri-hime, in which both called the goddess Himegami ''Himiko'', a shamaness-queen of Yamatai-koku in Wakoku around c. 170–248 AD.
Empress Jingū
Emperor Ojin was already destined to ascend the throne from the moment in the womb of his mother and Empress, is called "Emperor in the Womb", is based and interpreted sometimes in her belief as being the "mother deity" to the child-to-be who would be deified. The Three Munakata Goddesses, the Three Sumiyoshi Gods and the goddess Amaterasu who were revered by the tribal clan Munakata-shi due to their aid in the "Conquest of the Three Kingdoms " is also worshiped in various places. It is said by tradition in commemoration after the conquest, Empress Jingu set up eight big military flags on Tsushima which then became the origin of the name "Hirohatano Yahata Ōkami ''", also the origin of the name "Yahata "'' to the Empress' son, the then-emperor Ojin.Imperial Ancestor and Deity to the Imperial Family
Since Hachiman was considered to be a divine spirit of the Emperor Ojin, he was placed as both the ancestor and Kōso-shin of the Imperial Family of Japan. He was considered to be the guardian deity of the Imperial Household after the Grand Goddess Amaterasu written down in the "Chronicle of the Jōkyū Era" to the "Compilation of the Grand Goddess Amaterasu of Ise and Hachiman Daibosatsu on the Imperial Throne of Japan".The founding of Konda Hachiman-gū Shrine at Habikino in Osaka Prefecture have been a long time linked with the connection to Emperor Ojin, therefore the Imperial Family also both revered the Usa Shrine at Usa in Oita Prefecture, and the Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine at Yawata in Kyoto Prefecture, as the second ancestral shrine after the dominant Ise Grand Shrine '''.'''
Syncretism of Hachiman in Shinto and Buddhism
After the arrival of Buddhism in Japan, Hachiman became a syncretistic deity, fusing elements of the native kami worship with Buddhism. In the 8th century AD, he joined the Buddhist pantheon as where his jinja ''and jingu were incorporated to shrines in Buddhist temples.This transition happened when the Great Buddha of Tōdai-ji was being built and recorded in the era of the "First Year of Tenpyō-shōhō " under the reign of Empress Kōken in 749 AD, an oracle was declared by Hachiman to a senior Shinto priest and nun from Usa Shrine to proceed to the capital that Hachiman would cooperate in the construction of a "Great Buddha" dedicated to him. From this recognition Hachiman was syncretised into Buddhism from early on.
Then in the "First Year of the Era of Ten'ō " under the reign of Emperor Kōnin in 781 AD, the Shinto imperial court granted the Shinto deity Usa Hachiman with Buddhist deity Hachiman Daibosatsu as the guardian god for the spiritual protection of the state. As a result, the spread of worship to Hachiman is transferred and received to Buddhist temples or shrines throughout the country where the "theory of Shinto and Buddhist syncretism " is established, therefore considered Amitabha to be the Buddha manifestation of Hachiman. However, the Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren of the Kamakura Period says he denies the theory and assumes the true form of Hachiman Daibosatsu is Shakyamuni Buddha .''
Thereafter in the Heian Period, veneration of Shinto shrines of Hachiman have been received and gathered throughout the nation by the samurai clans Seiwa of the Genji clan and Kanmu of the Taira clan. When the theory of syncretism has spread during this period, Hachiman is depicted to represent a Buddhist monk and is then called Sogyō Hachiman.
Worship of Hachiman by the samurai
Because Emperor Ōjin was an ancestor of the Minamoto warrior clan, Hachiman became its tutelary kami. Minamoto no Yoshiie, upon coming of age at Iwashimizu Shrine in Kyoto, took the name Hachiman Taro Yoshiie, and, through his military prowess and virtue as a leader, came to be regarded and respected as the ideal samurai through the ages. After Minamoto no Yoritomo became shōgun and established the Kamakura shogunate, Hachiman's popularity grew and he became by extension the protector of the warrior class that the shōgun had brought to power. For this reason, the shintai of a Hachiman shrine is usually a stirrup or a bow.Following the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, the worship of Hachiman spread throughout Japan among not only samurai, but also the peasantry. There are now about 2,500 Shinto shrines dedicated to Hachiman, who has more shrines dedicated to him than any other deity except Inari. Usa Shrine in Usa, Ōita Prefecture is head shrine of all these shrines; other important Hachiman shrines are Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū, Hakozaki-gū and Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū.
Hachiman's mon is a mitsudomoe, a round whirlpool or vortex with three heads swirling right or left. Many samurai clans used this mon as their own, including some that traced their ancestry back to the mortal enemy of the Minamoto, the Emperor Kanmu of the Taira clan.