Kitano Tenjin engi

Kitano Tenjin engi
Overview

I.
The Kitano Tenjin engi (Legends of Kitano Tenjin Shrine)
presents the biography of Sugawara no Michizane and miracles associated with him, leading to his deification and thefounding of the Kitano Tenmangū Shrine. The eight-scrollJōkyū version of this handscroll, often referred to as the original version, is reproduced here. Other very old versions
include the Kōan version. Both are preserved by the Kitano
Tenmangū in Kyōto. The Kōan version has, however, been
badly scattered; part of it is now on deposit in the Tokyo
National Museum.
The Jōkyū version consists of eight scrolls. Since the text
begins, “Until now, in the first year of the Jōkyū era,” weknow that it dates from the first year of Jōkyū (1219). Manyother versions of this handscrolls were created later, butsince most are based on the Jōkyū version, we can infer thatsuch scrolls’ popularity developed after the Jōkyū version
was created.
It was the first year of Engi (901) when Sugawara no
Michizane was falsely accused of treason by Fujiwara no
Tokihira and exiled to Tsukushi (Kyūshū). He died there
after three years in exile. Thus, this scroll was not painted
until 316 years after the events depicted in it. The text antedates the handscroll; we know that it was completed in thefifth year of Kenkyū (1194), on the twenty-fourth day of thetenth month; it is thus known as the Kenkyū version.
Comparison of their texts makes it clear that the text of theJōkyū version handscroll is based on the Kenkyū version.
The exile of Michizane was a high profile event at the time,and many strongly expressed their sympathy for him. After
his death in exile, a lightning strike on the Seiryōden, where
the emperor resided within the imperial palace precincts, andother calamities were taken to be vengeful actions by his
angry spirit. Those tales were mingled with historical fact
and told again and again, with the Kitano Tenjin Shrine(where the spirit of Michizane is enshrined as Tenjin) a focusof transmission. The stories were compiled into one narrative
relating the legends behind the founding of that shrine in thefifth year of Kenkyū (1194). The text was evidently written
by a Buddhist priest, because it includes, near the end of thetext, a mention of the Rokudō (the Buddhist six realms ofrebirth) in connection with the sudden death of the venerable
priest Nichizō of Kinpusen.
The narrative was revised in the Kempō era (1213-1219) to
fit the standard origin-legend format. The Kenkyū version
from 1194 had the text about the Six Realms and the founding of the Kitano shrine after the main text. The Kempō version includes stories of miracles at the Kitano Shrine. It
seems probable that the handscroll section about the Six
Realms originally had a textual portion and that the handscroll also included depictions of the founding of the Kitano
Tenjin Shrine and of the miracles associated with it. That canbe inferred from the surviving preliminary sketches for a
ninth volume of the handscroll. Thus, it seems likely that the126

handscroll was left incomplete or, if completed, that the textual portion of the eighth scroll and the entirety of the ninth
and any additional scrolls have been lost.
For the handscroll to end with only text-free depictions of
the six realms in the eighth scroll is all too abrupt. Moreover,in terms of the order of the narrative, it would be more logical to describe the founding of the Kitano Shrine after
Emperor Daigo retired into the Buddhist priesthood. That is
the order followed in the Matsugasaki Tenjin engi, whichdates from the first year of Ōchō (1311), a century later thanthe Jōkyū version.
The art historian Minamoto Toyomune has suggested that
this handscroll was an offering dedicated to the Kitano Shrine
by Fujiwara no Michiie. Since Michiie is known to have written the text for Scrolls 1, 2, and 6, the effusive dedication withwhich Scroll 1 begins does support Minamoto’s hypothesis.
II.
Turning to the content of this handscroll and its value as
reference material, we should note that Michizane lived fromthe ninth to the early tenth century, in the early Heian period,
while the handscroll dates from the early thirteenth century.
The three hundred year gap implies that not only stylisticallybut in the customs and scenes shown, the scrolls are characteristic of the late Heian period, while depicting a story fromthree centuries earlier. Here, for example, we do not see thehikime kagibana (slit eyes, hooked nose) style used to draw
faces, familar from the early twelfth century Tale of Genjiillustrated handscroll (Genji monogatari emaki). The painting
is extremely free in style.
The first section of Scroll 1 shows underlings awaiting theirmaster in front of the mansion of Sugawara no Koreyoshi;
they are depicted vividly, in a variety of costumes and poses.
In the first section of the second scroll, the scene in which
Michizane is engaged in archery at the mansion of Miyako
no Yoshika is one of several that shows a number of commoners watching aristocratic pursuits and suggests that ordinary people had rather free access to such great mansions. In
the second section, Michizane is ceremoniously presenting
fifty felicitations at the Kisshōin Temple, one or two people
are listening to the priest reading the sutras, and other people are gathered there very much at their ease. Even during a
ceremony, those watching apparently were quite free to situate themselves as they wished. In the first and second sections of Scroll 4, which show Michizane on his way to exile inKyūshū, the actions and expressions of his underlings andthose seeing him off are depicted in great detail.
The second section of Scroll 5, Michizane’s burial, provides
a guide to late Heian burial customs. In the eighth and final
scroll, the scenes of death, disease, birth, and fire, even if
imagined, are extremely valuable in providing information on
funerals, illness, childbirth, furniture and supplies, and otherdetails of daily life. These scenes are also depicted in the
Jikkaizu (Ten Realms) hanging scrolls in the Zenrinji Temple
in Kyōto. Thus, we can infer that the Kitano Tenjin engi was
not only the source of the many Tenjin scrolls created but
also the model for subsequent renderings of the Rokudōe andJikkaizu.

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1 kuroki-zukuri house
2 ridge weight
3 horizontal beam connecting support pillars
4 pillar (natural log)
5 votive water container
6 ladle7 forked pole

99 Kuroki-zukuri House
Houses made from wood with practically no alterations
made from timber in its natural state were known as kurokizukuri houses. When an important personage such as theemperor would use such a place to spend the night on his
way to exile, then the house would be known as a kuroki nogosho, or a kuroki palace. The house in the picture is of such a
construction, with a roof made of grass thatching and theridgepole even made of hay wound with rope. The support
posts and porch are made from unaltered natural logs, while
the posts are attached to each other by means of rope. The

8 porch (log)
9 priest reciting a prayer
10 priest’s black robes
11 kesa
12 thatchlogs of the porch have also not been attached by nails but
lashed together by rope. This is probably intended to be a
depiction of a poor house of the times. In front of the house,on a support made of tree branches, is a small votive watercontainer. As the house has no walls, nor even screen or latice shutters standing in their place, it is probably not a houseused for actual dwelling. A priest is reading what appears to
be a prayer inside the house. As he is not wearing formal
clothing, and merely has a kesa on over his ordinary kokui,
we may assume that this is not a special occasion; rather, it ismerely a very ordinary scene of everyday life.

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1 aristocrat reclining in illness
2 tate-eboshi
3 white robe
4 tiger skin rug
5 fusuma
6 tatami
7 ungen pattern cloth edging
8 wooden floor
9 talisman sword
10 cord to attach sword to sheath
11 folding screen
12 threshold
13 sliding door (painted)

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100 Sleeping Quarters
This is a depiction of Fujiwara no Tokihira recovering from
illness in his room. Tokihira is wearing an eboshi, a whiterobe, and is covered by a fusuma, or type of blanket. A thicktatami with ungen pattern cloth edging has been laid upon
the floor, and a folding screen with a diamond pattern has
been set up. The sword laid along the edge of the tatami is atalisman sword. A pastoral scene of play is depicted on thesliding door in the background. This picture allows us a valuable insight into the sleeping quarters of the nobility.
Sleeping areas were set up as small parts of larger rooms,
separated by screens, curtains, and the like. Tatami would
then be laid, upon which people would sleep directly, covered
in a blanket known as a fusuma. It is thought that the reason
he is wearing an eboshi is because he had a visitor. It is notrare to see pictures in which hats are worn even in sleeping
quarters, but the eboshi itself was a part of the formal regaliaof the time. The Japanese originally wore no headwear, but
came to adopt them as part of formal wear under the influence of continental culture. As a result, the old customs tended to be maintained in private life, meaning that hats would
be removed when sleeping.

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101 Tatami
Tatami makes an appearance in the early dictionary Wamyō
ruijūshō, and was originally a temporary matting which waseither rolled up as in this picture or folded and piled up when
not in use. It featured decorative edgings on the long edges.
The Tsutsumi Chūnagon monogatari makes reference to “brocade edging, kōrai edging (a design featuring black flower
patterns on a white background), ungen edging and purple
edging”, while the Makura no sōshi (Pillow Book) also mentions ungen edging. The most prized tatami edgings were thekōrai and ungen styles, which were only allowed to be used inimperial buildings or temples, or in the half-mats in front ofreligious alcoves in other buildings. The tatami in this picture has white edging with black patterns, indicating that it isof the kōrai style. There were two different types within thiscategory: the daimon, which was only to be used by highranking imperial officials, and the komon, which lower-ranked
aristocrats would use, and which we can see in this picture.
The man in the sleeveless garment rolling up the tatami isprobably a servant. A passage from the Makura no sōshi
detailing the beauty of the patterns on tatami edging indicates that these were considered objects of great beauty inthis era.
Kitano Tenjin engi

1 square pillar
2 threshold
3 wooden floor
4 tatami
5 kōrai pattern cloth edging
6 man rolling up tatami
7 untidy hair
8 sleeveless kimino
9 hakama

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1 man leaning on a pile of ichimegasa
2 zukin3 kosode
4 Buddhist rosary
5 ichimegasa
6 cord for fastening ichimegasa
7 hitatare
8 obi
9 hakama
10 bokutō

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102 Headwear
This is a picture from Scroll 2. While headwear aside fromsedge hats became exceedingly rare from the Edo era, until
then it was customary for all males other than children andpriests to cover their heads. Tracing history back still further,
however, one discovers that headwear was not customary
before the kofun (tumulus) era, indicating that the custom ofcovering one’s head actually came from overseas. The adoption of the Chinese system of the use of headwear and clothing to indicate status had a particularly significant effect onancient Japanese clothing customs. In order to wear suchheadwear, it became necessary to style the hair into a topknot, but those of lower rank often had short or ungathered
hair. As seen in this picture, such individuals would use othermeans to cover their heads.

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103 Headwear
This picture, from Scroll 5, depicts a man tying the laces ofa priest’s waraji, or straw sandals. The priest has his head
covered in a cloth. The other priest in the picture is wearing a
zukin, over the top of which he has tied a headband. The
ends of the zukin have been crossed over in front of his neck.
This priest is also ringing a bell. This style of dress is probably related to the masks worn by warrior priests. The priest isalso wearing leggings and foot protecters.

Kitano Tenjin engi

1 priest wearing a white cloth
2 white cloth
3 wide-sleeved kimono
4 kesa5 stick with a T-shaped handle
6 tying the cord of straw sandals (waraji)
7 hair knot
8 hitatare
9 sashinuki
10 priest ringing a bell
11 zukin
12 cord13 priestly robes
14 bell
15 bell hammer
16 kesa
17 cloth leggings (nuno-habaki)
18 foot cover
19 straw sandals (waraji)

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1 servants carrying ropes attached to a coffin
2 tate-eboshi
3 rope4 kariginu
5 ryōtō
6 sashinuki
7 barefoot132

104 Ryōtō
Scroll 3. This is a depiction of the clothing of two men carrying the ropes attached to the front of the emperor’s palanquin. Under the heading of “saifuku”, or “ceremonial clothing” in the Gotōdai shōzokushō, is the following definition:“Clothing worn on religious occasions. Often a chihaya isworn over this. Chihaya is a woven cloth. It is usually of red
brocade or other color.” The entry for the twenty-seventh dayof the second month, the first year of Hōen (1135) in thediary of Minamoto no Morotoki (Chōshūki) also mentions
that those accompanying the palanquin in an imperial wore
chihaya, leggings made of yew and straw sandals. It is said
that chihaya comes from the words ichihaya meaning “quickly”, but this is not known for certain. A chihaya basically consists of a single strip of cloth with a hole cut in the middle forthe head to go through, which then hangs down over thechest and back, where it is tied in place with an obi. However,very few high-ranking individuals appear to wear chihaya in
the picture scrolls; rather, it is the likes of guards and retainers who wore these garments. The ryōtō worn in this picture,dangling over the shoulders of the two men to a similar
length in both front and back, are very similar to chihaya.

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105 Chihaya
From Scroll 5, this is a depiction of the burial of Sugawara
no Michizane. The man carrying a torch is wearing a hitaieboshi and an over-garment known as a chihaya. While there
did exist a custom of wearing chihaya at burial ceremonies,
this was not universally observed, as seen by the fact that
only one of the two men in the picture is doing so. This is notin fact a standard chihaya; this one has been made by taking
a long piece of white cloth and cutting a vertical slit in it for
the head to go through. The other man is wearing a whitecloth tied under his chin, which is meant in this case toexpress his mourning, in much the same way that wearing awhite robe would. This is not, however, official mourning
dress. Chihaya are still worn today, for example by the young
men who take part in the hana no mai, or flower dance of the
Buddha’s birthday festival in regions of Aichi prefecture.
Kitano Tenjin engi

1 man carrying torch
2 hitai-eboshi
3 ori-eboshi
4 hitatare
5 chihaya
6 barefoot
7 wearing white cloth on head
8 samurai-eboshi
9 kosode
10 armor
11 fan
12 torch

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1 oni
2 sleeveless kimono (with the right side over the left)
3 obi
4 loincloth134

106 LoinclothThis is a depiction of an oni, or demon, from the depictionof the six stages of life in Scroll 8. Wearing a chihaya and aloincloth, he is dragging the dead by their hair. The word
fundoshi, meaning loincloth, is extremely old, appearing in
the Wamyō ruijūshō and in Volume 16 of the Man’yōshū, inwhich a beggar’s song talks of using a loincloth as makeshift
reins for a horse. Indeed, this was common practice, and loincloths were also referred to as tazuna, or reins, in theYōshabako and the Moritake senku. Loincloths were used as aform of clothing from long ago, and their use was not confined to Japan but spread throughout south-east Asia as well.
As the “six stages of life” genre originated in China, it is probable that such garments were worn in China also.

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1 man leading a horse
2 tate-eboshi
3 kariginu
4 sashinuki
5 cloth leggings (habaki)
6 straw sandals (waraji)
7 horse8 reins
9 bit
10 martingale
11 sword
12 barefoot
13 retainer carrying a bow
14 kanmuri (saiei)
15 bow
16 arrows
17 quiver

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107 Habaki
Habaki are a type of leggings, also known as kyahan, which
cover the shins from below the knee, and were in use fromvery early in Japanese history. Evidence exists that this term
was used in the Heian era, in its listing in the dictionary
Wamyō ruijūshō. This work defines habaki as being madefrom woven yew tree bark and worn when traveling, but as
the Ryōnogige refers to red habaki and white habaki, and theEngishiki refers to crimson and white habaki, they were clearly also made of cloth. This picture features cloth habaki.
Kitano Tenjin engi

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1 retainer
2 kanmuri (saiei)
3 oikake
4 kachie
5 sword
6 sashinuki
7 leggings (habaki)
8 bow

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108 Habaki
Habaki, a type of leggings, were made of a wide variety ofmaterials. As explained earlier, they were commonly made ofyew, but it is reported in the Engishiki that on the occasion of
the greeting of clan representatives on New Year’s Day or atan enthronement, retainers would serve their masters wearing habaki made of cattail, and hemp shoes. Further, theButsugu shōzokushō notes that it was customary for horseattendants and cart attendants to wear straw habaki. The
retainers in this picture are wearing saiei-style kanmuri andwhat appear to be straw habaki. Their footwear are difficult tomake out, but are probably of straw. In this way, yew, straw,
and cattail were all used as material for habaki, while palm
wood was later used for the same purpose. These materials
would all be woven to make the habaki. Wearing these habaki was said to make the legs feel lighter and traveling easier,so they were often used on long journeys. However, habaki
made of cloth also began to gain in popularity over time, andparticularly as women in the Kyōto area and the west of Japan
did not wear any skirts from the Edo period onward, cloth
leggings known as kyahan came to be the norm there.

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109 Habaki
These two are retainers responsible for leading masterhorses. They are wearing kanmuri of the saiei style, as wellas oikake, kariginu and sashinuki. As in the previous picture,they appear to be wearing habaki made from straw, but inthis case they are clearly wearing shoes on their feet. As we
can see here, woven habaki of this style were left unwoven
and loose at the bottom. Not only did this serve to prevent
sand and other debris from entering the shoes, but also protected against rain and snow. Even today, such habaki can beseen in the snowy regions of Japan. The Kokon chomonjū
includes a passage which describes Fujiwara no Sanesada’s
trip to Kumano to pray, in which he was said to wear “straw
shoes and habaki for his long walk”, which indicates that thisstyle was standard for a long journey.

Kitano Tenjin engi

1 retainer
2 kanmuri (saiei)
3 kariginu
4 sashinuki
5 bow
6 leggings (habaki)
7 shoe8 oikake137

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1 man with a long-handled umbrella
2 tate-eboshi
3 long-handled umbrella
4 hitatare (with sleeves tucked up)
5 sword
6 sashinuki
7 barefoot8 bamboo spoke
9 umbrella raising mechanism
10 stopper

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110 Long-handled UmbrellaThis is from Scroll 6, depicting the scene in which
Sugawara no Michizane, having become the god of thunder,
attacks the Emperor’s house again. This is a depiction of a
low-ranked courtier with his sleeves tucked up, wearing atate-eboshi and carrying a sword and a long-handled umbrella,fleeing the scene. The umbrella has been opened, andalthough most of it is off the page as a result, it is probably ofa type known as a tsumaori, or umbrella with its brim curved
downward. While the framework of the umbrella is almost
identical to those in use today, the handle featured a small
ring to keep the umbrella up. The handle has been lacqueredin black, and since no joints are visible, it must be made ofwood rather than bamboo. It is unclear whether the umbrella138

portion itself is made of oiled paper, silk or sedge; at the timea variety of materials was used, and many umbrellas weremade of sedge if they were not intended to keep out the rain.
Naturally, the umbrella was made so that it could be folded.
As this umbrella was for use in the court, it was probably
made of silk or oiled paper. The length of the handle isbetween two and two and a half meters.

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1 oni cutting up a man
2 sword
3 cooking chopsticks
4 chopping board

111 Chopping Board, Cooking Chopsticks
This is one of the pictures of hell from the Rokudōe (illustrations of the six realms of rebirth) of Scroll 7, in which an oni
has placed a dead man upon a chopping board and is cutting
him into pieces. Chopping boards were used when cooking
fish or meat. Reference to the use of chopping boards for the
preparation of fish and birds for eating are made in the
Utsuho monogatari and the Konjaku monogatarishū, in which
Mimasaka no kuni no Kami is made to stop the practice oflive sacrifices by a hunter. Cooking chopsticks were also

5 loincloth
6 pillory
7 hands behind back8 sitting with knees held together

used in the preparation of fish and meat dishes. In this picture, the chopsticks appear to have forked ends. Typically, inJapan, cooking chopsticks were of about one shaku in length,
and were held in the left hand to keep fish or meat in place
for cutting with a knife held in the right hand. It appears thattouching the food directly with one’s hands was not commonly practiced. Incidentally, the depiction of the prisoner withhis hands tied behind his back and his neck fixed in a pillory
is not merely a fancy of the artist, but reflects the punitive
practice of the age.

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1 eboshi
2 sitting with one knee up
3 resting on chin on hands
4 kosode
5 man singing
6 fruit
7 paper
8 man singing
9 narrow-sleeved kimono
10 yonobakama
11 man dozing
12 boring chest
13 fish (ayu?)

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14 hitatare
15 hakama
16 barefoot17 fruit
18 wide-sleeved kimono
19 sake barrel
20 porch
21 threshold
22 pillar
23 plank door
24 porch
25 sunoko
26 short supporting post

112 Drinking Party
This is a depiction of the human realm from the Rokudōe. It
is intended to suggest that enjoyable and relaxed drinking
parties such as this one are nothing more than a dream. A
woman is giving birth in the adjacent room, but this is not an
official party to celebrate this event. The retainers of thehousehold are simply celebrating informally as they see fit.
Everyone is relaxed, and drinking sake, eating whatever happens to be available with no formal trays, and the dishes areused at random to accompany their drink.

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113 Drinking Party
This is the continuation of the picture from the previous
page. The party-goers sit as they like, either with legs
crossed or outstretched in front of them. In the front of thepicture, there are two men, one holding a drum and one a
chime. These men are probably singers. Informal parties
such as this one without even mats or cushions placed on thefloor were fairly common in most homes.

Kitano Tenjin engi

1 eboshi
2 kosode
3 sitting cross-legged
4 tate-eboshi
5 man stripping to waist
6 sitting with legs outstretched
7 ?
8 fruit9 sake holder
10 hitatare
11 sword
12 shaved head
13 kosode14 yonobakama

15 man playing hand drum
16 hand drum
17 man holding hand chime
18 hand chime
19 tate-eboshi
20 kariginu
21 threshold
22 pillar
23 nageshi
24 ornament for hiding nails
25 cupboard
26 spouted bowl?
27 wooden floor
28 sunoko

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1 man eating food off a skewer
2 meat3 kanbō
4 “Chinese-style” clothing
5 hakama
6 food on skewer
7 skewer
8 bird on skewer
9 man tending fire
10 cord
11 “Chinese-style” clothing
12 obi
13 fire14 tray
15 bowl
16 pot17 bucket
18 yusurutsuki

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114 Food on Skewers
This is another picture from the Rokudōe, from Scroll 8.
Pictures of the six realms of rebirth came to Japan from
China and were adopted by Japanese painters. This meansthat the clothing of the individuals depicted tends to be somewhat different from the Japanese norm and hence lacking inrealism. However, the depiction of the fire place scene in thispicture seems accurately Japanese. What appears to be
dumplings have been placed on skewers by the fireside,along with the meat of a plucked bird, which are being roasted by the heat. This cooking style still exists today in rural
regions, and this picture indicates that it was in use at thistime as well.

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115 Well
In a scene from the human life section of the six phases oflife, people are pulling water from the well in an effort to put
out the fire which is raging in the house nearby. Pictures ofwells are most common in the Senmen koshakyō and also feature in the Shigisan engi. However, this well has a truly magnificent well-frame, with wooden boards erected on all foursides. In such cases, the wells themselves also tended to be
dug in a square shape. There is no well-beam here, and it
seems in this era the water would usually be drawn by hand.
This well is in the grounds of a large mansion, and is not forcommunal use. There is no washing area as commonly seen
in depictions of communal wells. It is thought that there werealso quite a significant number of such private wells. The
man in the foreground is carrying away a folding screen tosafety, and from other depictions of musical instruments
such as biwa and koto being carried away, we may gain someinsight into the value systems of the day.

Kitano Tenjin engi

1 man drawing water from the well (unclothed)
2 shaved head3 stripping to waist
4 well
5 well-frame
6 wooden plank in well curb
7 eboshi
8 folding screen
9 barefoot10 rope for a well bucket

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1 kanmuri (with oikake)2 kachie
3 cypress wood fan
4 arrows
5 hakama
6 bow

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116 Cypress Wood Fan
This is a depiction of a retainer from the scene in Scroll 6
where the Emperor Engi takes his orders as a Buddhist
priest and surrenders the throne. He is wearing a kanmuri
decorated with oikake and carrying a bow, a quiver of arrows,
and a folding fan made of cypress wood. The following passage can be found in the Heike monogatari kōshō concerning
such fans: “In winter, cypress wood fans are used. These arecalled hiōgi. They are not normally dyed. They are madefrom twenty-five strips of cypress, strung together withthread. They are then stamped with a crest, or, in the case ofchildren, occasionally decorated with pictures. Children andwomen occasionally use cedar. These are decorated with pictures of pines and cranes, and tied up with various kinds ofthread. The left-over thread is tied into the shape of a plumblossom and attached to tha fan.” The decoration seen here
in the shape of a flower is therefore made of tied thread.
Cypress wood fans were for ceremonial rather than practical
use.

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117 Seats
Traditionally there were two types of seat: those known askoshō and those known as gosshi. The ones in this picture are
koshō, which were known in everyday speech as agura andlater as shōgi. These chairs all had four legs, but their size
and method of creation differed greatly from one to the next.
In the Engishiki it is mentioned that “those imperial guards
below the rank of shōshō sat on koshō with tiger-skin rugs
placed on them”, which suggests that they must have been
fairly large. These were most commonly used when sitting
outdoors. In the Gōke shidai it is mentioned that an animalskin cloth was draped upon these seats; this is thought to bea means of continuing the tradition started when these firstarrived in Japan from the continent. Indeed, in the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Ninkō in 1817, koshō were covered in tiger-skins, indicating that this tradition continued to
be practiced. Aside from these ceremonial koshō, however,
simplified versions of these were in use at an everyday level.
As in this picture, those used by guards or retainers to rest
upon were much smaller and simplified versions of the ceremonial koshō.
Kitano Tenjin engi

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1 man sitting on seat
2 tate-eboshi
3 kariginu (plain)
4 hakama (plain)
5 shoe6 stool
7 kosode
8 yonobakama
9 flint sack
10 ori-eboshi

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1 woman sitting in front of the brazier
2 wearing one’s hair down
3 uchigi
4 brazier
5 curtain stand (patterned)
6 tatami
7 kōrai pattern cloth edging
8 letter box (laquered)
9 letters
10 man sleeping
11 fusuma

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118 Brazier
Hibachi, or braziers, also known as hioke, have a very long
history in Japan, stretching back to the times when theJapanese began to live their lives at floor-level. In the Makura
no sōshi (Pillow Book) it is noted that “braziers are for warming one’s hand in front of … and even for warming one’s feetby”, especially for those who are over a certain age, indicating that their use has not changed at all over the years.

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119 PalanquinThis is a scene of a house fire, and the palanquin is among
the objects being hurriedly carried to safety. Palanquins wereused to carry aristocrats and were shouldered by man-servants. There were many shapes and styles of palanquin, but
this appears to be of the type known as a hari-koshi, which
was very similar to the ajiro-koshi and the sode-koshi. As canbe seen from the picture, this palanquin is roofed and has aroof ridge, so it was also called a munetate-koshi, or “roofedpalanquin”. It would have been carried by between six andtwelve servants. Palanquins were commonly used on suchoccasions as pilgrimages or visits to shrines or temples.

1 man shouldering a storage case (?)
2 stripping to waist
3 uwaginu
4 storage case
5 armrest
6 arrows
7 quiver8 food container
9 carrying pole
10 samurai eboshi
11 untidy hair
12 holding carrying pole in the arms
13 man stripping to waist
14 strip of cloth for carrying
15 uwaginu

Kitano Tenjin engi

16 barefoot17 roofed palanquin
18 palanquin roof (patterned)
19 bamboo screen
20 hitatare
21 hakama
22 tate-eboshi
23 short sleeved kimono
24 plank wall
25 pillar
26 threshold
27 porch
28 short supporting post
29 foundation

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1 plank bridge
2 main post
3 railings
4 bridge plank5 stake
6 horizontal planks to prevent to slippage
7 beam8 moat9 ikan10 hō
11 sashinuki

120 Wooden Bridge
There were many different types and styles of bridge built
for safe passage across water. This picture is of a bridge outside the residence of Sugawara no Koreyoshi, Michizane’s
father and a great scholar who achieved the qualifications ofmonjō hakase and tōgū gakushi, before going on to become astate official and achieving the third rank. His house, known
as the Sugawara-no-in, was located to the south of Kade-nokōji in Karasuma-ōji. It was said to be an entire city block insize, which means it was fairly substantial. There was anouter moat around the property, with a raised earthen wallaround the house itself. This is a good representation of thehouses of aristocrats of this era, but the moat around this one
is distinctive in that it is not banked with stone, but has the148

soil kept back by stakes driven in and horizontal planks
placed on the flanks of the moat. Support beams have thenbeen wedged between the opposing banks to ensure that thepressure from the soil does not cause the wooden banks tobreak. The bridge is wooden; most probably round logs werefirst placed across the moat, which were in turn covered withthe planks we can see in this picture. The bridge has railings
on both sides, which run from main posts on either side.
While this is an extremely common type of bridge often seen
even today, it is of great interest to discover that such bridges
were already being built in the Heian era. As the moat is very
narrow, there is no need for mid-bridge support posts in thiscase. The practice of keeping back soil with wooden planks
on the edges of moats or ditches can still be widely seen
today.

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1 oni holding iron tongs
2 iron tongs
3 water jug
4 loincloth (colored)
5 loincloth (plain)
6 iron chain
7 wearing one’s hair down (tied with cord)
8 arrow

121 Iron Tongs
This is a depiction of hell from the six realms of rebirth in
Scroll 7. An oni is prying open the mouth of a dead personwith iron tongs, and pouring water in the mouth from a flask.
Iron tongs were used primarily for picking up hot coals, andwere mostly made in the same way as chopsticks: from two
separate sticks either made entirely of metal or with metal
tips. Alternatively, there also existed iron tongs of the typeseen in this picture. This type is described as tetsumata or
forked iron tongs, in the Wakan sansai zue. In notes they arealso called buri and kanamata. Such tongs have long beenused by blacksmiths. Using the principle of levers, they allow
for a very strong grip on items, and were very useful for suchtasks as the fortification of iron.
The chain attached to the neck of the dead person is not of
the type commonly seen today. While today’s chains are typically made up of a series of rings, this chain features a ring at
each end connected by a tightly wound section in between.
Such chains were often used in old pastoral regions to tie cattle. This style ensured that the chain remained strong withno risk of tangling and no risk of the chain breaking at theconnection point of each ring. The presence of such chains inthis picture scrolls allows us to see that they were in use fromas early as this era. In the foreground is a man who has been
shot with a number of hawk-feather arrows. While the picture
itself is obviously purely fictional, such tools and weapons are
realistically depicted.

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2 adze3 line drawn by ink-rope
4 loincloth

122 Adze
This is a depiction of hell from Scroll 7. An oni is scraping
away at a dead person with an adze. The adze was known bydifferent names in different areas of Japan. In the Wamyō
ruijūshō it is written as te-ono. In the Kantō region it is known
as a chōna, while in Kansai it is known as a chon’no. In theYōshūfushi it is described as “an object used by craftsmen
with a curved blade of around five sun in diameter and with atwo shaku wooden handle. One holds a piece of wood firmly
between one’s legs and uses both hands on the adze handle
to shape the wood. This is known as a chōna or an ono. They150

are made by blacksmiths in Yamato-ōji and near the Inarishrine.” This description accurately fits the adze in the picture. In the same work it says that the adze is used to shape
the wood. Until the early modern age, there were no shaping
saws or jack-planes, so everything from the construction of asquare post to the smoothing out of a plank of wood required
the use of an adze before the finishing of the job with a smaller chisel-like implement. The dead person’s body has beenmarked by a rope dipped in ink, along the lines of which theoni is carving. Depictions of hell frequently feature suchtools, but it is thought they were all in actual use by craftsmen and tradesmen at the time.

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1 oni holding a chisel
2 wooden mallet
3 chisel
4 loincloth (colored)
5 oni holding a spear plane
6 spear plane
7 crying out
8 wearing one’s hair down (tied with cord)
9 woman crying

123 Chisel, Spear Plane
This is a depiction of hell, as part of the six realms ofrebirth from Scroll 7. The dead are being tormented: one isbeing cut with a chisel, another is being scraped with a spear
plane, and a third is crying nearby. The term yariganna, or
spear plane, appears in the Wamyō ruijūshō as kana and in
the Senchū Wamyō ruishūshō as kanna or yariganna, and isdefined as “a plane, occasionally with a curved head”. It isalso called namasori and written with the characters for“curved sword”. This informs us that the type of spear plane
we see in the picture had been in use for some time. These
implements were used for smoothing wood, while chisels
were used for splitting or creating holes in wood. Even for
splitting large pieces of timber, a saw would not usually be
used; rather, a chisel would be driven into the wood alonglines created by ropes dipped in ink. If the wood was so largethat this would not split it, then a wedge would be driven in toassist the process. This same technique was used for creating wooden planks from large blocks of timber. It was only
discovered recently that a wooden mallet would be used for
driving in the chisel. When planks or logs were to be moved
long distances, a hole would always be driven into their ends
with a chisel, so that a rope could be inserted to make handling easier. With all of these uses, the chisel was a very
widely used tool.

Kitano Tenjin engi

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1 oni drawing a line with an ink-rope
2 ink-rope
3 line drawn by ink-rope
4 wedge
5 inkpot
6 loincloth

124 Rope Dipped in Ink
This is a depiction of hell from Scroll 7, in which two oni
are using a rope dipped in ink to draw lines on a dead person.
Such ink-ropes were used from long ago and feature in the
Wamyō ruijūshō as “a metaphor for anything on a verystraight line”. An inkpot was required for the use of an inkrope. In this picture, the inkpot is under the knee of the oni
on the left. Cotton or some other substance would be dippedin the inkpot, and then the rope would be drawn through thisink-stained cotton. The opposite end of the rope is tiedaround a spool. The rope would have a pin attached to one
end, which would be driven into the wood, after which, withthe rope in place, the rope would be pulled up and allowed to
strike the wood, leaving behind a clear mark. In this picture,152

the oni on the left is pulling the rope in the air ready torelease it, while the oni on the right is holding the other end
down, in place of a pin. This method was used from very
early on as the most efficient means of drawing a longstraight line. It is thought that this technique came acrossfrom the continent at the same time as the architectural techniques used for building temples, shrines and palaces, but
this is unproven. Mention of ink-ropes is made in the fifth volume of the Man’yōshū, proving the extent of their history.
“The task completed, on the day of return, as through thegods had set an ink-rope across the ship’s bow to guide it, theship will sail straight from the cape of Chika to the shores ofŌtomo Mitsu.” The inkpot would also have placed in it asmall length of split bamboo known as a sumisashi which
would be used in place of a brush.

125
1 man holding a winnow
2 eri-bōshi
3 sleeveless kimono
4 kosode
5 winnow
6 bowl
7 barefoot

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125 Winnow
A man wearing a headscarf known as an eri-bōshi, a kosodeand a sleeveless kimono over the top of this is on his knees
using a winnow. The winnow he would have used has notchanged up until today. There is a record of a winnow beingbought for two sheaves of rice in Kuwabara no shō in
Echizen (Fukui Prefecture today) in the Tōdaiji Temple documents of the seventh year of Tenpyōshōhō (755), indicating
the extent of their history. Winnows were usually made ofbamboo, wisteria or black kudzu vine. It is noted that at theKōtai Jingū in Ise (Mie Prefecture today), winnows from
Nabari in Iga (Mie Prefecture today) were used. It is said that
there were 360 chōbu of fields growing bamboo, wisteria andblack kudzu in Iga. According to the Engishiki, Yamato also
produced winnows, but it is thought that originally eachfarmer would have made his own. Winnows were used bothfor carrying harvested crops and for sifting out chaff, pebbles
and the like from the crops when there was no wind. The
crops would be tossed in the air and caught again in the winnow, and the gust thereby generated would sweep away the
unwanted materials. This process was called hiru. This was anecessary process for all farmers.
Kitano Tenjin engi

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1 man carrying container on his head
2 wooden container
3 untidy hair
4 yonobakama
5 mairado
6 base plank upper roof
7 threshold
8 plank porch
9 short supporting post
10 foundation
11 ladder154

126 Carrying on One’s Head
An undressed man is climbing a ladder carrying a bucket ofwater on his head in order to put out a fire. While there areseveral depictions of such a carrying style in the picture
scrolls, they are almost all women; it is very rare to see a man
carrying an object on his head in this way. In this case, he isdoing so because he has to climb a ladder, but men did occasionally carry objects on their head in ordinary circumstances as well.

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1 man carrying luggage on his back2 sedge hat
3 sedge-hat fastener
4 uwaginu
5 shoulder strap
6 wooden mortar
7 samurai-eboshi
8 horizontal bale of rice
9 shoulder strap
10 hakama
11 eboshi
12 kosode13 hakama
14 pack
15 frame pack16 shoulder strap
17 luggage
18 luggage cord
19 luggage
20 wooden plank

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127 Carrying on One’s Back
Originally, there were two means for people to carry goods:
on their shoulder and on their back. The most common
method used in the Kyōto region was to carry goods on apole held over one shoulder, but it was not uncommon to see
people carrying goods on their back either, particularly whencarrying heavy items such as bales of rice or wooden mortars. The item carried by the man in the top right of the picture is probably a wooden mortar base. This would be placedon its end with the mortar on top. The individual in the bottom picture is carrying a rice bale, while the person in the top
left is carrying a traveling box. As can be seen from the picture, the part held directly against the back is made of wooden planks, and had either two legs, or three legs like a hokai.
Many travelers carried such boxes on their journeys.
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1 man carrying rice bale2 samurai-eboshi
3 eboshi cord fastener
4 shoulder strap
5 bale of rice
6 kosode
7 hakama
8 leggings (habaki)
9 man loading luggage on other’s back
10 cord to tuck up sleeves
11 sashinuki
12 man carrying luggage on his back
13 sedge hat
14 luggage wrapped in straw
15 bale of rice
16 support stick
17 flint sack18 pheasant
19 stick with a T-shaped handle
20 man leading ox
21 tate-eboshi
22 hitatare
23 straw sandals (waraji)
24 ox carrying luggage
25 straw rain-cape26 travel case27 bale of rice
28 luggage cord
29 knot
30 girth
31 martingale
32 nose ring
33 reins
34 crupper
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128 Carrying by Ox
Various methods of carrying things are depicted in the
Kitano Tenjin engi. In this picture, there are two people carrying things on their backs, and a third leading a pack-ox. It
was common to carry things by ox at this time. The mostcommon way of doing this was to attach a pack-saddle to theox’s back, and attach the baggage evenly on either side. In
this case, the baggage appears to be travel cases, which havebeen tied down with matting. Ordinarily, a boy with the specific job of looking after the oxen would be leading the ox,
but this picture is of the time when Michizane had to leave
the capital in exile to Kyūshū, and the ox is being led by oneof his retainers. This retainer is wearing a tate-eboshi, ahitatare and leggings. The man at the top of the picture iscarrying a bale of rice on his back, while the man at the top
left of the picture is having his burden put on his back by theman behind him. From their headwear and stick with a Tshaped handle, it appears they are ordinary bearers.

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129 Man Fallen on His Back
This is a scene in which lightning strikes the Seiryōden.
The man in this picture has been shocked by the lightningand is lying on his back. His kanmuri has come flying off andhis topknot is disheveled, but its thinness is probably due tohis lack of hair. His clothes are so baggy that his arms andlegs are not visible. At this time, the ei, decorative ribbons
hanging from the kanmuri, were thin and soft. Under theseformal clothes were worn hitoe or kinu. This combination was
called “kasane”, and a nubakama also worn. This man wasprobably a courtier of the fourth rank or above.

Kitano Tenjin engi

1 man fallen on his back2 hearknot under kanmuri
3 hō
4 nubakama
5 tatami
6 tatami edging
7 round pillar
8 kanmuri
9 wooden floor
10 threshold

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1 man fallen facedown
2 kanmuri
3 oikake
4 hearknot under kanmuri
5 kachie
6 sekitai
7 arrows

8 sashinuki
9 footwear
10 bow
11 man running
12 cord for tying the hair
13 kariginu
14 one foot bare

130 Fallen Man and Running Man
This is a scene of some retainers fleeing from the lightning
striking the Seiryōden. One man has fallen over, while theother is running away. The kanmuri of the fallen retainer hasa saiei and decorations known as oikake on either side. His
hair has been tied in a vertical topknot. From this and theprevious picture we may deduce that such topknots were normal at this time. The running man wearing a kariginu and anubakama wears his hair loose; ox-herds and the like would
wear their hair in this way with no headwear. However, thisman is wearing footwear, and ox-herds were normally barefoot. When wearing an eboshi, this man would probably havetied his hair up or put it in a topknot. Either a nae-eboshi or acloth headwear would have been worn on top of such hair. As
headwear were worn on an everyday basis at this time, it is158

difficult for us to know what kinds of hairstyles were used.
This is one of the few resources we have to indicate
hairstyles, and it shows that hairstyles, too, differed according to rank.

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1 man carrying a basket on his head2 woven basket
3 kyōgi ?
4 stripping to waist
5 barefoot
6 woman carrying a wooden container on her head7 ?
8 bundle of kyōgi
9 wooden container

131 People Fleeing and Carrying BelongingsThis is a scene from the housefire in Scroll 8. Three adults
are fleeing the fire, each carrying objects on their heads. On
the far left is a man. We have already seen a man carrying an
object on his head. While this is an emergency situation, it isthought that this technique was used on an everyday basis.
However, as a topknot made such a method impossible, it
was only practiced by a certain sector of the population:
specifically, priests or men of the lower classes with their
hair let down. We may assume that the topless man on theleft of the picture is a priest. He is carrying on his head what
appears to be kyōgi, thin pieces of wood used for writing
sutras on, in a shallow rectangular basket. The woman in thecenter of the picture is carrying a bucket on her head. Its
contents are unclear. She is wearing a kosode with a white

10 untidy hair
11 kosode12 apron
13 straw sandals (shikire-zōri)
14 short hair
15 hitoe
16 man carrying a cloth bundle on his head
17 cloth bundle
18 kosodeapron tied around the waist, and has shikire-zōri with anuntied heel on one foot. The child accompanying her has simply slipped her arms through the sleeves of her kimono, without tying it at the waist. She has short hair, but is nonethelessa girl. The woman on the right is also wearing a kosode and isbarefoot, with a bundle on her head probably containing
kimono. This scene also features individuals carrying things
on their back, shoulders, and in their hands, but the picture
here features only those using their heads to carry belongings.

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1 man with face coverd
2 zukin to cover head and face
3 Buddhist rosary
4 sedge hat
5 kinukazuki
6 priestly robes
7 man holding a child
8 child
9 untidy hair
10 samurai-eboshi
11 kariginu
12 holdng the child with just the left arm
13 man carrying woman on his back14 samurai-eboshi
15 hitatare
16 sashinuki
17 barefoot18 supporting the woman with a sword placed horizontally
19 sword
20 kinukazuki

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132 Holding and Carrying on the Back
These two pictures are from Scrolls 2 and 8 respectively.
The top picture depicts four people: a woman in kazuki styleand a man with a priest-style zukin and a sedge hat on hisback, and a man holding a child behind them. The fact that
he is holding the child under his left shoulder with just his
160

left arm is of interest. This technique, which can be seen still
today in south-east Asia, prevailed in Japan as well at thistime.
The bottom picture is of a man carrying a woman on hisback, using a horizontally held sword to support her. It wasusual to employ some means of support when carrying someone on one’s back.

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133 Carrying on One’s Back
This is a scene from Scroll 4 of people watching as
Michizane leaves for exile in Kyūshū. Among them are twopairs in which one person is carrying the other on the back.
The pair at the top of the picture is a man carrying a woman
on his back, with a stick held horizontally at his back uponwhich she is standing. The other pair is a woman carrying achild. She carries the child directly on her back, over which
she wears a kimono. This method of carrying children has
continued down through the years.
Kitano Tenjin engi

1 woman carrying her child on her back2 headwear
3 kimono for carrying children
4 child
5 wearing an uchigi over her head, and covering her
mouth with her sleeve
6 ichimegasa
7 nae-eboshi
8 kosode
9 hakama
10 untidy hair
11 sleeveless kimono
12 man carrying a woman on his back13 supporting the woman with horizontal pole
14 straw sandals (waraji)
15 kariginu

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1 man watching an event
2 tate-eboshi
3 kariginu
4 nubakama

5 shoe6 fan with the rising sun painted on it
7 beard
8 watching from a fork in the tree

134 Bystanders Watching Event
This is a depiction from Scroll 2 of a group of people watching Michizane practice archery at the mansion of Miyako no
Yoshika, from behind a tree. When such activities were heldin the mansions of aristocrats, it was common practice toallow ordinary people to enter into the grounds to watch.
These would often include women, children and priests. The
three people in this picture are not necessarily of high rank.
The man on the left is wearing an eboshi and a kariginu, andholding a fan with the rising sun depicted on it. The man in162

the center is wearing a tate-eboshi, kariginu, nubakama andshoes. The individual peering through the fork in the tree
appears to be a woman, and she wears no headwear. It wasalmost guaranteed that when aristocrats would travel or holdsome sort of event, ordinary people would gather in this fashion, as testified by the frequency of such depictions in the picture scrolls. Word of mouth concerning these events would
then rapidly spread throughout the community. Incidentally,
this is thought to be the first depiction of a fan with a rising
sun painted on it in any picture scroll.

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135 Sitting on the Ground
This is a depiction of Michizane’s house from Scroll 1.
Three men are relaxing beneath the porch; one is lying
down, while the other two are sitting directly on the ground.
Sitting on the ground would become an act of the utmost
degradation in the Edo era, but at this time it was commonly
done in the Kyōto region, as proved by the frequency of the
depiction of this custom in the picture scrolls. One reason forthis may well have lain in the fact that the soil of the Kansai
region was very sandy, and would not significantly dirty any
clothing directly touching it. While waiting for their master,retainers would often become bored and play games, chat, oras in this picture, nap.
Kitano Tenjin engi

1 man sitting directly on the ground2 tate-eboshi
3 kariginu
4 sashinuki
5 resting leg on the knee
6 beard
7 sleeping on one’s arm
8 shoe9 samurai-eboshi
10 hitatare
11 sword
12 straw sandals (zōri)
13 barefoot
14 sitting with one knee up and one extended
15 porch
16 framework
17 balustrade
18 step for removing footwear
19 plum tree
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1 oxcart
2 shaft
3 yoke4 shiji
5 sagiashi
6 rope7 lying on the stomach on the ground8 tate-eboshi
9 resting chin on hands
10 hitatare?

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11 sashinuki
12 barefoot
13 sitting on the ground
14 ori-eboshi
15 kosode16 sitting with one knee up
17 child hanging from the cart shaft
18 untidy hair
19 sleeveless kimono
20 playing on the shaft

136 Sitting on the Ground and Hanging from Cart ShaftsThis is a depiction from Scroll 1 of in front of the house of
Sugawara no Koreyoshi. The two sets of handles and shiji
indicate that two oxcarts have been parked here. Shiji are thefour-legged stools seen in the picture, whose legs are known
as sagiashi. On top of the shiji are the yokes for the oxen.
These were placed upon the necks of the oxen, and werelashed to the beasts with rope. On the top right of the picture
is a child playing on one of the cart shafts. The child has
untidy hair and is wearing a sleeveless kimono. The carts ofaristocrats were not out of bounds for children by any means;no one would scold them for playing on or around them.
Below the handles on the left, a man is lying on his stomach
directly on the ground, with his chin on his hand. To thesepeople, most likely retainers of someone visiting Sugawara,
the issue of sitting on the ground was not of major concern.
164

The other man is also sitting on the ground with one kneeraised. Both men are barefoot. The man lying down has on ahitatare and a sashinuki, while the sitting man is wearing
something like kosode. Aside from the eboshi, their clothing is
not too dissimilar from that seen today. This reveals that interms of the everyday life of the commoner, there are many
parallels between this period and today.

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1 priest blowing his nose
2 shaved head3 raised collar worn by priests
4 priestly robes
5 kesa6 table7 man lying on his back8 tate-eboshi
9 holding hand to face
10 kariginu (patterned)
11 sashinuki
12 fan

13 framework
14 round pillar
15 ornament for hiding nails
16 tatami
17 ungen pattern cloth edging
18 curtain hanging
19 blowing one’s nose with paper
20 man blowing his nose with hand
21 kariginu
22 hakama
23 leggings (habaki)
24 blowing the nose with one’s hand

paper used their hands in this manner. This would have beena very common scene in everyday life.

137 Blowing One’s Nose
These pictures are from Scrolls 2 and 4. The picture on theright is of Michizane’s fiftieth birthday celebrations at the
Kisshōin Temple. The priest holding the piece of white paper
to his face is blowing his nose. Individuals of high rank usedwhite paper for this purpose, as indicated by several picturesof this type. The man lying in front of the priest is sleepingwith his head on the threshold. Depictions of birthday rituals
often involve attendees in a variety of very relaxed poses,
seemingly oblivious to the formal proceedings. This very
informal and free attitude seems to have been the style at thetime for such events.
The picture on the left is of a retainer wiping his nose withhis hand in the scene in which Michizane mounts the oxcart
for his journey of exile to Dazaifu. Those who did not use

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1 priests crying
2 shaved head3 stripping to waist
4 white robe (kosode)5 barefoot
6 crying with one’s hand to one’s face
7 crying with one’s hand on one’s head
8 crying while looking upward
9 supporting the body from behind with one’s hands
10 sitting cross-legged
11 crying while lying on one’s back12 tate-eboshi
13 beard
14 kosode15 ori-eboshi
16 wide-sleeved kimono
17 nae-eboshi

166

138 People Crying
This is a depiction of people crying in sadness at the departure of Michizane for Tsukushi (Fukuoka Prefecture today)
in Scroll 4. The top picture features four priests sitting on the
ground and crying. One has the back of his hand held against
his face. The use of the back of the hand to wipe away tears
and to wipe one’s nose was seen as early as this era. The bottom picture features the same custom, as well as one otherman looking up and crying unrestrainedly, similar to what
can be seen today. Crying with one’s hand on one’s head was
also a common crying custom. While not seen here, in theoriginal scroll there was also a man crying lying on the
ground.

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1 man baring one shoulder
2 tate-eboshi
3 beard
4 wide-sleeved kimono
5 sashinuki
6 barefoot
7 baring one’s shoulder on the left side
8 headstall
9 reins
10 man with topknot
11 long hair tied into topknot with cord
12 halberd

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139 Man Baring His Shoulder and Man with a Topknot
These pictures are from Scrolls 4 and 2 respectively. The
top picture is of a man of low social standing, positioned
behind the oxcart of Michizane as he leaves for Tsukushi(Fukuoka Prefecture). He is stripped to the waist on one
shoulder. In such cases, the picture scrolls usually show men
stripped on the left shoulder. Most laborers would wear
sleeve-holding straps, but some would strip on one side inthis manner.
The lower picture is of a follower of a warrior priest at the
Kisshōin Temple during Michizane’s fiftieth birthday celebrations. He is of low rank, but has his hair in a topknot of a stylewhich is thought to precede directly the chonmage style oflater years.

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1 tate-eboshi
2 kanmuri
3 oikake
4 kanmuri (without oikake)5 moustache and goatee beard
6 moustache with beard on cheek and jaw
7 moustache and goatee beard
8 moustache and beard on jaw
9 moustache168

140 Varieties of Beards
The Kitano Tenjin engi features an extremely high numberof men with facial hair; not only that, each is depicted in avery individual manner. The Japanese have never been a particularly hirsute race, so there are a number of men in thescrolls who have no facial hair. It seems that those who wereable to grow their facial hair did so as a kind of fashion accessory, but there are few examples of richly detailed cheek or
jaw beards in picture scrolls. There are just two examples ofthe full beard in the above picture; the remainder are mostly
thin moustaches or small goatee beards. Such facial hair wasoccasionally kept in shape by shaving, but traditionallyexcess hair would be plucked. The fact that facial hair was
rare among the lower classes was not necessarily because
they shaved it off. Incidentally, the common face shape of thetime was rounder than today’s, and often bottom-heavy. This
may well have been a particular trait of the Kyōto region.

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141 Childbirth, Ritual Bow-plucking
This is a childbirth scene from Scroll 8. The long-haired
woman behind the screen with her back toward us to is giving birth, and the woman holding her is the midwife. In
Japan, women would give birth sitting down. When laborbegan, the mother-to-be would either be supported frombehind or, as in this picture, from in front, by another
woman. The woman on the right is probably a miko, a type ofritualist. She has Buddhist prayer beads slung over her
shoulder. The man on the porch in the foreground is plucking a bow, in a ritual for driving away demons. Such rituals
took place during childbirth, as a prayer for the good fortuneof the newborn child. A childbirth scene from the Gaki zōshi
was included in this series earlier, and a comparison of thetwo pictures will give a good indication of the customs of theage. While this scene takes place in a wealthy home, it ismeant to indicate that even the wealthy must endure pain andhardship, one such event being childbirth.

Kitano Tenjin engi

1 man performing a bow-plucking ritual
2 tate-eboshi
3 kosode
4 hakama
5 bow
6 miko7 wearing one’s hair down
8 uchigi
9 kosode
10 Buddhist rosary
11 midwife (holding woman giving birth)
12 woman giving birth
13 wearing one’s hair down
14 lattice shutter
15 metal shutter hook
16 pillar
17 bamboo screen
18 ji-nageshi

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1 man reciting a prayer
2 kanmuri (sokutai attire)
3 hō and kyo
4 prayer
5 table6 votive stick
7 rough straw matting

142 Prayer for ChildbirthThis is a continuation of the previous picture from Scroll 8.
As the birth drew near, almost everything in and around thebirthing room would be changed so that it was white in color.
Curtain hanging, folding screen, screen stand, tatami edging
and the like would all be changed for white replacements, as
would the inner and outer garments of the women involved:
karaginu, omotegi, uchiginu, uchigi, hitoe and mo would all bechanged to white, a white hakama would be worn over acrimson hakama, and white fans would be used. This would
continue until the seventh night after the birth. Here, however, an onmyōji, or ritual-performer, is dressed in coloredclothing. He has placed a small table in the garden near thehouse, upon which he has erected seven heigushi, or votive
sticks used in rituals. He is reading a prayer. While it is not
visible in this picture, in the original a type of priest known as
170a yamabushi is stationed outside the birthing room to pray fora safe birth. The extent of the ritual involved enables us toperceive just how major an event childbirth was.
As regards the heigushi, a variety of styles were used. From
the fact that they are depicted elsewhere in a scene of hell inwhich the gaki, or hungry ghosts, are eating, we can see thatthey were also used in Buddhist rituals.

143

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1 man reclining in illness
2 headband tied in a knot on one’s forehead
3 kosode
4 wearing one’s hair down
5 covering one’s mouth with a sleeve
6 kosode
7 priestly robes
8 kesa9 tatami
10 ungen pattern cloth edging
11 shaved head
12 topknot

143 Invalid
This is a scene from the six realms of rebirth series ofScroll 8, depicting the struggles of human existence. The
man in the center of the picture is extremely ill, and has
called for a priest to pray because he knows he will not survive. There are in fact three priests in the picture in total,
although all but one are not visible in this extract. He is reading sutras at the bedside of the ill man. His raised collar indicates that he is of the Tendai sect. The invalid is lying on hisback with a headband tied around his temple. He has
removed his eboshi. Some historians theorize that eboshi were
kept on even while reclining, but the picture scrolls feature anumber of cases in which people lying down have removed
their headwear. In this picture it appears that the man has
removed his eboshi and wears a headband due to the fact that
he is ill, but this is not necessarily due to illness. Also, there

are a number of examples of the sick wearing headbands, butthere also was a custom of wearing a headband while sleeping. In the Tōhoku region, it was common practice up until
fairly recently for old women and girls to wear headbands
known either as binjime or hachimaki while sleeping. This
custom is said to have arisen from a desire to keep the pillow
and bedclothes clean from hair wax, but whatever the origin,
it is extremely old. In cases of illness, both men and women
would commonly wear headbands. The woman by the invalid
with her sleeve drawn over her mouth is intended to be
expressing sadness. Such poses were commonly adopted by
women up until the late Meiji period.

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1 man carrying coffin
2 coffin
3 carrying pole
4 rope5 ori-eboshi
6 hitai-eboshi
7 hitatare
8 stick to prop things while a carrier rests
9 spear ?
10 shaved head
11 bell
12 barefoot13 helmet

14 armor
15 arm guard
16 hitatare
17 hakama
18 guard with cheeks covered
19 white cloth
20 arrows
21 shading eyes with the hand
22 paddle-shaped stick
23 white robe
24 abdominal armor?
25 halberd
26 samurai-eboshi

144 Funeral Procession
From Scroll 8. See the following section for explanation.
172

27 kosode (patterned)
28 torch
29 tate-eboshi
30 hitatare (patterned)
31 hakama (patterned)
32 hitatare (patterned)
33 hakama (patterned)
34 hitatare (patterned)
35 hakama (plain)
36 ori-eboshi
37 kosode (comma-shaped design)
38 fence

28

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1 man carrying halberd
2 halberd
3 samurai-eboshi
4 cord to tuck up sleeves (white kosode)5 loincloth
6 sashinuki
7 barefoot
8 shaved head
9 Buddhist rosary
10 spade handle (T-shaped)

145 BurialThis is a depiction of a burial from Scroll 8, and will be considered in conjunction with the preceding picture. Burials inJapan were conducted at night from long ago, with only asmall number of people carrying the body out to its burial
spot. Guards carrying a halberd and others carrying torches
would always accompany the group. Those carrying the coffin would wear a white hitai-eboshi. A priest would also
accompany the coffin, ringing a bell. The halberd and paddleshaped sticks held by the guards were intended to keep evil
spirits at bay. While cremation became increasingly popularfrom the Heian era, burial continued to be common as well.
Further, while deep holes were dug for burial, such as in thispicture, occasionally no hole would be dug and the coffin
would be simply left on the ground. Agricultural implements

11 spade
12 pushing down on the spade with the foot to dig
13 cord to tuck up sleeves
14 kesa
15 spade
16 loincloth
17 hoe18 tate-eboshi
19 loincloth
20 shovel

such as hoes, shovels and spades are all being used in thisinstance to dig the hole. When working, people would sometimes use cords to tie back their sleeves, or tuck up their garments. Therefore, it is also clear that the diggers are all wearing loincloths, and are dressed in white. White clothing wasused in all significant events, such as birth and death.

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1 corpse
2 crow
3 dog
4 clothing
5 rough straw matting
6 sotoba
7 stake in cemetery fence

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146 Cemetery
This is a depiction of a desolate cemetery from Scroll 8.
Some coffins have been buried deep in the earth, as in theprevious picture, but other dead bodies have simply been left
on the ground. These bodies have not been put in a coffin,
but merely left on top of a bed of straw on their backs, covered in a kimono. The heads of the dead have been shaved,
while crows and dogs are picking at the bodies. The body inthe lower half of the picture has almost entirely been
devoured by dogs. It is thought that this sort of treatment forthe dead bodies of commoners was typical for this time. It
seems that those for whom sotoba and mounds of earth werecreated were in the minority.

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147 Tamaya
In cases in which bodies were buried, the cemetery would
have in one corner a tamaya. A tamaya was a building towhich the coffin would initially be carried, where it would
stay while offerings of fragrant flowers would be made,before being buried. This building seems a little small for atamaya of this era, but in later times, individual tamaya would
be constructed over every grave upon burial. In time, thesewould sometimes develop into temples. In front of thetamaya are sotoba, upon which there is writing in Sanskrit.
These are to console the dead, and they have been lined up
quite close together. This sort of scene can be found today at
the Oku-no-in at Mount Kōya in Wakayama or Osore-zan in
Aomori, but originally this would have been a common sightat any cemetery. The vines growing all over the sotoba suggest the desolation of the place; indeed, at this time, cemeteries were extremely lonely and foreboding places to whichpeople would never generally go.

Kitano Tenjin engi

1 tamaya2 ridge
3 plank roof
4 sotoba

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148 Sotoba

1 mountain bird
2 sotoba

176

This is a depiction from Scroll 8. The custom of placing
sotoba on top of graves is thought to have become commonplace from around the tenth century. In the entry of the third
day of the fifth month in the third year of Tenroku (972) in
the Jie Daisōjō goyuigou, it is noted that “a temporary sotoba
should be erected, under which a hole of three to four shaku
in length should be dug, into which the bones are to beplaced, before being refilled. A new stone sotoba is to bemade within 49 days to replace the wooden one, and this will
be used as a marker for his disciples when they visit his
grave.” The role of the sotoba is explained clearly here. It
served as a grave-marker, and would eventually be replaced
by a stone version. The one in this picture is wooden, so we
may assume that it marks a fresh grave. However, poor people could not replace the wooden sotoba with a stone one, andtherefore would leave the wooden one there permanently. A
mountain bird has alighted upon the sotoba, probably insearch of human flesh to eat.
While sotoba were erected in cemeteries in this fashion,similar prayer monuments, known as kuyōhi, began to bebuilt in temple grounds or on roadsides from around thesame time. It is a combination of sotoba and kuyōhi which has
evolved into modern day headstones.

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1 gaki2 specially shaped rice (gakimeshi)
3 small dish4 table5 votive paper

149 Gaki and GakimeshiThis is a depiction of a gaki, or “hungry ghost” of Buddhist
lore, from Scroll 8. The work Gaki zōshi discusses gaki indetail; the concept of the gaki spread throughout Japan withthe arrival of Buddhism. The sutras known as Urabon-kyō,
Shōhōnenjo-kyō and Enkōgakidarani-kyō all discuss gaki. The
Urabon-kyō, in particular, features a story in which Mokuren
Sonja rescues his mother, who has an evil heart, from becoming a gaki. This story was also represented in pictorial form,
with the production of a work known as the Mokuren
Henbun. Henbun as a genre were a type of picture scroll from
China, the earliest of which were discovered in the area ofDunhuang. Dunhuang lies on the transport network to northwest India, and it is thought that Buddhism entered China
from India via this route. The concept of the gaki, therefore,
also entered China from India with the advent of Buddhism,
and then on to Japan. The Man’yōshū features poems whichsuggest that statues of gaki were erected in major temples,while the Shōhōnenjo-kyō sutra lists 36 different types of gaki.
Gaki were believed to be the souls of those who had failed toreach Nirvana because of the impurity of their actions orsouls, and it was also believed that these gaki would possess
people who performed terrible acts, bringing about great
unhappiness. Gakimeshi, or rice for the gaki, would beoffered, along with votive sticks to keep the gaki at bay intimes of death or other such occurrences.

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1 old man
2 eboshi
3 apron4 hunched over through age
5 tate-eboshi
6 untidy hair
7 kosode
8 hakama
9 wearing one’s hair down
10 kosode11 small table
12 apron
13 plank porch
14 pillar

150 World of Children
This is a picture from Scroll 8 of children, commonly depicted in the picture scrolls. This frequent appearance of children
is significant. Most of the children depicted in these scrolls
lived in the Kyōto of the Heian period and middle ages, an
era in which class distinctions and rituals and manners wereof utmost importance; in this context they were free fromsuch social constraints, and were free from the control ofadults. Not only was this freedom due to the lack of responsibility required of children, but indeed it is believed that children were seen as in some way sacred during this era. In
Scroll 1 of the Kitano Tenjin engi, a god is depicted in theform of a child, visiting the house of Sugawara no Koreyoshi.
This visit brought about the birth of Michizane. In the
Kokawadera engi, also, the Senju Kannon transforms into a178

child to visit the house of a rich man in Shibukawa. Gods andBuddhas were said to borrow the shape of a child in order towork wonders on the earthly plane. As a result, children wereconsidered very important, and allowed to do much as theypleased. The characteristic of the depiction of children in thescrolls is the great sense of freedom and fun they enjoyed.
Here, a boy is wearing an eboshi on top of his loose hair, andis dressed in a kosode and hakama, pretending to be an adult.
The girl has her hair down too, and has an apron tied aroundher waist and in carrying a small table at her side. This is infact a scene of a house-fire.

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1 girl with hair cut at shoulder length
2 shoulder-length hair
3 kosode
4 cloth sewn on a child’s kimono
5 sitting with one knee up
6 wooden floor
7 ji-nageshi
8 pillar (chamfered)
9 ornament for hiding nails
10 child sitting cross-legged
11 unidy hair
12 unclothed
13 round fan
14 kosode15 sitting cross-legged
16 child facing away
17 kinukazuki
18 ornamented pillar top
19 balustrade
20 ichimegasa
21 cord for fastening ichimegasa
22 plank porch
23 steps
24 girl looking while holding on to the balustrade

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151 Children
These are depictions of children from Scrolls 2 and 6. The
picture on the top is of a child of the upper classes, with haircut at shoulder length and left hanging long. The middle picture is of two children with loose hair sitting cross-legged.
One is holding a fan. They are watching the celebrations for
Michizane’s fiftieth birthday at the Kisshōin Temple and imitating the behavior of the retainers who are waiting for the
masters. The picture at the bottom is of a girl watching theceremony from beneath a porch.

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1 man sitting
2 shaved head
3 beard
4 hitatare
5 cord6 sashinuki

7 sitting in a cross-legged style
8 boy holding a sword
9 wearing one’s hair down
10 sword
11 fan12 hitoe (wide-sleeved)

152 Children
This is Scroll 2, from the scene in which Michizane is practicing archery. The child is probably a servant. A courtier in atate-eboshi and kariginu is seated in front and to the left of thechild, but cannot be seen in this picture. To the right of thechild is a man with a shaved head wearing a hitatare sitting
cross-legged. They are probably servants of the courtierattending the practice just out of sight in this picture. Thereis another child in a suikan just out of sight who is probably ahigher-ranked attendant. The child in this picture has his hair
let down but tied at the back, is wearing a wide-sleeved
kosode and is carrying a sword. The sword probably belongs
180

to the courtier. He is carrying a fan in his left hand, withwhich he is also grabbing the tip of the sword’s scabbard. It
is not at all unusual for a child to be acting as an attendant toa high-ranking adult; some of these acted as chigo, or sexual
partners to the man they served. In most cases they were
good-looking boys kept as a sort of pet. There are many examples of boys of this status in the Kitano Tenjin engi.

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1 man blowing a conch shell
2 kanbō
3 cord4 conch shell
5 “Chinese-style” clothing
6 arm guard
7 waist band8 hakama
9 shin-guard
10 shoe11 saddle
12 stirrup
13 horse
14 reins
15 martingale
16 bit17 messenger
18 tate-eboshi
19 kariginu
20 sashinuki
21 obi
22 sitting on one’s heels with knees together
23 message
24 balustrade

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153 Conch Shell, Messenger
These pictures are from Scroll 8 and 1 respectively. There
were a wide variety of methods of long distance communication in ancient Japan, the most common of which were theuse of fire or sound, or the use of a messenger to send a written message. For the use of light or sound, a code system
would be devised beforehand. One such technique was theuse of a conch shell, which could be blown into to produce a
loud sound. Above all, though, the use of a messenger was
the most common method of communication. Almost all
long-distance communication used this method; the only disadvantage is the long time this required. Conch shells were
often used over relatively short distances, and in battle.
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1 biwa case
2 wearing one’s hair down (tied)
3 kosode
4 go board
5 hakama
6 untidy hair
7 white kosode
8 falling face down
9 ori-eboshi
10 short sword
11 sashinuki
12 barefoot
13 hot-water container
14 wooden container
15 lid of wooden container
16 lacquered plates and bowls

182

154 Biwa, Go Board
This is a depiction of a biwa, a type of lute, and a go board,
popular amusement items of the day, from Scroll 8. They arebeing salvaged during a house-fire. Biwa-playing was enjoyedby all classes, while go was a pursuit of the aristocracy. The
tableware falling from the bucket carried by the tripping
woman appears to be lacquer ware.

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155 Bird Cage
From Scroll 8. See picture number 20 for a description of abird cage.

Kitano Tenjin engi

1 man carrying a bird cage2 eboshi
3 kosode
4 box
5 sword
6 cord to attach sword to sheath
7 hakama
8 bird cage
9 plank porch
10 nageshi
11 post12 ornament for hiding nails
13 short supporting post

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1 woman with kinukazuki
2 uchigi
3 covering one’s mouth with a sleeve
4 traveling attire
5 straw sandals (zōri)
6 Buddhist rosary
7 kinukazuki (patterned)
8 hair cut at shoulder length
9 child with kinukazuki
10 uchigi
11 protective amulet
12 kosode184

156 Protective Amulet
This is a depiction of some of the onlookers watching
Michizane’s archery display in Scroll 2. The two women are
wearing uchigi pulled up over their heads and are carrying
Buddhist prayer beads, and so are probably nuns. The little
girl behind them is wearing a kosode and an uchigi over herhead, with a protective amulet hung around her neck. The
purpose of the amulet is to keep oneself safe; the bag hungaround her neck contains mamorifuda, or strips of paper withgood luck incantations written on them, from various temples
and shrines. It was common practice for women and children
to wear protective amulets around their necks in this fashion.

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157 Head Shaving
This is a depiction of the Emperor Engi (Daigo) having hishead shaved as repentance to the soul of Michizane for his
act in exiling him, from Scroll 6. Anyone wishing to become apriest had their head shaved. Additionally, doctors andConfucian scholars would also have their heads shaved, as
would nuns, who were called ama or bikuni. The act of having one’s head shaved set one apart from ordinary people,
and clothing would also differ. If an emperor or former
emperor shaved his head he would become a hōō, or a former
emperor who has taken Buddhist vows.
The historical facts of the relevant incidents are as follows.
Sugawara no Michizane was exiled to Dazaifu on the twentyfifth day of the first month in the fourth year of Shōtai (901),
where he died on the twenty-fifth day of the second month in
the third year of Engi (903). Fujiwara no Tokihira died on the
fourth day of the fourth month in the ninth year of Engi
(909), and the former Emperor Uda took his Buddhist vowson the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month in the next year(910), undergoing the ceremonies at the Enryakuji Temple.
The Emperor Daigo abdicated on the twenty-second day of
the ninth month in the eighth year of Enchō (930), dying
seven days later. Earlier, on the twenty-sixth of the sixth
month in the same year, lightning struck the Seiryōden, after
which the Emperor fell ill and died. This picture scroll was
put together based upon these historical events.
The Emperor here is in his gyokuza, or chamber, and is having his head shaved by a priest behind a bamboo screen.

Kitano Tenjin engi

1 priest shaving head2 priestly robes
3 kesa4 shaved head5 razor6 using a razor to cut off hair
7 thick tatami
8 ungen pattern cloth edging
9 threshold
10 sliding door
11 bamboo screen
12 lintel
13 round pillar

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158

1
5
6

2
4

3

1 thunder god
2 mallet3 loincloth
4 hire5 drums
6 lightning bolt

158 ThunderThis is a personified depiction of thunder, from the scene inwhich lightning strikes the Seiryōden in Scroll 5. Thunder isdepicted as having two horns, untidy hair, naked but for aloincloth and a cloth known as a hire cast about its shoulders,and carrying a drumstick to pound at the drums all around it.
It is riding on clouds, and emitting bolts of lightning. It has
already been explained, in the analysis of an image of thunder from the Senmen koshakyō, that this image of thunder as
an oni striking drums is extremely old, reaching back at leastas far as the Inga-kyō sutra. In the Wamyō ruijūshō, thunder iscalled ikazuchi or narukami. Originally, however, it seems
that this was not the image Japanese people had of thunder.
According to Volume 1 of the Nihon shoki, “One source saysthat Izanagi drew his sword and cut Kagutsuchi into threepieces. One of these became the god of thunder.” So thunder
was considered to be a large, snake-like creature. In Volume
14 of the Nihon shoki, we see the following: “In the seventh
year, autumn, the third day of the seventh month, EmperorYūryaku commanded Chiisakobe no Sugaru thus: ‘I want tosee how the god of Mount Mimoro looks. You are a man of186

great strength, so go and capture him.’…So he climbed
Mount Mimoro, captured the huge serpent, and presented it
to the Emperor…It caused thunder to sound and its eyes
flamed…Then the Emperor gave it a new name, Thunder.”Here too, thunder is described as snake-shaped. However, atthe beginning of the Nihon ryōiki, it is told how Thundercomes down to stomp upon the stone grave marker of thedead Sugaru, and gets trapped in a crack in the pillar, suggesting that it is humanoid in form. Further, the same work
goes on to detail how in the time of Emperor Bidatsu,
Thunder fell to earth in Katawa in Aichi County in Owari(Aichi Prefecture), and became a young man, who impregnated a woman before returning to the heavens. The childborn thereafter became a novice at the Gangōji Temple, andgrew into Dōjō-hōshi, famous for his strength. Thus, theimage of thunder as taking human form began to take root at
this time. This image, however, was imported from the continent, but from an early age began to become the establishedimage through its use in pictorial representations.

157

2

1
3

4

1 cypress bark roof
2 ridge
3 lattice work
4 pigeon
5 white dog

5

159 Pigeons and Dog
These picture are from Scroll 1 and 5 respectively. Pigeons
are seen today flocking around temples and shrines, but they
originally lived any and everywhere. In this picture, they areon the roof of the house of Sugawara no Koreyoshi. Straydogs were more common than dogs kept as pets at this time;
the one in this picture is scavenging at the dead bodies in thecemetery where Michizane is being buried.
Kitano Tenjin engi

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160

8

9

1
11
2

3
6
10
5
4
7

1 oxherd
2 suikan (patterned)
3 hakama
4 sitting cross-legged
5 straw sandals (waraji)
6 whip7 reins
8 ox
9 horn (white)
10 curbstone
11 wearing one’s hair down (tied)188

160 OxThe ox depicted in this scene is of the white-horned variety,which appeared in the Sungyū ekotoba as a famous breed;
indeed, it was the first specified breed of cattle in Japan. The
reason they were specified as a particular breed was probably
due to their rarity. After this, many other breeds came to be
named. Judging from its horns, the ox in the picture appears
to have been presented to the emperor from Mikuriya in
Uno, Hizen. Mikuriya-gyū were large, with long horns, thicklegs, bones, skin and flesh. Many famous cattle from the era
were of this kind. In front of the ox sits an ox-herd. Ox-herds
were usually young men of seventeen or eighteen years ofage, but they were occasionally older.

161

3

5

1

4
2

161 Mixed-colored Ox
Cows and oxen are depicted frequently throughout the picture scrolls. The majority of these are pulling carts, but there
are also some depictions of cattle in pasture. This particular
ox is pulling a cart. From the fact that its horns are pointing
backwards, we may ascertain from the classification found in
the Kokugyū jūzu that this is an Awaji-gyū. The Awaji-gyū isdescribed in this volume as “having a narrow head, horns
whose tips point upward, and tough flesh. They are short instature but strong, and good at pulling weights.” The shortlegs and stocky body of this ox suggests that it is an Awajigyū. Most oxen were white, black or brown in color, with
mixed-colored cattle such as this one not uncommon either.
All cattle had with them a ox-herd who would control their
movements. It is said that only higher-ranking aristocrats
were allowed to ride in an ox-drawn carts, which became
quite gorgeous.

Kitano Tenjin engi

1 mixed-colored ox pulling a cart
2 nose ring
3 shaft
4 martingale
5 crupper

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162
1
6
7

8

4

9
10
4

15

3

12

11

13

33

5
26

14
23
16

18

34

25

22

18

28

24

21
19

27

31

20
17

162 Boat
The boat depicted in this picture is probably from the late
Heian period. It is a large boat designed for Inland Sea journeys, and was the one in which Michizane was exiled.
Reference to Kenji Ishii’s book Japanese Boats reveals that
this boat is of a type known as a jun-kōzōsen, midway between
the simple, hollowed log style of ancient times and the modern, multi-piece design known as a kōzōsen. It demonstrates
certain complexities of construction, notably the box-likedesign of the prow and the projecting flanks at the stern,which suggest links with later more sophisticated designs.
The flanks of the boat are into two sections with the upper
part in wickerwork. Thwarts run through the flanks of theboat, creating lattice works upon which planks were placed tocreate places for the rowers to sit. The main yakata, or hipshape roofed area, is a space for passengers, and is foundbehind the main mast. The length of the yakata is roughly
five and a half meters, while its width is the entire width of
the boat. The roof is made of wooden planks. A second yakata is found behind the main one, in the stern, housing thehelmsman. There are posts known as tatsu in front of anddirectly behind the main yakata. These are now known as
yokogami. These posts would be used for leaning the mastagainst, or for tying the halyard to when the sails were up.
There is just one mast, which is collapsible when not in use.
The sail is made of woven straw, which made it heavy and difficult to handle, particularly when wet. Thus, to ensure thestability of the boat, the oars would be used whenever possible. There are ten oars in all on the boat, which are eachmade of a single piece of wood, and may be used as a pole as
190

well as an oar. The bottom of the boat has been dug out. Thisis perhaps the most detailed representation of a boat in all of
the picture scrolls.
At the very bow of the boat is a person known as a jisai,
who prayed for a safe voyage but who was sacrificed to protect the boat in times of danger. It is for this reason that he isclothed in white. Directly behind this is where the crew
would sleep under straw matting. Passengers would sleep inthe main yakata, while the stern yakata was reserved for the
ship’s captain and other important personnel, as well as thehelmsman.
From the end of the Heian era, ship-building techniques
began to develop dramatically. Jun-kōzōsen were thus a firststep in the development of ships for full-scale ocean voyages.

30

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41

47
43

2

42

38

44

40

46

39
45
35

36

49

36

37
28
29

48
32

1 large boat for Inland Sea voyage
2 mast3 mast stand4 woven straw sail5 halyard
6 beacon lantern
7 ?
8 jisai, man who prays for the safe voyage
9 samurai-eboshi
10 suikan
11 hakama
12 man dozing
13 nae-eboshi
14 kosode15 pointed bow
16 flank of boat
17 bottom of boat
18 nail hole
19 wickerwork siding
20 rowing base
21 thwart
22 tate-eboshi
23 wooden container
24 rope
25 bow

Kitano Tenjin engi

26 arrows
27 man rowing
28 eboshi
29 stripping to waist
30 uwaginu
31 oar32 hakama
33 woman wearing hair down
34 curtain (patterned)
35 lattice shutter
36 metal shutter hook
37 bamboo screen
38 main roofed area
39 plank roof
40 post
41 small roofed area
42 plank roof
43 roof ridge
44 horizontal bar
45 wickerwork wall
46 gable ornament
47 ?
48 rudder49 kariginu

191