nntsuzu/KFTT huggingface dataset:
English: The method of performing a hundred-fold visit is as follows: go from the entrance to the temple or shrine as far as the main worship hall or main temple building and pay homage, and then return to the entrance of the temple or shrine, and simply repeat this process one hundred times.
Japanese: 百度参りの方法は、社寺の入口から拝殿・本堂まで行って参拝し、また社寺の入口まで戻るということを百度繰り返す。
English: Sometimes, near the entrance to the temple or shrine, a stone pillar called a 'hundred-fold rock' is erected to serve as the objective of these circumlocutions.
Japanese: 社寺の入口近くに、その目標となる「百度石」という石柱が立てられていることがある。
English: To keep people from losing count, the temple or shrine stacks up one hundred pebbles, twisted paper strings, bamboo skewers or the like, which supplicants take one at a time and place by the main hall, counting by using these hundred pebbles, etc. as a sort of makeshift abacus.
Japanese: 回数を間違えないように、小石やこより、竹串などを百個用意しておいて参拝のたびに拝殿・本堂に1個ずつ置いたり、百度石に備えつけられているそろばん状のもので数を数えたりする。
English: Some claim that hundred-fold visits should be performed without anyone else witnessing them, or that they are more effective if done barefoot.
Japanese: 百度参りは人に見られないように行うとか、裸足で行った方がより効果があるなどとも言われる。
English: "Oshirasama" (also written おしらさま, お白様, オシラ様, オシラサマ) is a god of the home (Shinto) worshipped in the Tohoku region of Japan, generally considered the god of silkworm, god of agriculture, and god of horses.
Japanese: おしら様（おしらさま、お白様、オシラ様、オシラサマとも）は、日本の東北地方で信仰されている家の神(神道)であり、一般には蚕の神、農業の神、ウマの神とされる。
English: The shintai (an object of worship housed in a Shinto shrine and believed to contain the spirit of a deity) is a stick about one shaku (unit of distance approximately equal to 30.3 cm) long made of a mulberry tree, with the faces of men and women or the face of a horse written or carved on its tip, and dressed with many layers of clothing made of pieces of cloth.
Japanese: 神体は、桑の木で作った1尺（30センチメートル）程度の棒の先に男女の顔や馬の顔を書いたり彫ったりしたものに、布きれで作った衣を多数重ねて着せたものである。
English: The festival day for Oshirasama is called 'meinichi' (anniversary of the death), and it is held on the 16th of January, March, and September of the old lunar calendar.
Japanese: おしら様の祭日を「命日（めいにち）」と言い、旧暦1月・3月・9月の16日に行われる。
English: On the meinichi, Oshirasama is taken out of the kamidana, food and alcohol offering to the gods are offered, and a new clothing is worn on top of the previous one (this is called 'Osendaku').
Japanese: 命日には、神棚などからおしら様を出して神饌を供え、新しい衣を重ね着させる（これを「オセンダク」という）。
English: Itako (The Japanese shaman), a blind miko (a shrine maiden), chants a sutra for kamiyose (to invite god and hear an oracle) facing the Oshirasama, and makes it dance while chanting a saimon (address to the gods), holding Oshirasama in her hands.
Japanese: 盲目の巫女であるイタコがおしら様に向かって神寄せの経文を唱え、おしら様を手に持って祭文を唱えながら踊らせる。
English: Only with Oshirasama, enshrinement is referred to as asobu (to play), and this event is called 'Oshiraasobase' or 'Oshiraasobi.'
Japanese: おしら様に限っては祭ることを遊ばせるといい、この行事を「オシラアソバセ」「オシラ遊び」という。
English: Furthermore, the oshira-saimon (ritual song) told when two dolls of Oshirasama are used to make them play, is told by 'Itako,' a miko who performs the religious service for Oshiragami, and some say it simultaneously tells the origin of Saruga-jinja Shrine told by 'Kiman-choja Monogatari,' 'Mano-choja Monogatari,' 'Iwakiyama-ichidaiki,' and SAKANOUE no Tamuramaro.
Japanese: またおしら様の2体の人形をつかって遊ばせる際のおしら祭文は、おしら神祭祀の際の巫女である「いたこ」により語られるが、「きまん長者物語」、「満能長者物語」、「岩木山一代記」、坂上田村麻呂伝承の猿賀神社の由来を同時に語るとも伝えられる。
English: The tradition of Oshiragami involves praying to a god for the cure of women's diseases, the god of eyes, the god of children, and the guardian deity of agriculture including rice planting, weeding, and harvesting of grains.
Japanese: オシラ様伝承は、女の病の治癒を祈る神、目の神、子の神、田植え草取り、穀物の刈り入れ等、農耕の守り神としての性格がある。
English: Among them, for the 'god worshipped by hunters,' there is a custom where hunters ask the Oshirasama for the direction of the mountain to go to when they hunt.
Japanese: その中の「狩人の尊崇する神」は狩人が狩の際、どの方角の山に行けばいいかをオシラ様に聞く風俗がある。
English: According to this, there was a custom to hold the shintai of Oshirasama in both hands and spinning them, and going to the direction which the bamen (mask for horses) turned to.
Japanese: それによればオシラ様のご神体を両手に持ち廻し、その馬面の向いた方角へ行くという風習があった。
English: It has an aspect of 'Oshirasesama' (the ability to make predictions in hunting) (from Tono-monogatari-shui).
Japanese: 「お知らせ様」（狩猟に際しての予知力）の側面がある（遠野物語拾遺より）。
English: It can also predict earthquakes, fire, and disasters, and Oshirasama is also known as Kagibotoke.
Japanese: 予知でも地震火事等、災害に対しての予知力もあり、オシラ様を別名、鉤仏（カギボトケ）という。
English: On the day of Oshiraasobi held on January 16th (old lunar calendar), fortune-telling of the year is done to inquire about the divine will for the fortune, good, and evil of the year, and children spun the Oshirasama in a similar fashion, and inquired about the divine will.
Japanese: 正月16日に執り行われるオシラ遊びの日に1年間の吉凶善悪の神意を問うための年占を行い、同様に子供がオシラ様を廻しその神意を問うたという。
English: There is one theory that hold its origin in China in "Sojin-ki" (Selection of Jin Period Kanpo), "Shinjoden (神女伝)" (Tang Dynasty).
Japanese: この起源を中国起源の『捜神記』（晋代干宝撰）、『神女伝』（唐代）に求める説がある。
English: Regarding the background for the birth of Oshirasama faith, some believe that mountain god faith, faith towards sericulture work, or horses which support the living, etc. blended, and developed as a god with various primitive nature.
Japanese: オシラ様信仰誕生の背景に山神信仰や、養蚕作業、生活の糧の馬に対する信仰その他が混ざり、原初的な多様な性格を有する神として成立したものである。
English: For example, Oshirasama dislikes animal meat and eggs, and offering these can lead to serious illness.
Japanese: 例えば、おしら様は動物の肉や卵を嫌うとされ、これを供えてしまうと大病を患うという。
English: According to this tale, there was a girl in a farmhouse, who was close with the horse they had and eventually became husband and wife with it.
Japanese: それによれば昔、ある農家に娘がおり、家の飼い馬と仲が良く、ついには夫婦になってしまった。
English: When the girl jumped on the horse's head at once, she ascended to the sky and became Oshirasama.
Japanese: すかさず娘が馬の首に飛び乗ると、そのまま空へ昇り、おしら様となったのだという。
English: For example, according to "Kikimimizoshi," in the latter half of the synopsis, there is a tale of origin of the beginning of sericulture in which the girl who flew to heaven stood at the bedside of the parents and taught them to keep the silkworms in the mortar with mulberry leaves and have them lay silken threads.
Japanese: 例をあげれば『聴耳草紙』によればあらすじの後半、天に飛んだ娘は両親の夢枕に立ち、臼の中の蚕虫を桑の葉で飼うことを教え、絹糸を産ませそれが養蚕の始まりになった由来譚がある。
English: In Oshira-do in the tourist facility 'Densho-en' in Tono City, Iwate Prefecture, one thousand Oshirasama are displayed.
Japanese: 岩手県遠野市の観光施設「伝承園」の御蚕神堂（おしらどう）には千体のおしら様が展示されている。
English: In 'Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi' (animated film "Spirited Away"), it appears as a personified daikon radish god.
Japanese: 「千と千尋の神隠し」では、ダイコンを擬人化した神として登場している。
English: When, late on New Year's Eve, people visit a shrine at around midnight, the visit essentially straddles both the old and the new year, and thus is called the "two-year visit."
Japanese: 大晦日の深夜零時を境に前後にお参りすることから、2年にまたがってするため、この名がある。
English: In most cases, people simply visit a single Shinto shrine just once at around midnight, but a type of ninen mairi also exists in which the person visits the shrine once on New Year's Eve and returns home temporarily, then visits the shrine again once New Year's Day dawns.
Japanese: 単純に深夜零時頃一回一箇所の神社にお参りする場合が多いが、除夜に一度参拝して一旦家に帰り、元旦になって再び参拝するという形式をとることも有る。
English: In general, it is standard for people to choose to visit the shrine of their patron Shinto god, but in some cases people instead visit a shrine closer to where they live, or choose to pay homage at a famous shrine (for example, at Meiji-jingu Shrine or Atsuta-jingu Shrine).
Japanese: また、お参りは氏神様にするのが基本だが、現住所の近場の神社ですませたり、有名な大きい神社（例：明治神宮・熱田神宮）へ参拝に行く場合も有る。
English: Hoso Kami (also pronounced as Hoso gami, Hoso shin) is an apotheosis of hoso (smallpox), and is a kind of Yakubyo-gami, a deity for the transmission of epidemics.
Japanese: 疱瘡神（ほうそうがみ、ほうそうしん）は、疱瘡（天然痘）を擬神化したもので、疫病神の一種である。
English: Like Binbo-gami (Deity of poverty), Hoso Kami is often depicted as an elderly in rags with a torn uchiwa (round fan) in one hand.
Japanese: 疱瘡神は貧乏神と同様に、破れ団扇を片手にぼろ衣を纏った老人体に描かれる事が多い。
English: It is believed that it appears from nowhere on a straw boat, and enters the dreams of humans to haunt them.
Japanese: ワラの船に乗ってどこからともなく現れ、人間の夢の中に入り込んで取り憑くとされる。
English: Those who are haunted by this Yakubyo-gami suffer from bad diseases such as smallpox and measles, and many die from high fever.
Japanese: この疫病神に取り憑かれてしまった者は疱瘡や麻疹などの悪病に罹り、高熱を出してその多くが死んでしまうとされる。
English: Since there is a tradition that Hoso Kami dislikes dogs and the color red, some regions had a custom of displaying dogs made of paper as a 'charm against Hoso Kami' or use a picture of Shoki (the Plague-Queller) drawn only in red as Omamori (a personal amulet).
Japanese: 疱瘡神は犬や赤を苦手とするという伝承があるため、「疱瘡神除け」として張子の犬人形を飾ったり、赤一色で描いた鍾馗の絵をお守りにするなどの風習を持つ地域も存在した。
English: Additionally, many villages had a custom (Hoso Kami okuri) to prevent disasters from becoming serious by worshipping and entertaining Hoso Kami in order to convince them to pardon the villagers.
Japanese: また祀りもてなす事で疱瘡神に手加減をしてもらい、災厄を軽く抑えようとする風習（疱瘡神送り）をする村も多かった。
English: Many who suffered or had a family member suffer from smallpox in the past prayed to these stone pagodas to ease the suffering from smallpox as much as possible, but when smallpox decreased radically with the spread of vaccination, such customs became obsolete as well.
Japanese: かつて疱瘡にかかった者やその家族の多くは、少しでも疱瘡の苦しみを軽くしてもらおうと、これらの石塔に祈りをささげていたが、種痘の普及により天然痘が激減すると、それにともないこうした風習も廃れていった。
English: Additionally, an increasing number of them were considered an obstacle for road expansion or housing development after the war, and were transferred to nearby temples and shrines or were torn down.
Japanese: さらに戦後は道路拡張や宅地造成の邪魔とされ、周辺の寺社に移設されたり、破却される例も増えた。
English: Basically, the god looks like a dirty old man, thin and pale, and appears with a sad expression and an uchiwa (round fan) in his hand.
Japanese: 基本的には薄汚れた老人の姿で、痩せこけた体で顔色は青ざめ、手に団扇を持って悲しそうな表情で現れる。
English: In "Toenkai," a collection of strange stories from the Edo period by Bakin KYOKUTEI, etc., there is a story described below titled Kyuki.
Japanese: 曲亭馬琴らによる江戸時代の奇談集『兎園会』では窮鬼（きゅうき）と題し、以下のような話がある。
English: A man serving the samurai family visited Soka one day, and became acquainted with a monk.
Japanese: その武家に仕える男があるときに用事で草加へ出かけ、1人の僧と知り合った。
English: When the man asked the monk where he came from, he explained that he was at the house where the man served until now.
Japanese: 男が僧に、どこから来たのかと尋ねると、今まで男の仕えていた屋敷にいたとのことだった。
English: When the man told the monk that he had never seen him at the house, the monk laughed and said the following before disappearing.
Japanese: 男はその僧を屋敷で見たことがないと告げると、僧は笑いながら次のように言って姿を消した。
English: Since it is a god in a fashion, it cannot be brought down, but ways to drive them away do exist.
Japanese: 仮にも神なので倒すことはできないが、追い払う方法はないわけではない。
English: In Niigata prefecture, it is believed that Binbo-gami go away due to the heat when a fire is built in the irori fireplace (open hearth) on New Year's Eve, and instead, the god of good fortune arrive, delighted by the warmth.
Japanese: 新潟県では、大晦日の夜に囲炉裏で火を焚くと、貧乏神が熱がって逃げていくが、代わりに暖かさを喜んで福の神がやって来るとされる。
English: There are many popular beliefs on the Binbo-gami and irori, and in Tsushima-cho, Kitauwa-gun, Ehime Prefecture (the present Uwajima City), it is believed that digging the fire in the irori too much brings out the Binbo-gami.
Japanese: 囲炉裏にまつわる貧乏神の俗信は多く、愛媛県北宇和郡津島町（現・宇和島市）では囲炉裏の火をやたらと掘ると貧乏神が出るといわれる。
English: Long ago, when a man was taking a nap at home, he dreamed of an old man in ragged clothing entering the zashiki (Japanese style tatami room), and since then, nothing went well.
Japanese: 昔ある者が家で昼寝していると、ぼろぼろの服の老人が座敷に入って来る夢を見て、それ以来何をやってもうまくいかなくなった。
English: As a ceremony to send off the Binbo-gami, he taught to 'cook some yakimeshi (fried rice) and yakimiso (grilled miso), place them on an oshiki (square tray made of thin board with the four sides bent to make edges), bring it out from the back door, and release it in the river.'
Japanese: 貧乏神を送る儀式として「少しの焼き飯と焼き味噌を作り、おしき（薄い板の四方を折り曲げて縁にした角盆）に乗せ、裏口から持ち出し川へ流す」と教えた。
English: Eating raw miso is even worse, and if it is eaten, you will not be able to start the fire to grill miso.'
Japanese: 「また生味噌を食べるのはさらに良くないことで、食べると味噌を焼くための火すら燃やせなくなる」
English: In connection to the theory that Binbo-gami likes yakimiso, in Senba, Osaka, there was an event for sending off the Binbo-gami until around 1877.
Japanese: 貧乏神が焼き味噌を好むという説に関連し、大阪の船場には明治10年頃まで貧乏神送りの行事があった。
English: At the end of every month, miso was grilled at a merchant's home in Senba, and it was shaped into a plate and carried around homes by the clerk, filling the air with aromatic scents.
Japanese: 毎月末、船場の商人の家で味噌を焼き、それを皿状にしたものを番頭が持って家々を回り、香ばしい匂いがあちこちに満ちる。
English: By doing so, the Binbo-gami, who came out of the house, lured by the scent of his favorite yakimiso, was believed to be trapped in the yakimiso.
Japanese: こうすることで、好物の焼き味噌の匂いに誘われて家から出てきた貧乏神が焼き味噌の中に閉じ込められるという。
English: The banto would release the yakimiso in the river, and would thoroughly wash away the scent of miso on himself before returning, so that he would not invite the Binbo-gami.
Japanese: 番頭はそのまま焼き味噌を川へ流し、さらに自分も貧乏神を招かないように味噌に匂いをしっかりと落としてから帰ったという。
English: Additionally, according to the poet, Mitsuyuki NAKAMURA, Binbo-gami has an uchiwa in his hand to fan and enjoy the scent of this miso.
Japanese: また詩人・中村光行によれば、貧乏神が団扇を手にしているのはこの味噌の芳香を扇いで楽しむためとされる。
English: Some say that if the people of the house it possessed treat it kindly, it transforms into a god of good fortune.
Japanese: 取りついた家の人に親切にされていると、福の神に変わるという説もある。
English: "Nihon Eitaigura" (Inoru shirushi no kami no oshiki) by Saikaku IHARA is a tale of a man who enshrined the disliked Binbo-gami, who was extremely moved, appearing by the master's bedside on the night of the seven herbs saying 'This is the first time I ate sitting at a table,' and as a sign of gratitude, made the man wealthy.
Japanese: 井原西鶴『日本永代蔵』（祈る印の神の折敷）は、嫌われ者の貧乏神を祭った男が、七草の夜に亭主の枕元にゆるぎ出た貧乏神から「お膳の前に座って食べたのは初めてだ」と大感激されて、そのお礼に金持ちにしてもらったという話である。
English: Additionally, a hatamoto (direct retainers of the bakufu, which is a form of Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) who lived in Koishikawa of Edo, always poor, worshipped the Binbo-gami, offering sake and rice, thinking although he was poor all this time, it was the divine protection by the Binbo-gami that prevented especially bad things from happening, and asked for some relief from poverty and a share of good fortune.
Japanese: また、かつて江戸の小石川で、年中貧乏暮しをしていた旗本が年越しの日、これまでずっと貧乏だったが特に悪いことも無かったのは貧乏神の加護によるものだとし、酒や米などを供えて貧乏神を祀り、多少は貧窮を免れて福を分けてもらうよう言った。
English: This Binbo-gami was considered the god who changes poverty into good fortune, and there is a hokora (a small shrine) enshrined today at the side of Ushi-tenjin Shrine in Kitano-jinja Shrine in Kasuga, Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.
Japanese: この貧乏神は貧乏を福に転じる神とされ、現在では東京都文京区春日(文京区)北野神社の牛天神の脇に祠が祀られている。
English: By first praying to invite the Binbo-gami into the house, and then worshipping it carefully on the 21st day which is the completion day of a vow to send it off, the connection with the Binbo-gami can be cut.
Japanese: 祠に願掛けをして貧乏神を一旦家に招きいれ、満願の21日目に丁寧に祀って送り出すと、貧乏神と縁が切れるのだという。
English: There is a Binbogami-jinja Shrine built in Ida City, Nagano Prefecture, and the wooden statue of Binbo-gami placed there is enshrined not for worship, but for punching and kicking.
Japanese: 長野県飯田市に貧乏神神社が建立されていて、そこに置かれている貧乏神の木像は拝む為ではなく殴り蹴りするために祀られている。
English: Here, Binbo-gami is believed to be the weakness in one's mind, and by punching the statue, one can chase away the weak mind (relieve stress?) and bring good fortune through positive thinking.
Japanese: ここでは貧乏神自分の弱い心とされており、像を殴ったりすることで弱い心を追い出し（ストレス(生体)解消?）、プラス思考で物事を考えれば福はやって来ると説いている。
English: At Myosen-ji Temple in Taito Ward, Tokyo, a stone statue of Binbo-gami (Binbo-gami from Momotaro Densetsu, Momotaro Dentetsu Series is the motif) is enshrined.
Japanese: 東京都台東区の妙泉寺にも貧乏神の石像（モチーフは桃太郎伝説・桃太郎電鉄シリーズの貧乏神）が祀られている。
English: This stone statue is called 'Statue of Binbo-ga-saru (monkey)' (statue for chasing away poverty), with a monkey on top of the head of the Binbo-gami to pray for economic recovery.
Japanese: この石像は景気回復の願から貧乏神の頭の上に猿が乗る「貧乏が去る（猿）像」と名づけられている。
English: This statue is placed in Kinashi Station of Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture and Sasebo Station of Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture, and Nakanocho Station of Choshi Dentetsu Co., ltd.
Japanese: この像は香川県高松市の鬼無駅と長崎県佐世保市の佐世保駅、銚子電気鉄道の仲ノ町駅にも設置されている。
English: Along the Choshi Dentetsu Co., ltd, a statue with a pheasant on its head which stands for 'Binbo-wo-tori (bird)' (remove poverty) at Kasagami-Kurohae Station and a statue with a dog on its head which stands for 'Binbo-ga-inu (dog)' (there is no poverty) at Inubo Station were place around the same time as the one with the monkey.
Japanese: また銚子電気鉄道には、笠上黒生駅に「貧乏を取り（鳥）」として頭にキジが乗った像が、犬吠駅に「貧乏が居ぬ（犬）」として頭に犬が乗った像が、猿と時同じくして設置された。
English: It is one of the five male gods born from the Iotsu Misumaru no tama necklace of the Yasaka no magatama Bead of Amaterasu Omikami (the Sun Goddess), when Amaterasu and Susano took their oath.
Japanese: アマテラスとスサノオの誓約の際に、天照大神の八尺勾玉の五百箇の御統の珠から生まれた五柱の男神のうちの一柱である。
English: In Kojiki and the main body of Nihonshoki, etc., was the third to be born, and since it was born from a fundamental element of Amaterasu Omikami, it was considered to be a mikogami (the child god in a shrine where parent child gods are enshrined) of Amaterasu Omikami.
Japanese: 古事記や日本書紀本文ほかでは3番目に生まれ、天照大神の物種より生まれたので天照大神の御子神であるとされる。
English: According to Kojiki, it is the soshin of Kawachi no kuninomiyatsuko, Nukatabe no yue no muraji, Ibaraki no kuninomiyatsuko, Nakanao OWADA, Yamashiro no kuninomiyatsuko, Umakuta no kuninomiyatsuko, Michinoshirinokihe no kuninomiyatsuko, Suwa no kuninomiyatsuko, Yamato no Amuchi no miyatsuko, Takechi agatanonushi, Gamo inagi, Sakikusabe no miyatsuko, etc.
Japanese: 古事記によれば、河内国造・額田部湯坐連・茨城国造・大和田中直・山城国造・馬来田国造・道尻岐閇国造・周防国造・大和淹知造・高市県主・蒲生稲置・三枝部造らの祖神となっている。
English: These are clans that pledged their loyalty to the Imperial Family from long ago, and it is believed that the gods and soshin that those clans worshipped were syncretized, creating a divinity called Amatsuhikone (or, those gods were syncretized with Amatsuhikone).
Japanese: これらは古くから天皇家に忠誠を誓った氏族であり、それらの氏族が崇敬していた神や祖神が習合されてアマツヒコネという神格が作られた（あるいはそれらの神々がアマツヒコネに習合された）と見られている。
English: In the explanation of the origin of the geographic name of Yashiro go, Ou gun (present Yasugi City, Shimane Prefecture) in the Izumo no kuni fudoki (the topography of Izumo Province), a god called Amatsuko no mikoto who descended accompanying Amenohohi, wanted to build a yashiro (shrine building) in this location, leading to the name, Yashiro, but some say Amatsuko became Amatsuhiko, then Amatsuhikone.
Japanese: 出雲国風土記では意宇郡屋代郷(現；島根県安来市)の地名由来の説明の中でアメノホヒに随伴して降臨した天津子命という神がこの地に社(ヤシロ)を立てたいといったので屋代(ヤシロ)という地名になったと伝えられているが、天津子が天津日子つまりアマツヒコネとする説がある。
English: The 'ne' in the shinmei (name of god) is a honorific title, and 'hiko' is believed to stand for 'Hi no kami no ko' (the child of the god of the sun), but there are various theories.
Japanese: 神名の「ネ」は尊称で、「ヒコ」は「日神の子」の意と考えられるが、諸説ある。
English: It is worshipped as the sun god, the sea god, the wind god, etc. (this is believed to be due to syncretization of many gods) and is enshrined at Tado-taisha Shrine (Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture) and so on.
Japanese: 日の神、海の神、風の神などとして信仰されており（これは多数の神が習合されたためと考えられる）、多度大社（三重県桑名市）などで祀られている。
English: Makami is deification of a Japanese wolf which is now extinct.
Japanese: 真神（まかみ）は、現在は絶滅してしまった日本オオカミが神格化したもの。
English: Having eaten many people, an old wolf living in Makaminohara of Asuka area in Yamato Province (present-day Nara Prefecture) was deified for its ferocity and worshipped as a guardian deity who would protect crops against wild boars and deer.
Japanese: 大和国（現在の奈良県）にある飛鳥の真神原の老狼は、大勢の人間を食べてきたため、その獰猛さから神格化され、イノシシやシカから作物を守護するものとされた。
English: Makami was worshipped as a deity who would understand human words, know the nature of each human being, protecting the good and punish the wicked.
Japanese: 人語を理解し、人間の性質を見分ける力を有し、善人を守護し、悪人を罰するものと信仰された。
English: Makami was regarded as having a strong power to protect people against evil, particularly against such hardships as caused by fire and robbery, and its figure was drawn on Emas (votive horse tablet) and the like.
Japanese: また、厄除け、特に火難や盗難から守る力が強いとされ、絵馬などにも描かれてきた。
English: As times passed, however, and human beings expanded their sphere of life into mountainous regions, the concept of wolves attacking domestic animals spread.
Japanese: しかし時代が流れ、人間が山地まで生活圏を広げると、狼は人と家畜を襲うものだという認識が広まった。
English: And it is said that the sacredness of makami fell into decline as the number of wolves decreased.
Japanese: そして狼の数が減っていくにしたがって、真神の神聖さは地に落ちていったという。
English: Having been handed down in Japan from old times, Mishaguji is a kami (of Shinto) whose origin is not very clear.
Japanese: ミシャグジは、古来より日本に伝わるが、謂れのよくわからない神(神道)である。
English: This kami is also called Mishaguchi or Shaguji and a number of kanji expressions are used, such as 御左口 and 赤口.
Japanese: ミシャグチ、シャグジなどとも呼ばれ、御左口、赤口など多くの漢字が当てられる。
English: Mishaguji belief is widely distributed in eastern Japan, and it is said that Mishaguji is a kami in snake form with stones and trees being its main yorishiro (object representative of a divine spirit).
Japanese: ミシャグジ信仰は東日本の広域に渡って分布しており主に石や樹木を依代とする神で蛇の姿をしているとも言われている。
English: The pattern of Mishaguji belief varies from region to region, with Mishaguji's deity being sometimes fused with the deity of local and other types of kami.
Japanese: その信仰形態や神性は多様で地域によって差異がありその土地の神や他の神の神性が習合されている場合がある。
English: This belief is considered to have existed from the Jomon period based on the fact that objects of worship for Mishaguji and things which were identical to Mishaguji's yorishiro were found at a number of Jomon period sites located in the area where Mishaguji belief has prevailed.
Japanese: 信仰の分布域と重なる縄文時代の遺跡からミシャグジ神の御神体となっている物や依代とされている物と同じ物が出土している事等からこの信仰が縄文時代から存在していたと考えられている。
English: People in Suwa region say that Mishaguji takes the form of a white snake, perhaps because it was fused with the Soso deity which was a snake kami of Suwa.
Japanese: 諏訪地域では特に諏訪の蛇神であるソソウ神と習合されたためか白蛇の姿をしているともいわれており、。
English: In Moriya-jinja Shrine where this kami was enshrined, it was regarded as a kami who enters into a Shinto priest and provides divine messages.
Japanese: この神を祀っていた守屋神社（もりやじんじゃ）では、神官に憑依して宣託を下す神とされた。
English: Heihaku is a general term used for anything other than food and drink that is offered to the Shinto gods during a Shinto ceremony.
Japanese: 幣帛（へいはく）とは、神道の祭祀において神(神道)に奉献するもののうち、神饌以外のものの総称である。
English: The term 'haku' refers to cloth, and refers back to ancient times, when cloth was precious and thus became the primary item offered to the gods.
Japanese: 「帛」は布の意味であり、古代においては貴重であった布帛が神への捧げ物の中心となっていたことを示すものである。
English: In one article under Shinto ritual prayer in the "Engi shiki," the list of items described as heihaku included cloth fabric, clothes, weapons and armor, sacred wine, and food and drink offerings to the gods.
Japanese: 『延喜式』の祝詞の条には、幣帛の品目として布帛、衣服、武具、神酒、神饌などが記されている。
English: Heihaku are offerings to the gods, but at the same time, they are thought to be yorishiro (objects in which the gods dwell), and so if these heihaku are treated like yorishiro such as poles with streamers or arms and armor, then they become heisoku (rope or paper offerings), gohei (a staff with streamers), and taima (paper offerings in Shinto), but such objects are also called heihaku.
Japanese: 幣帛は神への捧げ物であると同時に、神の依り代とも考えられ、これが串の先に紙垂を挟んだ依り代や祓具としての幣束・御幣、大麻(神道)となり、これらのことも幣帛と呼ぶ。
English: According to the 'Jinja saishiki' (Shinto shrine rituals) established in 1875, it was decided that in addition to actual items made of cloth and so forth, kinhei (coins wrapped in paper) would also be considered heihaku.
Japanese: 明治8年に定められた「神社祭式」では、幣帛として布帛などの現物のほか、金銭を紙に包んだ「金幣」を加えることとされた。
English: Today, for regular festivals of the shrines under the comprehensive purview of the nationwide Jinja Honcho (Shinto Shrine Association), the Jinja Honcho sends funds they call 'heihaku expenses' to the shrines.
Japanese: 現在、全国の神社本庁包括下の神社の例祭には神社本庁から「幣帛料」という名前で金銭が贈られている。