The deity Kishimojin 鬼子母神 (S. Hārītī) is a central figure in the Nichiren school, where she is worshiped as a benevolent deity of fertility and childrearing, as well as a frightening, demonic guardian able to destroy suffering, eliminate evil demons, heal illnesses, and grant protection. The latter form, known as Kigyō Kishimojin 鬼形鬼子母神 (demon-shaped Kishimojin), is exclusive to Nichiren Buddhism, has no scriptural foundation, and has originated in the Edo period. Kigyō Kishimojin is usually depicted as an ugly and terrifying demon with disheveled hair, horns, a gaping mouth with fangs, a protruding chin, and bulging eyes. This article analyzes how Kishimojin’s demonic form complicates and, at the same time, aligns with the Buddhist discourse on physio-morality, which emphasizes the significant connection between body and ethics.

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This article draws on archival work and ethnographic fieldwork to consider menstrual pollution as a window into viewing larger issues surrounding the gendering of Shinto priests’ bodies. Jinja Honchō 神社本庁 (Association of Shinto Shrines) endorses a binary, biologically essentialist view of gender, but has avoided weighing in on menstrual pollution. Female priests do not contest Jinja Honchō’s view of gender, but they cannot comfortably dwell in the space Jinja Honchō has left undefined, as whether menstrual pollution exists (and how it should be dealt with) directly affects how they perform their work within shrines. However, female priests are much more likely to consider menstrual pollution a logistical issue than a purely theological one. As a result, they perform a priestly femininity that is responsive to their local context, as they develop their own theories of and methods for dealing with menstrual pollution that balance official regulations, advice from their mentors, their workplace environment, and their own understandings of Shinto theology.

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From Cartesian dualism to a Foucauldian subversion, the mind and the body are traditionally positioned as two separate entities, with the mind regarded as the source of humans’ rationality and reason, and the body linked to biological drives and instinctual passions. However, recent scholarship has moved toward a more integrated view, recognizing the body as part of a mind-body continuum where sometimes bodily integrity takes precedence over the spirit. Scholarship on Asian religions, in particular, has demonstrated more diverse ways to theorize the body without necessarily relegating it to the inferior opposite of the mind. This article explores these alternative perspectives on the body, offering a thorough discussion on how bodies were understood and conceptualized in medieval Japan. It argues that any discussion of the religious body in Japan requires an “emic” approach, that is, one that grounds the body within its specific religious and cultural context.

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This article explores the embodiment of Kongō Zaō 金剛蔵王, the tutelary deity of Kinpusen, by analyzing narratives of his apparition from the Heian to the Nanbokuchō periods and their evolving interpretations. The study positions the deity’s body as a locus of meaning and a powerful metaphor for the union of religious and political realms. It focuses on the Kinpusen Himitsuden 金峰山秘密伝, written by the monk Monkan Kōshin 文観弘真 in 1337 at the Southern Court’s palace in Yoshino to legitimize Emperor Go-Daigo’s rule following the downfall of the Kenmu regime and the outbreak of the civil war. Kongō Zaō is depicted as a localized emanation of the Buddha, embodying multiple Buddhas, addressing the spiritual needs of the era. The article examines Zaō’s embodiment as a model for the emperor’s liturgical body, providing insights into the intricate interplay between Buddhism, local kami cults and kingship in medieval Japan. The investigation enhances our understanding of the integration of local cults and of the idea of Japan within a Buddhist framework, highlighting the dynamic role of the body in Buddhist thought. The body is presented not just as a site of spiritual practice, but as a force that shapes new meanings, informing both religious practices and political structures.

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This article examines the sensorial and theoretical interweaving betweenthe mummified bodies of Mount Yudono (present-day Yamagata prefecture) ascetics and a variety of external observers such as explorers, devotees, and academic scholars from the second half of the eighteenth century until the 1960s. Focusing on hitherto understudied Edo-period travel narratives and twentieth-century ethnographies, this study shows the modalities through which Yudono ascetics practically organized the cult of their mummified corpses and, at the same time, how these full-body relics were criticized, worshipped, studied, and even materially reassembled according to a plurality of hermeneutic agendas. The aim of this research is to emphasize the unrestrainable sociality and porous ontology of the taxidermic bodies, which are associated with the cult of Yudono eminent ascetics, highlighting how such uncanny remains overcome the boundaries of life and death while continuing to exert a strong pull of fascination on premodern as well as modern society.

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The present article sheds a new light on female symbolism in medieval Japanese Esoteric Buddhist visions of kingship by drawing attention to a passage in the Yugikyō that has hitherto passed unnoticed in scholarship. Concretely, the passage concerns an instruction on Kongōsen 金剛染 (S. Vajrarāga) which informs that the latter’s esoteric knowledge symbolically serves as the consort of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and human kings. First, the article provides a discussion of the currently known scriptural sources of female symbolism related to sacred kingship through an analysis of the famous dream of the Tendai prelate Jien 慈円 (1155–1225). It then proceeds with an investigation of an esoteric view of kingship transmitted at Daigoji, which reveals the influence of the cult of Kongōsen. Additionally, based on the fact that Kongōsen was identified with Aizen’ō 愛染王 (S. Rāgarāja), a buddha-mother (butsumo 仏母), the article further clarifies that protector monks visualized themselves as mothers and consorts of the emperor during protective services at court. Thus, by highlighting the concept of enlightenment embodied as mother and consort of divine monarchs, the article provides a crucial new element to better assess the role of female symbolism in esoteric visions of kingship and its relation to the body of the monastic practitioner.

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