Yakuriji —
the tengu who comes down at night.

八栗寺 Yakuriji · Temple 85 · Mount Goken, Takamatsu, Kagawa

The mountain behind this temple is called 五剣山 Gokenzan, the Mountain of Five Swords. The name comes from its summit, which once stood in five peaks. One of them came down in the earthquake of 1707, so what you are looking at today is four swords and a gap.

Kūkai founded the temple here in 829. Before he sailed to China to seek the deeper teachings, he is said to have buried eight roasted chestnuts on this ground as a divination. Roasted chestnuts do not sprout. These did, and grew into trees — and the temple has been called Eight Chestnuts ever since.

Chūjōbō — the tengu of this mountain

Behind the main hall stands a smaller hall that most pilgrims walk past: the 中将坊堂 Chūjōbō-dō.

It belongs to Chūjōbō, one of the Three Great Tengu of Sanuki — Sanuki being the old name for this province. The other two are Sagamibō on Mount Shiromine and Kongōbō on Mount Zōzu at Konpira. Three tengu, three mountains, one province, and they are still named together today.

Chūjōbō is not a frightening tengu. He is said to come down from the mountain at night, do good for the people below, and return before morning.

And here is what people do about it. They leave a pair of wooden clogs beside his hall. If the clogs are dirty the next day, Chūjōbō has been out working.

That is the whole practice. No doctrine, no explanation, nothing to believe. Just a pair of shoes left out for someone who walks at night. If you want to understand how Japanese religion actually functions, that custom will teach you more than a shelf of books.

The hall of Shōten

Beside the main hall is the hall of Kangiten, known across the region as 八栗の聖天さん Yakuri no Shōten-san, enshrined here in 1677. It is one of the best-known Shōten halls in Japan, and people come from far away for matters of business, study, and the connections between people.

There is an old caution around Shōten: what is asked for tends to be given, and the relationship goes both ways. People who come here do not come casually, and neither should you.

Going there

A cable car runs up the mountain in four minutes from the foot station at Mure. You can also walk the old approach, and it is worth it — the walk is where the mountain begins to work on you.

From the grounds you look out across the Inland Sea, with Yashima directly opposite.