My first major trip since returning to Japan was to Enoshima. Having a 3 day weekend we decided to take advantage of the extra day and on the advice of a friend from Hawaii I met going to his diner he owns near my house and Enoshima having a Hawaiian festival during the weekend, we decided to go. Traveling throughout Japan and this part of the globe was one of the big reasons I took on this adventure of moving to Japan, so I'm glad I finally have an opportunity to go. Enoshima is a small island (4 kilometers around) 600 meters off the coast of Katase. [1] The island wasn't always an island. While currently, I think the island is always surrounded by water, in its past, low tide would create a sandy walkway to the island. This used to be the only land bridge to the mainland for centuries. In fact, in the past, the island would be completely separated for long stretches of time. This made the walkway's appearance a valuable time when many people, as well as very important people came to see if the walkway was open and pilgrimage to the island. [2]
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| The famous Hokusai ukiyo-e print (traditional Japanese art of wood-block printing) in his Thirty-six Views of Fuji series (Fuji is the mountain on the right). Showing the old way for pilgrims to reach the island. Image [3] |
The island of Enoshima, while a small place is steeped in legend, lore, spirituality and some history as well. This post will be covering those aspects of Enoshima, and in my next post I will be providing a travel guide to the island. Enoshima is a sacred island dedicated to the sea goddess Benten. The local legend regarding the creation of the island of Enoshima revolves around the story of Benten. The legend goes that in 552, earthquakes on the coast created the island which was inhabited by the goddess Benten to subdue a dragon that was attacking the people on the coast and lived in the caves of the island that was created. [4] This story has two different tellings. The first being, Benten, or Benzaiten decided to stop the dragon from killing the people of the coast from its destruction through storms and tidal waves by entering the cave from the earthquakes and marrying the dragon, using her goodness to change the dragon's ways. The other being Benten rejected the dragon's proposal of marriage until it had corrected its ways, and having been charmed by Benten does so. [5]
Benzaiten in Indian mythology is a river goddess, named Sarasvatī. [6] However, Benzaiten has also become a part of Japanese Buddhism and Shintoism. Benzaiten is a goddess of learning, music, poetry, literature and wealth and is one of the seven lucky gods of Japan. Her messanger is a snake, but can also be shown as mounting a dragon which might be how the legend of Enoshima was able to develop. [7] The main image at the Enoshima shrine, and a national treasure is a sculpture of Benten. Being a nude image of the goddess, is something rarely depicted, the one at Enoshima being so playing a lute.
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| [8] |
Enoshima has its own note and fame in history as well as folklore. Enoshima was the landing area of the Mongolian ambassadors of Kublai Kahn (grandson of Genghis Khan), landing in 1275 and 1279. The second group being beheaded on the beach of Enoshima leading to invasion. [9] Mongolians invaded Japan in 1274 and 1281, while being superior to the Japanese forces were blocked by nature. The 1281 invasion was successfully invading Kyushu when a storm caused half of the invasion fleet to leave on July 29th. Another storm on August 1st caused much of the rest of the Mongol army to leave. [10] The Japanese history described these storms as the urging of the Buddhist monk Ii Yun chanting to bring forth the storm that would stop and break the Mongol invasion. [11] Kamikaze (神風, かみかぜ) developed from this event. Literal translation as god wind, think of this as the divine wind for Japan, the closest historical equivalent being the 'Protestant Wind' of the British causing the defeat of the Spanish Armada of 1588. Only much later, would it develop into the term that most people know now from the kamikaze pilots of World War II.
The spiritualness of Enoshima and the proximity to Kamakura also made it an important historical place during the Kamakura period. The Kamakura period (1185-1333) was under the control of two clans: the Minamoto and the Hōjō clans. The Minamoto clan under the guidance of Minamoto no Yoritomo had gained control of large parts of Japan at this time and relocated the capital of influence in Japan to his home town of Kamakura. At this time, Hojo Tokimasa who was a father-in-law and main adviser of Minamoto no Yoritomo had gone to Enoshima to worship and during his fasting and prayer, a heavenly being came to Tokimasa and told him how he had been a priest in a previous life and would be rewarded with his descendants becoming rulers over the land. His descendants did become rulers from 1199-1333 and when the heavenly being left, it left as a dragon disappearing into the sea leaving three scales that would become the family crest of the Hōjō. [12]
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| The Hojo crest in the middle. I'm sure most people are more familiar with this symbol being the Triforce in the Zelda games. Maybe Shigeru Miyamoto not being as creative as originally thought, which he draws a lot of inspiration from what he saw as a child in Kyoto. |
Enoshima since those days, has resorted back to being the sleepy, mystical seaside island that it has always been; now more popular as a seaside resort area than the historical and spiritual significance it had in the past. Next time, I will give a tour guide review of Enoshima.
References:
1. "Enoshima Island," Japan National Tourism Organization.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/kanagawa/enosima.html.
2. Iso Mutsu, Kamakura Fact and Legend (Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 1995), 318.
3. "Hokusai > Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji - Hokusai [Enoshima in Sagami Province]," Japanese Antique Auction. http://www.japanese-antique-auction.jp/product/181.
4. Iso Mutsu, Kamakura Fact and Legend, 321-322.
5. Mark Schumacher, "The Dragon, Enoshima Island, and Goddess Benzaiten," Onmakrproductions.com.
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/dragon.shtml.
6. Mark Schumacher, "Who is Benzaiten," Onmarkproductions.com.
http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/benzaiten.shtml.
7. Ibid.
8. " Chap. 2 A View Toward the Legend," DAILY WORK Co., LTD.
http://www.dailywork.co.jp/title_002/en/02_001.html.
9. Iso Mutsu, Kamakura Fact and Legend, 316.
10. Lee Wha Rang, "The Koryo-Mongol Allied Invasion of Japan: The Myth of the Kamikaze," Association for Asia Research. http://www.asianresearch.org/articles/2123.html.
11. Ibid.
12. Iso Mutsu, Kamakura Fact and Legend, 318.
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