Kamakura Tengu Legend

The Kamakura tengu tradition is a tradition that crow-tengu fly through the night sky over the rear mountain and the Hansobo of Kenchoji in Yamanouchi, Kamakura. The Hansobo Daigongen, summoned as the protector of Kenchoji, was originally a tengu-line deity who served as protector of Hokoji in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. Since the Meiji period, when the deity was brought to Kenchoji, his retinue of crow-tengu is said to protect the mountains and grounds of Kamakura. Along the approach to Hansobo are crow-tengu statues of various sizes, and on the rear mountain of the precinct the sound of wings and high laughter are said to be heard at deep night. The story has three stages: the summoning of Hansobo Daigongen to Kamakura, the mountain flight of crow-tengu and the guarding of the precinct, and the line of the statues along the approach and the talk of pilgrims. Where the Soshobo line of Kurama-yama in Kyoto is a "teaching tengu," the Kamakura tengu approaches the "guarding tengu" type, a lookout for the precinct's ritual perimeter. It is close to the same crow-tengu of Mount Takao in Hachioji. The site is the rear mountain of Kenchoji in Yamanouchi, Kamakura. Kenchoji is the first of the Kamakura Gozan, founded in Kencho 5 (1253) by Hojo Tokiyori as the head temple of the Rinzai Kencho-ji branch. Hansobo is its protector, brought in Meiji 23 (1890) from Hokoji. The precinct is the start of the Tenen hiking course. The tradition of Kenchoji, the engi of Hansobo Daigongen, and the tradition of Hokoji of Hamamatsu, with Kamakura City Board of Education's Kamakura Shishi Shaji-hen and Kanagawa Prefecture Minzoku-hen, carry the related material; the medieval treatise on tengu Tengu-kyo and early-modern tengu tales also link with the figure.