Oyama Tengu Legend

The Oyama tengu tradition is the tradition of the great tengu Oyama Hokibo and his retinue of crow-tengu said to dwell on Mount Oyama in Isehara, Kanagawa. As guardian deities of Oyamatsumi-no-Okami, principal deity of Oyama Afuri Shrine, they are said to fly through the mountain at night, patrolling the ritual perimeter. In the Edo period, pilgrims of the Oyama-mode held Hokibo alongside Soshobo of Kurama as a great tengu, said to protect pilgrims and to punish the impious. He is counted among the Eight Great Tengu of Japan. The story is in three layers: position as guardian deity of Oyama Afuri Shrine and Oyamadera, nightly flight and ritual patrol within the mountain, and protection of pilgrims with punishment of offenders. Side by side with Soshobo of Kurama, Jirobo of Mount Hira, and Naigubu of Mount Takao, Hokibo is part of the Eight Great Tengu lineage, a typical case of the joining of mountain faith and tengu belief. Mount Oyama (1,252 m) in Isehara, Kanagawa, is the site, with Oyama Afuri Shrine (lower and main shrines) and Oyamadera (Amefuri-san Oyamadera) as the centers, set within Tanzawa-Oyama Quasi-National Park. The Oyama-dera Engi Emaki, the Shinpen Sagami no Kuni Fudoki-ko, and a Considerations on the Eight Great Tengu of Japan form the textual core.