Usa Hachiman Oracle Legend

The Usa Hachiman oracle tradition collects the divine pronouncements delivered by the Hachiman deity (Yahata-no-Kami) enshrined at Usa Jingu in Usa, Oita, from Nara through Heian times. The best-known case is the Dokyo imperial-succession incident of Jingo Keiun 3 (769 CE), in which the priest Dokyo received an oracle stating that he should ascend the throne; Empress Shotoku, doubting the oracle, sent Wake no Kiyomaro to Usa. Kiyomaro returned with the counter-oracle "from the founding our nation has been ordered between sovereign and subject; a man of no way should be swept aside swiftly," and the usurpation was prevented. The Hachiman deity is identified with the divine spirit of Emperor Ojin and was later venerated as the tutelary deity of the Minamoto, with Hachimangu shrines spread nationwide. Usa Jingu in Minami-Usa is the head shrine of all Hachiman shrines listed in the Engishiki Jinmyocho (927 CE); its three main halls in Hachiman-zukuri are National Treasures. The Shoku Nihongi, Jingo Keiun 3 (769 CE), 9th month entry, the Hachiman Usagu Gotakusen-shu (1313), and the Fuso Ryakki are the textual basis.