Interview with Mark Schumacher (The Japan Times)

• Kamakura expat at one with all Buddhist deities | The Japan Times Online
  Details on my 15-year journey studying the deities of Japan. See http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20100807a1.html

A-to-Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhism

• MARISHITEN 摩利支天 – God/Goddess of prosperity, warrior class, & entertainers.
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/kankiten-idaten-other-tenbu.html#marishiten
  Added many photos and revised text. Introduced to Japan in the early 9th century, Marici (Jp. Marishi) means “light” or “mirage.” S/he was worshipped by warriors, especially archers, from the middle ages onward for the gift of invisibility and was invoked in order to escape the notice of one’s enemies. Those who worship Marishiten are said to be free of danger from all misfortune and evil, robbers, natural disaster, poisonous drugs, and other harm. Marishiten’s cult peaked in the Edo era but declined thereafter owing to the dismantling of the feudal system, to the abolishment of the samurai class, and to the rising popularity of goddess Benzaiten, who has largely supplanted Marishiten as an object of veneration in modern times. 
• ZODIAC LORE.
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/12-zodiac.shtml
  Added photos and text, and expanded divination section.
• SHŌMEN KONGŌ 青面金剛 – Multi-armed esoteric (tantric) deity.
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/monkey-koushin-p3.html#shomen-kongo
  Added many photos and expanded text. This deity is said to protect believers from illness, eye problems, breathing disorders, and many other ailments. Since the Kamakura period, Shōmen Kongō has been a key player in the Kōshin cult. This cult believes that on the eve of the unlucky Kōshin day (monkey day), it is particularly easy to have your life shortened. In order to counteract this danger, believers stay awake through the night gathered before scrolls of Shōmen Kongō (shown depicted atop three monkeys, “See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil”). Even tody, during Kōshin rituals, believers gather before scrolls of Shōmen Kongō and are pummeled, from head to legs, with a wooden monkey figurine, which apparently ensures future health.

ENJOY
mark

BUDDHIST-ARTWORK.COM (June eStore)

• CALLIGRAPHY. Three new pieces. These extraordinary works are not copies — they are originals written with a big calligraphic brush. Once sold, they are no longer available.  www.buddhist-artwork.com/html/artist-corner.html
• KUJAKU-MYO-O. The Peacock King. Two new pieces. Kujaku means peacock. Peacocks eat poisonous plants and snakes, which provide the nectar that ensures the peacock’s beauty. Revered from ancient times, Kujaku represents the overcoming of anger, greed, and other “poisons,” and symbolizes the elimination of karmic hindrances. www.buddhist-artwork.com/html/kujaku-myoo.html
• BISHAMONTEN. Two new products. Bishamon is the god of wealth and treasure, and protects the Buddhist law. He is one of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods, but he is also worshipped independently of the group of seven. www.buddhist-artwork.com/statues-buddhism/bishamon-statues.html

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A-to-Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhism

• SHŌKI 鍾馗  – THE DEMON QUELLER
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/shoki.shtml
  Added photos and revised text. Shōki’s popularity peaked in Japan during the Edo period (1615-1868), when people began to hang images of  Shōki outside their houses to ward off evil spirits during the Boys’ Day festival (Tango no Sekku 端午の節句, May 5 each year, but now a festival for all children of both sexes) and to adorn the eaves and entrances of their homes with ceramic statues of the deity. Today, Shōki is a minor deity relatively neglected or forgotten by most Japanese, except perhaps in Kyoto city, where residents still adorn the eaves and rooftops of their homes with Shōki’s effigy to ward off evil and illness, and to protect the male heir to the family.
• KANNON BOSATSU.  GOD/GODDESS OF MERCY.
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/kannon.shtml
  One of the most widely worshipped divinities in Asia and Japan in both ancient and modern times. This page catalogs over 100 forms of Kannon in Japan. It features nearly 130 photos, copious reference notes, spellings in multiple Asian languages, and a handy A-to-Z List of Kannon Forms. The Kannon Notebook is an ongoing project aimed at scholars, art historians, practitioners, and laity alike. Presented on one page for easy printout.
• MUROMACHI ERA STATUARY (1392-1568).
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/busshi-buddha-sculptors-muromachi-era-japan.html
  The new and reformed Buddhist sects of the prior Kamakura period consolidated their gains, and Buddhism for the commoner thereafter remained a regular feature of Japan’s religious landscape. Pilgrimages to sacred sites devoted to Kannon Bosatsu, to the Ise Shinto shrines, and to the top of Mt. Fuji also became popular. Buddhist statuary, however, along with the power of the Buddhist monestaries, plummeted.
• KAPPA REVISITED.
  www.onmarkproductions.com/html/kappa.shtml
  Updated with new photos and text. The Kappa are incredibly strong river imps. They attack horses, cattle, and humans, usually dragging their prey into the water, where,
  according to various legends, they feed on their blood, drain their life force, or pull their anuses out through their livers, sucking their entrails, leaving nothing behind except a hollow gourd. Yet, the Kappan can be benevolent — they are supposedly skilled teachers in the art of bone setting and other medical skills.

END.
sincerely and gassho
mark schumacher

Shaka Buddha at Birth
Standing, H = 47.5 cm
Bowl C = 89.4 cm
Bronze coated with gold (tokin 鍍金)
Toudaiji Temple 東大寺, Nara Era
Photo: Ogawa Kouzou

Known as Tanjoubutsu 誕生仏 (Buddha at Birth).
According to legend, when born, the infant Buddha
took seven steps forward while pointing his right hand
to the heavens and left hand to earth, saying:
“I alone am honored in heaven and on earth. ”
Similar statues are used each year even today
in the Kanbutsu-e ceremony, held every year
in Japan on April 8, to commemorate Buddha’s birthday