Four Seasons Deities

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Fudo Myo-O Gallery

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Deities of the Four Seasons

There are deities according to the Chinese theories of Yin and Yang and the five elements.
Some have taken a Japanese version, residing in the mountains around the old capital of Heiankyo, now nara.

The two most famous of these are

Two female deities for Spring and Autumn.


Saho-hime and Tatsuta-hime

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SPRING


Sahohime, Saohime, Sao-hime 佐保姫 （さほひめ / 狭穂姫）
Princess Saho-hime, (Godess Sao)
kigo for all spring




She lives in the East of Nara on Mount Sahoyama 佐保山, the EAST is related to spring.
She wears a soft robe of white haze.

She is said to have been the wife of Emperor Suinin (29 BCE - 70 CE)
He is the 11th Emperor of Japan. Shortly after Saho-hime gave birth to a son, her brother, Sahohiko 沙本毘古 / 狭穂彦, tried to persuade her to kill the Emperor. But she revealed the plot instead, then joined her brother in his palace, refusing to leave when it was put to the torch.


There is also a sweet named after her.



A peony named after this pricness
Paeonia suffruticosa 'Sahohime' ('Princess Saho')
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


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佐保姫の春立ながら尿(しと)をして
Sahohime no haru tatsu nagara shito o shite

Princess Saho
stands when pissing
at the beginning of spring

. Yamazaki Sookan 山崎宗鑑 (Sokan) .
1465-1553

(a pun with haru tatsu and tachi-shooben 立小便)

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佐保姫の眠や谷の水の音
Saho hime no nemuri ya tani no mizu no oto

the sleep of Saho-Hime
the sound of water in the valley

Matsune Tooyoojoo 松根 東洋城
(1878年2月25日 - 1964年10月28日）



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春や佐保路普賢の象に乗る夢も
haru ya Sahoji Fugen no zoo ni noru yume mo

It's spring ! Along the road of Saho
there is a dream riding
on the elephant of Fugen . . .

Kawahara Biwao 河原枇杷男 (1930 - )

. Fugen Bosatsu 普賢菩薩


. . . . . . . . . .


. Saho kaze, Saokaze さほかぜ【佐保風】 wind from Saho
kigo for spring


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AUTUMN


Tatsutahime, Tazutahime, Tazuta-hime 竜田姫 / 立田姫
Princess Tatsuta
kigo for all autumn





She lives in the West of Nara on Mount Tatsutayama 竜田山, the WEST is related to Autumn according to the teachings of the five elements 五行説 of China.
Tatsutayama is known for its red autumn maple leaves.
She is also the protector deity of river Tatsutagawa 竜田川／立田川.

She is the deity for dyeing and weaving. She dyes the silk threads in the red colors of autumn. Then she becomes a strong wind and blows the colors and colored leaves away.


The festival for Tatsuta-Hime takes place at the shrine
Tatsuta Hiko Tatsuta Hime Jinja 竜田比古竜田比女神社 .

Tatsuta Jinja (龍田神社) Tatsuta Taisha Sangō, Nara
. . . CLICK here for Photos !


Tatsutahiko, Tatsuta Hiko 竜田彦　(たつたひこ)
Male deity of the Autumn Wind.


Festival at the Tatsuta Taisha 竜田大社 in Nara:

Tatsuta matsuri 龍田祭 (たつたまつり)
Tatsuta kaze no kami matsuri 龍田風の神祭 (たつたかぜのかみまつり)
on the 4th of April and July.
To pray for pleasant winds and a good harvest.
also called

kazamatsuri 風祭り "wind festival"



Nabeshima plate with Tatsuta River motive


. Mimuro no yama み室の山 - 三室山 .
and the river the river Tatsutagawa 竜田川
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in . Ogura Hyakunin Isshu Poems 小倉百人一首 .

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千早ぶる神代もきかず龍田川
からくれないに水くくるとは

Chihayaburu Kamiyo mo kikazu Tatsuta-gawa
Kara kurenai ni Mizu kukuru to wa

Even when the gods
Held sway in the ancient days,
I have never heard
That water gleamed with autumn red
As it does in Tatta's stream.

17 - Ariwara no Narihira Ason 在原業平朝臣

. Ogura Hyakunin Isshu Poems 小倉百人一首 .





100 Poems as told By Nurses
Katsushika Hokusai

葛飾北斎　- 百人一首うばが絵説

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. Tatsuta no Kamunabi, Nara Prefecture
(龍田(たつた)の)神奈備(かむなび)

Kannabi 神奈備
Kannabi, kamunabi, iwasaka, himorogi and other names refer to a place in nature where the gods are believed to reside, a "purified place". It is also a kind of yorishiro resting place for the god.


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Her name is also a namesake for the deep-frying cooking method of

tatsuta-age 竜田揚げ

The color of chicken fried "a la Tatsuta" reminds of the red leaves along the Tatsuta River 竜田川 in Kyoto and the princess Tatsuta-Hime.

. WASHOKU
Tatsuta-age and Kara-age, deep frying


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Painting by Takehisa Yumeji

With the godess in her red autumn robe and snow-capped Mount Fuji in the background.
For Yumeji, she represents "Miss Nippon".


. Yumeji Takehisa 竹久夢二, Takehisa Yumeji .
(September 16, 1884 – September 1, 1934)

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SUMMER


Tsutsuhime, Tsutsu-Hime 筒姫 （つつひめ）
Deity of summer

She got her name from the word for well 井筒, izutsu, well curb, well kerb.
She is the protector of water for the fields and rice paddies.


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WINTER


Utsutahime, Utsuta-Hime 宇津田姫
打つ田姫（うつたひめ）
Deity of winter

She comes down in the nights of white snow.



宇津田姫の息がかかりて冬きたる
Utsuta hime no iki ga kakarite fuyu kitaru

we feel the breath
of Princess Utsuta-Hime ...
winter has come

source : galaxy-exp-to-the-moon


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The deities of the four seasons in ancient China were all male, according to the teachings of Yin and Yang.

They correspond to
. Deities of the FOUR HEAVENLY DIRECTIONS


Their names are all KIGO :


Seitei 青帝 Green emperor
deity of green/blue and spring
also called
Tootei 東帝 Emperor of the East
Sootei 蒼帝(そうてい) Azure-blue emperor



Entei 炎帝 Emperor of Flames
Red Emperor, Vermillion Emperor
deity of summer, the Sun
deity of farming 神農氏



Hakutei 白帝 White emperor
deity of white and autumn



Kokutei 黒帝 Black Emperor
deity of black and winter




雨の日の増えて白帝進みける　　
ame no hi no fuete hakutei susumikeru

more rainy days -
the White Emperor is
coming closer


yoorun 優嵐
http://blog.livedoor.jp/yourun1/archives/1158155.html


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. . . . SPRING
the complete SAIJIKI


. . . . SUMMER
the complete SAIJIKI


. . . . AUTUMN
the complete SAIJIKI


. . . . WINTER
the complete SAIJIKI


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Introducing Japanese Deities :

O-Fudo Sama Gallery

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