【Treasures of Fukuoka】No.7 Golden Light Sutra (Important cultural property)

The Mongolian Invasion and a Prayer to Prevent Them

The Hakata Bay area had been a gateway of foreign communication and culture from ancient times, and various cultures and civilizations were brought from here. The Hakata Bay area was a base of foreign trade in peacetime, but in wartime, it turned into the forefront of national defense, especially when the Mongolian invasion happened.

The Mongolian army attacked Japan in full force in both the Bunei War in 1274, and the Koan War in 1281, and in both times, the Hakata bayside area became the main battlefield.

Gokenin, a lower ranking vassal in the Kyushu area, gathered in the Hakata Bay area to fight the Mongolians. In the Bunei War, the Mongolians landed around the Momochibaru area because the Hakozaki and Hakata areas were intensely guarded by the Japanese army to counter the Mongolian army. Mongolians then planted their military base on Sohara Mountain and Akasaka Mountain.

The area where the Fukuoka City Museum is currently standing on used to be the sea shore closest in reaching Sohara Mountain. At that time, the coastline stretched 250 meters to the south from the current location of the Fukuoka City Museum. The Mongolian Army’s mother ship was stationed offshore, and the soldiers landed from smaller ships.

After the Bunei War, the Kamakura Bakufu government established a twenty-kilometer long barricade called the Genko-Borui along the coastline of Hakata Bay to prevent further Mongolian invasions. In the successive Kouan war, this barricade prevented the Mongolian army from landing. However, areas that where not deployed with barricades, such as Shikanoshima Island and the Umino-Nakamichi area, became battle fields. Additionally, with the help of typhoons, the Japanese army successfully repelled the Mongolians. However, the Mongolian threat lingered even after this, and the reinforcement of the barricade and the Kego area near Hakata Bay, continued for 60 years after the Koan War, until the era of Muromachi Bakufu.

It is no wonder that the Kamakura Bakufu’s military might is the main reason why Japan was able to successfully protect their land from foreign forces. On the other hand, people of the period had another way of protecting themselves. It was to pray to the gods or Buddha.

It might appear ridiculous in modern belief, but in ancient times, prayer was considered as equally significant as the actual battles; the two were inextricably linked.

The details are described in the prayer draft made by a monk named Tahobo on August 15th, 1293. According to the article, some deities, such as Kumano Gongen, were transferred to a shrine in Ikenomatsubara (now known as Iki shrine of Nishi ward). It is because the god of Kumano appeared in Tahobo’s dream, to ask him to revere him in the Ikino Matubara pine forest, saying that he could then repel the threats coming from overseas with the help of Suwa Daimyojin and 10 other deities. This dream was reported to the Kamakura Bakufu government and it further led to bringing twelve Kumano deities to the Ikino Matsubara forest with the help of an officer, who was in charge of guarding the Higo area. The record of the enshrinement ceremony describes that a vassal of Higo area, who was a guard, attending the ceremony in his military attire.

This suggests that there were gods who joined battles to protect their land from foreign invasion, corroborating with samurai warriors who physically guarded the land. The prayer rituals for the surrender of foreign enemies like this took place in various shrines and temples all over Japan regardless of whether they were owned by the imperial court or the government.

The Golden Light Sutra (Important cultural property), which consists of 10 pages, is a sutra which shows the prayer chanted in the rituals for the surrender of foreign enemies briefly. This sutra was devoted to the Iwashimizu Hachimangu shrine by the Emperor Fushimi (1265〜1317, reign 1287〜1298) at the end of September 1290, to wish for a peaceful world and a calm ocean. This was 9 years after the Battle of Koan.

Emperor Fushimi had the Golden Light Sutra copied by his vassals. The first page was written by the emperor himself. Page 10 is a postscript written and signed by a chief of the Shinzenbouji Ryosei, the chief priest of the Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine. It includes a prayer which says “Never hear the name of foreign barbarians.” This tells us that the sutra was devoted to the shrine in fear of the Mongolian army and its return. The Golden Light Sutra is reputed to provide the supplicant the protection of several deities including the 4 devas and prevent further trouble, if one listens to and accepts its teachings. For this reason, the sutra was recognized as one of the three most important sutras, along with the Nino sutra and the Hoke sutra, for the protection of the nation.

Emperor Fushimi was also known as a skilled calligrapher who founded the Fushimiin School. This sutra he wrote is very important calligraphy at the end of the Kamakura period. Thus, the prayer rituals to protect land from foreign invasion was considered equal to the actual battles. It was as if a battle was waged between the Japanese gods and the Mongolian gods. That is why the temples and shrines which participated in the ritual later asked the government, as payment, the same amount as the reward given to samurai warriors.