Editing Tengu (section)

==Protective spirits and deities==
[[File:Tengu shrine in Beppu.JPG|thumb|A ''tengu'' ''[[mikoshi]]'' (portable shrine) in the city of [[Beppu, Ōita|Beppu]], [[Ōita Prefecture]], on [[Kyūshū]]]]

In [[Yamagata Prefecture]] among other areas, thickets in the mountains during summer, there are several tens of [[tsubo]] of moss and sand that were revered as the "nesting grounds of tengu," and in mountain villages in the [[Kanagawa Prefecture]], they would cut trees at night and were called "tengu daoshi" (天狗倒し, tengu fall), and mysterious sounds at night of a tree being cut and falling, or mysterious swaying sounds despite no wind, were considered the work of mountain tengu. It is also theorized that shooting a gun three times would make this mysterious sound stop. Besides this, in the [[Tone District, Gunma|Tone District]], [[Gunma Prefecture]], there are legends about the "tengu warai" (天狗笑い, tengu laugh) about how one would hear laughter out of nowhere, and if one simply presses on further, it'd become an even louder laugh, and if one tries laughing back, it'd laugh even louder than before, and the "tengu tsubute" (天狗礫, tengu pebble) (said to be the path that tengu go on) about how when walking on mountain paths, there would be a sudden wind, the mountain would rumble, and stones would come flying, and places tengu live such as "tenguda" (天狗田, tengu field), "tengu no tsumetogi ishi" (天狗の爪とぎ石, tengu scratching stone), "tengu no yama" (天狗の山, tengu mountain), "tengudani" (天狗谷, tengu valley), etc., in other words, "tengu territory" (天狗の領地) or "tengu guest quarters" (狗賓の住処). In [[Kanazawa]]'s business district Owari in [[Hōreki]] 5 (1755), it is said that a "tengu tsubute" (天狗つぶて) was seen. In Mt. Ogasa, [[Shizuoka Prefecture]], a mysterious phenomenon of hearing the sound of [[Hayashi (music)|hayashi]] from the mountains in the summer was called "tengubayashi" (天狗囃子), and it is said to be the work of the tengu at [[Ogasa Jinja]].<ref>{{Cite journal|author=高山建吉|year=1951|title=遠州の天狗囃子|journal=民間伝承|volume=15巻|issue=第2号|page=19|publisher=民間伝承の会|id={{NCID|AN10219431}}}}</ref> On Sado Island ([[Sado, Niigata|Sado]], [[Niigata Prefecture]]), there were "yamakagura" (山神楽, mountain kagura), and the mysterious occurrence of hearing kagura from the mountains was said to be the work of a tengu.<ref>{{Cite book|author=[[大藤時彦]]他|editor=民俗学研究所編|others=[[柳田國男]]監修|title=綜合日本民俗語彙|year=1955|publisher=[[平凡社]]|volume=第4巻|id={{NCID|BN05729787}}|page=1644}}</ref> In Tokuyama, [[Ibi District, Gifu|Ibi District]], [[Gifu Prefecture]] (now [[Ibigawa]]), there were "tengu taiko" (天狗太鼓), and the sound of [[taiko]] (drums) from the mountains was said to be a sign of impending rain.<ref>{{Cite book|author=[[千葉幹夫]]|title=全国妖怪事典|year=1995|publisher=[[小学館]]|series=小学館ライブラリー|isbn=978-4-09-460074-2|page=116}}</ref>

The ''[[Shasekishū]]'', a book of Buddhist parables from the [[Kamakura period]], makes a point of distinguishing between good and bad ''tengu''. The book explains that the former are in command of the latter and are the protectors, not opponents, of Buddhism&nbsp;– although the flaw of pride or ambition has caused them to fall onto the demon road, they remain the same good, ''[[dharma]]''-abiding persons they were in life.<ref>de Visser, pp. 58–60.</ref>

The ''tengu's'' unpleasant image continued to erode in the 17th century. Some stories now presented them as much less malicious, protecting and blessing Buddhist institutions rather than menacing them or setting them on fire. According to a legend in the 18th-century {{nihongo|''Kaidan Toshiotoko''|怪談登志男}}, a ''tengu'' took the form of a ''yamabushi'' and faithfully served the abbot of a [[Zen]] monastery until the man guessed his attendant's true form. The ''tengu's'' wings and huge nose then reappeared. The ''tengu'' requested a piece of wisdom from his master and left, but he continued, unseen, to provide the monastery with miraculous aid.<ref>de Visser, pp. 72–76.</ref>

In the 18th and 19th centuries, ''tengu'' came to be feared as the vigilant protectors of certain forests. In the 1764 collection of strange stories {{nihongo|''Sanshu Kidan''|三州奇談}}, a tale tells of a man who wanders into a deep valley while gathering leaves, only to be faced with a sudden and ferocious hailstorm. A group of peasants later tell him that he was in the valley where the ''guhin'' live, and anyone who takes a single leaf from that place will surely die. In the {{nihongo|''Sōzan Chomon Kishū''|想山著聞奇集}}, written in 1849, the author describes the customs of the wood-cutters of [[Mino Province]], who used a sort of rice cake called ''kuhin-[[Mochi (food)|mochi]]'' to placate the ''tengu'', who would otherwise perpetrate all sorts of mischief. In other provinces a special kind of fish called ''okoze'' was offered to the ''tengu'' by woodsmen and hunters, in exchange for a successful day's work.<ref>de Visser, pp. 76–79. The ''okoze'' fish is known to science as ''Anema inerme'', the mottled [[Stargazer (fish)|stargazer]].</ref> The people of [[Ishikawa Prefecture]] have until recently believed that the ''tengu'' loathe [[mackerel]], and have used this fish as a charm against kidnappings and hauntings by the mischievous spirits.<ref>Folklore texts cited in the Kaii*Yōkai Denshō Database:

* Ueda Eikichi, 1937: [http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/YoukaiCard/0510001.shtml], [http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/YoukaiCard/0510002.shtml]
* Ogura Manabu, 1972: [http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/YoukaiCard/2470027.shtml], [http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/YoukaiCard/2470011.shtml]
* Chūō Daigaku Minzoku Kenkyūkai (Chuo University Folklore Research Society), 1986: [http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/YoukaiCard/1070360.shtml]
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''Tengu'' are worshipped as beneficial ''[[kami]]'' (''gods'' or ''revered spirits'') in various regions. For example, the ''tengu'' Saburō of [[Mount Izuna|Izuna]] is worshipped on that mountain and various others as {{nihongo|''Izuna [[Gongen]]''|飯綱権現||"incarnation of Izuna"}}, one of the primary deities in ''Izuna Shugen'', which also has ties to [[kitsune|fox]] sorcery and the [[Dakini]] of [[Vajrayana|Tantric Buddhism]]. Izuna Gongen is depicted as a beaked, winged figure with snakes wrapped around his limbs, surrounded by a halo of flame, riding on the back of a fox and brandishing a sword. Worshippers of ''tengu'' on other sacred mountains have adopted similar images for their deities, such as {{nihongo|Sanjakubō|三尺坊}} or {{nihongo|Akiba Gongen|秋葉権現}} of [[Mount Akiba|Akiba]] and {{nihongo|Dōryō Gongen|道了権現}} of Saijō-ji Temple in [[Odawara, Kanagawa|Odawara]].<ref>de Visser (Fox and Badger) p. 107–109. See also: [http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=193 Encyclopedia of Shinto: Izuna Gongen] and [http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=762 Encyclopedia of Shinto: Akiha Shinkō], and [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~qm9t-kndu/saijoji.htm Saijoji, a.k.a. Doryo-son] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203091459/http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~qm9t-kndu/saijoji.htm |date=2012-02-03 }}.</ref>
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