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The Pilgrimage to the Kasuga-Shrine in the Heian period

The Grand Pilgrimage by Minamoto Masayori in the “Utsuho-monogatari”

MURAO Seiichi

In the deep forest of the old capital Nara, there is an old shrine named Kasuga-sya. This

shrine is a place of worship for the Fujiwara-family. The Fujiwara-family was the most

distinguished noble family in the olden times of Japan. Especially, in the Heian period, this family

was the most powerful family in the politics of court, having blood relations with the Emperor’s

family. Hence, both families had deep faith in this shrine. Both families made grand pilgrimages

to Kasuga-sya sometimes, accompanied with many nobilities of their court.

Among the literature of the Heian period, the most prominent text about the pilgrimage to

Kasuga-sya can be found in the “Utsuho-monogatari”, the long tale (monogatari) written before

the “Genji-monogatari”. The chapter4 of this tale is titled “Kasugamoude, the pilgrimage to

Kasuga-sya”. This chapter tells about the pilgrimage by Minamoto Masayori, who is a key person

in this tale. He is a son of the Emperor and is given the family-name Genji, and his mother is a

daughter of the Fujiwara-family. His pilgrimage is very grand and luxurious.

This text is composed of prose and 38 waka-poems. We analyze this text through 4 points;

close reading of the text, reference to the historical matter, comparison with the

“Kyogoku-miyasundokoro-utaawase” and the “Genji-monogatari”. Hence, we can find that this

text is a representative text of the 10th and 11th centuries when the politics by nobility was at its

pinnacle. And we can stand suitable point to overview the pilgrimages to the Kasuga in the Heian

period.

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