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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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