Emperor Kazan

Emperor Kazan (花山天皇 Kazan Tennō) (968-1008) was the 65th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He ruled from 984 to 986 - he was seventeen years of age at the time of the succession. He commissioned the Shuishu.

He was the son of Emperor Reizei, and therefore brother of Emperor Sanjō. He faced a tough political struggle from the Fujiwara family and at the age of nineteen, he was tricked into abdicating by Fujiwara no Kaneie.

Bando Pilgrimage

After his abdication, he became a Buddhist monk. He went on various pilgrimages and 're-founded' the Kannon pilgrimage, as a monk to the name of Tokudo Shonin (Some scholars doubt that Kazan, in his unstable mental health was not likely to have fonded it, thereby leaving all of the credit to Shonin) had supposedlly already created it. This pilgrimage involved travelling to 33 locations across the eight provinces of the Bando area.

He was told to visit these 33 sites, in order to bring release from suffering, by Kannon Bosatsu in a vision.

It is said that the first site of the pilgrimage was the Sugimoto-dera in Kamakura. This site is also the first site on the Kamakura pilgrimage.

Illness and Death

It is suggested by many scholars that the mental health of Kazan, particularly in later life, was not brilliant. Therefore, whilst living as a monk, his lifestyle may have deteriorated. He died at the age of 40.

References

1. Liza Dalby.