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Concept
Hachiman
Summary
In Japanese religion, Yahata (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements from both Shinto and Buddhism.
In Shinto religion, he is mortally Emperor Ōjin (応神天皇, Ōjin Tennō) by birth who reigned in the 3rd–4th century and the son of Empress Jingū (神功皇后, Jingū-kōgō), later became deified and identified by legend as "Yahata-no-kami" meaning "Kami of Eight Banners", referring to the eight heavenly banners that signaled the birth of the divine and deified emperor, and is also called Hondawake (誉田別命). His messenger is the dove, symbolizes both the bow and arrow found in samurai banners associated to him where he is called "Yumiya Hachiman" (弓矢八幡).
Since ancient times Hachiman has been worshiped by farmers as the god of agriculture and by fishermen, who hoped that he would fill their nets with many fish.
During the age of the samurai, descendants of both samurai clans, Seiwa Genji (清和源氏 Seiwa Gen-ji, a line of the Minamoto clan descended from Emperor Seiwa) and Kanmu Taira (桓武平氏 Kanmu Taira'u-ji/ Hei-shi/ Hei-ji, a line of the Taira clan descended from Emperor Kanmu) honored Hachiman, from which the tradition is derived nationwide in which samurai clans (武家 "buke" in Japanese) honor Hachiman as the deity sacred to them. His other roles include determining a samurai's fate—i.e., whether they are a success or failure in battle; controlling and protecting the martial arts; and proclaiming the victory of an army.
Although often called the god of war, he is more strictly defined as the tutelary god of warriors. He is also the divine protector of Japan, the Japanese people and the Imperial House.
In the present form of Shinto, Hachiman is the divine spirit of Emperor Ōjin. Emperor Kinmei (欽明天皇, Kinmei-tennō) in his Regnal Year 32 (571 AD) decreed that the deified Emperor Ōjin was revealed for the first time in the land of Usa (宇佐の地)—the present-day city of Usa, in Oita Prefecture—where he became the patron deity of this city, along with a lesser Shinto female deity called Himegami (比売神) and the Emperor's mother, Empress Jingū.
Official source
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