Searching for the Tengu, Izuna Gongen-do

Tengu are supernatural creatures from the Japanese traditional mythology, said to live in some of Japan’s sacred mountains. Tradition says that they are messengers of gods, punishing the villains and protecting the good people…

When I was a child, I read a book of Japanese traditional stories and I became interested in tengu legends so, naturally, when I visited Japan I added to the destination list the places closely associated with tengu, and until now I visited two such areas, the Mount Kurama near Kyoto and the Mount Takao in Tokyo.

The tengu place I enjoyed the most was the Yakuōin Yūkiji Temple from Takao, where tengu are worshiped and where you can find a large number of beautiful statues. My favorites are the ones in front of the Izuna Gongen-do Hall, where you can see two kinds of tengu: the one to the right of the photo represents a long-nosed tengu, one with a higher rank and with considerable spiritual power, while on the left side there’s a tengu with a crow beak, one who is still in training…

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Yakuōin Yūkiji Temple, Izuna Gongen-do Hall, Hachioji, Tokyo

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