The three mountains of Dewa Sanzan in the Tōhōku region are constituted by Mt. Haguro, Mt. Gassan, and Mt. Yudono. These three mountains have been considered as one of the major Shugendō sacred sites together with Mt. Ōmine in the Kinki region and Mt. Hiko in northern Kyūshū. However, due to the Meiji period edict on the separation of kami and buddhas, Shugendō, which was based on the combination of Shintō and Buddhist elements, collapsed, and the religious landscape of Mt. Haguro dramatically changed from a "mountain of buddhas" to a "mountain of kami."
This paper analyzes the legend of the mountain opening (kaizan) as shown in the Haguro-san engi (1644), which records the historical tradition of Mt. Haguro. Concentering on the legends about the mountain opening realized by a mythical founder, engi usually tells on the origins of divine spirits, buddhas and bodhisattvas, the spiritual lore of specific sites, and the formation of numinous places in connection with the edification of temples and shrines. These narratives present "another historical story," which embraces and, at the same time, overcomes the factuality of the historical events. Because the composition of engi is greatly influenced by historical contingencies it can be said that the principal target of transmitting and transforming oral traditions into engi written texts is the creation of a temporal continuity. This effect is obtained by linking together past and present time for legitimating specific sacred places. Engi rely on an ideological structure, which fosters the authority of the subjects who are portrayed in the text.
There are various ways to interpret the engi. Some of them explore the modalities through which origin myths turned into legends, oral traditions were transposed into written texts, and secret ritual were unveiled. Because engi were composed to stay in tune with the modifications of the times they often contradict each other. This paper provides a new approach toward the engi, which emphasizes the elements of continuity and discontinuity within the engi together with the "gaps" and "grey zones" between oral traditions and historical facts. The Haguro-san engi is examined dividing the text into several topics such as the moment of the mountain opening, the legend regarding the mythical founder, and the construction of temples and shrines. In this study I shed light on the characteristics of the imaginaire linked to the combinatory paradigms between kami and buddhas, the peculiarities of the religious traditions of Mt.Dewa Sanzan, and the organization of Shugendō mountain beliefs and practices associated with Mt. Haguro. Even if more the one-hundred and fifty years passed since the separation of kami and buddhas the aftermaths of this violent event still linger in the present. The time has come to restore history for supporting a reconciliation between Shintō and Buddhism, which has based on a rethinking of the flexible interactions that characterized the amalgamation process between these two religious traditions.