(1st Edition Nov
1958. 5th Dec 1964 revised
edition)
Introduction
Mock Joya, the author of "Things Japanese", was a
veteran journalist in Japan. Born in 1884, he was graduated from the Tokyo
School of Foreign Languages in 1904, and worked in the journalistic field,
having served as a reporter on the staff of The New York World and also as
editor of The Japan Times. His name is known to every student of Japan. For
over forty years he has written on "Things Japanese" and at the time
of his death in August 1963, was still contributing his column of the same name
to The Japan Times.
Three Monkeys, Chapter 14 Religious
Rites, page 678
By
the village road and more often at the dividing line between two villages there
stands a koshin-zuka or a koshin stone tablet. Koshin is one of the most common deities
worshiped by rural folks. As it usually
stands on a village road, it is regarded as the guardian of the road or the
protector of travelers. But originally
it was the guardian deity for all the local people.
Though
koshin is so common, it is not clearly known what it stands for.
Nevertheless
the koshin-zuka with the engraving of three monkeys
has left a deep impression on the minds of all the people. These monkeys have even become world
famous. Said to have come from
It
is generally said that it was the Buddhist priest Dengyo (767-822) who first
engraved the three wise monkeys on the koshin tablet, as he place great value
on the old teaching. If this be so, the
three monkeys are later addition to the original koshin tablet which was
already an object of public worship.
The
koshin festival comes on the day of koshin or the Day of the Monkey. It seems that the unknown deity was named
after the date of the festival. One
tradition has it that, on the eve of koshin (monkeys) day which comes every 60
days, an insect living in a human being leaves the body while he is asleep and
goes to heaven to report on his conduct.
So one should not sleep that night. In the old days, the festival was quite an
important community function with all the village people gathering around the
koshin tablet on the Day of the Monkey and having a merry time, drinking and
eating from early evening to dawn.
Koshin day comes every 60 days, but actually the festival was not held
so often because of unfavorable weather conditions.
Later
however, the affair came to be held indoors at the houses of principal
residents. It was called koshin-machi or “waiting for koshin”. This is mentioned in Eigamonogatari,
a story of Court life from the 9th to the 11th century.
Koshin-machi is still kept up in many rural districts, but its
original meaning is almost lost, it being held recently only as a local
gathering for recreation and drinking.
On
the other hand, the three monkeys, which were at first engraved on the koshin
tablet to teach the people how to keep away from evil, have become dear to all
people of the country and even to many foreigners. Besides their wise teaching, they are loved
because they look so comical and lovable.
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