An Introduction to Tateyama Mandalas
Tateyama Mandalas, pictorial representations of Tateyama Worship’s worldview divided into several hanging scrolls, were used to spread its teachings. During the agricultural off-season, lodge proprietors would travel across Japan visiting their patrons and spreading Tateyama Worship through explanations of the mandalas’ imagery.
Tateyama Mandalas depict Buddhist hells, the Pure Land, the origin of the Tateyama mountain pilgrimage, and other elements in parallel with the actual landscapes. The artwork has five main themes:
Tateyama Kaizan Engi
(Origin of Tateyama Worship)
The legend of the founding of Mt. Tateyama as a sacred site tells the story of 16-year-old Saeki no Ariyori, the son of the governor of Etchu Province, who entered Mt. Tateyama in pursuit of a white hawk. There, he received a divine revelation from Amitabha Buddha, became a monk named Jiko, and established Tateyama as a religious site.
The mandala depicts key scenes from the legend: Ariyori shooting an arrow at a bear that disrupted his attempt to catch the hawk, and later Ariyori bowing before Amitabha Buddha in the ‘Tamadono no Iwaya,’ a sacred cave near present-day Murodo. The bear was revealed to be an incarnation of Amitabha Buddha, who created the Pure Land as a realm of salvation. This divine presence, alongside the hellish landscapes of Jigokudani (Hell Valley) and Mt. Tsurugi, established Tateyama as a sacred mountain embodying both suffering and redemption in Buddhist cosmology. This is the most significant theme among the five.
Tateyama Jigoku
(Tateyama Hell)
A place called Jigokudani (Hell Valley) is located on Tateyama’s mid-slope. People perceived this desolate volcanic terrain, with its steaming vents and sulfurous fumes, as jigoku (hell).
Tateyama Mandalas depict Jigokudani as “Tateyama Hell.” Some mandalas illustrate other Buddhist realms: the Heavenly Realm, Human Realm, Asura Realm, Animal Realm, and Realm of Hungry Ghosts.
Jodo (The Pure Land)
In Buddhism, even those damned to hell can be saved by buddhas or other specific means. Mt. Tateyama was believed to contain both hell and “Jodo” (Pure Land). In the mandalas, Amitabha Buddha appears at the mountain peaks, welcoming souls to paradise. This is the true form of Tateyama Gongen, the mountain’s divine manifestation that merges Buddhist and Shinto beliefs. It was also believed that visiting the shrine at the summit of Mt. Oyama (Oyama Jinja Mine Honsha) would promise rebirth in the Pure Land after death. Mt. Jodo, abundant with blooming flowers, was often likened to the Pure Land.
Zenjo-Tohai Do
(Path of Mountain Ascent Pilgrimage)
Zenjo Tohai, or mountain ascent pilgrimage, is the practice of climbing sacred mountains both as a form of spiritual training and as a ritual to achieve rebirth in the Pure Land. The mandala depicts famous sites along this pilgrimage route that can still be seen on today’s Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, such as Shomyodaki Falls, Murodo, and Mikurigaike Pond. It also includes scenes from legends about nuns who, attempting to climb the women-forbidden Tateyama, were transformed by divine punishment—places like Zaimokuzaka, Bijosugi, Kamurosugi, and Ubaishi.
Nunobashi Kanjoe (Consecration Ceremony at Nunobashi)
In Ashikuraji, the “Nunobashi Kanjoe” ceremony was performed for women, who were forbidden from climbing Mt. Tateyama, to help them achieve rebirth in the Pure Land. The ceremony envisioned the waters beneath the Nunobashi Bridge as the Sanzu River, a mythological river in Japanese Buddhism that separates this world from the world beyond. The Enmado Hall side represented “this world,” while the Ubado Hall side represented “the other world” (Mt. Tateyama). By crossing a white cloth-covered bridge to Ubado, worshipping a distant Mt. Tateyama, and returning across the bridge, women could be absolved of their sins and enter the Buddhist paradise.
Learn More:
The Digital Tateyama Mandalas
The Tateyama Museum features a digital exhibit with high-resolution images of over 50 Tateyama Mandalas. Interactive displays offer detailed explanations of each intricate image, bringing these historic artworks to life.
