Monthly Archives: July 2020

Koyomi, Calendar — Part 3 Kituwosane System of Time and Space

Kituwosane System of Time and Space

We have discussed the Motoake system of time and space. There is another system in the Wosite literature, that of Kituwosane, or Ki-Tu-Wo-Sa-Ne. These are the compass directions with Ne (north) at the bottom and Wo in the center and the corresponding seasons of the year.

Kituwosane System for Space

Interestingly, the four cardinal directions are unchanged even today. The only slight difference is in the pronunciation of east as higashi and west as nishi, rather than the Wosite higasi and nisi.

Ki-Tu-Wo-Sa-Ne stands for E, W, center, S, N.

Note that the Kituwosane system has a fifth component, the center, and the five components are: ki (higasi), tu (nisi), wo (center), sa (minami), ne (kita). The directions correspond to the movement of the sun during a day: rising in the morning, high at noon, sinking in evening, below horizon at night. This table summarizes the directions of space on earth.

E ki higasi W tu nisi

Center wo

S sa minami N ne kita

Kituwosane System for Time.

In a similar fashion, we can think of the movement of the sun during a year which causes the seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter. Thus the seasons are: ki (spring), sa (summer), tu (autumn), ne (winter).

spring ki autumn tu

summer sa winter ne

Again, we see a mental correspondence between time and space. Summer is associated with the south (sa), winter with north (ne). Spring is like the sun rising in the east (ki), autumn like the sun setting in the west (tu).

Tosiuti no Aya of the Mikasahumi

The source of information on the Motoake and Kituwosane systems is discussed in the Tosiuti no aya of the Mikasahumi. Both systems demonstrate the coupling between toki-tokoro time and space. The Motoake and the Kituwosane are systems for time and space: for the calendar of the year and for directions on earth. Certainly, great thought has been put into the design of the systems which are internally consistent and quite remarkable. For us, it was only about a century ago that Einstein showed us that time and space are coupled.

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Koyomi, Calendar — Part 2 Motoake Time and Space

Motoake System of Time and Space

The Wosite people of the Jomon period were careful observers of the sun in the sky. There are two movements of the sun in the sky: the daily movement which gives us directions on earth (the cardinal direction system), and the yearly cycle which gives us seasons and observances (the calendar system). We are concerned here with a calendar based on the sun’s movement over the course of a year. In Wosite literature, these movements of the sun in the sky, as it changes over the year, are called hinomiti, Path of Sun.

Motoake chart and eight Akuta Kami in first ring

The Motoake is a circular chart which shows both space and time. It represents the directions on earth as well as the flow of time during a year. The chart contains the space-time system in the first ring of the Motoake chart. In the innermost ring are found the Akuta Kami. The order in which they appear in the chart is the order of space.

Motoake Kami of Directions (Space)

The Akuta Kami are, clockwise from the top: To, Hi, Ka, Me, Ye, Ho, Ta, Mi. They are shown in the simplified chart below.

Akuta Kami of directions (space)

South is governed by To no Kami, north by Ye no Kami, while Ta and Ka are the kami for east and west. The Wosite names for the four cardinal directions and their ruling kami are given here.

South, Minami, To no Kami

West, Nisi, Ka no Kami

North, Kita, Ye no Kami

East, Higasi, Ta no Kami

Note that in ancient days, directions were written with north at the bottom, south at the top. The south is the direction of warmth for the Northern Hemisphere (To no Kami). The sun rises in the east (Ta no Kami).

Akuta Kami of Seasons (Time)

The Akuta kami also represent seasons of the year in time, but in a different order. Ye no Kami begins the cycle of the year at winter solstice. Ye’s season is late winter. Hi no Kami rules over early spring, before spring equinox. And so it goes.

Akuta Kami of seasons (time)

Here are the kami of the seasons.

と　To, late summer, after summer solstice, 夏至の後

ほ　Ho, early autumn, before autumn equinox, 秋分の前

か　Ka, late autumn, after autumn equinox, 秋分の後

み Mi, early winter, before winter solstice, 冬至の前

ゑ Ye, late winter, after winter solstice, 冬至の後

ひ Hi, early spring, before spring equinox, 春分の前

た Ta, late spring, after spring equinox, 春分の後

め Me, early summer, before summer solstice, 夏至の前

Dual Functions

Each of these eight Akuta Kami have dual functions. To no Kami, for instance, is in charge of the late summer season as well as the south direction. His polar opposite is Ye, kami of late winter and the north direction. Ta and Ka are paired with the east-west directions and the spring and autumn equinoxes. Recall that the sun rises due east and sets due west on the spring and autumn equinoxes, respectively.

The pair of kami Hi and Ho interchange places in the space vs seasons charts. So do Mi and Me. Their names even sound similar. Don’t you wonder what’s behind this?

Next, we describe the Kituwosane system of space and time. Following that, we present the Tosiuti no Aya which is the Wosite document which explains these two systems.

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Revised on 2020.07.30

Koyomi, Calendar – Part 1

Koyomi, Calendar

Koyomi is the word for calendar in Nihongo today. It is a word that comes out of the Wosite language and is used in the Wosite literature. The Wosite calendar was developed in Hitakami by the Takamimusuhi. We will examine two calendar systems: the Motoake and the Kituwosane systems. These are astronomical calendars of the seasons of the year.

Jomon people were keen observers of Nature, especially of sun’s passage in the sky, which is the basis of a solar calendar. The literature mentions that the lunar calendar was converted into a solar calendar by Achihiko Omohikane, appointed as Hiyomi no Miya by Amateru. The calendar systems were, of course, revised during the long Wosite period.

There was also a civil calendar for conducting the social activities of the people. Furthermore, the ancient people had the ability to see connections between time and space. This is part of the integrated world-view of Human, Nature, Universe.

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Mikasahumi

Kasuga Taisha, Nara, enshrines Amanokoyane. Photo by L. Ruby.

Mikasahumi

The Mikasahumi (Mikasafumi) was first created by the very wise Amanokoyane, Kagami Tomi (Advisor of the Mirror) to Amateru. Amanokoyane, whose birth name was Wakahiko, was a great-grandson of Toyoke Kami. He was known as Kasuga Tono, now enshrined as Kasuga Kami. His main shrine is the Kasuga Taisha, the grand shrine in Nara. Mikasahumi was written at the time that the first 28 ayas of the Hotuma Tutaye were being composed by his associate Kusimikatama.

Later, this edition of Mikasahumi was revised by a tenth-generation descendant of Amanokoyane, Kuninazu Ōkashima, also Kagami Tomi. Wosirowake Keikō Tennō (71–130 CE) had requested updates of the Mikasahumi and Hotuma Tutaye documents to re-energize the land with the wisdom of these two great documents.

Ōkashima signed Mikasahumi as Wo-o-kasima, age 247 when it was presented to Wosirowake. A prologue called Kuninazu ga nobu was written and signed by Suyetosi, Wo-o-miwa no Tataneko (known as Ōtataneko), age 234, himself the second author of Hotuma Tutaye.

The Mikasahumi teaches the Amenaru Miti, the Way that is in harmony with Cosmos. It is thus an important document about the philosophy of life of the people of the Wosite civilization.

Mikasahumi once had 64 chapters. Today, only a fraction is known to us. Yet, what we do have is of immense value. Two of the most beautiful and profound ayas are the Kituyoji no Aya and the Tosiuti no Aya. Here is the list of the prologue and the only ten ayas that we have found so far. The Wosite texts were published by Ikeda in 2012 (see our previous post), and in the list below their page numbers are indicated. The exception is the Wakauta no aya which was uncovered in 2012 and it appears in Ikeda 2013, Yomigaeru Jomon Isanagi-Isanami no Kokoro. An asterisk below indicates that the aya has been posted on this site at a later date. Please use the Search box to find the post(s).

Ayas of Mikasahumi

*0. Kuninazu ga nobu, prologue by Suyetosi Ōtataneko (p13, 2012)

*1. Kituyoji no aya (p18)

2. Sakanori no aya (p30)

3. Hi-me Mi-wo no aya (p38)

4. Koye sohu no kisaki tatu aya (p46)

5. Harumiya no aya (p54)

6. Takama naru aya (p61)

7. Namekoto no aya (p81)

8. Hani maturi no aya (p83)

*9. Tosiuti ni nasukoto no aya (p117)

10. Wakauta no aya (pp25-39, 2013 )

For the dedicated Wosite student/researcher, we highly recommend these two books. Although in Japanese, you can read the Wosite characters by now. If you can’t, please study the ten lessons on the home page.

Mikasahumi in English

The book that we are preparing will have some of the Mikasahumi ayas in romaji and in English — for the first time!

2020.09.01 Updated

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Koyomi, Calendar – Part 1

Koyomi, Calendar

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New Edition of Mikasahumi – Hutomani

We gave a brief review of Mikasahumi – Hutomani previously here. It was the 1999 edition of Matsumoto and Ikeda. There is an updated edition of 2012 and 2017 on Japanese Amazon. This time the author is Ikeda alone. (Oftentimes, the spellings are Mikasafumi and Futomani.) The new edition gives the same preface and exposition by Matsumoto, followed by the Mikasahumi of Yasutoshi Waniko. Let us give the revised contents here, beginning with the Yasutoshi Waniko.

MIKASAHUMI of Yasutoshi Waniko, p11

MIKASAHUMI Quotations, p89

TOSIUTI NI NASUKOTO NO AYA of KAKUNOHUMI, from Fusen, p115

HUTOMANI, p125

POSTCRIPT by Ikeda, 1999, p259

POSTCRIPT by Ikeda, 2012, p262

Therefore, the changes are in Quotations being moved up to p89 and Fusen moving to p115. The Fusen chapter has a new title with the old text. The new title is a clearer description of the text, the Tosiuti ni Nasukoto no Aya, which he attributes to a part of Kakunohumi (Kagu no Fumi). In another book, Ikeda includes it as part of the Mikasahumi, which is not a contradiction since it is believed that the Kakunohumi makes up part of Mikasahumi.

There were 64 chapters in Mikasahumi, but the majority have been lost through the ages. What we have today is the prologue, Kuninazu ga Nobu and 10 ayas, of which Tosiuti ni Nasukoto no Aya is one.

The greatest change in the updated edition is that the Hutomani chapter is expanded by 24 pages due to its more detailed notes.

WoshiteWorld

The Mikasahumi is not as well known as the Hotuma Tutaye. It is especially rarely described in English. We will start to post our interpretations of important Mikasahumi ayas soon.

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2020 Summer Solstice

Iwaya-Iwakage of Kanayama Megaliths

Summer solstice sun rising over Higashinoyama. Sunlight streams between Stones B and C toward Stone A. *Photo by Kikuko Funabashi.*

As the land of Hida in Gifu Prefecture opens after the peak of the pandemic of 2020, people gathered to observe the summer solstice sunrise at the Kanayama Megaliths Senkoku-ishi group. We show you photos taken by Kikuko Funabashi (above photo) and by Chika (all remaining photos) on June 21, 2020.