Genzai Nanaomote

現在七面 Present-time [Dragon Princess of] Shichimen

1 Source and/or Related Material

Story of Shichimen Shrine origins

2 Author

Unknown

3 Repertoire

Kanze, Kongō

4 Synopsis

The Pure Land patriarch Nichiren (waki) and his attendant monks (wakitsure) train on Mt. Minobu by reciting the Lotus Sutra, and they see a woman who worships the Buddha almost every day by offering water. Nichiren asks the woman (maeshite) who she is. To her questions about women attaining buddhahood, the priest explains the passage from the Lotus Sutra describing how, at the age of eight, the Dragon Princess attained buddhahood guided by the Bodhisattva Manjushri. Having indicated that she is in fact a giant snake living in Shichimen Pond, the woman indicates that, as an expression of gratitude for the lecture, she wants to show her true shape. Then she disappears. Nichiren’s servant (ai) enters, praises the miraculous power of the Lotus Sutra and exits. Eventually the Dragon Princess (nochishite) appears. With the priest’s chanting of the Lotus Sutra, she changes from a serpent into a celestial maiden and dances a kagura. Having promised to become the guardian deity of Mt. Minobu and to protect all people, the princess rises into the sky.