✳︎Title: Essays: The Demon's Nenbutsu ✳︎Author: Shaku Hyosai (Eizo Nagai) ✳︎Published: 1941 (Showa 16) by Ritsumeikan Publishing Department ✳︎Binding: Self-designed by the author (with binding and outer box) ✳︎Pages: 298p ※ Underlined in pencil ✳︎Size: A5 【Contents】 Preface / Hakuin, Shoju, and Issa / Verification / Other-Power's Ruin / Cold Rice Salvation / Pigs Get Angry / The Vinegar Debate / Envy-worthy Discontent / As You Casual / Fellow Travelers / Cloud Country Tourism / Non-Monk, Layperson / Tales of Valor / Why Mama's Tune / Hakuin's Deeds / Difficulty with Characters / Tea Ceremony Tile Sword / The Prosperity of Miyako Odori / The Lazy Person Protection Law / General Tazuke / Conceptual Competition / The Weakness of the Wise / The Victory of the Weak / The Simplification of Zen Monks / Mimiziro / The Imperial Decree Problem / Giving Up / The Rise of Esoteric Buddhism / Religious Network / The Pure Practitioner Falls into Hell / The Broken-Precepts Monk Enters Nirvana / Money is the Enemy / Unproductive Investment / Round-Topped Red Robes / Suitekii-Iei / Throwing the Millstone / The Case of the Young Monk / What's to Boast About / The Temple Hall-Centered Theory / Unappointed Head Priest / On the Street / Absentmindedness / The Pretense of Eccentricity / Parishioners and Chestnut Trees / The Righteousness of the Wicked / The Destruction of Logic / Master Shido / The Mouse in the Telescope / The Sound of One Hand / Considering Neighboring Countries / Vitamin Sect / Errors of the Pen / Famous Questions and Desires / Don't Think / Only Eighty Thousand Yen / Circumstance and Inheritance / The Parent's Foolishness / Lies / The Market Head Priest / Entering the Rainy Season / Don't Die / Will Buddhism Revive? / The Meritless Disease / The Transmission Outside the Scriptures / Solitude / Eihei-ji Temple / Frivolous Allies / A Village Without Doctors / Regeneration from Joy / The Grave Sweeping of Sticks / Issa and Basho / Yasuki / Let Go / Abandonment / Distribution / A Single Piece of Clothing / The Cursed Temple Priest / Not Regretting One's Life ◉Shaku Hyosai (Eizo Nagai) 1877-1959. A famous reporter for the Osaka Asahi Shimbun. He gained popularity for his sharp social commentary. While a layperson, he was deeply devoted to Buddhism, and was a person who possessed a rebellious spirit that did not yield to authority, and the refinement of a man of letters who loved Otsu-e paintings and local toys. This book is a collection of folk imagery and Buddhist humor, with the author's self-designed "Demon's Nenbutsu" in the style of Otsu-e paintings catching the eye. Hyosai often uses the metaphor of the "demon" when sharply criticizing the formalized religious world. As can be seen from the items in the table of contents such as "Hakuin's Deeds" and "The Righteousness of the Wicked," he followed in the footsteps of Hakuin Ekaku and Issa, and vividly portrays the "living demon" that lives within the faith of the people. This overlaps with the period of 1940-1941 (Showa 15-16), when Kunio Yanagita and others were systematizing folklore studies. In a difficult time, this book, which discusses the comical existence of the "demon," is a valuable resource for understanding the spirituality that the Japanese of the time held towards youkai (supernatural beings) and the other world. The elaborately designed binding is a luxury that is hard to imagine for a publication during wartime, and placing this book on the shelf is similar to displaying an Otsu-e demon painting. #Demon's Cold Nenbutsu #Matsuyama Takahashi