ABSTRACT
Fig. 1 shows an example of what I refer to as the 'standard' (pre-1868) form of the sanja takusen. The scroll shown here dates from the Edo period and was inscribed by the Zen Buddhist monk Kogan (1748-1821).4 It is virtually identical in content and layout to innumerable other examples of the scroll produced by priests, artists, calligraphers and publishers from the late fourteenth century onwards. At the head of the scroll are the names and titles of the three shrine-deitiesS (centre: Tensho Kotaijingu, right: Hachiman Daibosatsu, left: Kasuga Daimyojin). Arranged below the shrine-names are the three oracular texts, one for each shrine, which will be discussed in more detail below. There are many minor variations on the standard form of the sanja takusen. Sometimes only the names of the deities are inscribed, and one or other of Hachiman and Kasuga may occasionally be described as daijin (great kami) rather than daibosatsu and daimyojin. The oracle texts, too, are subject to minor variations and in later versions pictures are sometimes added to, or replace, the text of the oracles.
