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Brian Bowden | profile | all galleries >> Glass ORBits - Contemporary Art Glass Marbles and Other Art Glass For Sale! >> John Kobuki Marbles and Pendants For Sale >> "Sojobo of Kurama" Size: 2.06" Price: SOLD tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

"Sojobo of Kurama" Size: 2.06" Price: SOLD


This is the very first Tengu pendant ever created by the legendary Kobuki, the pendant to become as legendary as the master who created it. This is the ultra rarest of the rare amongst Kobuki creations.

Sôjôbô (lit. "high Buddhist priest") is the mythical king of the tengu, minor deities who inhabit the mountains of forests of Japan. Sôjôbô is an ancient yamabushi (mountain hermit) tengu with long, white hair and an unnaturally long nose. He carries a fan made from seven feathers as a sign of his position at the top of tengu society. He is extremely powerful, and one legend says he has the strength of 1,000 normal tengu. Sôjôbô lives on Mount Kurama (north of Kyoto). Sôjôbô is perhaps best known for teaching the warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune (then known by his childhood name Ushiwaka-maru or Shanao) the arts of swordsmanship, tactics, and magic in the 12th century. In fact, the name "Sôjôbô" originates from Sôjôgatani, the valley at Mount Kurama near Kibune Shrine associated with the Shugenja. It is in this valley that Ushiwaka trained with Sôjôbô in legend.

Tengu (literally, "heavenly dogs") are a class of supernatural creatures found in Japanese folklore, art, theater, and literature. They are one of the best known monster-spirits and are sometimes worshipped as Shinto kami (revered spirits or gods). Although they take their name from a dog-like Chinese demon (Tiangou), the tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. The earliest tengu were pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose, which today is practically the tengu's defining characteristic in the popular imagination."

Here is what John posted about the Tengu: "Tengu are mountain and forest goblins with both Shinto and Buddhist attributes. Their supernatural powers include shape-shifting into human or animal forms, the ability to speak to humans without moving their mouth, the magic of moving instantly from place to place without using their wings, and the sorcery to appear uninvited in the dreams of the living. The patron of martial arts, the bird-like Tengu is a skilled warrior and mischief maker, especially prone to playing tricks on arrogant and vainglorious Buddhist priests, and to punishing those who willfully misuse knowledge and authority to gain fame or position. In bygone days, they also inflicted their punishments on vain and arrogant samurai warriors. They dislike braggarts, and those who corrupt the Dharma (law)."

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