Tenshō-daijin Honji
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Tenshō-daijin Honji (天照大神本地) is a Japanese otogi-zōshi in one book, composed in the early sixteenth century.
In the land of Haranai (はらなひ国), King Kentatsuha (けんたつは大王) longs for a son and prays to Kannon and is granted a son, Prince Meuon (めうをん太子).[1] Three years later, the queen dies, and when a new queen arrives she falls in love with the prince but is rebuked by him.[1] She grows to despise her stepson and plots against him, but he is saved by monks who are in reality manifestations of Buddhist deities such as Eleven-Faced Kannon and Chiichi-shōnin (ち一上人).[1] The king and prince journey to Ise Shrine in Japan by way of Magadha.[1] The king, whose true form (本地 honji) is Dainichi Nyorai, resides in the Inner Shrine, and the prince, whose true form is Eleven-Faced Kannon, resides in the Outer Shrine.[1] The prince's birth mother is Taga-daimyōjin, and Chiichi-shōnin is Kokūzō of Asamagatake (朝熊岳虚空蔵 Asamagatake Kokūzō).[1]
The main story of the work is followed by an elaboration on the oral traditions and origins of ceremonies related to the tale.[1]