Deva (ten) or guardian deity
Kubira Taishō
宮毘羅大将
One of the Twelve Heavenly Generals of Yakushi. Kubira Taishō is the first named in the Yakushi Sutra, and at Hashikura-ji is worshipped in connection with Konpira Daigongen.
This introduction is based on materials from Shōhōin (Tobi Fudō). It is summarized within the scope of the beliefs and traditions those materials convey, and does not present explanations or customs common to all schools, shrines, and temples.
English pages are the site’s own translations of its Japanese pages. The sources cited are in Japanese. 日本語で読む
The name and role of Kubira Taishō
Kubira Taishō is listed as one of the Twelve Heavenly Generals of Yakushi, and a commonly used alternative name is said to be Konpira. The source records that the assigned sign of the twelve zodiac animals is the boar and that the original buddha (honji butsu) is Miroku Bosatsu.
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院
Tracing the form and the traditions
A table shows that the object held is a long sword and that the body color is yellow.
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院
Protecting Yakushi Nyorai and those who believe in the teaching
The Twelve Heavenly Generals are twelve generals who guard the world of Yakushi Nyorai and those who have faith. Shin-Yakushi-ji explains that each of them leads seven thousand followers. Their fearsome faces and weapons are handed down not as a means of threatening people but as forms that show the strong work of protecting the Buddhist teaching.
Source: 新薬師寺
The peace hoped for in faith in Yakushi
In faith in Yakushi, in which people pray for relief from illness and misfortune, the Twelve Heavenly Generals take on the role of protection. There is also a belief linking them with the twelve zodiac animals, but the deities' names and the assignment of zodiac signs differ by source and by temple. The individual assignments and objects held on this page are one example from the Butsuzō Zui line introduced by Shōhōin, and not a table of correspondences shared by all temples.
Source: 新薬師寺・飛不動尊 正宝院・奈良薬師寺
Faith in Konpira Daigongen
Hashikura-ji in Tokushima Prefecture explains its principal object of worship, Konpira Daigongen, as Kubira Taishō, the first of the Twelve Heavenly Generals of Yakushi. "Gongen" is a name connected with the idea, from the fusion of kami and buddhas, that a buddha appears in the form of a kami to guide people. From the name of Kubira Taishō, one can also trace the spread of faith in Konpira.
Source: 箸蔵寺
Kōbō Daishi's encounter, as handed down at Hashikura-ji
The origin story of Hashikura-ji relates that Kōbō Daishi met Konpira Daigongen on this mountain, received a revelation to save all people who use chopsticks, and founded the temple. It is a story that takes chopsticks as a symbol of daily life and connects them with the salvation of people. This is presented as the founding story handed down at the temple.
Source: 箸蔵寺
The difference from the enshrined kami of Kotohiragū
Even within the same "Konpira" faith, today's Kotohiragū explains that it enshrines Ōmononushi no Kami and Emperor Sutoku. The relationship between Konpira Daigongen and Kubira Taishō handed down by Hashikura-ji is read as that temple's tradition, and the enshrined kami of the present-day shrine are not uniformly identified as Kubira Taishō.
Source: 箸蔵寺・金刀比羅宮
Mantra (in Japanese, as written in the sources)
おん くびら そわか。
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院
おん くびらや そわか
Source: 箸蔵寺
Shown as written in the Japanese sources. This site does not set how or how many times to recite it.
Related shrines and temples
Related kami and buddhas
Sources (in Japanese)
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：宮毘羅大将」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：目次」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：薬師十二神将」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 新薬師寺「十二神将」（2026-10-15 確認）
- 奈良薬師寺「金堂」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 箸蔵寺「箸蔵寺について：当山縁起・金毘羅大権現とは」（2026-10-16 確認）
- 金刀比羅宮「金刀比羅本教教祖 厳魂彦命」（2026-10-16 確認）
- 国立台湾大学図書館／CBETA「薬師琉璃光如来本願功徳経（玄奘訳・大正蔵 T0450）」（2026-10-16 確認）