Deity of shinbutsu shūgō (kami–buddha syncretism)
Keta Daimyōjin
気多大明神
Keta Taisha enshrines Ōnamuchi no Mikoto, and people bring to it wishes such as good relationships, being blessed with children, and recovery from illness. The good relationships mentioned in the shrine's guide extend beyond romance to ties with family, friends, work and so on. Keta Daimyōjin of the Sanjū Banjin is connected with this faith in Noto.
This introduction is based on materials published by shrines, temples, and schools, starting with Shōhōin. 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
Ōnamuchi no Mikoto of Keta, and prayers for forming bonds
Keta Taisha enshrines Ōnamuchi no Mikoto, and people bring to it wishes such as good relationships, being blessed with children, and recovery from illness. The good relationships mentioned in the shrine's guide extend beyond romance to ties with family, friends, work and so on. Keta Daimyōjin of the Sanjū Banjin is connected with this faith in Noto.
Source: 氣多大社・日蓮宗 光瑞山本立寺
A kami who helped a wounded hare
Keta Taisha connects the story in which Ōnamuchi no Mikoto healed a hare's wounds in myth with this kami's virtues relating to medicine and recovery from illness. It can be read as a story that conveys the character of a kami who helps people.
Source: 氣多大社
The Sanjū Banjin, who take turns guarding one day each
The Sanjū Banjin is a belief from the fusion of kami and buddhas in which thirty kami divide the days among themselves to protect the country and the Buddhist teaching. In Shōhōin's list, each kami is assigned one day, from the 1st to the 30th. It is a grouping handed down in the Tendai and Nichiren traditions and others, and it needs to be distinguished from present-day explanations of the enshrined kami at shrines of the same name and from historical theories of their original buddhas (honji butsu).
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院
Kami who come to hear the sutra recited: the origin story told by Shinjō-ji
Shinjō-ji, a temple of the Nichiren Shū, relates a tradition that, while Nichiren Shōnin was reading the Lotus Sutra on Mount Hiei, a different person visited him each day and revealed that they were the Sanjū Banjin. This is the temple's origin story of "the Sanjū Banjin who protect the Lotus Sutra". It is not treated as a historical event common to all faith in the Sanjū Banjin.
Source: 日蓮宗 玉蓮山真成寺
Guardians taking turns to support daily faith
Shinjō-ji introduces the Sanjū Banjin as guardian deities, from the fusion of kami and buddhas, who divide their duty by day. What the temple holds dear is the belief that they protect the Lotus Sutra and the people who believe in its teaching. This is an explanation for understanding their role as the Sanjū Banjin, in addition to the virtues handed down at each shrine.
Source: 日蓮宗 玉蓮山真成寺
Related kami and buddhas
Sources (in Japanese)
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：気多大明神」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：目次」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 氣多大社「参拝・ご祈祷」（2026-10-15 確認）
- 日蓮宗 光瑞山本立寺「三十番神堂」（2026-10-15 確認）
- 飛不動尊 正宝院「仏様の世界：三十番神」（2026-10-14 確認）
- 日蓮宗 玉蓮山真成寺「三十番神様」（2026-10-15 確認）