En no Ozunu, also En no Ozuno, Otsuno was a Japanese ascetic and mystic, traditionally held to be the founder of Shugendō, the path of ascetic training practiced by the gyōja or yamabushi. He was banished by the Imperial Court to Izu Ōshima on June 26, 699, but folk tales at least as old as the Nihon Ryōiki recount his supernatural powers and exploits. He also referred to by the name En no Gyōja, En no Ubasoku, or under the full name En no Kimi Ozunu, where Kimi is his kabane or titular name.
Historical references
Even historical accounts of his life are intermixed with legends and folklore. According to the chronicleShoku Nihongi, En no Ozunu was banished to the island of Izu Ōshima on June 26, 699:
On hinoto-ushi day , En no Kimi Ozunu was banished to Izu no Shima. Ozunu had first lived in Mount Katsuragi and been acclaimed for his sorcery and was the teacher of Outer Junior 5th Rank Lower Grade. Later, envied his power and accused him of trickery with his weird magic. banished him far . Rumor says, "Ozunu was able to manipulate demonic spirits, making them draw water and gather firewood. When they disobeyed, he bound them using sorcery."
In spite of this incident, it seems that the Court continued to highly evaluate the herbal knowledge of Ozunu's school, since Vol. 11 of the book also tells that on October 5, Tenpyō 4, his student Karakuni no Hirotari was elected as the Head Apothecary, the highest position in Agency for Apothecary.
In folk religion, En no Ozunu is traditionally held to be the founder of Shugendō, a syncretic religion incorporating aspects of Taoism, Shinto, esoteric Buddhism and traditional Japanese shamanism. En no Gyōja was conferred the posthumous title Jinben Daibosatsu at a ceremony held in 1799 to commemorate the one-thousandth year of his passing. Authorship of the non-canonical Sutra on the Unlimited Life of the Threefold Body is attributed to En no Gyōja. Due to his mythical status as a mountain saint, he was believed to possess many supernatural powers.
