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Fudo Myoo: The Manifestation of Dainichi Nyorai Symbolized by Flame and Sword
Why have people bowed their hands together before this wrathful figure surrounded by flames since ancient times? Fudo Myoo is a deity who "shows compassion with an angry face" and is a manifestation of Dainichi Nyorai. From identifying the kurikara sword, kensaku rope, tenchi-gan eyes, and flame halo, to the Kanto 36 Fudo Pilgrimage, this article provides detailed guidance for fire ritual (goma) pilgrimage spots in the Tokyo area including Naritasan, Meguro Fudo, and Takaosan Yakuoin.
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Author
Hijiri
| Shrines & Temples
Contents
MOKUJI
一
The Origins of Fudo Myoo: Manifestation of Dainichi Nyorai, Core of Esoteric Buddhism
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二
Fudo Myoo's Appearance: Sword, Rope, Tenchi-gan Eyes, and Flame Halo
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三
Naritasan, Meguro Fudo, and the Kanto 36 Fudo Pilgrimage Sites
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四
Goma Fire Rituals: The Heart of Fudo Myoo Faith
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五
Summary: Pilgrimage Tips and Related Sites
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六
Frequently Asked Questions
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Across Japan’s temple main halls, stone figures with wrathful faces glare at visitors, holding swords aloft amid surrounding flames. These figures are frightening, yet people have pressed their palms together before them since ancient times — Fudo Myoo is a guardian deity whose very contradiction is its essence. “Showing compassion with an angry face” — here is empathy and encouragement for those battling their own afflictions, and the declaration: “Don’t flee, I will protect you.”
Statue of Fudō Myōō at Kakurin-ji (Katsuura, Tokushima), the 20th site of the Shikoku Eighty-Eight Temple pilgrimage. The classic iconography: Kurikara sword in the right hand, kensaku lasso in the left, and the blazing karurae flame halo.
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 / photo by Naokijp
The Origins of Fudo Myoo: Manifestation of Dainichi Nyorai, Core of Esoteric Buddhism
The Sanskrit Name “Acala” and the Meaning of Myo-o
Fudo Myoo’s Sanskrit name is Acala, meaning “the immovable one.” “Myo-o (Vidya-raja)” means “a deity who embodies mantra (vidya/myochu) as its sovereign,” and it is considered a manifestation in which Dainichi Nyorai (the root Buddha of the universe) deliberately took on a fearsome wrathful (fundo) appearance to save the people.
Esoteric Buddhism systematized in Tang China in the 8th century was brought to Japan by Kukai (Kobo Daishi) in 806. In esoteric Buddhism, the “Five Great Myo-o” — Fudo, Gozanze, Gundari, Daiitoku, and Kongoyasha — are enshrined as a set of five, guarding the five directions of east, west, south, north, and center. Fudo Myoo occupies the central position and is regarded as the most important, the “king” of the Five Great Myo-o.
Kamakura’s Myoodin Temple (founded 1235) was built by the 4th shogun Yoritsune Fujiwara to protect the shogunate’s demon gate, and as Kamakura’s only temple with the Five Great Myo-o as principal deities, goma fire rituals continue there to this day.
Silk painting 'Kurikara Dragon Sword with Two Attendants' (Kamakura period, Important Cultural Property), Nara National Museum. A canonical example of esoteric Buddhist painting depicting the dragon-entwined Kurikara sword.
Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Fudo Myoo’s Appearance: Sword, Rope, Tenchi-gan Eyes, and Flame Halo
Reading the Four Major Iconographic Features
Fudo Myoo’s iconography follows a fixed format. In the right hand is the “kurikara sword (kurikaraken)” — a sword with a dragon coiled around the blade with a three-pronged handle. This sword symbolizes the wisdom that severs afflictions and evil hindrances; the dragon represents the afflictions being subjugated by the sword.
In the left hand is the “kensaku” — a lasso-shaped ritual implement made of rope that is a compassionate tool for binding wandering sentient beings and drawing them into the net of dependent origination.
The distinctive facial feature is the “tenchi-gan” (heaven-earth eyes) — unique eyes that look upward with the right and downward with the left, cross-eyed. Interpreted as all-directional surveillance looking simultaneously at the celestial world and the underworld, or as the gaze of wisdom penetrating darkness. The fangs protruding with upper fang pointing down and lower fang pointing up are also distinctive, called “inverted heaven-earth fangs.”
The flame halo (kaenkohai) “karura-en” (Garuda flames) on the background is Fudo Myoo’s greatest symbol. Karura refers to the Buddhist divine bird Garuda, and flames born from its wings surround Fudo Myoo. This flame is the fire of wisdom that burns away all afflictions, and the goma ritual — the esoteric ceremony of burning ritual firewood in flames to convey prayers — is precisely the act of reproducing this immovable fire of wisdom on earth.
Iconographic Element
Form
Symbolic Meaning
Kurikara sword (right hand)
Dragon-wrapped sword
Wisdom cutting through afflictions and evil
Kensaku (left hand)
Lasso-shaped rope
Compassionate binding to save lost sentient beings
Tenchi-gan
Right eye↑sky, left eye↓ground, crossed
All-directional surveillance, eyes of wisdom
Flame halo
Karura-en
Fire of wisdom burning away all afflictions
The Great Main Hall of Naritasan Shinshoji Temple in Narita, Chiba. Founded in 940, this is Japan's foremost Fudo pilgrimage destination, receiving over ten million visitors annually; public goma rituals are held multiple times each day.
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 / photo by Hoku-sou-san
Naritasan, Meguro Fudo, and the Kanto 36 Fudo Pilgrimage Sites
Naritasan Shinshoji: Head Temple of Fudo Faith Visited by 10 Million Annually
Japan’s largest center of Fudo faith is Naritasan Shinshoji Temple (Narita City, Chiba). It began in 940 when High Priest Kancho installed a Fudo Myoo statue he had brought in prayers for suppression of Taira no Masakado’s uprising. For over 1,000 years since, it has gathered popular devotion as “Narita’s Fudo-san,” drawing over 10 million pilgrims annually. New Year’s first three days are typically among the nation’s top attendance figures, and goma fire rituals are performed several times daily.
Meguro Fudo and the Five-Color Fudo of Edo
Tokyo’s Meguro Fudo (Ryusenji Temple) is known as one of the “Five-Color Fudo of Edo.” The Five-Color Fudo refers to the collective name for Fudo Myoo figures placed in each direction by Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun, to protect the castle town — the five sites of Meguro (black), Mejiro (white), Meaka (red), Meao (blue), and Meki (yellow). Founded in 808, goma fire rituals continue without interruption at this foremost ancient temple in the capital.
The main hall of Meguro Fudo (Ryusen-ji) in Meguro, Tokyo. Traditionally founded in 808, it is the foremost of the Edo Go-shiki Fudo — five Fudo temples placed by shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu to guard the cardinal directions around Edo Castle.
Wikimedia Commons / GFDL / photo by ☆TAC★
Fukagawa Fudo Hall (Fukuzan Fukagawa Fudo Hall) originated from outreach services of Naritasan and has been intimately connected with shitamachi (downtown Tokyo) culture as a landmark of the preeminent entertainment district Monzen-nakacho. The history of pilgrimage that people have continued since the Edo period lives on today.
Takaosan Yakuoin and the Kanto 36 Fudo Pilgrimage
Takaosan Yakuoin is a famous temple counted as the First Site of the Kanto 36 Fudo Pilgrimage, a mountain sacred site serving as the head temple of the Chisan school of Shingon Buddhism, visited by 3 million pilgrims annually.
The Kanto 36 Fudo Pilgrimage was established in 1984, linking 36 Fudo holy sites scattered across Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Chiba. With a certified guide (sendatsu) system and sutra-copying book established, it is a contemporary pilgrimage form suited to modern lifestyles, traveled by combining car and train over several days to several weeks.
Pilgrimage Site
Location
Feature
Naritasan Shinshoji
Narita City, Chiba
10M visitors/year, goma public multiple times daily
Meguro Fudo (Ryusenji)
Meguro, Tokyo
Lead site of Five-Color Fudo, founded 808
Takaosan Yakuoin
Hachioji, Tokyo
Kanto 36 Fudo First Site, 3M visitors/year
Fukagawa Fudo Hall
Koto, Tokyo
Naritasan Tokyo Branch Temple, shitamachi goma hall
Myooin Temple
Kamakura, Kanagawa
Five Great Myo-o principal deities, Kamakura’s only esoteric training hall
The main hall of Takao-san Yakuoin in Hachioji, Tokyo — headquarters of the Chisan branch of Shingon Buddhism and Site 1 of the Kanto Thirty-Six Fudo Pilgrimage. Set midway up 599-metre Mt. Takao, the mountain temple draws around three million visitors each year.
Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 / photo by KENPEI
Goma Fire Rituals: The Heart of Fudo Myoo Faith
The Reality of Goma Pilgrimage
The goma fire ritual is the heart of Fudo Myoo faith. Sacred shikimi firewood is cast into a hearth, flames are kept burning while esoteric mantras are chanted. Pilgrims apply for prayer sticks (gomaki) with their wishes written on them, and through the monk’s burning them, the prayers are said to reach Fudo Myoo directly. At Naritasan, goma is performed publicly several times daily and anyone can participate.
The experience of sending prayers to heaven together with the smoke of goma is a rare opportunity to feel esoteric Buddhist cosmology through all five senses. When smoke rises before the wrathful face of Fudo Myoo, remember that the flame is “the fire of wisdom that burns away all afflictions.”
A Shingon monk performing the goma fire ritual in the Aizen-do hall on Mount Koya, Wakayama. The monk casts consecrated wooden sticks into sacred fire while chanting mantras — the central esoteric rite through which petitions are conveyed directly to Fudo Myo-o.
Wikimedia Commons / CC0 1.0 / photo by WolfgangMichel
Summary: Pilgrimage Tips and Related Sites
Fudo Myoo is a deity who “shows compassion with an angry face.” Behind that appearance is an unshakeable determination: “Don’t flee, I will protect you.”
Tips for Pilgrimage:
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Participate in goma fire rituals: Goma is regularly held publicly at Naritasan, Meguro Fudo, and Fukagawa Fudo. Anyone can observe from the worshippers’ seats without advance reservation
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Confirm the kurikara sword (right hand, dragon-wrapped sword) and kensaku (left hand, rope)
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Looking up at Fudo Myoo from slightly below and to the side makes the “tenchi-gan” gaze easier to perceive
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For the Kanto 36 Fudo sutra-copying book, many pilgrims begin at the First Site, Takaosan Yakuoin
Related Spots:
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Naritasan Shinshoji Temple (Narita City, Chiba) — Head temple of Fudo faith visited by 10 million annually. Goma fire rituals performed publicly several times daily; anyone can participate
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Meguro Fudo (Ryusenji Temple) (Meguro, Tokyo) — Lead site of the Five-Color Fudo of Edo. Ancient temple founded 808, goma prayers continue without interruption
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Takaosan Yakuoin (Hachioji, Tokyo) — Kanto 36 Fudo First Site. Mountain sacred site visited by 3 million annually
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Fukagawa Fudo Hall (Koto, Tokyo) — Naritasan Tokyo Branch Temple. Hub of goma prayers in shitamachi
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Myooin Temple (Kamakura, Kanagawa) — Kamakura’s only esoteric training hall with Five Great Myo-o as principal deities. Goma prayers continue in the quiet of a wooded valley
Suggested Pilgrimage Route:
Kanto “Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage” 1-Night 2-Day Course
1.
Day 1: Takaosan Yakuoin (Kanto 36 First Site, climb mountain path, participate in goma) → Fukagawa Fudo Hall (experience goma at shitamachi hall)
2.
Day 2: Naritasan Shinshoji (participate in publicly-held goma; lunch at a traditional eel restaurant on the main approach avenue)
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Fudo Myoo have an angry face?
Because “showing compassion with an angry face” is the essence of Fudo Myoo. The fearsome expression does not signify divine punishment or rejection — it is empathy and encouragement for sentient beings battling their afflictions, the expression of the declaration “Don’t flee, I will protect you.” Where Dainichi Nyorai shows “compassion that gently envelops,” Fudo Myoo embodies “compassion that firmly propels forward.” Both are two faces of the same compassion born from Dainichi Nyorai.
What is needed to participate in a goma fire ritual?
In principle, no advance reservation is required. At major pilgrimage sites like Naritasan, Meguro Fudo, and Fukagawa Fudo, goma rites are regularly held publicly and can be observed from the worshippers’ seats. “Gomaki applications” (ritual firewood with your wish written on it) can be made at the hall reception on the day, with costs typically 500-2,000 yen. You write your wish on the gomaki and apply to have a monk cast it into the fire.
How do I undertake the Kanto 36 Fudo Pilgrimage?
This pilgrimage route was established in 1984, linking 36 sites in Saitama, Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Chiba. First, purchase a “nokyo-cho (sutra-copying book)” or “goshu-in-cho (seal book)” at one of the pilgrimage sites, then collect the special seal (nokyoin) at each site as you travel. The First Site is Takaosan Yakuoin, and many pilgrims begin there. It is a modern pilgrimage format that can be completed over several days to several weeks using a combination of car and train.
When are goma fire rituals performed at Naritasan Shinshoji?
At Naritasan Shinshoji, goma prayers are performed multiple times daily (typically 6-8 times). Times can be confirmed on the official website (naritasan.or.jp) or notice boards at the site. New Year’s and hatsumōde (first shrine/temple visit) periods, and the head temple’s enichi (28th — Fudo Myoo’s special day) see especially large numbers of worshippers. Goma fire rituals are held in the main hall (Daihondo), and anyone can observe without advance reservation.
What is the Five-Color Fudo belief system?
The Five-Color Fudo is a belief system in which Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun of the Edo shogunate, placed Fudo Myoo figures in each direction to protect the castle town of Edo. The five sites called “Five-Color Fudo” are Meguro (black, south), Mejiro (white, north), Meaka (red, center), Meao (blue, east), and Meki (yellow, west). Meguro Fudo (Ryusenji) is the lead site, with goma prayers continuing there today. A faith deeply connected with shitamachi culture since the Edo period, it continues as a living pilgrimage tradition in modern Tokyo.
Last updated: April 25, 2026
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Author
Hijiri（ひじり）
Shrines & Temples
Toku editorial team — shrines and temples. Former designer who reads temple architecture and gardens through an aesthetic lens, quietly tracing the lineages of sects and doctrines.
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Visit Related Places
History truly comes alive when you visit in person. Choose your next destination from the related sites and pilgrimage courses below.
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1. Naritasan Shinshoji Temple
Kanto's great Fudo Myo-o temple — a top-three warding sanctuary
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2. Meguro Fudo
Founded by Ennin in 808 — the oldest Fudo sanctuary in Kanto, one of the Five Colored Fudo of Edo
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3. Takao-san Yakuoin Temple
Founded by Gyoki in 744, this Shingon head temple on Michelin three-star Mt. Takao blends Shugendo and Tengu worship
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4. Fukagawa Fudodo
Originating in 1703 when Naritasan Shinshoji displayed its image in Fukagawa — the Tokyo branch temple now features a main hall adorned with 1,000 Fudo images and three monthly Goma fire rituals drawing large crowds.
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5. Myoo-in
Built by the fourth shogun to guard the shogunate's demon gate — Kamakura's only temple of the Five Wisdom Kings
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