When there was a heavy spring shower falling, on the way back after I had made a pilgrimage to the two places.[i]

春雨にうちそほちつつあし曳の山ぢゆくらむ山人やたれ

harusame ni uchisōchitsutsu ashihiki no yamaji yukuramu yamabito ya tare

By rains in springtime, I am ever drenched, upon Leg-wearing Mountain trails I may have gone, but Who might the immortal be?[ii]

594

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[i] ‘Two places’ (nisho 二所)  was an abbreviation for ‘manifested deities of two shrines’ (nisho gongen 二所権現) which, in turn, was a reference to Hakone-gongen 箱根権現 and Izu-gongen 伊豆権現, the kami of Hakone shrine and Izuyama Shrine, manifesting as Buddhist deities. Both of these deities were venerated by Minamoto no Yoritomo 源頼朝 (1147-1199), the founder of the Kamakura shogunate, and his wife, Hōjō Masako 北条政子 (1157-1225) and after Yoritomo’s death, shogun’s continued to make an annual pilgrimage to both shrines.

[ii] See: A single poem presented in reply by Prince Toneri. 安之比奇能　山尓由伎家牟　夜麻妣等能　情母之良受　山人夜多礼 ashihiki no / yama ni yukikemu / yamabito no / kokoro mo shirazu / yamabito ya tare ‘To the leg-wearying / Mountains seeming to have gone / An immortal’s / Heart I cannot know, but / Who might that immortal be?’ (Man’yōshū XX: 4294)