tenjin 天神

Lit. "heaven people."

1　The heavenly gods as opposed to the gods of earth, chigi 地祇.

2　Tenjin. The deified spirit of Sugawara no Michizane 菅原道真 (845-903). Derived from the combination of the belief in the thunder god (see *Fūjin Raijin 風神雷神) with the fear of the resentful ghost of Michizane who died due to a false accusation. See *Kitano Tenjin engi 北野天神縁起 and *Totō Tenjin 渡唐天神.

３　A Noh mask *nōmen 能面 representing both the deified spirit of the 9th-10th century statesman Sugawara no Michizane 菅原道真 and a god linked to agricultural rituals. The mask's unassuming nose, thin-lipped, open mouth exposing upper and lower teeth, and fleshy cheeks are simple and human-like. However, the reddish coloring, the hair around the lips, the eyebrows that sweep upward, and the gold metal eyes that peer downward give the mask an air of heightened emotions and movement. Used to portray Michizane in the plays such as Raiden 雷電 and Aizomegawa 藍染川. Michizane lost his position as Minister of the Right, Udaijin 右大臣 and was banished to Kyūshū 九州 on account of an intrigue by a jealous Minister of the Left, Sadaijin 左大臣. Dying in a fit of rage, he invoked the gods to bring calamities to the court and capital. Tenjin is also connected to agricultural rites and is used to portray heavenly gods as in the plays Shari 舎利, Daie 大会, Kinsatsu 金札, Awaji 淡路, Ema 絵馬, and Dairokuten 第六天. A tenjin mask of early form, with an inscription dating it to 1571, is housed at Suwaasugi Jinja 須波阿須疑神社 in Fukui Prefecture. See *kijinmen 鬼神面.