Myōken

Myōken (Sanskrit: सुदृष्टि, Sudṛṣṭi; Chinese: 妙見菩薩 (Traditional) / 妙见菩萨 (Simplified), pinyin: Miàojiàn Púsà; Japanese: 妙見菩薩, Myōken Bosatsu), also known as Sonjō-Ō (尊星王, "Venerable Star King", also Sonsei-Ō or Sonshō-Ō), is a Buddhist deification of the North Star worshiped mainly in the Shingon, Tendai and Nichiren schools of Japanese Buddhism.

Despite the alleged Sanskrit origin of his name and his bodhisattva status, Myōken is conspicuously absent from early Buddhist literature, with his name first appearing in apocryphal sutras of Chinese origin. He is thus thought to have originated from Taoist and folk beliefs regarding the northern pole star and/or the Big Dipper that had syncretized with Buddhism during the Tang dynasty. Indeed, despite being called 'bodhisattva' (bosatsu), the deity is actually more often classified as a deva.

The cult of Myōken is believed to have been introduced to Japan around the 7th century by the toraijin, immigrants from the Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo and Baekje, most notably the legendary Prince Imseong, and flourished during the Heian period (794–1185). The eastern half of the country (the modern Kantō and Tōhoku regions), where these immigrants were settled, became a notable stronghold of Myōken worship; the Chiba clan, based on what is now Chiba Prefecture, and its offshoots adopted Myōken as their patron deity and spread his cult through their domains across Japan. Myōken also became an important deity within certain branches of Nichiren Buddhism (such as Nichiren-shū) due to the school's connections with the Chiba.