Most studies of narrative picture scrolls put a heavy emphasis on the visual to the detriment of the actual narrative element, as Royall Tyler observes in the introduction of this combinatory study & translation. If such is still somewhat true even today, it was certainly so in the years the book was being written and published, and "The Miracles of the Kasuga Deity" stands as an exemplary case of how to handle such a text as well as why it's such a good idea to do so.
The first half of the book is comprised of eight chapters detailing the biographical background of the eponymous "Kasuga Gongen Genki" and a thorough literary analysis of the work, a full description of the Kasuga/Kofukuji shrine-temple complex at the heart of the text along with the richly complex religiosity developed there (including an extraordinarily precious window the text opens up for us onto the then prevalent but now obscured realm of Honji Suijaku ideology), and finally a look at how Kasuga popped up in the wider literary world of court poetry and Noh dramas. That's a lot to unpack, but the author does so with an admirably clear and engaging style. A brief translation of the Sakaki Leaf Diary of 1364 describing a tumultuous demonstration by angry Kasuga/Kofukuji partisans in the Capital counts as a cool bonus.
The second half features a meticulously annotated translation of the text itself, rendered conscientiously into prose that flows as well as possible while reliably remaining grounded in the original. A good number of the miracles advertised involve eerily meaningful dreams or shamanistic oracles, presenting a treasure trove of primary sources on these aspects of religious experience. Likewise, for anyone into the ins and outs of Kamakura Buddhism, among lots of other things there are two substantial chunks of the text dedicated to cycles of miracles involving the monks Jokei (Gedatsu Shonin) and Myoe (Koben) for consideration. Line drawings replicating some of the scroll illustrations punctuate the translation rather nicely as well.
All in all, a key source tracing fascinating aspects of Japanese religion and literature, and a rare glimpse of a beautifully odd thought world remote and yet mysteriously close.
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