performed by the new emperor. The central deity (honzon) in this rite was Dakiniten, who is considered to be both the incarnation of the buddha Vairocana (Dainichi Nyorai) and the 'origin' (honji) of the sun goddess Amaterasu, the mythical ancestor of the imperial line; indeed, the emperor, upon ascending the throne, was said to have formed the 'wisdom fist' mudra associated with Vairocana in the Diamond Realm while reciting Dakiniten's mantra. A text from 1324, the Bikisho (鼻帰書, "Record of Returning to Origins"), also reports that when the ritual was performed in the imperial palace, two fox figurines – one gold and one silver – were placed to the left and right of the altar, and the new ruler was consecrated through an aspersion with water from "the four oceans." A medieval text stresses the rite's importance thus: "If he does not receive this ritual, the ruler's power is light and it cannot hold the four oceans. This is why this ritual is not limited to the king; monks of the various temples and profanes, too, when they perform it, can obtain a high rank and be perfectly free." The origins of sokui kanjō are shrouded in mystery; one tradition claims that a disciple of Ningai, Seison (成尊, 1012–1074), first conducted it during the accession of Emperor Go-Sanjō in 1068. Performance of the rite, however, eventually became the prerogative of Fujiwara regents, who transmitted the mantras to the new emperor during the ceremony. Indeed, a medieval legend justifies this custom by claiming that it started with the founding ancestor of the Fujiwara clan, Nakatomi (Fujiwara) no Kamatari, who was abducted in his youth by a she-fox (an avatar of Amaterasu). The fox taught Kamatari the enthronement rites and gave him a sickle (kama) with which he defeated his enemy Soga no Iruka. One text even identifies Kamatari and Daten (Dakiniten) as manifestations of Amaterasu. The connection between the fox, Dakiniten, and Amaterasu can also be seen in the Keiran Shūyōshū, which features the following retelling of the myth of Amaterasu's hiding: Commenting on the sokui kanjō, Bernard Faure writes: "under the name "Fox King," Dakiniten became a manifestation of the sun goddess Amaterasu, with whom the new emperor united during the enthronement ritual. [...] The Buddhist ritual allowed the ruler to symbolically cross over the limits separating the human and animal realms to harness the wild and properly superhuman energy