Shape changers and evil magic.............


Legends about Prince Shōtoku are riddled with folklore -- many miraculous tales were created in the coming centuries. Although most contain some element of truth, others have been debunked by modern researchers. According to one legend from the eighth-century Nihon Shoki (one of Japan's oldest texts, complied in the early eighth century), his virgin mother bore him "unexpectedly" while on her routine inspection of the imperial horse stables. A common medieval depiction of the prince shows him at age two with palms together praying to Buddha. This form is known as Namubutsu Taishi (Mantra-Chanting Taishi). <Sources > Some Japanese and foreign scholars claim that Shōtoku legends are fabricated. New Japanese high-school textbooks to be issued in 2014 are throwing into question the existence of Prince Shōtoku. See Asahi Shimbun article, March 27, 2013.