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| '''''Tennin''''' including the female '''''tennyo''''' are spirits found in Japanese Buddhism that are similar to Western angels or fairies.
| | Tennis just spelled badly. |
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| [[Image:tennin.jpg|thumb|A Tennin]]
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| =Nature=
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| ==Lore==
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| ''Tennin'' are mentioned in Buddhist sutras, and these descriptions form the basis for depictions of the beings in Japanese art, Japanese sculpture, and Japanese theater. They were imported from Chinese Buddhism, which was influenced itself by the concepts of heavenly beings found in Indian Buddhism and Chinese Taoism.
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| ==Etymology==
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| Come from the Sanskrit: ''[[apsaras]]''
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| ==Description/Morphology==
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| They are usually pictured as unnaturally beautiful women dressed in ornate, colorful kimonos (traditionally in five colors), exquisite jewelry, and flowing scarves that wrap loosely around their bodies. They usually carry Sacred lotus blossoms as a symbol of enlightenment or play instruments such as the biwa, drum, or flute.
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| ==Element==
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| Air
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| ==Powers/Weaknesses==
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| ''Tennin'' can fly, a fact generally indicated in art by their colored or feathered kimonos, called ''hagoromo'' ("dress of feathers"). In some legends ''tennin'' are unable to fly without these kimonos (and thus cannot return to heaven), an idea that was perhaps influenced by Persian mythology. More rarely, they are shown with feathered wings. This is similar to the Western Swan May legends. In a Noh play ''|Hagoromo'', for example, ''tennyo'' come to the earth and take off their ''hagoromo''. A fisherman spies them and hides their clothes in order to force one to marry him. After some years he tells his wife what he did, and she finds her clothes and returns to heaven. The legend says it occurred in beach of Miyo, now a part of the city of Shizuoka, Shizuoka.
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| ==Behavior==
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| ''Tennin'' live in the Buddhist heaven as the companions to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
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| ==Places==
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| Some legends also make certain ''tennin'' solitary creatures living on mountain peaks. Pilgrims sometimes climb these mountains in order to meet the holy spirits.
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| =Tennin in fiction=
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| * The anime ''Ceres: Celestial Legend'' uses the ''tennyo'' kidnapping as the basis of a celestial revenge saga of the reincarnated ''tennyo'' against her descendants.
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| * The hentai anime ''Twin Angels'' uses a ''tennyo'' as the family ancestor and founder of a demon fighting clan (and ancestor of the future demon king).
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| [[Category:Angels and demons]]
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| [[Category:Japanese mythology]]
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| [[Category:Fairy creatures]]
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| [[Category:Air]]
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