He was banished by the Imperial Court to Izu Ōshima on June 26, 699, but folk tales at least as old as the Nihon Ryōiki (c. 800) recount his supernatural powers and exploits. He also referred to by the name En no Gyōja, En no Ubasoku, or under the full name En no Kimi Ozunu, where Kimi is his kabane or titular name.
He practised austerities on Mts. Kimpu and Omine in Naia Prefecture with the object of attaining harmony between Shintoism and Buddhism. Is regarded as the first yamabusht, or itinerant monk. (Some believe that En-no-Ozunu, like Gy〇Ki Bosatsu, was a hermit of Taoism which was declining in the Nara Period as a result of the ascendancy of Buddh¬ism). Many mystic legends are told of En-no-Ozunu. In 1799, Emperor Kokaku accorded him the name of Shimpen Daibo- satsu (Bodhi-sattva of Mystic Power). According to one legend, he was exiled to Izu Province (Shizuoka Prefecture) in 698 on a false charge directed against him by Minister Hirotari (of Korean origin) but was pardoned later. Shoyo Tsubouchi wrote a play titled “En-no-Gydja” in which he is represented as a hermit of mystic powers who vanishes into the sky, ridin,g on a cloud, after subduing the spirits of forest deities.
