Kamayama Shrine

 

On the morning of the ninth day of my walk along the Saigoku Pilgrimage and the Kumano Kaido, I took a detour along a mini-pilgrimage to 3 shrines along the small Kishigawa Railway Line.

The first stop was Kamayama Shrine, enshrining Itsuse, the older brother of Jimmu, the mythical first emperor.

According to the story, Jimmu and his entourage had come up the Inland Sea, subduing the local tribes, but in the area now known as Osaka, they came upon a powerful enemy. Itsuse suggested that, as they were descendants of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, it was inauspicious for them to keep  attacking from the West, facing the rising sun; therefore they should head south into the Kii Peninsula and then come at the enemy from the East. Itsuse had been wounded by an arrow and later died from his wounds and was buried in the tomb behind the shrine.

As well as Itsuse, a whole slew of other kami are enshrined here, mostly the ancestor Kami of the main clans. On the left are enshrined Jimmu and the other two brothers of Jimmu and Itsuse. On the right: Takakuraji, a leader of the Kumano area, Umashimade, ancestor of the Mononobe, Amenohigata Kakushibigata, ancestor of the Omiwa, Amenotanekono, ancestor of the Nakatomi, Amenotomi, ancestor of the Imbe, Michiomi, ancestor of the Otomo, Okume, ancestor of the Kume, Shiinetsuhiko, ancestor of the Yamato, and Yatagarasu, ancestor of the Kamo.

The shrine was completely destroyed by Hideyoshi in the late 16th century. A small shrine was rebuilt in 1600 and then enlarged in 1669, however it was a very small shrine.

In early Meiji the shrine was enlarged in the campaign to elevate every site in the country connected to imperial history.

In 1938 it was massively expanded and rebuilt as part of the preparations for the 2,600th anniversary, in 1940, of the founding of the country by Jimmu. Around this time there was a veritable Jimmu mania.

The shrine has a hundred year old tradition for baby naming. As well as for babies, the shrine also offers the same service for naming a company or stage names etc.

As with other State Shinto sites, I found it sombre and austere, fitting, perhaps, as it is in essence a mausoleum.

It feels more like a European park in its layout and limited natural presence. There is no decoration nor "wild" nature.

From the shrine's website " The Greater East Asia War can be considered a success in that it brought us closer to eliminating racial discrimination and achieved the great objective of independence for East Asian countries, but our country itself suffered the full extent of the horrors of defeat."

So, the "horrors" of defeat overshadow the minimum of 20 million East Asian dead for this "success"

Shinto is being pushed as some kind of nature religion and spirituality, which certainly is part of it, but the dark, political State Shinto is still very much alive and thriving....

The previous post in this series was on the Kishigawa Railway which promotes this three-shrine pilgrimage.

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Okanari Shrine & Akamatsu Hiyoshi Shrine

 

A little farther up the lower slopes of Mount Daisen, I came to Okanari Shrine.

When this area was being settled and developed, three shrines of the Kumano Sanzan were founded, this one being for Shingu Daimyojin, so the kami here is Hayatamano.

The village was originally named Shingu, but later was renamed Okanari. During the 16th century the shrine was supported by the local warlord, a vassal of the Mori.

In the late Edo Period the shrine functioned as a subsidiary shrine of Ogamiyama Shrine.

In early Meiji the name was chnged from Shingu Daimyojin to Okanari Shrine.

Within the grounds is a Yamaguchi Shrine enshrining Susanoo, Oyamatsumi, and Inari.

A little further, in the village of Akamatsu, I came to a Hiyoshi Shrine. There are no records of its founding, except that as Sanno Gongen, the original name for Hiyoshi Shrines, it has been there since ancient times.

The kami are Okuninushi, Oyamatsumi, Toyotamahime, Ojin, & Inari

In 1913 all the other shrines in the village were merged with Hiyoshi Shrine.

A Myoken shrine, an Ikenojinja Shrine, an Ichinotani Shrine, and an Otani shrine combined to create the mix of kami mentioned above.

The shrine is home to a unique festival tradition the Akamatsu Kojin Festival, held only in leap years, and an Intangible Folk Cultural Tradition. In it a 25 meter long serpent made of straw is carried through the village and then placed at the Kojin altar in the shrine.

This is obviously an extension of the Kojin straw serpents found at just about every shrine in Izumo, and the equivalent of Omoto in our region of Iwami. Straw serpents can be found in most parts of Japan and usually represent the local land kami.

The previous post was on Ogamiyama Shrine.

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Folk Art of Maze Town

 

The next temple on the Shodoshima Pilgrimage was in the middle of an old part of Tonosho known as Meiro no Machi, which translates as Maze Town

The name comes from the narrow lanes of the area which have so many turns it quickly gets confusing when walking around. It is said the layout was created in the 14th century when fighting between the rival Northern and Southern Courts occurred on the island. Other sources say it was to protect the town from pirates.

When I was there the alleys had curious figures made from fishing net floats. I have seen such things numerous times. Often painted to look like a cat.

Here there was a standard pattern of the float placed in a plant pot or small bucket, and each one was wearing a conical cap I think representing the sugegasa, the hat worn by pilgrims.

Most just have standard faces, but some are painted to represent characters.... Daruma being common, and even Hello Kitty as above...

Since I visited the area has opened several Yokai museums and there seems to be Yokai decoration around so maybe these figures are not so common.

The previous post was on the nearby Narrowest Strait in the World.

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Ogamiyama Shrine

 

Ogamiyama Shrine has a long and somewhat unusual history. It is mentioned in the Izumo Fudoki, and is listed in the Engi Shiki, and is the Ninomiya, second-ranked shrine, of Hoki Province.

Mount Daisen has long been a sacred mountain, and the shrine's origins lie in a small shrine built high up on the mountain by ascetic monks.

As the mountain was covered in deep snow during the winter, a second shrine, this shrine, was built down below so people could worship in the winter. The top shrine became known as the summer shrine and this one was the winter shrine.

The kami enshrined here is Okuninushi. In ancient times, when the Fudoki were written, Okuninushi was considered to reside in/on Mount Daisen. All the stories of Okuninushi come from what is now Tottori, and at the northern base of Daisen is a Yayoi settlement that was one of the biggest in all of Japan, a strong possibility for the capital of an Izumo Polity that ceded the country to the Yamato.

As the mountain shifted to a more Buddhist-oriented mountain worship, the main deity of the mountain became Jizo.

The mountain was a huge shugendo centre with at one point 189 sub-temples and a community of 3,000 "warrior monks". The most famous warrior monk was Benkei, and there are stories that he spent time on Daisen.

The current shrine buildings date to the mid-Edo period. The grounds have 1,000 Hydrangea bushes, and this is one of the top hydrangea spots in Tottori.

The Tottori Association of Shrines says that along with Okuninushi, also enshrined here is Oyamatsumi, Susano, & Sukunahikona.

Secondary shrines in the grounds include a Misaki Shrine enshrining Amaterasu and two other kami.

In 1868 with the separation of Buddhas and Kami, Jizo was removed from the shrine at 900m, the summer shrine, and it became the Okumiya, inner shrine; this shrine, the winter shrine, became the main shrine.

Flanked by two foxes is the "worship from afar" shrine, enabling those unable to climb the mountain to the inner shrine to worship from afar.

As well as the hydrangeas, the large shrine grounds also includes one of the biggest Iris gardens in the San-in region.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the walk into Tottori that ended the previous day.

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.