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....
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