Saturday, May 30, 2015

Dejima Shrine



Located right next to Manganji on the shore of Lake Shinji, the shrine is quite unusual in that it does not have a torii. It was in all probability part of the the same temple-shrine complex before the Meiji Period. The name of the kami enshrined here also suggest a Buddhist past: Nanagami Daimyojin..... which is in fact seven related kami.



The first is Ninigi, the grandson of Amaterasu sent down from the High Plain of Heaven to rule Japan. Next come Hoori, youngest son of Ninigi but more commonly known as Hikohohodemi or Yamasachihiko. Also enshrined here is Hoori's wife Toyotamahime, daughter of the sea god Ryujin,


After returning from some years living in a palace under the sea Toyotama gave birth to a son Ugayafukiaezu in a famous legend involving a birthing hut. Fukiaezu married his aunt Tamayorihime , also enshrined here, and became the father of the mythical first Emperor Jimmu.


The final two kami here are Konohanasakayuhime, now most commonly associated with Mount Fuji,  the princess who married Ninigi and gave birth to Hoori, and the final kami who I am having difficulty tracing the relationship to the others is Kushiyatama, who is connected to the Kuniyuzuri myth and is I believe connected to a ritual that still occurs not to far from here at Hinomisaki Shrine.

All the other kami are connected to the myths of southern Miyazaki in Kyushu centered around Aoshima Shrine

Yuzu from Kyushu

1 comment:

  1. Thank you very much for this interesting information

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