Takao Gongen to Mitsu Shrine

 

From the fishing village of Shiotsu, the road rises steeply and then heads inland a little.

I stop in at a small wayside shrine called Takao Gongen. It has a torii and gohei in front of the statues, both "shinto" symbols, but the statues are Buddhist. A nice reminder of tradition.

On the very first walk along this coast that I did more than 20 years ago, this was where I spent the night, so I have fond memories of the place.

Down below a tiny fishing village clinging to the steep hillside. I did not venture down the loop road as it looked quite steep.... that would be for a later trip....

A small tunnel cuts through to make a pass to the next valley which runs down to the larger fishing village of Mitsuura.

At the edge of the village I stop in at  Mitsu Shrine,  but during the Edo Period it was called Rokusho Daimyojin.

It used to be located much closer to the sea and has been moved several times, most recently in the early 20th century.

It is listed both in the Izumo Fudoki and the Engi Shiki, so was of some importance in ancient times.

For a while, it was known as Mitsu Kumano Shrine, suggesting that it originally enshrined only Izanagi and Izanami.

The name Rokusho Shrine would be referring to the six kami now enshrined here, with Amaterasu, Ninigi, Susanoo, and Koyane, along with Izanami and Izanagi.

I especially enjoyed the masks here, especially the old, wooden demon mask.

There are quite a few secondary shrines within the grounds, including a Toshitoku Shrine which may enshrine Otoshi, a Wakamiya Shrine enshrining Okuninushi, and a shrine enshrining "5 great kami".

There is also an Inari Shrine, a Ryujin Shrine, and a Gubin Shrine enshrining Tengu no kami?

There is a sumo ring with a roof...

The previous post was on 2 shrines in Shiotsu, the previous fishing village..

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Hinomisaki Shrine

 

Hinomisaki is a grand shrine at the western tip of the Shimane Peninsula, in a small cove under the Hinomisaki Lighthouse, the tallest in East Asia.

When showing visitors around, I often encourage them to visit Hinomisaki Shrine instead of, or at least as well as, Izumo Taisha.

The shrine claims to have been founded in 536BCE, which is as absurd as the claim that Jimmu became emperor more than a hundred years before that. It is said that Susano decided to "settle" here after "creating" Izumo, and his son built a shrine to him nearby.

A shrine to Amaterasu was established on Fumijima, the sacred island offshore that I covered in the last post.

The Amaterasu shrine was moved here in 948. At the same time a Jinguji was established within the shrine so there was a Yakushi Hall, a Sutra Hall, a 3 storey Pagoda and a Tahoto Pagoda, a Daishi Hall, and a bell tower

In Kyoto, the shrine became famous as a centre of Shugendo.

The current buildings, most of which are Important Cultural Properties, were built under order of Tokugawa Iemitsu and were completed in 1644. They are in Gongen Zukuri style.

Both the local Matsudaira Daimyo and the Shogunate supported the shrine with large grants of land and Hinomisaki Shrine was the second largest shrine in the whole San-in region, after Izumo Taisha.

Now here comes the intriguing thing. The main hall, called Sunset Palace, enshrined Susano, and the smaller, Upper Hall enshrined Amaterasu, but in 1868 they switched them. This is not mentioned anywhere in the shrines website nor in the Japanese wikipedia page. Its all written as if Amaterasu was always the main kami.

When I first visited here more than twenty years ago I had recently learned about the chigi, the cross pieces on the roof. If the ends are cut horizontally, then the kami is female, if vertical then male.

Here the Amaterasu hall has a male chigi. I asked a young priest about it and what he said was that in 1868, when modern Shinto was created with Amaterasu at the top, it was decided here that people praying to Susano in the main hall had their backs to the Amaterasu Hall and that this was considered disrespectful, so they swapped. Because the buildings are Important Cultural Properties they could not be altered, so the chigi remained. I strongly suspect that nowadays they would not be so eager to share this history.

As with so many other shrines throughout Japan around 1868, not only did they remove all the Buddhist connections, but changed the kami too.

There are lots of secondary shrines inside and just outside the grounds including an Inari, and a Munakata. There is a line of 19 shrines representing various shrines that were brought into the shrine in the early 20th century during the shrine closures.

Most interesting to me is a Korean Shrine that enshrines Susano and Isotakeru. It is thought this was here before the Hinomisaki shrine was moved here from nearby. It links to the Korean Forge Shrine nearby as well as the Korea-Susano shrines down in Iwami.

The previous post in this series documenting my deep exploration of the Japan Sea Coast was on Fumijima Island.

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Susa Shrine

 

May 5th, 2015, day 40 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. A short walk from my nights campsite I arrive at Susa Shrine.

This is the head shrine of a large network of Susa shrines nationwide. I know I have come across many Susa shrines in my walks around western Japan, but I am not sure how common they are in the east.

There is a small Amaterasu shrine facing the main shrine.

The shrine was originally located a little to the north but was moved to its current location probably in the 9th century.

It ios mentioned in the Izumo Fudoki and so is very ancient. It is also listed in the Engi Shiki.

The main shrine enshrines Susano, but also his wife, Kushinada, and her parents, Ashinazuchi, and Tenazuchi.

Behind the main hall is a Miho Shrine, and to the east and west of the main hall are shrines enshrining various offspring of Susanoo, so the shrine is unusual in being surrounded by shrines in the 4 directions.

The current main hall dates to 1861.

The shrine is said to have 7 special sights, including a huge sugi tree.

Most unusual, perhaps, is the salt well. It is said that when the sea is at high tide the water from the spring is seawater, however, sciebtists have dispelled that story and explin the saltiness by natural causes.

Outside the grounds, but on the approach to the shrine, are another two shrines, an Itsukushima Shrine enshring the three munakata princesses, daughters of Susanoo, and a Suga Shrine, another shrine enshrining Susanoo that has many branches around Japan.

The honden was rebuilt by Harhisa Amago in 1554, and is relatively large, but n 14th cetury documents it was 4 times the size.

The honden has undergone periodic repairs and renovation about every 30 years.

A renovation is currently taking place.

The shrine is considered a "power spot" and is quite popular, though being off the beaten track and not near a railway it is relatively quiet.

The previous post was on the previous afternoons walk.

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