Wakamiya Hachimansha, Yasaka Shrine, Kifune Shrine, & Yatate Shrine

 

After leaving the delightful Komo Shrine in the early morning of my 6th day walking the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage, the next section of my walk headed pretty much due East.

As usual, I stopped in at any shrines I passed. The first was called Wakamiya Hachimansha, and curiously the main kami was Emperor Nintoku. In 1908 a whole bunch of other kami were jointly enshrined, including Amaterasu, Susano, Takitsuhime, Ichikishimahime, and Kotoshironushi. I also saw a small Inari shrine in the grounds.

Next stop was a Yasaka Shrine.

Enshrining, of course, Susano and members of his family. Yasaka is the post-Meiji name for many different shrines, one of the most common names being Gion-Sha. No mention on the signboard what the old name was.

No mention of the secondary shrine in the grounds, but the early morning sun made for some striking photos.

The third shrine was a Kifune Shrine, a branch of the famous Kifune Shrine (Kibune Shrine) in the north of Kyoto.

It was located right next to a 6th-century burial mound.

When I first came to Japan, I read that Shinto had an aversion to death, and yet  I started to discover many ancient tombs had shrines built next to them...

Once again, the signboards gave no info on dates, history, or other shrines in the grounds.

The final shrine was Yatate Shrine, the largest of the group.

It is also known as Daikongawa Shrine.

In 720, Otomo no Tabito led an army of imperial and Usa Hachiman troops against the Kumaso in southern Kyushu. He planted arrows in the ground and prayed at this spot for victory.

In 725 a Hachiman shrine was established here and was made one of 8 shrines of an Imperial procession.

In 765, the reed pillow of the ritual from Komo Shrine visits here on its procession to the eight "outer shrines".

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage was on the large and impressive Komo Shrine.

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Namba Yasaka Shrine

 

The Yasaka Shrine in Namba, Osaka, has become well known for its distinctive kaguraden shaped like a Komainu's head.

Though there are no records, the shrine claims to have been established during the reign of Emperor Nintoku in the 4th century. Nintoku is one of those emperors that probably existed, but at least a century later.

It was known in ancient times as Namba Shimonomiya.

Like many Yasaka Shrines it was, until Meiji, a temple-shrine complex and during the late Heian Period was connected to Gozu Tenno, an epidemic fighting deity with nunerous origin stories.

The version I prefer is the one that has Gozu Tenno brought to Japan from Sila by the Hata Clan.

Gozu Tenno was the deity of Gion-sha, the home of the Gion Matsuri and a common name of many Yasaka Shrines before Meiji.

From the Kamakura Period onwards, Gozu Tenno became conflated with Susano, which is the deity now enshrined in all Yasaka Shrines, along with his wife, Kushinada, and their eight children.

There are numerous secondary shrines in the grounds.

The shrine-temple complex burned down numerous times, usually because of war, with the most recent destruction being during WWII.

The current buildings date to the 1970's.

The most interesting structure is called a Shishi-den, but to me it looks like a komainu.

Various performances take place in it, so that would make it a kagura-den by my calculation..

Over the last ten years or so it has become an "instagrammable" spot and is much more popular than it used to be...

The previous post on the architecture and sights of Namba was on Namba Parks

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Iinoura Coast

 

The first settlement on the coast in Shimane after entering from Yamaguchi Prefecture is Iinoura.

I started here on day 33 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. The pilgrimage has taken me through Okayama, Hiroshima, and now Yamaguchi, so only two prefectures to go.... my home prefecture of Shimane, and then Tottori.

First stop was the local shrine, a Hachimangu. Like many shrines along this coast, it was necessary to cross the railway tracks between the entrance and the main building.

The Hachiman triad are Ojin, Jingu, and Tamayorihime. Seconday kami are a pretty complete subset of Izumo kami, including Susano, Okuninushi, Kotoshironushi (Ebisu), Ukanomitama (Inari), and Ichishimahime.

From Iinoura, a narrow road winds around the steep headland known as the Iinoura Coast.

About 1.2 kilometers offshore is Sansho Island. In 1904, locals planted trees on the island to celebrate the victory over Russia in the war. The saplings all died, but locals tried again to no avail.

The small harbour of Iinoura.....

Looking up the coast to where I will be heading......

As with people all over the world, the japanese name rocks and formations after what they look like. The dark rock in the centre-left of the above photo is called Ningyo Iwa, Doll Rock, but I don't see it myself.

Around this small Buddha statue were numerous large signboards. Apparently, there used to be a grave up above the road. It was for a man called Taga Korebe, who died in 1619, and stipulated in his will that he wanted to be buried where he could see the Korean Peninsula in its entirety.

He was a sea captain employed by the Kamei Clan in what is now Tottori, and made many trade journeys to Korea, Okinawa, China, and Taiwan on behalf of the clan. Exports were swords, copper, folding screens, and lacquerware. Imports were Silk fabrics, cotton, ceramics, medicines, and books. When the Kamei took over the Tsuwano Domain, he came with them and was made headman of Iinoura.

The final photo is of Miyaga Island and its Ebisu Shrine, the subject of the next post in the series.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the Itsukushima Shrine in Esaki.

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Iwanaga Hachimangu

 

A little further along the road to Akiyoshidai after visiting the Hirohata Hachiman Shrine, yet another large hachiman shrine appeared.

Iwanaga Hachimangu had a very long approach with numerous torii....

It is claimed to be the oldest shrine in the area, being founded in 715.

The curious thing is they say it was enshrined from Hyuga, now Miyazaki. All the other Hachiman shrines in western Honshu at around that time are enshrined from Usa. Usa was the original Hachiman shrine and as the cult spread to Honshu due to the association of Hachiman with the founding of the Great Buddha at Nara, it gradually became a national cult.

However, before it spread to Honshu, it had spread somewhat around Kyushu. I came across a couple of Hachiman shrines in southern Fukuoka that had been established very early on. However, I had not found one in Miyazaki. The head priestess of Usa Hachiman had led an army earlier to suppress "revolt" in the southern part of Kyushu, so maybe that explains it.

Like many shrines, this one has been relocated several times, although the exact dates are unknown. It changed its name to Iwanaga in 1922, but it is unclear what it was called before.

Like other hachiman shrines in the area, the kami selection is Ojin, Jingu, and the three Munakata princesses.

Within the grounds is a Tenmangu, and an Arajinja enshrining Susanoo.

In the 1980's a small kofun with an unusual stone-lined coffin chamber was excavated nearby. It was relocated the shrine grounds to keep it safe from the expanding limestone mining.

The final photo shows a quite common feature at many shrines..... a naval artillery shell!!...almost certainly dating to just after the Russo-japanese War at the start of the twentieth century.

The previous post was on another nearby hachiman Shrine, Hirohata Hachimangu.

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