Showing posts with label chugoku33. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chugoku33. Show all posts

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Takano Shrine Ninomiya of Mimasaka

 


Takano Shrine is located on the Izumo Kaido to the west of Tsuyama City on the banks of the Yoshii River.


It is the Ninomiya, the second-highest ranked shrine, of the former province of Mimasaka which is now northern Okayama prefecture.


Said to have been founded in the mid 6th century, the shrine was supported by the Mori Clan when they ruled the area. The current main building was built in 1663 by the 2nd Lord of the Tsuyama Domain. It is built in the local Nakayama-zukuri style.


The shrine is the source of several nationally recognized Important Cultural properties, including a pair of small, wooden komainu dating to the early 9th century, and a pair of wooden Zuijin statues dated to 1125. These are all now in a museum and can't be seen here.



The main kami enshrined here is Ugayafukiaezu from the Hyuga Myth Cycle, father of the mythical first emperor Jimmu.


Also enshrined is Kagamitsukuri no kami, the main kami from the Ichinomiya not too far away, and Onamuchi, one of the names of Okuninushi.


Being such an ancient and major shrine, there are numerous secondary shrines in the grounds including a Kojin shrine, an Awashima Shrine, and a Hachiman shrine. A lower shrine hall enshrines a Hirose shrine, Tokuo shrine, Fukai shrine, Urushiwaka shrine, and a Kunishi shrine.


The previous post in this series on my fifth day walking the Chugoku Kannon pilgrimage was on Soja Shrine.


Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Mimasaka Soja Shrine

 


Soja shrines were often established close to government headquarters in ancient Japan as one of the governor's duties was to offer prayers at all the shrines in his district.


For convenience, all the kami from the outlying shrines were gathered together in one place hence making the officials jobs much easier. Such was the case of this shrine in Tsuyama.


According to the shrine history, it was established first further to the west and enshrined Okuninushi. A year later when the Kokufu was established the shrine was moved here and the kami from all 65 village shrines in Mimasaka were brought here.


After the Kokufu became replaced by warrior rule the local warlords continued to support the shrine with grants of land.


The current main building was built by Motonari Mori in 1562 and it was extensively repaired in the mid 17th century.


The shrine is built in the Nakayama-zukuri style, unique to this area. In the early 20th century it was made a National Treasure but has since been downgraded to an Important Cultural Property.


The previous post in this series on the fifth day of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the nearby Nakayama Shrine, the ichinomiya of the province.


Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Nakayama Shrine

 


It is said that the torii at Nakayama Shrine is unique. At the time of my visit i didn't notice, but now I can see it.


An Ox statue usually signifies Tenjin, the deified spirit of Sugawara Michizane, and he is not one of the main kami enshrined here, but there must be a secondary Tenjin shrine.


Nakayama Shrine is located north of Tsuyama in the area of Ichinomiya, so named because the shrine was the ichinomiya, highest-ranked shrine, in Mimasaka Province.


The Shinmon gate was relocated here from Tsuyama Castle when the castle was dismantled in the early Meiji Period.


Nakayama Shrine was founded in 707. For much of its history it was known as Chuzen Shrine.


The three main kami enshrined are Kagamitsukuri no kami, Ame no nukado no kami, and Ishikori-dome no mikoto, with the first and third of these being associated wit mirrors. In the meiji period the names were changed but then changed back after 1946.


The shrine was destroyed by the Amago Clan in 1533 when they invaded and took over the territory.


Amago Haruhisa rebuilt the shrine in 1559.


The main buildings date from this time and are considered to be nakayama-zukuri, a style unique to the immediate vicinity.


The previous post was Tsuyama Snapshots, photos taken on my way to the shrine.


A large sacred keyaki tree, zelkova in English, is said to be 800 years old. It has a trunk diameter of 8 meters.


Sunday, August 13, 2023

Tsuyama Snapshots

 


Early August, 2014, and I set off from my hotel and start the fifth day of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. I will walk north out of Tsuyama and then head west. I had celebrated my 60th birthday recently, and while walking with a heavy backpack in the hot and humid weather was not exactly fun, it was certainly bearable,  now nine years later I cannot imagine doing it today. Near the hotel I passed a small roadside Inari Shrine.


The Yoshii River runs along the southern edge of Tsuyama.


With the early morning light, the impressive ruins of Tsuyama castle were clearer.


Near the station is the Tsuyama Manabi Railway Museum hosed in an old Roundhouse with turntable. I believe the museum has been somewhat improved since I was there, and there is a single steam locomotive and about a dozen other trains most dating back to the 1960's and 70's. Quite nostalgic as I was a trainspotter myself till I became a teenager.


My guess would be that this abandoned building was once a ryokan.


This area, formerly Mimasaka Province, has many legends and stories of Kappa, the mythical water sprite, and the main street of Tsuyama has a series of small statues depicting them.


The previous post was the historic Kajimura Residence I visited at the end of the previous day.

Friday, June 16, 2023

Kajimura Residence Tsuyama

 


The former Kajimura Residence in the Joto Historic District along the Izumo Kaido in Tsuyama is now known as Joto Mukashi Machiya which basically means "Joto Old Townhouse".


It is open to the public for free as a kind of local history museum.


The original structure dates back to the Edo Period but some of the other buildings were built in subsequent times up to the 20th century.


The storehouses have been turned into museums with typical glass cases displaying historic artifacts.


The garden is quite large and includes two teahouses, one of which can be looked into.


The wealthy merchant family who lived here operated a kind of bank. According to the class system, samurai were at the top, and merchants were at the bottom, below farmers and artisans.


However, as the Edo Period progressed many samurai became poorer and poorer and merchants became wealthy, and in return for financially supporting the samurai were given marks of status reserved technically only for the samurai.


The garden is also recognized nationally, and combined with the teahouse makes this traditional property well worth a visit.


The previous post in this series on Tsuyama while walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was  the Joto Preservation District.


Friday, June 9, 2023

Joto Historical District Tsuyama

 


Dentoteki Kenzobutsu-gun is a category of historic preservation in Japan that translates as "groups of traditional buildings" and there are currently more than 120 of these groups scattered throughout Japan but for brevity's sake I refer to them as either Preservation Districts or Historic Streetscapes.


In recent years I have become more intrigued by them and have sought out some of the more remote examples on my walks around western Japan.


Tsuyama in the mountains of central Okayama Prefecture was a former castle town that is home to two of these Preservation Districts, the more well-known one called Joto.


It's about 1.2 kilometers of the old Izumo Kaido that connected Izumo with the old capital area of Kyoto and Osaka and hence on to Edo.


It was a popular road used by pilgrims visiting Izumo Taisha and had many inns for travellers as well as a wide variety of commercial properties, some of which remain today.


Mostly machiya, traditional townhouses, with many having namako-kabe, literally "sea cucumber walls". the diagonal dark tiles with raised white grouted joints that reminded people of sea cucumbers, as well as  koshiirimado and mushikomado latticed windows.


Theer are, of course, the obligatory sake breweries, as well as shops selling traditional confectionary, including the local specialty kirigasane, and local varieties of tofu, and shops selling tradional craft products using local indigo dye. There are also cafes, restaurants, and teahouses.


Several;properties  are open as museums including the Archives of Western Learning dedicated to local men who introduced various aspects of western knowledge into the area. The biggest open house I will cover in the next post.


Overall it's not a bad street to wander, with lots of traditional architecture without becoming too over touristy.


This was the end of my 4th day walking along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and Tsuyama had struck me as being well worth another visit when I have the time to explore more. The previous post was the Chiyo Inari Shrine below Tsuyama Castle.