National Treasure Kamosu Shrine

National Treasure Kamosu Shrine

Day 44 of my walk along the Chugoku Pilgrimage began at Kamosu Shrine, SE of Matsue, the castle town and capital of Shimane.

Kamosu Shrine is quite famous for having a National Treasure, the honden, said to be the oldest existing piece of Taisha Zukuri, the style of architecture of Izumo Taisha and only found within Izumo Province.

Photos 9, 15, & 18 shows the honden. It is believed to date back to 1583.

The shrine has an unusual history: it is not mentioned in the Izumo Fudoki or the Engi Shiki because it was originally a private shrine of the Izumo no Kuni Miyatsuko family, the province's governors and head priests of Izumo Taisha, and it enshrined their ancestral deity, Amenohohi.

The first mention of it as a public shrine is in the early 13th century, but it is believed to have been public for some time before that.

The district where the shrine is located, Ou, contained the provincial government offices, in essence the provincial capital, and so, as governors, their family home would have been nearby.

The Six Shrines of Ou, the district where the shrine and government offices were, are Kamosu Shrine, Kumano Taisha, Manai Shrine, Yaegaki Shrine, Iya Shrine, and Rokusho Shrine, all important and interesting shrines.

Now the primary kami is Izanami, with the secondary kami being Izanagi. Not far from here, near Iya Shrine, is the entrance to Yomi, the underworld, where Izanagi fled from after visiting his wife/sister Izanami there.

There are many secondary shrines within the grounds, the largest structure belonging to the Okama Shrine. An Okama is a kind of large cauldron and Amenohohi rode an Okama when he descended here. The Okama ritual is held in December.

Other shrines include a Toshitokujin Shrine. I have found Toshitokujin shrines at several other shrines I have visited in the Izumo region but don't remember coming across them before. They enshrine an Onmyodo deity of prosperity and good fortune. Onmyodo, called Yin-Yang Theory sometimes, was very prevalent in Japan but has now been subsumed into "Shinto", as has a lot of Daoism.

There is also a Kitsuki Shrine enshrining Susanoo & Okuninushi, an Ise Shrine enshrining Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, a Kumano Shrine enshrining the three Kumano kami, an Aragami Shrine, a Toyama Shrine enshrining Ugayafukiaezu, the father of Jimmu, a Buyu Shrine enshrining Futsunushi, & a Hiroku Shrine.

The Kibune Inari Shrine enshrines both the Kibune kami Okaminokami, and the Inari kami, Ukanomitama. The structure is an Important Cultural Property as it dates to 1356, a few years older than the central pillar of the honden (main hall), a survivor of a lightning strike that destroyed the rest of the building.

If you happen to visit on the days of any of the festivals, the doors of the honden are opened and you can glimpse the brightly painted interior murals on the wall and doors.

Nearby Yaegaki Shrine has the oldest shrine murals in Japan.

The area around Kamosu Shrine contains a lot to see if you are interested in ancient history and ancient shrines.

There are a lot of kofun, burial mounds, in the area and quite a nice little museum, the Yakumotatsu Fudoki no Oka Museum with some good exhibits and tombs in the grounds,

Several of the Six Shrines of Ou are within a short walk, although in general the area is not well served with public transport but there are buses from Matsue Station to Kamosu Shrine and the Museum.

The previous posts in this series was on yesterday's walk along the shore of Lake Shinji and a visit to the interesting Nutashi Shrine.

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Sufu Kasuga Shrine & Hinoashi Hachimangu

 

Not far from Shotokuji temple and Jorinji Temple is a Kasuga Shrine with great views over Sufu and the mouth of the Sufu River.

There appear to be few existing records, but as Kasuga Shrine is the family shrine of the powerful Fujiwara family, and the local rulers claim descent from a branch of the Fujiwara family, that makes sense.

The Kasuga Daimyojin consists of Takemikazuchi, Amenokoyane, Futsunishi, and Himegami.

I was impressed with the older-style masks....

About a kilometers away near the mouth of the Sufu River, is Hinoashi Haxchimangu. This shrine does have records.

The governor of Iwami, Fujiwara no Kunikane, established the shrine as a branch of Usa hachimangu in 1114. Thirty years later the shrine was given extensive lands to support it and its festivals. It was the tutelary shrine for 16 villages. The Suo Clan, descendants of Kunikane, made it their family shrine and gave more support. When the Suo moved with the Mori to Nagato a lot of the shrines lands were confiscated.

There is a very popular Inari shrine within the grounds. Over the centuries it has been located at numerous locations.

The previous post in this series on walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage and the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage was on Jorinji Temple.

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

Hachiman Shrine Kawagoe

 

A little over a kilometer further upstream from the main part of Kawagoe village and bridge is another sizable settlement.

Called Watari on old maps it is now just part of Kawagoe but had a quite large Hachiman Shrine.

One source says it was founded in the early 11th century, which seems feasible as on the opposite bank of the river is a large temple founded even earlier.

I have been to all-night matsuris in almost all the shrines in this area, but not this one. I suspect the main shrine for Kawagoe is the new Suwa Shrine back in the main part of the village. The interior of this one did not have a tengai, the overhead canopy under which kagura is performed.

Being a Hachiman shrine, the three main enshrined kami are Emperor Ojin, his mother, Jingu, and his wife. Also enshrined here are Amenokoyane, Futsunushi, Takemikazuchi, and Ebisu.

The previous post in this series on my walk up the Gonokawa River to its source was Along the Gonokawa to Kawagoe.

Norito Shrine

 

Norito Shrine was established about 1,000 years ago when the area it is in was "developed", that is to say turned from semi-wilderness into settled agricultural land.

It is located in the Ainoura River Valley which at this point runs east to west and is in essence a suburb of Sasebo.

There is also an Inari shrine in the grounds.

Norito is an unusual name for a shrine as it is the word that refers to the ritual chants, often called prayers, that Shinto priests utter in ceremonies. prior to the Meiji era the shrine was known as Ikuhara Daimyojin.

The main kami enshrined here is Iwainushi, believed to be a version of Futsunushi, a martial deity connected to swords and Katori Shrine who was an emissary from Amaterasu to Okuninushi and is claimed as the ancestor of the Mononobe Clan and later the Nakatomi/Fujiwara.

I was heading up the valley on day 67 of my walk along the Kyushu pilgrimage after visiting Tozenji Temple.

Shrines along the way on Day 64

 

Early March, 2014, and on day 64 of my walk around Kyushu I walked from Nagasaki, up the coast of Omura Bay, to Nagaura, stopping in, as usual, to as many shrines as I passed.

In Togitsu I stopped in at a branch shrine of Yutoku Inari, and  not too long after I spied the succession of red torii on a hillside that led to a small roadside Inari Shrine.

A little further, still in Togitsu, I visited a branch of  Kumano Shrine. Enshrining Susano, Hayatamano, and Kotoshironushi.

There was not anything particularly interesting or unusual, though I did notice a sumo ring.

Further on I climbed up the steps to a branch of Katori Shrine. The shrine history has it being established in 1637, but at that time it was dedicated to Bishamonten, one of the Shitenno, four heavenly kings, of Buddhism. It became a Katori shrine in 1868.

Katori shrines enshrine Futsunushi, mythical ancestor of the Mononobe clan and linked to swords and warriors. Bishamonten was also lonked to warriors and so tye switch was kind of easy.

It also featured a small sumo ring in the grounds. I have noticed that only a few areas of Japan tend to have sumo rings in their grounds.

My final stop is marked as a shrine on the maps, has a torii and shimenawa, but enshrines Yakushi, the Medicine Buddha, and also has a statue of Amida in the grounds. Called Rurikoden, not sure why its identity is so confused, though that is not as unusual as many think. Whether something is a shrine or a temple is a somewhat arbitrary distinction made by politicians.

The previous post in the series was on Nagaura, the small fishing harbour where I spent the night.