Kumanohara Shrine Karatsu

 

Kumanohara Shrine is a small, but ancient shrine in what is now the Teramachi district of Karatsu in Saga.

According to the shrine legend it goes back to the mythical days of Jingu and her "invasion" of Korea.

While in this area, which at the time was pine forest, a great white light appeared and showed the direction for the sea journey to Korea, and so later some of her soldiers established Shiranui Shrine here.

Later, in the 7th century, the area was suffering an epidemic and so the locals prayed at the shrine for relief. 12 black birds with white breasts lined u in the trees at the shrine and emitted a white light, and from then on the epidemic subsided. The villagers were told the birds were messengers of the kami at Kumano and so the shrine was renamed Kumonohara.

The primary kami are therefore listed as Ketsumiko, Hayatama, and Fusumi, the three great kami of Kumano, otherwise known as Susano, Izanami, and Izanagi.

Also enshrined is Sarutahiko, Oyamatsumi, Ojin, and the spirit of Goro Kanda, a local ruler from the 8th Century. Within the grounds are an Awashima Shrine, and an Inari Shrine, which unusually has komainu rather than fox guardian statues

The previous post was on Daishoin the temple next door.

Kurokami Shrine

 

I came down Mount Kurokami along a walking trail and as it got closer to the base passed though an old, Hizen-style torii, indicating this was the route used to reach the shrine at the peak.

There was another, slightly smaller torii where the trail emerged from the trees into the countryside. According to the sign it was built in the late 18th century.

Not far away I reached the entrance to Kurokami Shrine. Technically this is Lower Kurokami Shrine, and the one on top of the mountain the Upper Kurokami Shrine.

The approach to the shrine passes over a small bridge. This was the ancient and traditional way of purifying before entering shrine space. passing over running water. If you look at many of the oldest shrines they all have this feature.

There were lots of people in suits and kimonos milling around, and several priests.

A Shinto wedding had just taken place. Shinto weddings are one of the many "traditions" that were either invented in the modern period or moved to within shrines in the modern period. Christian weddings have a much longer history in Japan than Shinto weddings.

The shrine is said to have been founded in ancient times, but the shrine history recognizes the huge impact Kumano Shugendo had on the shrine, including listing the Buddhas connected to it.

The upper shrine enshrines Izanami as well as Hayatama and Kotosaka. The secondary shrine at the top of the mountain is a Hakusan Shrine enshrining Izanagi.

Secondary shrines here at the lower shrine include a Tenjin, Taga, and a Konpira.

At the peak of its power, Kurokami had 50 branch  shrines. It was popular with samurai during the Warring States period and a yabusame event is held here once a year.

There is also a secondary shrine to Amaterasu, though I am certain that is very much a modern addition, as is the Ise-style architecture.

The previous post was on the giant cliff carving of Fudo high up on the mountain.

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.

Matsubase Shrine

 

Matsubase is a small town in Kumamoto that I reached in the afternoon of my 45th day walking around Kyushu. Matsubase Shrine is the main shrine in the centre of town.

Known through most of history as Matsubase Gongen, the shrine now enshrines Izanami, Hayatamao, and Kotosakano.

The gingko trees and a few maple were nice with their color, but the most impressive tree was a giant camphor tree said to be over 800 years old. Camphor trees seem to be the sacred tree of choice at shrines in Kyushu.

Not far from the shrine was the next building in the Kumamoto Artpolis project for me to check out......

Kumano Sansho Omiwasha

I started my walk along the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage in Nachi on the south coast of Wakayama. The first temple is Seigantoji at the famous Nachi Falls, and for the first 8 days the Saigoku Pilgrimage follows the Kumano Kodo.

Just across from the station in Nachi is Kumano Sansho Omiwasha, a subsidiary shrine of Nachi Taisha, and right next door to Fudurakusanji, the temple it was a part of until the separation of shrines and temples in early Meiji.

People would stop at the shrine to purify before heading next door to the temple and then on up the valley to the falls.

The three kami enshrined here are the three Kumano kami enshrined at Nachi, Shingu, and Hongu, Fusumi no okami, Hayatamano, and Ketsumiko no mikoto.

Sada Shrine

Sada Shrine, located north of Matsue, was once the most important shrine in the Izumo region. Enshrined in the central honden are 5 kami, the main one being Sadano Okami, along with Izanagi and Izanami, and the pair Hayatamano and Kotosakano. Izanagi and Izanami are well known, and in Izumo, Hayatamano and Kotosakano, 2 kami associated with the "divorce" of Izanagi and Izanami are also fairly common. Little is known of the main kami though except he is known as the protector of the Shimane Peninsula. He was born in a nearby sea cave called kaganokukedo and some posts on that can be found here.

The right (north) honden enshrines the Imperial kami: Amaterasu, and her grandson Ninigi. The left honden enshrines Susano, and something called Hisetsu Yonchu, which I think means "hidden four poles", about which I can find no information.

Sada Shrine is one of the many shrines where the mass kami of Japan arrive in November during kamiarizuki, though it is widely reported that they all go to Izumo Taisha.

Sada Shrine is also home to the UNESCO registered Sada Shin Noh. a form of Noh-influenced kagura that is believed to have influenced satokagura nationwide.

When I first explored this area many years ago I found it interesting to klearn that the earliest known yayoi site in Izumo was found in this valley indicating perhaps that this is where the proto-Japanese first settled in the region which would explain Sada shrines importance.

Kumano Shrine, Honjo

Honjo is a large village on the north shore of the Nakaumi and the main village shrine was a branch of Kumano Shrine. I think this was the first shrine I had come to in the last 2 days of walking that was not either in the Izumo Fudoki nor the Engi Shiki.

The three main kami are Izanami, Hayatamano, and Kotosakano, though usually it is Izanagi associated with the other two rather than Izanami. The shrine had a small but in good condition mikoshi, fairly simple.

In the grounds was a Tenjin shrine, an Inari shrine, and an small shrine with no name.

The Inari shrine had a lot of small kitsune figures, usually white ceramic or plain stone, but also this pair of golden ones. There was also a small pair of figures, Daikoku and Ebisu.