Mononobe Shrine

By mid afternoon on the second day of my walk along the Iwami Mandala Kannon Pilgrimage, I came to Mononobe Shrine, the Ichinomiya (highest-ranked shrine) of old Iwami province.

The first time I came here I was struck by the huge Chigi on top of the roof. Originally used to help stabilize thatched roofs, on shrines they are now only decorative, but fulfill a symbolic function. If the ends of the cross pieces are cut vertically, like here, then the kami enshrined is male. Conversely, a horizontal cut means a female kami.

The ema. votive plaques, are not the usual 5-sided shape, but in the shape of a rice scoop. Called sukuu in Japanese, sukuu also means "save" as in salvation. The temizuya is also distinctive, carved out of a massive rock and adorned with carvings.

The main kami enshrined here is Umashimade no mikoto, the ancestor of the Mononobe clan, considered by some to be the precursor to the samurai. Umashimade was made head of the Imperial Guard by the mythical first emperor Jimmu. Umashimade's tomb is on the hillside above the shrine.

For more about why he was here and the fascinating history of the Mononobe, I will save until the next post

Manhole Horses

There is archeological evidence that horses have been in Japan for thousands of years, however the earliest records of Japan by the Chinese in the third century say that Japan did not have any horses. It is known that horses were introduced from Korea in the 4-5th centuries and this seems to be from when most Japanese horses are descended. The above manhole is from Mochizuki, a small town in Nagano. The area bred and raised horses for the Imperial court since ancient times.

Kushima, at the southern tip of Miyazaki, is home to a breed of wild pony, the Misaki Pony, considered a Japanese breed. They live on Cape Toi and are a tourist attraction. there are about 100 of them. Misaki means "cape".

This final one is from Ishigaki Island in Okinawa, and other than the fact that the area offers horse riding as an attraction I can find no explanation for the horse on their manhole design.