Kotohira Shrine, Imbe Shrine, & more Tanuki Shrines

 

The Kotohira Shrine on the hillside overlooking the southern part of Tokushima City was relocated to this spot in 1616 by Hachisuka Iemasa as a tutelary shrine of Tokushima Castle.

At the bottom of the hill by the steps leading up to the shrine is the largest stone lantern in all of Japan. Standing 9.8 meters tall, 10.24 including the base, it was created in 1839.

It was donated  primarily by Indigo merchants.

In the grounds of the shrine are a couple of ceramic lanterns which reminded me of Tozan Shrine in Arita.

Like all Kotohira Shrines, it was called Konpira until Meiji when the name and the kami were changedto fit the new national ideology. All Konpira/Kotohira shrines are branches of the original not too far away in Kagawa.

There are numerous secondary shrines within the grounds, including several shrines to Tanuki, including Oyotsu Daimyojin which seems to be the most well known.

There are dozens of shrines to Tanuki in the Tokushima area, including several I visited earlier in the day at the Hachiman Shrine.

All the structures on the hillside were burned down during bombing raids of WWII and so are fairly recent, concrete, reconstructions.

A little above the Kotohira Shrine is an Imbe Shrine, which has ancient roots but was only located here in the late 19th century.

The Imbe were a powerful clan in ancient Japan and ruled over this part of Shikoku.

They were producers of hemp and nowadays still produce hemp for use in Imperial rituals.

The original shrine was lost in history, but several nearby shrines claimed to be the original.

The government made a decision and established the shrine here, although it was temporarily located within the Kotohira Shrine.

Soem sources claim the kami enshrined is Futodama, but other sources say it is Amenohiwashi. The Imbe wrote the 9th century Kogoshui, which offers an alternative version of some of the history written by the Nakatomi in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki.

The previous post in this series on Tokushima City was on the large Kannonji Temple down below the shrines.

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Oasahiko Shrine

A more than 15 meters tall torii marks the beginning of the 800 meter long approach road to Oasahiko Shrine. The road itself is lined with dozens of stone lanterns.

 

The exact date of the shrines founding is unkown, but it is listed in the Engishiki of the early tenth century, and the shrine grew in importance during the next millenium.

In the middle of the main shrines compound is a huge Camphor tree believed to be over 1,000 years old.

 

The main kami enshrined here are Oasahiko no Okami and Sarutahiko. Oasahiko is the enshrined name of Ame no Tomi, an ancestor of the Imbe clan who was sent by the mythical Emperor Jimmu to find land suitable for hemp cultivation.

Hemp was a very important plant in Japan until Shogun Macarthur outlawed it during the occupation.

Hemp is not mentioned at all at the shrine, and in fact the importance of hemp in Japan has been almost completely removed from history.

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Teono Shrine

Teono Shrine is situated atop a small hill, Honozan, between Izumo taisha and Inasa Beach. The 2 kami enshrined here are Taokihooi, a god of measuring, and Hikosashiri, a god of carpentry. They are considered to be the ancestors of 2 branches of the Imbe Clan, and in the Kogoshui version of the Iwato myth the 2 were charged with the construction of a "great palace" outside of the cave that Amaterasu was hiding in. Some consider this to be the first kagura den. Most likely this was the shrine for the builders of Izumo Taisha.

Behind the shrine is a sacred tree home to Shirohebi Daijin, I suspect the site of a visit by a white snake, considered particularly portentious.

Next to the shrine is a small park with an observation tower offering views over the surrounding country. The long beach is Nagahama, and according to the Kunibiki myth it is a rope that tethers this peninsular to Mount Sanbe, just visible in the distance.

Much of the land down below would have been water 100 years ago. Lake Shinji has been reduced by over one third and land reclaimed earlier in the twentieth Century. The Hi River once emptied into the sea here but now empties into what is left of lake Shinj. 10,000 years ago this peninsular was an island separated from the mainland.

Downtown Izumo City in the distance. The plastic greenhouses in the forground are for grapes for the Shimane Winery.