Showing posts with label inari. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inari. Show all posts

Friday, September 13, 2024

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.


Friday, August 23, 2024

Karatsu Shrine

 


Karatsu Shrine is the main shrine of the castle town of Karatsu on the coast of Saga in northern Kyushu.


It was moved to its current site in the first years of the 17th century when the Terazawa took over the domain and started construction of nearby Karatsu Castle, though its origins goes back much further.


In 755, a local notable, Kanda Munetsugu, had a dream which told him to go to the beach and he found a wooden box washed up there. Inside it was a mirror. He determined it was the mirror left on the beach as an offering by the mythical Empress Jingu when she returned from Korea.


The shrine was established with the three Sumiyoshi kami enshrined as well as Kanda Munetsugu who was given the name Kanda Daimyojin.


The shrine was known as Karatsu Daimyojin until early Meiji when the name was changed to Karatsu Shrine.


It is the home of Karatsu Kunchi, the main festival of the town held in the first week of November and which features giant floats.


There are a lot of smaller, secondary shrines within the grounds, including three different Inari Shrines: Shiratobi Inari, Hibushi Inari, and  Shiratama Inari.
 

There is a Kotobuki-sha that enshrines Sukunahiko, and an Awashima Shrine.


There is a largish Tenmangu Shrine, a Suitengu Shrine, and an Ebisu Shrine.


Next post in the series will be on the floats of the Karatsu Kunchi festival, on display in their own exhibition hall.


I visited at the start of day 73 of my walk along the Kyushu Pilgrimage. The previous post in the series was on Karatsu Castle.


Saturday, August 17, 2024

Kiyama Temple a remnant of Shinbutsu

 


Kiyama Temple is located at more than 400 meters above sea level on a mountain in the northern part of Okayama prefecture.


With a large torii at the entrance one might be forgiven for thinking that it was a shrine, and not a temple, but it is an example of what was very common in the old days, a religious site with elements of both Buddhism and Shinto, Shinbutsu.


In 1868 the government decreed that Kami and Buddhas were to be separated, a process akin to unscrambling eggs. This was done for ideological and political reasons, to create a "national" religion.


Here on Kiyama, the site used to be called Kiyama-Gu, but in 1868 it became Kiyama Temple and down below a new site, Kiyama Shrine was constructed. I covered Kiyama Shrine in a post with 24 photos earlier.


The founding legend says that Kobo Daishi himself was in the area in 815. An old woodcutter guided him to the mountain and suggested it was a good spot for a temple.


Kobo Daishi recognized the man as a manifestation of Yakushi Nyorai and founded the temple here with  a Yakushi Nyorai statue.


I visited in early August after climbing up from Kiyama Shrine, and there was not another single person, visitor or staff, around the whole time I was there. Kiyama Temple is temple number 4 on the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage, and this was late on my fifth day of walking it.


The entrance is across a big lotus pond with a Benzaiten Shrine in the middle of it, photo 3. 


Benzaiten is another deity that is problematic if you want to think in terms of a distinction between Buddhism and Shinto. Originally a Hindu deity, introduced into Japan by esoteric Buddhism, she later became a kami in Shinto.


The main gate, photo 4, here called Furomon, is said to be the oldest structure at the site, though I can't find an exact date for it.


The main hall also has a big torii in front of it. As well as Yakushi Nyorai, it also enshrined the two guardian deities, Gozu Tenno, and Inari.


Gozu Tenno was the deity of Gion-sha, the origin of the famous Gion Matsuri and now called Yasaka Shrine. Some sources suggest he was originally from India by way of Tibet and China, but most suggest a Korean origin for this deity.


Long equated with Susano, in 1868 the "kami" previously known as Gozu Tenno officially became Susano.


Inari as also a problem for those who think in terms of a pure, Indigenous "shinto".


There is no mention of Inari in the Kojiki and Nihongi, the texts seen as fundamental to "native" shinto. Inari is now equated with Ukanomitama, the post-1868 identity. rior to that Inari was often equated with Dakiniten, a Buddhist deity with Indian origins.


There are actually numerous secondary, small shrines to different Inari within the grounds of Kiyama Temple.


There is also a Koshin-do, a shrine to the Koshin deity, Daoist in origin, and very popular in pre-modern Japan, the Koshin cult brought us the Three Wise Monkeys, and the Sarubobo dolls.


Pictured above, the Kannon-do with its carved reliefs looks like a shinto honden, because that is what is was until 1868. It held the shintai that were moved to the new Kiyama shrine further down he mountain.


Pictured above, the Daishi-do was originally the main hall of the temple.


As well as Kobo Daishi it also enshrines Fudo Myo and Aizen Myo


So, a very complex mix of deities at this site, indicating a much richer and more diverse religious history than a simplistic shinto-buddhist duality.


There are some other large structures within the grounds, including a large guesthouse and storehouse, yet, as I mentioned before, not a soul around.


The previous post in this series of day 5 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was Kiyama Shrine down below.


Saturday, August 10, 2024

Altars at Udono Cliff Carvings


 The Udono Sekibutsu are a set of almost 60 Buddhist relief carvings in the cliffs and caves near Ochi in Saga.


In the medieval period there was a temple here called Byodo-ji.


Much later a Shungon temple was built at the base, but now there are no temples


Scattered among the carvings however are numerous altars which are still maintained by local people.


Several Fudo Myo statues are here, not surprising really.


There is also an Inari altar set up, and also one to Daikoku and Ebisu, a pair of the seven lucky gods.


The other altars all contain an eclectic mix of statues.


Photos and details about the cliff carvings can be found in the previous post in this series on day 72 of my walk around Kyushu.