Wakamiya Hachimansha, Yasaka Shrine, Kifune Shrine, & Yatate Shrine

 

After leaving the delightful Komo Shrine in the early morning of my 6th day walking the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage, the next section of my walk headed pretty much due East.

As usual, I stopped in at any shrines I passed. The first was called Wakamiya Hachimansha, and curiously the main kami was Emperor Nintoku. In 1908 a whole bunch of other kami were jointly enshrined, including Amaterasu, Susano, Takitsuhime, Ichikishimahime, and Kotoshironushi. I also saw a small Inari shrine in the grounds.

Next stop was a Yasaka Shrine.

Enshrining, of course, Susano and members of his family. Yasaka is the post-Meiji name for many different shrines, one of the most common names being Gion-Sha. No mention on the signboard what the old name was.

No mention of the secondary shrine in the grounds, but the early morning sun made for some striking photos.

The third shrine was a Kifune Shrine, a branch of the famous Kifune Shrine (Kibune Shrine) in the north of Kyoto.

It was located right next to a 6th-century burial mound.

When I first came to Japan, I read that Shinto had an aversion to death, and yet  I started to discover many ancient tombs had shrines built next to them...

Once again, the signboards gave no info on dates, history, or other shrines in the grounds.

The final shrine was Yatate Shrine, the largest of the group.

It is also known as Daikongawa Shrine.

In 720, Otomo no Tabito led an army of imperial and Usa Hachiman troops against the Kumaso in southern Kyushu. He planted arrows in the ground and prayed at this spot for victory.

In 725 a Hachiman shrine was established here and was made one of 8 shrines of an Imperial procession.

In 765, the reed pillow of the ritual from Komo Shrine visits here on its procession to the eight "outer shrines".

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Kyushu Fudo Myoo Pilgrimage was on the large and impressive Komo Shrine.

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 It will not be published or made public.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 most recent posts.

Nishoyamada Shrine

 

Nishoyamada Shrine, located next to Kanyoji Temple, the next temple on the Chugoku Pilgrimage for me, has a delightful, long approach with plenty of Autumn colours....

The shrine was created in 1907 by the merging of two shrines,  Nisho Daimyojin and Yamada Gonzensha

This was at the peak of the governments program to drastically reduce the number of shrines in the country.

Other shrines in the grounds that were moved here around the same time is a large shrine to Sugawara Michizane, commonly referred to as Tenjin. There is aaslo a small Kibune Shrine and a Gokoku Shrine, the local version of Yasukuni, the modern shrine enshrining war dead.

The Nisho Shrine was established in 899. moved in 1262, and then moved to its current location in 1674.

The primary kami are Omononushi and Yachihoko, which is curious as they are both aliases of Okuninushi.

Secondary kami associated with the former Nisho Shrine are Sukunahikona, Susano, Kagutsuchi, Kotoshironushi, Ichikishimahime, and Kakinomoto Hitomaro. Most are considered the Izumo pantheon, though Kakinomoto is a curiosity.

Yamada Shrine was established in 1292, but a theory is that it existed much earlier as a clan shrine and in the 13th century was made a branch of Ise Shrines.

The primary kami are Amaterasu and Toyoke.

The secondary kami are Amenokoyane, Ukemochi, and Sarutahiko. Okuninushi and Susano are also listed as secondary kami of the former Yamada Shrine.

In 1906 the head priest started manufacturing omikuji as a source of income and now the company produces 70% of all omikuji in Japan. They also invented the machines for dispensing omikuji at unmanned shrines. Omikuji were originally something developed in Tendai temples connected with Kannon, and during the Edo Period spread by Yin Yang diviners. Shrines started to promote them around the early 20th century

The shrine is located in Shunan City, Yamaguchi, though actually it is quite a remote area in the mountains about 25k north of Tokuyama.

It is close to the expressway, and there is an infrequent bus from Tokuyama that comes to the temple next door.

The previous post was on the glorious walk up the river to get here.

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 most recent posts.

Kibune Shrine, Bungokawachi

The Kibune shrine in Bungokawachi on the western side of the Kunisaki Peninsula is one of about 500 branch shrines of the Kifune Shrine just north of Kyoto. Curiously another 2 Kibune shrines are within a kilometer of this one.

Inside the main building was a fine red Oni mask, a pair of nice wooden zuijin, and a wonderful ceiling of paintings, many of which seemed quite recent.

The main kami of Kibune shrines are Takaokami and Kuraokami, formed from the blood of Izanagis sword after he slew the kami of fire that burned Izanami to death. They are both associated with water.

There is a small Inari shrine to the rear.

Iwasaki Shrine, Usa.

In November of 2012 I went for a 5 day walk around and over the Kunisaki Peninsula, one of my favorite areas in Japan. I had been wanting to walk an old Shugendo pilgrimage route, but at that time had not yet found a reliable map of the route, however I did know that it started from Usa Jingu and headed east towards the peninsula and that is the route I followed.

Several hours into the walk I was approaching Usa Station and came upon Iwasaki Shrine. There was no information board at the shrine but I have been able to dig up a little info.

It was founded in 723 and the list of main kami is headed by Ojin and Jingu, and yet curiously its not called a hachimangu.

There are a lot of secondary shrines in the grounds, including Kibune, Konpira, Sugawara, Inari, and Izumo.
























When I have finished all the posts on this walk I will post a chronological list, but for now all posts with kunisaki fall will suffice

Hachizu Shrine

After leaving Usa Hachimangu and heading towards the Kunisaki Peninsula I chose to avoid the main road and instead headed through the back roads through the village of Hachizu where I stopped in at Hachizu Shrine.

There is a very unusual mix of kami enshrined here, the primary being Amenominakanushi, by some accounts the first kami to come into being, yet very little is known or written about him. There were apparently no ancient shrines deicated to him, but in the Meiji era when the buddhas and kami were seperated, many shrines chose to rename Myoken, the deity of the North Star, Amenominakanushi....

The next is Yaekotoshironushi, another version of the name Kotoshironushi, the son of Okuninushi and now more commonly equated with Ebisu. Then there is the pair of kami Mikahayahi and Hihahayahi who who created out of blood dripping from the sword that Izanagi used to kill the god of fire. Finally there is Uganomitama, the female aspect of Inari.

I am guessing that the pile of rice straw is to make new shimenawa. Secondary shrines within the grounds include Kibune, Tenjin, Konpira, Gion, Inari, Dosojin, and Wakamiya.