Yutoku Inari Shrine Part 1 Down Below

 

Yutoku Inari Shrine near Kashima in Saga is considered one of the three great Inari shrines of Japan.

Though not so easy to access it still gets more than three million visitors a year.

The approach road to the shrine is flanked by a pair of giant lanterns and then a large torii straddles the street of souvenir shops that line the entrance.

The shrine was founded in 1687 by the wife of the Nabeshima Lord who ruled the area, and was operated as their family shrine.

The Romon, main gate, is particularly colorful and decorative and so the shrine has earned the nickname of " The Nikko of Kyushu".

The main hall of the shrine is built upon an 18 meter high platform exending from the hillside, similar to the famous Kiyimziudera temple in Kyoto.

Iwasaki Shrine at the base of the platform is dedicated to those seeking love.

Steps lead up to the main hall, though on a more recent visit I noticed a new elevator in a glass structure.

There is a formal Japanese garden outside the main entrance, and across the valley is the park-like outer garden with many observation points to view the shrine complex. When the azaleas are in bloom in the spring it is very colorful.

The shrine also has a museum containing armour and other historical artifacts from the Nabeshima.

I have visited twice and on both occasions there were few visitors. When the azaleas bloom and when the shrine holds festivals I suspect it gets busier.

In part two I show details of the main hall and the "tunnels" of torii that lead up to the okunoin.

I took a small detour to visit Yutoku Inari while walking day 59 of the Kyushu Pilgrimage.

Part 2 Yutoku Inari Up Above. 14 more photos....

Chiyo Inari Shrine Tsuyama

Chiyo Inari Shrine Tsuyama

Chiyo Inari Shrine is literally right at the base of the massive stone fortifications that made up Tsuyama Castle.

It was originally a sub-shrine of Tsuyama Hachimangu which stood on the hill, and is said to have been founded in 934, but when the Mori Clan took over the domain and started constructing the castle in 1604 it was moved.

Actually it was moved several times but in 1683 made its final move to the current location.

Being an Inari shrine, the guardians are foxes, with red hats and scarves rather than bibs.

I visited at the end of July and a Chinow was in place inside the torii. These purification hoops can be found at different times of the year nowadays, but as I encountered one a few days earlier it seems that this time of the year is the norm in Okayama.

The roosters on the ema suggest they have been hanging there for nine years.

The main hall dates back to when the shrine was moved here in 1683 and is an Important Cultural Property of the city.

The Hanya carving is quite unusual and is there for protection.

As is common at Inari shrines, there are a lot of smaller, Inari shrines in the grounds.

I visited on the 4th day of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage and the previous post in the series is Tsuyama Castle.

Kozugu Shrine

Japan Shrines

Osaka is rarely seen as a major tourist destination, especially compare with it nearby neighbour, Kyoto, but actually, Osaka is a more historic city except that it was completely flattened during WWII and the subsequent postwar development, whereas Kyoto escaped the war completely.

Kozu Shrine was originally founded just a few years after Kyoto was established as the new capital. Emperor Seiwa established the shrine at what was believed to be the site of the palace lived in by Emperor Nintoku who is the kami enshrined here.

There is almost no verifiable history about Nintoku although the largest keyhole tomb in all of Japan is said to be his. He was a son of Ojin who was apparently a new lineage of "emperors" around the 4th or 5th centuries and who were based in what is now the Osaka area.

The shrine was moved to its current location from its original by Hideyoshi in the late 16th century when he was building Osaka Castle.

There is a large Inari shrine within the grounds that is very popular, and the shrine is known for its rakugo performances.

It is located just across from the small Houonin Temple that I visited on my second day of walking along the Kinki Fudo Myo pilgrimage.

The Shitennoji and Tennoji areas of Osaka that I had been walking through have a surprisingly large number of historic shrines and temples, though they are all modern rebuildings.

Ramune

Funatama Shrine & Tamahime Inari Shrine

 

Funatama and Tamahime Inari are a set of small hokora shrines found along the Nakahechi route of the Kumano Kodo. They lie on the Otonashi River, one of the three rivers that meet at Hongu, the centre of the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes and shrines.

According to the founding myth, a kami watched as a spider was drowning in the floodwaters nearby. The kami threw some leaves into the water and the spider climbed on one and paddled to safety. This gave the kami the idea of a boat, ad so he carved a dugout canoe from a tree. This was the creation of the first boat.

The shrine became nationally famous around the end of the Edo Period through a popular folk song. It is believed that around this time the Inari shrine was established.

I visited on day 3 of my walk along the Saigoku Pilgrimage in early March, and was surprised that so many of the New Year decorations were still up.

Although Inari is most commonly associated with rice-growing, there is in fact an uncountable number of different Inaris. I believe this one came originally from somewhere in Nara and is associated with men and women.

Kosenji Temple number 42 on the Kyushu Pilgrimage

Hachimanyama Kosenji Temple is at the eastern end of the Ebino Valley in the higjlands around the Kirishima Montains in Miyazaki. It is number 42 on the 108 Shingon temple pilgrimage on Kyushu.

It is a fairly modern temple founded in the early Taisho era, so is about 100 years old. I'm no expert, but it seems that the Gingko trees were a little older than that.

It has an unusual hnzon, a statue of Dainchi riding a cow, though I didn't get to see it. Also unusual for the Kyushu pilgrimage is an actual Daishi-do.

There was quite a bit of interesting statuary which I will post on later, and also one building had quite a few masks on display, severa; of which were from the Iwami Kagura tradition.

Nishiyama Inari Shrine, Sakate, Shodoshima

By the afternoon of my first day walking the Shodoshima Pilgrimage I had done a loop around the peninsula, passed my ryokan, and crossed over a narrow isthmus to Sakate where a group of mountaintop temples awaited me.

This line of vermillion torii led to a small Inari shrine. If you only consider shrines big enough to have buildings, then Hachiman shrines are the most common in Japan, but if you include smaller shrines then Inari is the most common.

Inari shrines became popular relatively late, in the Edo Period. Inari is not mentioned in the so-called ancient chronicles of Kojiki and Nihongi, but in the Meiji period it was decided that the identity of Inari was Ukanomitama  and so officially that is the identity listed although in reality Inari has countless forms and associations.

The tunnels of red torii and statues of kitsune, foxes, are two common things associated with Inari shrines....

Utono Inari Shrine

Utono Inari Shrine is within the grounds of Usuki Castle ruins.

The Utono Gate used to lead down to the sea but the island the castle was on is now completly landlocked by infill and development.

The shrine was built at the same time as the castle, 1562, by Otomo Sorin who moved his base here from Funai.

As such it was probably a private shrine and not open to the public, like Taikodani Inari in Tsuwano.