Namba Yasaka Shrine

 

The Yasaka Shrine in Namba, Osaka, has become well known for its distinctive kaguraden shaped like a Komainu's head.

Though there are no records, the shrine claims to have been established during the reign of Emperor Nintoku in the 4th century. Nintoku is one of those emperors that probably existed, but at least a century later.

It was known in ancient times as Namba Shimonomiya.

Like many Yasaka Shrines it was, until Meiji, a temple-shrine complex and during the late Heian Period was connected to Gozu Tenno, an epidemic fighting deity with nunerous origin stories.

The version I prefer is the one that has Gozu Tenno brought to Japan from Sila by the Hata Clan.

Gozu Tenno was the deity of Gion-sha, the home of the Gion Matsuri and a common name of many Yasaka Shrines before Meiji.

From the Kamakura Period onwards, Gozu Tenno became conflated with Susano, which is the deity now enshrined in all Yasaka Shrines, along with his wife, Kushinada, and their eight children.

There are numerous secondary shrines in the grounds.

The shrine-temple complex burned down numerous times, usually because of war, with the most recent destruction being during WWII.

The current buildings date to the 1970's.

The most interesting structure is called a Shishi-den, but to me it looks like a komainu.

Various performances take place in it, so that would make it a kagura-den by my calculation..

Over the last ten years or so it has become an "instagrammable" spot and is much more popular than it used to be...

The previous post on the architecture and sights of Namba was on Namba Parks

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Sufu Kasuga Shrine & Hinoashi Hachimangu

 

Not far from Shotokuji temple and Jorinji Temple is a Kasuga Shrine with great views over Sufu and the mouth of the Sufu River.

There appear to be few existing records, but as Kasuga Shrine is the family shrine of the powerful Fujiwara family, and the local rulers claim descent from a branch of the Fujiwara family, that makes sense.

The Kasuga Daimyojin consists of Takemikazuchi, Amenokoyane, Futsunishi, and Himegami.

I was impressed with the older-style masks....

About a kilometers away near the mouth of the Sufu River, is Hinoashi Haxchimangu. This shrine does have records.

The governor of Iwami, Fujiwara no Kunikane, established the shrine as a branch of Usa hachimangu in 1114. Thirty years later the shrine was given extensive lands to support it and its festivals. It was the tutelary shrine for 16 villages. The Suo Clan, descendants of Kunikane, made it their family shrine and gave more support. When the Suo moved with the Mori to Nagato a lot of the shrines lands were confiscated.

There is a very popular Inari shrine within the grounds. Over the centuries it has been located at numerous locations.

The previous post in this series on walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage and the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage was on Jorinji Temple.

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Reikoji Temple Misumi

 

Coming into Misumi after passing the huge power station at Okami, I stopped in at Reikoji Temple.

It is quite a bit more substantial than many local village temples, with some nice greenery, and it is now a Jodo Shinshu sect temple with a statue of Shinran, the founder of the sect.

I suspect it may have been a different sect in the past. It is one of the Hamada Domain Kannon pilgrimage temples, and Jodo Shinshu usually have Amida as honzon, so may have inherited the Kannon when it changed sects.

The carvings of the komainu on the gate were quite special, as was the small hillside landscaping. I can find no other information, unfortunately.

The previous post in this series was on Tsuchida Hachimangu Shrine...

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Dark & Stormy Kuroshio Coast

 

December 2nd, 2011, and day 21 of my walk around Shikoku on the Ohenro Pilgrimage begins under a cloudy sky, though the rain of yesterday has abated.

Kuroshio is the name of a north Pacific current that passes along the Pacific Coast of Japan.

Here at the southern extreme of Shikoku, where the current passes, there is also a town called Kuroshio, where I will mostly be today.

As usual I tried to stop in at every shrine I passed, but this one was too far off the main road so gave it a miss.

On this section of coast the sea was much calmer than yesterday evening when I reached the coast.

Passing through Ida Port I did visit the next shrine.

It is a Tenmangu enshrining the ancient courtier, Sugawara Michizane.

Often used by students praying for exam success, Tenmangu shrines increased somewhat in the late 19th century as a preferred "national" shrine....

There was no signboard so have no info on the history.

Nearby was Kannonji, a very small temple.

There was a tsuyado here, free lodgings for walking pilgrims, and I had thought about staying here but it got dark too quickly yesterday so instead of chancing it I stayed in a henro hut.

Next up a small Ebisu shrine. As kami for fishermen, Ebisu is very common on the coast.

While it is not actually raining, the air is more than damp.

The way ahead looks like darker , windier weather....

It costs a lot to have old cars disposed of in Japan, which is why in the countryside you can often see abandoned cars slowly begining to decompose...... very slowly....

This small shrine is a Yaku Shrine..... no details....

The Sunahama Museum is a little free museum on the beach.

The skeleton of a Minke whale was impressive....

Across the Minato River....

And then across the bigger Fukigami River...

The previous post was yesterday's walk over the mountains to reach the Kuroshio Coast.

If you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published and made public. I post new content almost everyday, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the last ten posts.