Itoga Inari Shrine. The Oldest Inari Shrine in Japan

 

Itoga, on the south bank of the Arita River in Wakayama was a stopping point on the most travelled of all the Kumano Kodo routes, the Kiiji route from Osaka and the capital, Kyoto.

The Inari shrine in Itoga lays claim to being the oldest Inari shrine in all of Japan.

The head Inari shrine, and by far the most famous, is the Fushimi Inari Shrine near Kyoto.

Founded by the Hata clan in the first years of the 8th century, most people would consider it the first Inari shrine.

The shrine here in Itoga was founded in the mid 7th century.

Inari, him or herself, has a complex history with many influences and identities, but primarily identifies as a rice-growing deity.

However, there are numerous deities connected with rice and grains, and unentangling historic names in Japan is not so much science as opinion.

Whatever the case, I am drawn to histories that question the official narratives...

There are three huge Camphor trees within the shrine, estimated to between 5 and 6 hundred years old.

Emperor Shirakawa is said to have stopped here on one of his Kumano pilgrimages.

There are numerous shrines that have been moved to within the grounds incuding the Itoga Oji.

Some of the kami enshrined in the grounds include 2 to Okuninushi, and shrines to Susano, Izanagi, Izanami, Kotoshironushi, Sugawara Michizane, Ichikishimahime, Ojin, Oyamatsumi, and many others...

Right next to Itoga Shrine is the Kumano Kodo History & Folklore Museum. As well as displays on the Kumano Kodo it also functions as a rest stop for pilgrims....

With free entry, cetainly worth a visit if you are in the area or walking the Kiiji.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Saigoku Pilgrimage was on my walk over the pass to reach Itoga.

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Sakagawa Shrine to Itoga Inari Shrine Over The Itoga Toge Pass

 

After leaving Yuasa I continued north on the Kumano Kodo Kiiji Trail, first up river and then into the mountains.

First stop was Sakagawa Shrine, site of the Sakagawa Oji.

The main kami enshrined here are Izanami, Susano, and Hayatama. 

Versions of the three kami of Kumano,...... not surprising

From here a small, narrow road that later becomes a track, then a trail, heads up towards Itoga Pass.

I am heading into "orange" country. While oranges are grown in many places in Japan, in the mountains in this area the crop dominates....

Beacuse so much of the natural forest has been cut down to make way for the orange orchards, there are more views over the surrounding area....

The path is not so steep

I believe that nowadays a few more people are walking this section of the Kumano Kodo, but back in 2016 when I walked it, I didn't pass a single other walker/pilgrim.

Orange farmers tend to work on very steep slopes, so the preferred method of carrying things is small, motorized monorails. Construction workers also use such things when working on steep slopes.

Itoga Pass, 190 meters above sea level, used to have a couple of teahouses servicing the multitudes of pilgrims who passed this way in the Edo Period.

The way down to the Arida River is steep.

This was the end of March, so the colours are not of approaching Autumn but the pink and red of cherry blossoms forming.....

I very much enjoyed this section of the Kumano Kodo..... I found the most popular section, the nakahechi, a little bit too over-touristed, somewhat pretentious, and too much of it covered in sugi tree farms.....

Coming into Itoga on the south bank of the Arida River, I spied Itoga Inari Shrine, so headed over to investigate. The previous post in this series on my walk along the oldest pilgrimage route in Japan, the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, was on the birthplace of soy sauce, Yuasa.

Yuasa Birthplace of Soy Sauce

 

Yuasa is a small town and port on the coast of Wakayama and once a resting point on the Kiiji Route of the Kumano Kodo, which was the reason I was visiting.

Enough of the old town and its architecture remain so that Yuasa was registered as an Historic Preservation Distrist, the only one in the whole prefecture.

Some of the preservation districts are big tourist spots, like Gion, or Kurashiki, and they are filled with cafes and souvenir shops, but Yuasa is more the kind I prefer, somewhat run-down and with few outsiders....

More recently, Yuasa was registered as  a Japan Heritage Site, and so the increased funding and exposure has brought more visitors and some gentrification.

The reason is that Yuasa has a claim to be the birthplace of soy sauce.

According to the story, a Buddhist monk settled in Yuasa in the 13th century after returning from his studies in Chima.

He brought back a style of miso-making called kinzanji in Japanese. This produced a small amount of liquid that proved to be delicious as seasoning, so the local miso makers created a production method that increased the amount of this liquid, and so soy sauce was born.

Soy sauce production grew in the town with about 90 companies operating here in the Edo Period.

Only a handful remain, with Yuasa Soy Sauce Company being the biggest.

The tone hosts what it called the Seiro Museum. Seiro are wooden trays used in the production of soy sauce.

They are used as a frame to make displays of things related to everyday life in Yuasa.

They can be found throughout the historic district.

Since I visited there are now various ways to delve more deeply into the history of Soy in Yuasa, including factory tours.

Also, like Shodoshima and other locations in Japan, soy sauce-flavoured ice cream is on sale.

The first photo of the post, and the last couple, show the Kadocho Soy Sauce Brewery.

The previous post in this series on walking the Saigoku Pilgrimage and Kumano Kodo was on Jinsenji Temple in Yuasa.