Taikodani Inari Shrine

 

Taikodani Inari Shrine is located in the castle town of Tsuwano in the remote mountains of Shimane.

It is generally considered to be one of the top 5 Inari shrines in Japan, though its exact ranking will vary by whichever part of the country you are in.

Across the valley next to National Route 9, the former San-in Do, a huge vermillion torii is visible.

Founded in the late 18th century, the shrine was used exclusively by the domain lord and his samurai as it was within the castle grounds.

It became public in the late 19th century when the castle was decommisioned.

There is now a road that accesses the shrine, but the original entry was via a tunnel of torii that switchbacks up the hillside.

The shrines location on the mountainside offers some panoramic views down on the town and over the surrounding area....

The shrine occupies the kimon position.... NE of the castle and protecting it from the evil influences that come from that direction

The shrine gets a lot of visitors and is the second most popular shrine in all of Shimane, beaten only by Izumo Taisha.

As an Inari Shrine the eshrined kami is officially Uganokitama.....

When the shrine was opened to the public in the late 19th century, a Kumano Gongensha was relocated to within the shrine and renamed Kumano Shrine, enshrining Izanami. Officially it is a co-shrine, and izanami is enshrined within the main honden.

The name Inari at Taikodani is written with a different kanji than most Inari shrines. with a meaning of granting wishes, rather than the more usual meanin connected to rice harvest.

According to the story, a castle official lost an important key and was ordered to commit suicide. Instead he went to the shrine and prayed for seven days and then found the key. The Daimyo is then said to have changed the kanji in response.

On the lower level of the shrine is a purpose-built area for traffic safety ceremonies.

The tunnel of torii that leads up to the main shrine comprises 263 steps....

It is claimed that almost 1,000 torii line the way, but I think that may be an exaggeration.

There is a Treasure hall at the shrine open to the public, but I have never been inside so can't report.

There are some quite impressive, big, old pine trees ....

The current main hall is concrete and was built in 1969.

The earlier main hall, located opposite, is now called Motomiya Shrine and is operated as a branch of the main hall...

Behind it is a Myobu Shrine, enshrining the white fox considered messenger of Inari

The main offering at the shrine is fried tofu which can be purchased at the main shrine shop or at a small shop halfway up the torii tunnel.

The previous post in this series on Tsuwano was on the big thatched Zen temple down below, Yomeiji.

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Tamawakasu Shrine Dogo

 

Tamawakasu Shrine on Dogo Island was the primary shrine for all of the Oki Islands, which until the late 19th century constituted a separate province of Japan.

Little is known about he main kami, Tamawakasu, although he is believed to be the founder and pioneer of the Oki Islands, said to be a descendant of Okuninushi.

Other kami enshrined here are Okuninushi, Susanoo, Inadahime, and Kotoshironushi.

Pretty much the main pantheon of Izumo.

Whoever the chieftan of the islands was, in the late 7th century when the Yamato government attempted to unify Japan, the chieftain was installed  as the governor of the province. Behind the shrine is a group of keyhole tombs, said to be the graves of the rulers of the area.

The family of priests who have controlled the shrine since then, the Oki Family, are descendants of the governor.

Their house is next door and I will cover that in the next post in the series.

The house, the honden of the shrine, and the Zuijinmon gate are all Important Cultural Properties, and are all thatched. The architectural style of the buildings is unique to the Oki Islands.

The honden dates to 1793, the house to 1801, and the zuijinmon to 1852

There is a huge, ancient Sugi tree estimated to be at least a thousand years old. Another fell down fairly recently.

It is called Yao Sugi, because the nun who planted it vowed to return in 800 years.

June 5th is the annual festival and it features horses. 8 horses bring the local kami from 8 different districts and numerous ceremonies are performed including galloping horses and yabusame, horseback archery. In former times horses from 48 districts would arrive.

The previous post in this series was on a scenic boat ride exploring the coast, river and main port of Dogo.

Sakakiyama Shrine, The Brush Shrine

 

Sakakiyama Shrine is a large shrine in Kumano, Hiroshima, the brush capital of Japan.

It is said to have been founded in 933 when the spirit of Hachiman was transferred here from Usa Hachimangu.

It was called Omiya Hachiman Shrine, but in 1713 a major fire destroyed the shrine and all its records so little is known of its history before that.

The shrine was rebuilt in 1724 and the current honden dates to that time. It is considered unusually large and is often claimed to be one of the biggest hondens in Japan.

Until 2024 there was a huge Sugi tree in front of the shrine. Said to be about 800 years old.

However, only the stump remains now as it was in danger of falling, so was cut down

The current Haiden (main hall) is also quite large and dates to 1870.

The shrine is most famous nowadays for the Fude Matsuri, the Brush Festival held around the Autumn Equinox.

At this time brushes are hung around the shrine entrance, the women perform a Fude Dance, caligraphers create large works, and old brushes are ceremoniously burned. along with all the other activities normally associated with a matsuri.

The matsuri began in the 1930's when the town was wealthy from the trade of brushes and most of the townsfolk were engaged in the industry. The brush industry is much smaller now, but Kumano is still the Brush Capital of Japan.

There are numerous secondary shrines within the grounds, including a Suwa Shrine and a Sakakidani Shrine.

There is also an Aragami Shrine and an Inari shrine.

The largest secondary shrine in the grounds is a branch of Kumano Hongu. It was established about 800 years ago.

There are quite a lot of intricate carvings on the honden, attributed to the master craftsman Torii Jinbei.

The interior of the Haidan has a lot of large Ema paintings.

The previous post in this series on day 15 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the walk up the valley to Kumano.