Hashi Beach, Harbour, & Tsuto Shrine

 

After leaving Kushiro, the old San-in Do is a narrow, single-lane road that runs near the rail line and  comes into the back of Hashi completely avoiding the new and busy Route 9

Home to a pretty good "Oceanarium", the beach is part of the Iwami Seaside Park and is very popular in summer.

At the far end of the beach is the tiny harbour for Hashi.

On the hillside up above the harbour is Tsuto Shrine.

This is the main shrine for the town, although just over a hundred years ago an Otoshi Shrine and an Inari Shrine were merged with it. It is yet another local shrine listed in the Engi Shiki.

It is believed that the ruling clan, an offshoot of the clan that colonized the Iwami coastal region in ancient times established a shrine to their ancestors here. Their ancestral deity was Komemochitsuki, and in some way he is connected with mochi rice cakes. They are connected to the clan who founded Kushiro Shrine, and the shrines down near Masuda.

This seems to be the eastern limit of their territory. They were obviously placed here by the Yamato as a check on the power of Izumo. Further East and into Izumo it seems the Mononobe were the clan sent for the same purpose.

In 889 the clan enshrined Tagorihime, the elder of the three Munakata, daughters of Susano.

A myth/legend has it that as a young girl  Tagorihime was too volatile even for Susano, so she was sent away and came ashore on Hashi Beach. A local couple raised here as their own. She never spoke.

Later, a signal fire lit to warn of an attack on Izumo by a "foreign" enemy, caused Tagorihime to reveal her true identity and a dream of Susano that if Tagorihime returned, Izumo would be successful in defeating the enemy. Tagorihime set off but her foster parents chased after her to stop her. She hid behind a rock at what is now a shrine in Gotsu. Her fraught foster parents passed by her and died on the slopes of Asari Fujisan, a coastal mountain near my place. Tagorihime reached Izumo and the enemy was defeated.

The oldest version of this story dates to the 15th century at Hinomisaki Shrine, though it is probably much older. It is said that this shrine  and the one in Gotsu where the rock is were both territories of Hinomisaki Shrine.

Around the main shrine building are an Ebisu Shrine, a Konpira Shrine, a Yasaka Shrine, and a Tenmangu Shrine. The small shrine slightly above the main shrine is believed to enshrine Komemochizuki.

The previous post in this series on the Chugoku and the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimages was on Majima and the Benten Shrine I stopped in at on my walk to start heading up the coast again from Hashi.

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Kushirogahime Shrine

 

After crossing the Masuda River, my route is now up a trail that leads from a arge torii on the riverbank up to a shrine in the village up above.

Apparently the shrine was originally down here at several sites on the waters edge but was moved after a tsunami in the 11th century.

There are several Buddhist statues and altars on the way up as there used to be 3 temples associated with the shrine but they were all closed in 1868 with the separation of buddhas and Kami.

The original shrine was established very early in the 8th century and is connected to a myth of the Kushiro Clan. Originally from what is now southern Osaka, they are said to be "pioneers" who immigrated here.

A little further up the coast in Kamate are a couple of "islands" just offshore, a male one and a female one. Kushirogahime is the female kami enshrined here, and Kushishikiamenohiko the male. The male is enshrined much further up the coast, not far from my place.

The male comes down to the islands to meet his wife. If in their meeting they agree then a rainbow forms between the two islands. It is said it is rare.

The husband covers his head and face with a scarf, and as it slips to reveal his face, that is the source of the waxing and waning of the moon.

The shrine is listed in the Engi Shiki, meaning it received offering from the Imperial Court.

The shrine was also well supported by the Masuda Clan.

An old, wooden mask from the Edo Period....

A more modern style of mask made from local paper. The kind of mask I make.

The current main hall was built in 1765, but reused some of the materials from the rebuilding in 1548.

At some point, Hachiman was enshrined here as well. The shrine is in possession of the oldest kami statue in Shimane.

The kami is dressed as a Buddhist monk, so it is almost certainly a Hachiman statue.

No idea what these lobsters are about.... they look real creepy.

The shrine has a small pair of stone komainu that were brought from Shikoku.

The shrine is home to 3 "Great Rites", a sumo, a lion dance, and a needle ritual. 

The origin of the three rites was in the time when the shrine was to be relocated and two groups from different villages argued over where it should be. It turned physical and an old lady intervened and in the process lost her favorite needle.

The previous post was on the walk along the beach and across the river mouths to get here.

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Imimiya Shrine

 

Imimiya Shrine in Chofu is quite a large shrine with roots in the mythic past.

According to the myth-legend, Emperor Chuai and his consort Jingu stayed here during their campaign to subjugate the Kumaso people of Kyushu and erected a shrine and performed rituals here.

Later, in 728, the spirit of Chuai was transferred here from Kashii Shrine in what is now Fukuoka.

Jingu and Ojin, were enshrined as comanion shrines and so there were three seperate shrines.

Following one of the numerous fires that destroyed buildings, the three were  combined together and the shrine renamed Imimiya.

One of the major secondary shrines within the grounds is the Arakuma Inari Shrine.

A champion sumo wrestler, Kaiketsu Masaki, used to pray here every year before the Kyushu tournament, and later another wrestler, Ono Kuniyasu, was also assoiated with the shrine.

Consequently, there is a small sumo museum next to the shrine, and may explain the small sumo wrestler-like stone figures.

Other shrines within Imimiya are a Wakamiya Shrine enshrining Emperor Nintoku, a Takara Shrine enshrining Takeuchi no Sukune.

There is a Yasaka Shrine which, along with Susano and his family, also enshrines 42 other kami from the time of "shrine consolidation", the offiial name for the program that closed local shrines. There is a Soja Shrine, which was a shrine where all the kami from the area were gathered to enable the local governor to avoid travelling to perform his duties, and another shrine to Ojin.

Two small islets just off the coast, Manju and Kanju, linked to another myth about Empress Jingu, are also considered part of the shrine precincts.

Imimiya Shrine has a whole slew of festivals throughout the year, but the most interesting is the Kazukata Garden Festival held in August. It is referred to as the "strangest festival in the world", although I have been unable to find the exact source of this accolade.

To understand the festval we must refer to another myth-legend, that of Jinrin. Jinrin is one of most popular kagura dances in my area, though I must admit I never delved into the story before, other than the good guy-bad guy motif.

While encamped here, Emperor Chuai and his army were attacked by the Kumaso. It is said that this was at the instigation of Jinrin from Sila, one of the three kingdoms on the Korean Peninsula. It is also said that Jinrin led the attack, and was a fearsome figure that killed many of  Chuai's soldiers, and so Chuai himself took up a bow and arrow and slew Jinrin.

The head of Jinrin, with the visage of a demon, was buried here and the emperor's soldiers danced round the spot with raised spears. The stone covering the buried head is the Oniishi in the shrine and the focal point of the festival.

During the night of the festival, women and girls carry lanterns, and the men and boys carry banners atop bamboo poles, and everyone dances around the Oniishi.

So far, nothing seems to explain why this might be considered a strange festival, until you consider that some of the bamboo poles are 30 meters high and weigh up to 100 kilograms.

There is a photo at the end of this post showing some of the poles, and a link to a video of the festival...

The photo below is a monument to silkworms. According to the myth, a Chinese Emperor brought silkworms with him to this spot, and so sericulture began in Japan.

The previous post was on the nearby gardens and mansion of the Mori Clan

Below is a photo I took on an earlier visit to the shrine during August. Unfortunately we could not stay until the evening to watch the festival, but could see all the huge bamboo poles used in the festival. Here is a link to a youtube video I found on the festival.

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