Akiyoshi Inari Shrine

 

On a small side road leading to the small settlement that has grown up around the entrance to Akiyoshido, the biggest cave in Japan, is the entrance to Akiyoshi Inari Shrine.

There was no signboard and I can find absoluteley no information online in either English or Japanese about its history.

Several visitors to the shrine mention that it rminded them of a Ghibli film, and while I have not seen a Ghibli film, I think they are referring to the shrines location i\within a forest with mossy steps leading to it.

The most intriguing thing for me was that a totally unique Torii that stood here when I first visited more than twenty years ago has now disappeared.

It can be seen in the final two photos of this post, and it had a unique curved top section that I can7t remember ever having seen anywhere else.

If you are visiting the area it is worth stopping in as it is quite atmospheric.

The previous post in this series on day 27 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the Akiyoshidai International Arts Village nearby.

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Iwanaga Hachimangu

 

A little further along the road to Akiyoshidai after visiting the Hirohata Hachiman Shrine, yet another large hachiman shrine appeared.

Iwanaga Hachimangu had a very long approach with numerous torii....

It is claimed to be the oldest shrine in the area, being founded in 715.

The curious thing is they say it was enshrined from Hyuga, now Miyazaki. All the other Hachiman shrines in western Honshu at around that time are enshrined from Usa. Usa was the original Hachiman shrine and as the cult spread to Honshu due to the association of Hachiman with the founding of the Great Buddha at Nara, it gradually became a national cult.

However, before it spread to Honshu, it had spread somewhat around Kyushu. I came across a couple of Hachiman shrines in southern Fukuoka that had been established very early on. However, I had not found one in Miyazaki. The head priestess of Usa Hachiman had led an army earlier to suppress "revolt" in the southern part of Kyushu, so maybe that explains it.

Like many shrines, this one has been relocated several times, although the exact dates are unknown. It changed its name to Iwanaga in 1922, but it is unclear what it was called before.

Like other hachiman shrines in the area, the kami selection is Ojin, Jingu, and the three Munakata princesses.

Within the grounds is a Tenmangu, and an Arajinja enshrining Susanoo.

In the 1980's a small kofun with an unusual stone-lined coffin chamber was excavated nearby. It was relocated the shrine grounds to keep it safe from the expanding limestone mining.

The final photo shows a quite common feature at many shrines..... a naval artillery shell!!...almost certainly dating to just after the Russo-japanese War at the start of the twentieth century.

The previous post was on another nearby hachiman Shrine, Hirohata Hachimangu.

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Hirohata Hachimangu

 

An hour or so after setting out from my hotel on my walk from Ine to Akiyoshidai I came across the first shrine of the day.

Yet another Hachiman Shrine.

This one was said to be a branch of the original Hachiman Shrine, Usa Hachiman, in what is now Oita. The date given is 732.

The shrine has been at its current site since 1660. It had moved several times before.

In 1221, following the Jokyu War, a new samurai lord took over the area. Unusually, he chose to make this Hachiman shrine his tutelary shrine, rather than establish a new one, which was normal.

The kami are Ojin, Jingu, and the three Munakata Princesses. This seems to be the norm for Hachiman shrines in this area.

In 1752 a Tenmangu Shrine was established within the grounds....

The main shrine was rebuilt in 1769, and in 1770 the shrine grounds were expanded and reforested.

The previous post was on the walk from Mine to Akiyoshidai, during which I stopped in at this shrine.

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Hara Hachimangu & Jingukogo Shrine

 

While walking from Chofu to Mine I stopped in at a couple of shrines. The first a Hachimangu in the village of Hara.

It is said to have been founded around 1420 as a branch of Hakozaki Shrine, the famous Hachiman Shrine involved in the defense against the Mongol invasion in what is now Fukuoka.

As well as the standard Hachiman trio of Ojin, Jingu, and Chuai, it also enshrined the three Munakata princesses.

The shrine has three huge trees, a Gingko, a Sugi, and a Mukunoki, and it is the one of the most interest.

It is the third-largest tree in all of Yamaguchi with some impressive statistics....it is 27 meters tall, with a trunk diameter of 5.3 meters. It is in remarkably good condition and is said to have been planted when the shrine was established, making it about 600 years old. I recently posted about another sacred Mukunoki tree in my neighbourhood.

The shrine is home to a unique dance, Iwato Mai. In the mid Edo Period two men from the village travelled all the way to Izumo to be taught a sacred dance based on the Iwato Myth. I suspect that must have been Sada Shrine near Matsue, the origin of much of the kagura performed nowadays.

The next shrine was Jingukogo Shrine, literally "Empress Jingu" Shrine.

One source says that originally it was a Hachiman Shrine, but in the early 15th Century the spirits of Imimiya Shrine were transferred here.

The main kami is Jingu along with Chuai, Ojin, the Sumiyoshi kami, and Emperor Nintoku.

Whereas Imimiya Shrine is the spot where Chuai fought against the Kumaso, this spot is said to be where Jingu gathered her army for her invasion of Korea.

The grove of trees surrounding the shrine is distinctively very different from the surrounding area and is beleievd to be between 300 and 500 years old.

The oldest tree is said to be a huge Yew tree..... It and the grove are registered natural properties

The previous post in this series was on the walk the day I visited these shrines

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