Tashiro Yasaka Shrine

Tashiro Yasaka Shrine

After leaving Ogori Hiyoshi Shrine I continued west along the old Nagasaki kaido and soon crossed over into Saga prefecture.

In Tashiro, which I believe was a post-town on the Nagasaki Highway, I visited the Tashiro Yasaka Shrine. Another branch of the famous Yasaka Shrine in Gion, Kyoto, and previously called Gion Shrine, its primary kami is once again Susano.

Gion Shrine was the origin of the famous Gion Matsuri which began life as a festival to ward off a pestilence that was ravaging Kyoto.

Gion shrines therefore often became established for the purpose of protection against disease, and as disease was seen to come from "outside" a community and travel along roads, it strikes me as why there are so many Gion ( or Yasaka or Susano ) shrines found along the major highways like the Nagasaki Kaido.

This shrine, like all the otheres I had visited this day, was all dressed up in its New Year finery. There was no signboard so I have no info on the shrine.

Yasaka Shrine Usuki

Yasaka Shrine

This is  branch of the famous Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto that was known as Gion-sha, and is still referred to by that name locally. As a Gion shrine is enshrines Susano and his "wife" Kushinadahime. I'm not sure exactly when it was founded but when Otom Sorin became a Christian and destroyed the shrines and temples the goshintai of this shrine was moved around various places and hidden.

It seems to be the main shrine of Usuki now, and in the late Meiji and early Taisho eras many subsidiary shrines who moved into the grounds as part of the shrine closure program.

There is a Hachiman Shrine but that was established in 1683 as a branch of Iwashimizu. There is also a Tenmangu with its Ox statue.

There is an Inari shrine and an Awashima Shrine and a cuple of others......

Yuzukosho (yuzu pepper) is a signature product from Usuki

Yasaka Shrine, Motomachi, Oita

Located on the hilltop above the stone buddhas of Motomachi and among several old temples is Yasaka Shrine. A branch of the famous Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto.

As a Yasaka Shrine the main kami enshrined is Susano, along with various members of his family.According the the shrine it was founded in the late 8th century.

The wooden komainu in the entrance gate were rather nice, and there were several unidentified small shrines within the grounds, but the most interesting thin was the carvings on the main gate.

Unlike the relief carvings at Yusuhara Hachimangu, these were all painted and somewhat cruder.... that'll be the next post.....

Yasaka Shrine near Sakai, Bungo Takeda

By lunchtime of my first day walking across the Kunisaki Peninsula I was approaching the foothills and the valley I was going to follow up to the center of the peninsula. In the middle of the rice paddies in a small village east of Bungo Takeda I came across this Yasaka Shrine.

Being a branch of the famous Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, and formerly known as Gionsha, it enshrines Susano as well as various members of his "family" Like most of the shrines I'd visited today there was a carpet of golden gingko leaves.

There was a small secondary shrine in the grounds but there was no sign so I could not find out which kami was enshrined there.

An unexpected Matsuri

On the afternoon of September 4th, 2011, I was approaching Byodo-ji, Temple 22 of the Shikoku Pilgrimage, when I spied a torii with banners flying, a sign that a matsuri is underway.

As I got closer I could hear the shouts of children which suggested that the matsuri was underway at the moment. For me, there is no greater pleasure than coming upon a matsuri, especially one in a rural village shrine.

It was a Yasaka Shrine, a branch of the famous shrine in Kyoto formerly lnown as Gionsha. The main kami is Susano, and also many of his "family", which is kind of apt as he is known as the kami of storms and the last 2 days this area has been hit with a massive typhoon.

There wasn't anything going on right now. Kids were running around and playing, and a small group of the village elders were inside eating and drinking. They invited me in for food and beer, and though daytime drinking in the heat of the day is not a usual habit of mine, as I was a pilgrim I could not refuse their offer.
After a second beer I insisted I had to leave and they showed me a path leading out of the shrine which was a shortcut over the hill to Byodo-ji

For safe childbirth climb the mountain

This is the start of the path that goes up to the top of Isari Mountain, near Yasaka, south of Hamada.

We were told there was a shrine on top of the mountain that local women used to pray for safe childbirth. When we started we didn't realize just how high it was, 714 metres, and it had some great views over the Chugoku Mountains.

The Chugoku mountaisn are not particularly high, but they are pretty steep, and its a fairly remote region.

The shrine itself was a tin shack that had been built around an older hokora (wayside shrine). No-one knows when or why the shrine was established.

It's an Asama Shrine, commonly known as the goddess of volcanoes. The kamis name is Konohanasakuyahime, and she was the wife of Ninigi who was sent by Amaterasu to subdue and rule over Japan. The head shrine is Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha located at the base of Mt Fuji. She is one of several kami that are known for protection of safe births.

North of Isari Mountain is the higher Taima (hemp) Mountain.

Bamboo forest

There is something quite magical in bamboo groves. I've been trying to capture some of it for years in the camera.

You can't catch the swaying in the wind,....

... and you can't catch the clacking as they bang into each other,....

.. but I am fairly pleased with some of the color and light that I did manage to catch on a trip up in to the mountains around Yasaka last year.