Sake - Nihonshu
Down below Ichibata Yakushi Temple, and not far from Ichibataguchi Station, is Saka Shrine, sometimes called Matsuo Shrine.
October 2nd, 2015, and this is where I start day 43 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage.
This is an ancient shrine connected to the production of Sake, and the areas around it all have names connected to sake.
The first time sake is mentioned in the ancient myth-histories published in the early 8th century is when Susanoo brews some sake to give to the Orochi serpent, which he then slays when they are in a drunken stupor. As sake is a word used for alcohol in general, it is suggested that the sake he brewed was made from fruit.
However, same books, plus the Izumo Fudoki, published a few years later, has a legend from this area wherein 180 kami gathered together, built a kitchen and brewed up some sake, and had a 180-day feast.
About ten kilometers away up the Hi River is
Mankusen Shrine, where a big group of kami gathers during Kamiarizuki, the annual meeting of almost all of Japan's kami in the Izumo area.
The shrine has a unique ritual and ceremony wherein the kami are kind of pushed out of the shrine because they won't leave. The reason they won't leave is that they say the sake here is so good.
The primary kami of Saka Shrine is Kushinokami, believed to be another name for Sukunahikona, the sidekick of Okuninushi who settled and created the land of Izumo. He was also linked with medicine. Also enshrined here are 180 unnamed kami, obviously a nod to the myth-legend.
At some point before the 16th century, the kami of Matsuo Shrine near Kyoto was enshrined here. Oyamakui is also considered the kami of sake, and Matsuo Shrine in Kyoto is considered the main sake-brewers' shrine in Japan. Saka Shrine was known as Matsuo Shrine until the Meiji Period, when it reverted to Saka Shrine.
Researchers and historians believe that sake was introduced into Japan from Korea via Izumo. The Hata Clan created the Matsuo Shrine in Kyoto, and the Hata are known to be an immigrant clan from the mainland; some say China, some say Korea, some say even further west. Many historians suggest that the Hata spent some time in Izumo before moving on to Yamato. All this suggests that the area around Saka Shrine may well be the origin of Sake in Japan...
Sake brewers continue to support and pray at Saka Shrine. At the annual festival in mid October, at which the head priest has brewed sake for it, many sake brewers gather. The shrine has a special license to brew the sake.
In the grounds are numerous secondary shrines, notably an Inari.
There are also an Ekisha, a Takeuchi Shrine, and a Hoden Shrine. The most interesting is a Smallpox Vaccination Shrine.
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