Yasaka Shrine Arita

 

Yasaka Shrine in Arita is almost certainly much older than the most popular shrine in the town, Tozan Shrine.

According to the shrine's information board, appropriately written upon porcelain tiles, it says that originally the shrine was for the local kami.

However, it changed with the importation of the Gion ritual, here said to be of Indian origin.

Mention is made of Gozu Tenno and then Susano, to whom is attributed the creation  of the chinowa.

It changed names to Yasaka after Meiji when all the semi-Buddhist Gion shrines firmly became Shinto.

There is a small Tenjin shrine in the grounds, another of the kami associated with protection from pestilence and disease.

There were multiple pairs of komainu, with the oldest pair made of sandstone severely weathered..

The previous post in this series exploring Arita on day 70 of my Kyushu pilgrimage was on the nearby Kyushu Ceramics Museum.