Shigaku Kojin Shrine Okuizumo

 

Shigaku Kojin Shrine in Sajiro, a small rural settlement in the mountains of Okuizumo is curious indeed, having a modern 8-storey concrete pagoda and a modern footbridge crossing the road.

In 1986 it was rebuilt by Yoshio Tane, a local man who went on to great success as the founder of Paris Miki, a major chain of retail glasses stores with branches all across the country, even, until recently, one here in his home village.

I believe the shrine is now its own "religious corporation" and was visited by Yoshio when he was a child. I am not sure what the pagoda is all about as my understanding is a pagoda is a kind of reliquary and memorial.

The kami is said to be a kami of children's learning and ambition.

A gold-painted bust of him was erected in the shrine ground on the 100th anniversary of his birth in 2005

As well as the shrine he also built a modern community centre on the site of his childhood home and opened a natural history museum that includes a hotel and so offers a genuine "Night In The Museum" experience