Susanoo Shrine Fujito

 

After another couple of kilometers walking down the Kurashiki River from the Misaki Shrine I crossed the river to head south and came upon this substantial village shrine.

It was originally called Gyoeki Shrine but changed its name to Susanoo Shrine in 1868.

It was founded in 888.

Architecturally it was simple and uninteresting.

A male-female pairing of Bitchu Kagura masks probably represent Susano and Kushinada.

There were multiple secondary shrines in the grounds including an Inari Shrine and an Akiba Shrine.

The previous post in this series on day 8 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on nearby Misaki Shrine.

Washibara Hachimangu in Autumn

 

Washibara Hachimangu Shrine is located at the base of the mountain that has Tsuwano Castle on top.

It was established in the 13th Century by the warrior ancestor of the Yoshimi Clan who moved to what is now the Tsuwano area and established this branch of the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine of Kamakura.

In 1387 the third head of the family moved it to its current location.

A Yabusame training ground was built at this time and it remains the only original Yabusame grounds in all of Japan. Yabusame takes place here on the first Sunday in April and can be viewed in this earlier post.

During the Yabusame festival the shrine grounds are filled with blooming cherry trees, but in the Autumn, the combination of Maple and Ginko trees make for a splendid sight.

There are numerous secondary shrines in the grounds, the most interesting being a branch of Awashima Shrine.

The head Awashima Shrine in Wakayama is famous for its collection of dolls that have been left at the shrine, and many Jaoanese find it quite eery.

The Awashima Shrine here at Washibara Hachimangu also has quite a collection of traditional dolls that have been left.

The Washibara Hachimangu was established at the same time as the first castle on top of the mountain, and when the castle was attacked in 1554 the shrine and all the other temples and shrines in the immediate vicinity were burned down.

In 1568, Yoshimi Masayori rebuilt the shrine. The current thatched tower gate dates from this time.

In 1711 Kamei Tsunechika did major renovations, and the current main hall dates from this time.

The Tower Gate, Worship Hall, and Main Hall are all National Important Cultural Properties and are fine examples of late Muromachi Period shrine architecture. They are all currently undergoing refurbishment.

Between the tower gate and the worship hall is a small pond with a kiyosaibashi bridge across it.

Outside of the yabusame festival in April, the shrine gets very few visitors as it is somewhat out of town, but well worth a visit in the autumn.

These last seven photos were taken on a later visit to the shrine....

The previous post in this series on Tsuwano was on the Yabusame here.

Misaki Shrine Aruki

 

Heading southeast out of old Kurashiki I follow the Kurashiki River towards the next pilgrimage temple on my walk.

In Aruki I stop in at the local village shrine that seems to have a somewhat honorable past.

Said to have been founded in the 12th century by a Moritsuna Sasaki, a retainer of the Minamoto during the Genpei War, he defeated a Taira army nearby in the Battle of Kojima.

The most curious thing here was this ceramic figure on the roof. Does not appear to be an Onigawara, nor a tengu, and my wife has not seen anything like it before. Any info would be appreciated.

In 1611 the shrine was moved to its current location. The primary kami is listed as Onamuchi, a variation of Okuninushi, but the signboard also lists Kibitsuhiko, as well as Ojin and Jingu. There were also multiple secondary shrines in the grounds.

The previous post in this series on day 8 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on Achi Shrine in Kurayoshi.

Achi Shrine Kurashiki

 

Achi Shrine is located on a hilltop overlooking the Bikan Historic District in Kurashiki, and is now the pre-eminent shrine of the area.

The chinowa, the circular "rope" of grass for purification can be found at different times of the year at diferent shrines. Here it was mid August.

It is believed that in ancient times this was the site of a garden belonging to the local ruling clan and there is supposed to be remnants of a cran and turtle island stone arrangement from that time.

Around tye time the area started to develop as a political and merchant centre, a Myoken Shrine was moved here from a nearby temple.

Until 1868 it was known as Myoken-gu and changed the name to Achi Shrine at the time of Shinbutsu bunri.

The first shrine buildings were built in 1620.

The three main kami are now said to be the Munakata Princesses, Tagirihime, Tagitsuhime, and Ichikishimahime, collectively known for marine safety.

Myoken was a very popular shrine in Japan, dedicated to the Buddhist deity of the North Star. When most Myoken shrines were changed in 1868 they switched to a pair of obscure kami from the Kojiki. Why they chose the Munakata Kami here is a mystery.

There are a wide variety of secondary shrines and kami in the grounds including a Susano shrine that also brought in several other local shrine kami in the so-called shrine mergers of 1910.

A Tenmangu shrine also enshrines Yamato Takeru, Sarutahiko, and Omononushi as well as Sugawara Michizane. Curiously there were lots of Daruma dolls at this shrine.

Another sub-shrine enshrines Okuninushi, Kotoshironushi, and Homusubi.

There is also an Inari shrine brought here from nearby in the early 20th century. The shrine grounds has quite a famous Wisteria, and a Noh stage also.

I visited at the start of day 8 of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage as I headed south out of Kurashiki towards the next temple, Rendaiji. The previous post was on Kurashiki Silhouettes the evening before.