Hayashi Kumano Shrine. The First Kumano Shrine?

 

This was a completely unexpected site I visited while heading down towards the next pilgrimage temple, Rendaiji. From the first torii up to the main shrine buildings was quite a distance and around the shrine was a lot of open space.

I now believe this area was until around 1868 filled with many Buddhist structures, the three-storey pagoda remaining.

The arrangement of the shrine was also unusual, with a long line of 13 hondens in 4 structures.

Originally called Kumano Junisha Gongen, and renamed Kumano Shrine in 1868, the junisha refers to the 12 kami enshrined in the line of hondens, the 12 kumano kami plus a local protective kami.

According to the founding legend, in 699 the famed mystic and legendary founder of Shugendo was exiled to Izu. A group of 5 of his disciples carried the spirit of what is now Hongu Taisha shrine in Kumano and eventually, in 701, decided upon this spot to found a new shrine. This is why the shrine now claims to be the very first "Kumano" shrine.

The five disciples also founded 5 temples in the area and this became a major shugendo centre with two other sites in the area for a Shin Kumano.

The shrine temple complex went through cycles of destruction like most major religious centres and the oldest remaining structure is the one called Second Hall. It was rebuilt in 1492 and is a National Important Cultural Property.

The remaining structures date back to a rebuild by the Okayama  Daimyo Ikeda Mitsumasa in 1647.

The  kami are listed as Izanami, Izanagi, Amaterasu, Ninigi, Amenoshihomimi, Hikohohodemi, Ugayafukiaeizu, Haniyamahime, Kagutsuchi, Wakamusubi, and Mizuhanome.

Among the secondary shrines in the grounds are Susanoo and Ichikishima.

In 1868 the shrine was separated from all the temple structures and renamed Kumano Shrine.

In 1872 Shugendo was outlawed until 1945.

The previous post was on the remaining temples in the complex and the three-storey pagoda.

Shirahige Shrine Asagiri

Shirahige Jinja

By lunchtime of the 40th day along the Kyushu Pilgrimage the mist had all disappeared and it was yet another glorious, late November day. After having stopped in at a handful of small, local shrines I reached a rather grander affair.

Shirahige Shrine was built at the base of a small mountain that once had a small castle and was the focal point for the area. It was a large shrine with multiple secondary shrines in the grounds and was obviously supported by the local lord of the castle.

There are a lot of Shirahige shrines around the country, branches of the Shirahige Shrine on lake Biwa near Kyoto. They enshrine a Korean king who settled in the Shiga area. This Shirahige shrine had no apparent connection with that one.

All the kami enshrined here relate to the founding myths of Jimmu, the mythical first emperorr. The primary kami is Ugayafukiaezu, the father of Jimmu, and also Hikohohodemi, hikoitsuse, and Inainomikpto are enshrined here.

There was also a dedicated area for archery, something only a few shrines have.

Swordplay at Togami Shrine

After dropping down from the mountains to the river valley that would lead to my hotel for the night in Hayato City, I spied a big red torii across the rice paddies and headed over to investigate. The torii had a chrysanthemum emblem indicating a connection to the imperial clan.

Togami Shrine was established in the early 8th Century after the Yamato sent a 10,000 strong army to subdue the Hayato people who were resisting the Yamato. Following the war the Yamato removed many Hayato to other parts of Japan and moved  non-Yamato settlers into Hayato territory.

While at the shrine some local people were obviously practising some kind of sword-based martial art, though not having much interest in martial arts, nor in swords and samurai and such, I have no idea what the style/art is.

What is obvious is that it was about fighting against multiple opponents. maybe it is a variation on kendo. If anyone knows please let me know,

Aoshima Shrine

Heading down the coast out of Miyazaki City on the 23rd day of my walk I came to Aoshima Shrine.

The small island is now connected by a short bridge, and much of the island itself is rock formed into parallel ridges like a washboard.

Leading from the main building, a tunnel of ema lead to a grove where you can toss small ceramic discs, representing plates I believe, at a target for good ;uck. Underneath the target is a small mountain of broken pottery.

The island is lush sub-tropical jungle, though some say it is tropical. The two main kami are Hikohohodemi, a grandfather of the mythical first emperor Jimmu, and his wife Toyotamahime. The myth about their story is told in a series of tableaux in the shrine museum, and that I will turn to next.....

Dejima Shrine

Located right next to Manganji on the shore of Lake Shinji, the shrine is quite unusual in that it does not have a torii. It was in all probability part of the the same temple-shrine complex before the Meiji Period. The name of the kami enshrined here also suggest a Buddhist past: Nanagami Daimyojin..... which is in fact seven related kami.

The first is Ninigi, the grandson of Amaterasu sent down from the High Plain of Heaven to rule Japan. Next come Hoori, youngest son of Ninigi but more commonly known as Hikohohodemi or Yamasachihiko. Also enshrined here is Hoori's wife Toyotamahime, daughter of the sea god Ryujin,

After returning from some years living in a palace under the sea Toyotama gave birth to a son Ugayafukiaezu in a famous legend involving a birthing hut. Fukiaezu married his aunt Tamayorihime , also enshrined here, and became the father of the mythical first Emperor Jimmu.

The final two kami here are Konohanasakayuhime, now most commonly associated with Mount Fuji,  the princess who married Ninigi and gave birth to Hoori, and the final kami who I am having difficulty tracing the relationship to the others is Kushiyatama, who is connected to the Kuniyuzuri myth and is I believe connected to a ritual that still occurs not to far from here at Hinomisaki Shrine.

All the other kami are connected to the myths of southern Miyazaki in Kyushu centered around Aoshima Shrine

Yuzu from Kyushu