Shizuma Shrine & Shizunoiwaya Cave

 

Shizuma Shrine is on a small road close to the coast in Shizuma near Oda in Shimane.

In earlier times it was located inside a nearby sea cave, but a storm in 1674 changed the topography of the cave and so the shrine was moved to its current location.

It was founded in the 9th century and enshrines Okuninushi and Sukunahikona and is based on a poem in the second volume of the Manyoshu.

The poem mentions a stone chamber used as a temporary dwelling by Okuninushi and Sukunahiko while they were "creating" the land.

However, a couple of other sites also lay claim to being the "stone chamber", one a shrine in the mountains upriver from me, and the other a place in Hyogo. As all the Okuninushi and Sukunahikona stories are set in the Shimane and Tottori regions, the Hyogo claim seems suspect.

A monument inside the cave memorializes the Manyoshu poem.

The cave has two entrances, although now they are roped off and no-one can enter because of the danger of falling rocks.

The cave is on the beach right next to the small fishing village of Uozu, just west of the mouth of the Shizuma River.

I visited at the start of the fifth day of my deep exploration of the coast of the Sea of Japan. The previous post was on Isotake Beach where I ended the 4th day.

Mimasaka Soja Shrine

 

Soja shrines were often established close to government headquarters in ancient Japan as one of the governor's duties was to offer prayers at all the shrines in his district.

For convenience, all the kami from the outlying shrines were gathered together in one place hence making the officials jobs much easier. Such was the case of this shrine in Tsuyama.

According to the shrine history, it was established first further to the west and enshrined Okuninushi. A year later when the Kokufu was established the shrine was moved here and the kami from all 65 village shrines in Mimasaka were brought here.

After the Kokufu became replaced by warrior rule the local warlords continued to support the shrine with grants of land.

The current main building was built by Motonari Mori in 1562 and it was extensively repaired in the mid 17th century.

The shrine is built in the Nakayama-zukuri style, unique to this area. In the early 20th century it was made a National Treasure but has since been downgraded to an Important Cultural Property.

The previous post in this series on the fifth day of my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on the nearby Nakayama Shrine, the ichinomiya of the province.

Obama Shrine & its Komainu

 

Obama Shrine is the main shrine of the small, coastal hot spring resort of Obama on Tachibana Bay in Nagasaki.

The current shrine building was constructed in 1995 on the site of the former Kengara Shrine when Obama Shrine and Kengara Shrine were combined.

It seems the original Kengara Shrine was built in 1679 at the same time the nearby Obama Shrine was rebuilt. At that time both shrines had different names.

The kami enshrined here are Okuninushi, and Sukunahikona who is often portrayed as a sidekick of Okuninushi. Sukunahikona is sometimes considered a god of hot springs due to an episode in the ancient myths set at Dogo onsen in Shikoku. The other kami enshrined is Takemikazuchi.

The main building has a ceiling painting of a dragon which was transferred from the older shrine, but, for me, the most interesting thing at the shrine was the two pairs of small komainu that I suspect came from the two older shrines.

The previous post was on the longest hot spring foot bath in Japan which is nearby.

Miyano Shrine established for Military Success

 

Miyano Shrine in Asakura, Fukuoka, is located just a stone's throw from the site of the temporary palace of Empress Saimei who was here in northern Kyushu overseeing an invasion force heading to the Korean peninsula to aid in the restoration of the Paekche after their defeat by the combined forces of Sila and Tang China.

She ordered Nakatomi no Kamatari to set up the shrine and it was built facing Korea for the prayers for the success in the upcoming "special military operation". At the Battle of Baekgang, a primarily naval encounter, the much larger Yamato navy was decimated by the Tang navy, and Japan's military operations in the Korean peninsula were halted for almost a millenium.

The kami enshrined here for military success were Amenokoyane, claimed by the Nakatomi as their ancestor. The other was Okuninushi, the Izumo kami, and a strange choice, although after Izumo became subsumed in the Yamato polity, Okuninushi was enshrined in a protective circle of sacred mountains surrounding the Yamato capital.

Not long after arriving here and setting up the palace and shrine, Saimei died and her son, Tenji, took over. While Saimei had previously been empress Kogyoku, her son and Nakatomi Kamatari had assassinated the Soga who had been the most powerful clan in Yamato. Kogyoku had been a supporter of the Soga. She abdicated and her brother became emperor. He died a few years later and she took the throne again. Some historians think she may have been poisoned when she died suddenly in 661.

After taking over as emperor, one of the things Tenji did was award Nakatomi Kamatari a new family name of Fujiwara. The Fujiwara went on to become the most powerful family in Japan for many centuries along the way wiping out the Mononobe who had been their allies against the Soga. Many of the powerful clans in Yamato, including the imperial family, seem to have strong ancestral ties to the korean peninsula, especially to Paekche, which would explain their interest in military involvement.

I have always been fascinated by the Izumo connection to Sila and how that played out with the Yamato connection to Paekche.

Hyuga Ichinomiya Tsuno Shrine

On the afternoon of my 20th day walking the Kyushu Pilgrimage  I passed under a large torii that straddled the road, and soon came into Tsuno Shrine, the Ichinomiya, that is to say, the highest ranked shrine in the former Hyuga Province, now Miyazaki Prefecture.

It was a very large shrine with extensive grounds, woods, and a koi and lily pond as well as numerous secondary shrines. What was surprising was the main kami enshrined here,.. Okuninushi. Being Hyuga one might have expected Ninigi, the grandson of Amaterasu sent from the High Plain of heaven to rule Japan, or his descendant Jimmu, the mythical first Emperor, but these kami only really became elevated in the Meiji period when they became an obsession with the nationalists trying to create a state-based "shinto".

I never did find out why Okuninushi, an Izumo kami, was the main one. There was a small shrine to Daikoku, one of the imported 7 Lucky Gods, who because his name is the same characters as Okuninushi are often equated together.

There were also plenty of heart-shaped ema because Okuninushiis now considered the god of enmusubi, especially finding a lover.

Nibehime Shrine

Nibehime Jinja

On the third day of my walk along the Iwami Kannon Pilgrimage I started the day at Shizuma with a visit to the main shrine in the village. To all outward appearances just a small village shrine, with a large shimenawa in Izumo style. However this was a relatively important shrine in the past.

It's listed in the Engi Shiki, a tenth Century document that, amongst other things, lists all the shrines in Japan that were receiving official offerings from the central government in Kyoto. The shrine also has some interesting kami enshrined here.

The main kami is Haniyasuhime, the female of the pair of kami known as kami of the soil. According to one version of the myth the two kami were created out of the feces of Izanami after she was killed by the kami of fire. The agricultural reference is pretty obvious.

Another couple of female kami are enshrined here also, Oyatsuhime and Tsumatsuhime, both daughters of Susano who arrived near here from the Korean Peninsula along with a Susano son, Isotakeru. All three landed not far from here near the village named after Isotakeru, Isotake. The three kami are known for spreading the seeds of useful trees they brought with them.

Matsuo Shrine, Minamikokura

Just around the corner from the Sohachiman Shrine was the back entrance to a smaller shrine named Matsuo Shrine, a branch of the famous Matsuo (or Matsunoo) Taisha near Kyoto.

The two main kami are Oyamagui and his wife Nakatsushimahime,  believed to be the ancestral kami of the Hata clan who founded Matsuo Shrine as well as Fushimi Inari. The signboard here also lists Onamuchi, one of the names of Okuninushi.

It also lists a Taga Shrine as a Massha. Massha and Sessha are secondary shrines usually within a shrine grounds. Historically the two were a little different but the distinction is no longer valid, basically it means that the kami of the secondary shrine has some sort of relationship, often familial, with the main shrine kami.

The kami of the Taga Shrine is unclear.

Fuku Shrine, Shizutani

Around lunchtime on the first day of my walk along the Chugoku Pilgrimage I was approaching Shizutani and stopped in at Fuku Shrine. Like many shrines in the area, Bizen, the komainu were ceramic, known as Bizenware.

Apparently, about a year after I was here the pair of komainu were stolen, but reappeared two months later, though a little damaged.

Unusually for a rural shrine, it was not founded until 1688. many town shrines were founded then as towns were primarily a product of the Edo period. As Shizutani School is only a short distance away, and it was founded in 1670, it may be related.

Also, considering its location, the choice of main kami is unusual, Okuninushi. It is quite some distance from the old road that ran between Izumo and the capital.