Oki Islands Kagura

 

I'm a big fan of kagura, the traditional performing art of japan that is the least well-known. In my area, Iwami in Shimane, kagura is hugely popular,but over the years I have been fortunate to see some different styles of kagura in Izumo, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Oita, and Miyazaki, and, as shown here, on the Oki Islands.

Nowadays normally only performed during the summer festivals, I was able to see a short performance of three dances put on for a group of tourists on Nishinoshima Island, and the style is Dozen Kagura as opposed to Dogo Kagura. One unusual feature of Dozen kagura that differed from all the others I have seen is the involvement of Miko, shrine maidens.

Miko Mai, or the dance of shrine maidens is probably the most common form of what was once kagura, though it is not usually called kagura nowadays.

The second dance was called Sakibarai or Sakiharai. The dancer represents Sarutahiko and the dance is a protective purification dance.

Traditionally Sarutahiko leads matsuri processions, purifying the path as he goes.

The instruments are the same as other types of kagura I have seen except there is no flute here.

The third dance was Kiribe, but unfortunately I know nothing about the character or meaning of the dance.

I don't know much about the technicalities of music, but a source says that here with dozen kagura it switches between 4/4 and 3/4 which is rare in traditional Japanese music but common in traditional Kprean music. Also worth noting is that the space the dancing is performed within is quite small compared to say Iwami Kagura.

The previous post in this series on the Oki Islands was on Uzukamikoto Shrine.

Kumanohara Shrine Karatsu

 

Kumanohara Shrine is a small, but ancient shrine in what is now the Teramachi district of Karatsu in Saga.

According to the shrine legend it goes back to the mythical days of Jingu and her "invasion" of Korea.

While in this area, which at the time was pine forest, a great white light appeared and showed the direction for the sea journey to Korea, and so later some of her soldiers established Shiranui Shrine here.

Later, in the 7th century, the area was suffering an epidemic and so the locals prayed at the shrine for relief. 12 black birds with white breasts lined u in the trees at the shrine and emitted a white light, and from then on the epidemic subsided. The villagers were told the birds were messengers of the kami at Kumano and so the shrine was renamed Kumonohara.

The primary kami are therefore listed as Ketsumiko, Hayatama, and Fusumi, the three great kami of Kumano, otherwise known as Susano, Izanami, and Izanagi.

Also enshrined is Sarutahiko, Oyamatsumi, Ojin, and the spirit of Goro Kanda, a local ruler from the 8th Century. Within the grounds are an Awashima Shrine, and an Inari Shrine, which unusually has komainu rather than fox guardian statues

The previous post was on Daishoin the temple next door.

Tennenji Temple & Misosogi Shrine

 

Located above  the Kawanaka Fudo Magaibutsu, Tennenji Temple and Misosogi Shrine are in essence the same place.

They are fairly rudimentary structures, one with a thatched roof. A flood in 1941 washed the original temple away and there have been no resident priests since then and the remaining statues have been looked after by local people.

These 4-5 meter long torches are in readiness for the Shujo Onie fire festival in early February where dancers dressed as demons dance with fire to bring good fortune. These fire festivals take place at several sites around the Kunisaki peninsula. The one I visited at Iwatoji Temple can be seen here.

Next door is a museum devoted to the Shujo Onie festival but which also houses many of the ancient statues from the original temple.

The shrine building has a male-female mask combination. This is fairly common at many shrines, and most would say that the red-faced mask with the long nose was a Tengu, but I think it is a Sarutahiko mask as it is not wearing the tokin, the small black hat that yamabushi wore.

Sarutahiko is considered one of the origins of Tengu. According to the ancient myths, Sarutahiko guided the Yamato heavenly deities down to Japan and later married Uzume and that leads to the combination of masks seen here....

Uzume later became the model for the Otafuku character.....

The shrine, and temple, have their inner sanctuaries under overhangs in the cliff face....

Tengu Masks in the Kirishima Mask Museum

Kirishima Mask Museum

The mask museum in Kirishima was called "Tengu-kan", and obviously there were a lot of masks of tengu on display. Most of which were the red-faced long nose variety.

Probably the earlier version of Tengu was more birdlike in appearance, like the one in the top center of the photo below. The long nosed version is probably derived from Sarutahiko, the earthy kami who helped lead Ninigi and his entourage from the High Plain of Heaven. he later married Uzume and a mask of Sarutahiko and Uzume are often found together at shrines, often linked to fertility.

Tengu are often connected to Yamabushi, the mysterious mountain monks who practised austerities and magic in the remote sacred mountains. A distinguishing feature is the tokin, the small black headgear worn on the top of the forehead. It is said this was to protect the head while walking through the forest. It was also used as a drinking vessel.

The museum is located near the entrance to Kirishima Jingu Shrine up in the mountains of northern Kagoshima and if you are visiting the area and like masks then is a must see.

Buy Handmade Masks From Japan

More Monkeys of Koshinsha

I am intrigued by the eclectic collections of figures left at various kinds of "folk" altars around Japan.

So here are some more of the monkeys left at Koshinsha in Nogata.

Toys and dolls can often be found alongside icons from Shinto, Buddhism, Hinduism and even sometimes Christianity.

Sarubobo dolls and ema were also prevalent.

Some monkeys at Koshinsha

The popular form of Koshin worship is now associated with the famous three monkeys and also with Sarutahiko. Statues of monkeys are therefore often found at Koshin sites.

At the Koshinsha in Nogata there were dozens and dozens of them, though my favorite must be the one in the first photo. A very happy monkey.

The eclectic collections of statues and dolls left by devotees at sacred sites popular in what is called "folk" religion around Japan intrigue me.

The figure below, a monkey carrying a gohei. a purification wand, is something I have seen a few times before.

Koshinsha, Nogata

Koshinsha is a site dedicated to the Koshin faith. Origiunally Chinese Taoist in essence it was introduced into japan from Korea in the 8th Century.

Adherents stay awake all night every 60 days on Ko Shin days to stop 3 "worms" from leaving their body and reporting to a god about their good and bad behaviour.

Koshin faith became influenced by Buddhism, and in the middle of the Edo period by a branch of Confucian Shinto that equated the faith with Sarutahiko. In Meiji it was discredited as "superstition" though it has survived a little. There is also a small Inari shrine in the grounds.

At some point in its history the symbolism of the three monkeys became a part of it, and that is its most common identity today.

Sokinoya Shrine

Sokinoya Jinja

Sokinoya Shrine is listed in the Engi Shiki so it is at least 1,000 years old. It's located at the base of the hills south of Naoe in Hikawa.

Halfway up the steps is the store room holding the rather elegant mikoshi and other valuable equipment.

The main kami enshrined is Kihisakamitakahiko, and there is absolutely no information on him except that this area was once called Kihisa so he was probably the leader of the area. This rock in front of the shrine is reputed to be where he stood and prayed in the direction of Izumo Taisha across the plain below.

Visible behind the rock is a small shrine to Sarutahiko. It was moved here from its original site at a large rock outcropping further up the mountain. There is also a Kumano Shrine in the grounds.

For me, the most interesting secondary shrine in the rounds is the Karakuniidateho shrine. Karakuni means "from Korea", and there are numerous Karakuni shrines around Izumo and Iwami that enshrine Susano and his son Isotake that are manifestations of the legend/myth that Susano and his son arrived here from the Korean peninsula.

Sarutahiko Mask

Winter is the time I finally get to finish some of the masks I have been working on. This one is Sarutahiko.

According to the National Myths he was an Earth kami who guided Ninigi and his party, including Uzume who Sarutahiko later married, on their descent to Japan.

Sarutahiko masks are very common at shrines as he is most commonly known as a phallic kami, related to Dosojin, the phallic stones found at village borders and crossroads. His mask is often paired with Uzume/Otafuku.

Sarutahiko masks and Tengu masks are often conflated, and in Iwami the same mask is often used to represent both. usually though a tengu mask will be wearing a "tokin", a small hat-like box worn on the head of yamabushi.