Omiwa Shrine

Omiwa Shrine is the major shrine at the base of Mount Miwa in Nara Prefecture. Known as Mount Mimoru in the ancient chronicles, Miwa is generally considered to be where the Yamato established themselves and eventually formed what became the Japanese state.

Much emphasis is placed on Omiwa Shrine not having a honden, the inner sanctuary where the shintai (god-body) of the kami resides, as the mountain itself is considered to be the honden. There are though plenty of other buildings of typical Ryobu shinto design.

The kami is considered to be Okuninushi, the Izumo kam who ceded the land to the Yamato. He took up residence here along with other kami from Izumo to protect Yamato. Not long afterwards Amaterasu was moved to Ise.

Omiwa shrine became marginalized as the center of power moved north, first to Nara and then to Kyoto, and as the courts focus switched to Amaterasu and Ise. However in the middle ages Omiwas declining fortunes were reversed as it was revived by Buddhism. Until the Meiji eras seperation of buddhas and kami (shinbutsu bunri) the area was home to a lot of temples. After shinbutsubunri the temples were mostly destroyed or converted to shrines. There is an excellent paper on this subject The Separation of Gods and Buddhas at Omiwa Shrine

Snakes have been important elements in the mythology surrounding Omiwa shrine and mountain, and the most well-known story concerns a Princess Yamato Totohi Momoso. The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki both give different versions of who she was, but the story is essentially the same. She slept with the Kami of Miwa everynight and asked to see him during the daytime so she could see him in light. He agreed as long as she promised not to freak out. Next morning she saw him in his form of a white snake, and she freaked out. He got angry and disappeared into Mount Miwa and she became so distraught she killed herself by stabbing herself in the genitals with her chopsticks. She was buried in the nearby Hashihaka (chopstick grave) Kofun. Historians tend to believe this is the kofun of Queen Himiko.

Shimenawa & Rock

Rock and stone plays a major part in ancient Japanese mythology, so it's not surprising to find them marked as sacred with a shimenawa.

Iwakura, "stone seat" are rock outcroppings found often on mountaintops and are places where the kami descend to earth. They will often be fenced off behind shimenawa rather than having the shimenawa on them.

As with most other places in the world, rocks with unusual shapes and such will often have stories and legends associated with them. The one above is at a female fertility shrine on Mount Daisen, and its easy to see what it reopresents.

This rock has Sainokami carved in it. sainokami are male/female kami found in pairs at village boundaries, crossroads, etc. originally represented by a male and female rock, later they began to be carved as figures.

And, of course, there are lots of memorial stones that will have shimenawa on them.

I'm looking forward to reading a book I just got on the new discipline of Geomythology, the study of the geological foundation to human myths.

Concrete Wabi Sabi Mountainsides

Concrete Wabi Sabi: Mountainsides

Any look at the aesthetics, or economics, of concrete in Japan would have to look at concreted mountainsides.

There is no doubting that Japanese mountainsides are, by and large, steep. That comes partially from Japan's "newness" geologically speaking, and that steepness causes problems that can be remedies by concrete.

But whether the truly staggering amounts of concreted mountainsides in Japan are truly necessary.... thats another thing.

Like many of the roads, bridges, tunnels, and tetrapods, their function is more to provide profits for concrete and construction companies. And jobs of course.

Samurai with guns

These 2 draincovers are on Ishin kaido, Restoration Road, in Yuda Onsen, Yamaguchi. The restoration referred to is the Meiji restoration of 1868 whereby the government forces were defeated and the emperor "restored" to rule by the Imperial faction led by the domains of Satsuma and Choshu (the previous name for what is now Yamaguchi Prefecture). The partnership of Satsuma and Choshu had been brought about by Ryoma Sakamoto of Tosa domain. An early meeting of all three parties took place in Yuda Onsen.

The civil war to bring about the Meiji restoration is known as the Boshin war, and both sides used plenty of foreign weaponry. The Imperial faction used a lot of French Minie rifles, and these were more accurate and had a longer range than the guns used by the Shoguns forces. This may not have been a deciding factor, but is must have helped in their victory.

Okuizumo Vineyard

Other than Omiki in matsuri season I rarely drink any alcohol, maybe 6 bottles of beer a year, but when offered samples to taste at Okuizumo winery I couldn't refuse.

The winery moved to its current location in the hills above the Hi River near Kisuki about 8 years ago. Wine has been drunk in Japan since the first christian missionaries brought it, but the first attempt to produce it domestically was not until the Meiji era, however, a boom began post WWII, and now there are many vineyards all over Japan.

Okuizumo Vineyard has won prizes for some of their wines, but I wouldn't put too much stock in Japanese prizes......

For some reason they also had a small collection of donkeys.

and a nice flower garden leading to the shop and restaurant

Mojiko Retro Tower

The Mojiko Retro Tower is a 127 meter high-rise apartment building next to the harbor in Mojiko.

On the 31st floor there is an observation deck with great views across the straits to Shimonoseki.

It was built in 1999 and was designed by famed architect Kisho Kurokawa.

The observation deck is open from 10am till 10pm and entrance is 300 yen.

No work in the garden today :)

After an unusually warm and wet February, winter returned the last 2 days with non-stop snow.

The stinkbugs prediction has been somewhat vindicated

Reiko -Ji

Reiko-Ji is the only remaining temple building in Tachikue Gorge. When the area was a stronghold of Shugendo there were many more.

The large Owaraji (straw sandals) are a common offering at temples and shrines, but as far as I can remember this is the only shimenawa I've seen adorning a temple building. I've been unable to find out why.

In 852 a monk discovered a statue of Yakushi Nyorai, the healing buddha, on the back of a giant blue turtle. He removed the statue and placed it in a nearby cave. The Emperor, on hearing the story, founded the temple, so it was probably a Shingon temple originally.

Now it belongs to the Soto Zen sect. Home to more than 1,500 statues, Tachikue Gorge is located 8k south of Izumo City on the Kando River

Typical Japanese Landscape 27

At this time of the year, and others too, there is not a lot of color.

Grey greens, grey browns, grey blues, etc

One could think that one was in a 3D ink wash painting.....

Sai Shrine

The full name of Sai shrine is Sainiimasuomiwaaramitama Shrine. It enshrines Omiwa Aramitama, the spirit of the sacred mountain Mount Miwa. It is an affiliate shrine of the great Omiwa Shrine, and is located right next door, close to the southern end of the Yamanobenomichi in Nara Prefecture.

Mount Miwa has been sacred since ancient times, and is an example of a "kannabi", a mountain where the kami resides IN the mountain, rather than descending onto the mountain. After ceding "Japan" to the Yamato, Okuninushi settled in Mount Miwa, and 5 of his relatives from Izumo inhabited other mountains surrounding the Yamato Basin, and it seems most likely that the concept of kannabi is from Izumo

It is possible to go up on the mountain, though there are many restrictions. There are about 6 periods during the year when it is forbidden, but the rest of the time you pay a fee of 300 yen, put on a white sash and begin the climb here. No photography or eating is allowed, and you can only spend 3 hours.

The spring at the shrine is renowned for its healing qualities.

Kotoshironushi, Okuninushi's son, is also enshrined here.