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| Miyazaki Jingu (photos courtesy of the shrine) |
Address: 2-4-1 Jingu, Miyazaki-shi, Miyazaki 880-0053
Tel/Information: 0985-27-4004
How to get there: Take the JR Nippo Line to Miyazaki Jingu
Station, then 5 minutes on foot.
Enshrined kami: Kamuyamato iwarehiko no sumera mikoto (Jinmu
Tenno), Ugayafukiaezu no mikoto (father), and Tamayorihime no mikoto (mother)
Prayers offered: For safe childbirth, protection
against misfortune (yakuyoke), and others.
Best times to go: From mid to late April to see the wisteria
blossoms, including a rare variety with large white blossoms. There is also horseback archery (yabusame) on 3 April. The surrounding forest is lovely any time of year.
Important physical features: Miyazaki was a small provincial
town until the Meiji period when in 1883 it was chosen by the central
government as the capital of the newly created prefecture of Miyazaki in
southeastern Kyushu. Prior to this, the area was known as Hyuga since at least
the seventh century. The shrine was rebuilt in 1907 on what was believed to be the birth place of Emperor Jimmu, making the shrine an important one in the newly
created group of imperial shrines that included the creation of Hokkaido Jingu
(1869), Heian Jingu (1895), and Meiji Jingu (1912). Most of these shrines were
given the name jingu rather than jinja to show a special connection to the
Imperial House, and to link them to an attempted centralization of Shinto focused on Ise Jingu.
The modern
shrine architecture style used here is the work of Ito Chuta, the
historian-architect who is also credited with the design of Heian Jingu, Meiji Jingu
and many other shrines from the era. For Miyazaki Jingu he created a strictly
symmetrical layout of shinmei-zukuri type structures. One of the
characteristics of this modern Shinto style is the strict flatness of the roof,
made even more so by being surfaced with copper shingles rather than kaya as
Ise Jingu. This makes for a much stricter and cooler appearance. The other
characteristic is the great length of the roof and width of the structures, as
opposed to their shallow depth, and the heavy use of very long chigi along the
ridge of every structure from gate to honden. The roof ridge of shinmei-zukuri runs left to right
and the entrance is on the non-gable side. The 4-legged gate (shinmon) with a long shinmei style roof with
chigi and katsuogi, is followed by a square, open sided “worship place”
(haishyo) with the same style roof. This is the point from which people
usually make their prayers. A low, open fence that also lines the sando,
prevents entry past this point. Beyond this is the large, 7-bay wide heiden
with a long roof containing seven katsuogi. Extending from the sides of the
heiden, covered corridors connect to two 3x2-bay
structures that are placed with the gable facing forward. This gives the
building the feel of a shoin style palace from the Heian period. All of these
structures have very simple and unadorned round pillars, and the wood has taken
on a dark patina over the years. The smaller honden is of the same style, and
connected to the heiden by a short roof. Right of the sando just before
entering the gate, there is a treasure house also designed by Ito. This semi-European style employs a wall treatment called
namakokabe that first became popular on the houses of high-ranking samurai
during the Edo period. It became common for storehouses in the western part of
the country and involves tiles set diagonally on the wall, with wide gaps in
which plaster has been mounded. The tile is usually dark grey like roofing tile
and the result is fire and water-resistant.
Important spiritual features: We are told by both the Kojiki and the Nihon shoki that the roots of the imperial
line—from the descent of Ninigi no mikoto, to the outset of the third
generation in the form of Kamuyamato iwarehiko and his brothers—has its
history in the ancient fiefdom of Hyuga (present day Miyazaki). Known as Jimmu
Tenno from about the eighth century, the story of this heavenly
descendent ultimately founding the kingdom that would become Japan, is central
to the Japanese version of divine rule. It will be recalled that the line of heavenly kami
continued to marry earthly kami until Jimmu makes his way to Yamato to found the nation, where the ancient texts record a
change from the “Divine Age” or “Age of the Kami”, to the age of man. I go into some detail on the founding myths in Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion." The story
of Miyazaki Jingu’s foundation begins in Yamato, where an aged Jimmu (said to have lived for 137 years) is
concerned that the Kyushu clans have not yet submitted to his will. Jimmu
decides to send his grandson Takeiwatatsu no mikoto to do the job. When he
lands back in his ancestral Hyuga, he first stops off at the site of present day Miyazaki
Jingu to worship his grandfather, before going on to find a place to settle
down and develop the land. The place he finally settles in is Aso and therefore
he is enshrined at Aso Jinja in neighboring Kumamoto. He is therefore considered the
founder of Kyushu while Jimmu is considered the founder of the nation. While
the dates are not known and take place in mythical time (i.e. there is as yet
no written or archeological proof of any nation states in Japan at that time),
the traditional foundation date of Yamato (and the official founding date of
Japan) is given as 660BC.
Archeology does tell us a few things, however, which bare some light on the mythology. It is believed that, in fact, the region later known as Hyuga was late in developing compared to other places in Kyushu. This may be partly because it was isolated from the rest of Kyushu and accessible only by sea. It may also be that a hostile group, referred to in the literature as the Kumasa people, resisted influences from the outside, were responsible for the death of Emperor Chuai (r.), and were finally subdued only in the eighth century. It is odd, therefore, that the writers of these eighth century texts should have chosen this region to begin the history of the country. There is even speculation that Jimmu and his followers landed here from another country and, finding an unwelcoming environment, continued on there way to the Kansai—conquering and consolidating kingdoms as they went. A later date for development in the south is evidenced by the the kofun burial mounds in this area being of a later date than those in the Kansai. It is also the case that metal work in bronze was rare in southern Kyushu and that commerce and communication ran east-west along the northern shores and on to Yamaguchi in western Honshu, through the Inland Sea and on to the Kansai area. There is also some evidence from skeletal remains that the new Yayoi immigrants of North Asian origins, moved into the older Jomon locations occupied by people of South Asian origin. It may be that the mythology of the seventh century chronicles and that of Miyazaki Jingu is a reenactment of this displacement in an area of the country that—because of its isolation—was later in experiencing it, and therefore more prominent in the legends that were handed down. An excellent book on the subject is "Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai" by J. Edward Kidder.
Archeology does tell us a few things, however, which bare some light on the mythology. It is believed that, in fact, the region later known as Hyuga was late in developing compared to other places in Kyushu. This may be partly because it was isolated from the rest of Kyushu and accessible only by sea. It may also be that a hostile group, referred to in the literature as the Kumasa people, resisted influences from the outside, were responsible for the death of Emperor Chuai (r.), and were finally subdued only in the eighth century. It is odd, therefore, that the writers of these eighth century texts should have chosen this region to begin the history of the country. There is even speculation that Jimmu and his followers landed here from another country and, finding an unwelcoming environment, continued on there way to the Kansai—conquering and consolidating kingdoms as they went. A later date for development in the south is evidenced by the the kofun burial mounds in this area being of a later date than those in the Kansai. It is also the case that metal work in bronze was rare in southern Kyushu and that commerce and communication ran east-west along the northern shores and on to Yamaguchi in western Honshu, through the Inland Sea and on to the Kansai area. There is also some evidence from skeletal remains that the new Yayoi immigrants of North Asian origins, moved into the older Jomon locations occupied by people of South Asian origin. It may be that the mythology of the seventh century chronicles and that of Miyazaki Jingu is a reenactment of this displacement in an area of the country that—because of its isolation—was later in experiencing it, and therefore more prominent in the legends that were handed down. An excellent book on the subject is "Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai" by J. Edward Kidder.
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| Shan Shan Matsuri |
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| Yabusame at Miyazaki Jingu |
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