Shizuoka Sengen Jinja                                                       UC

The combined haiden of Sengen (Asama) and Kanbe Jinja (all photos, Joseph Cali)

Date founded: This shrine complex consists of three shrines, two of which are under the same roof. Kanbe Jinja was founded during the reign of Emperor Sujin (r. 97-30B.C.) according to shrine tradition. Asama Jinja (Sengen) was founded in 901 as a divided spirit of Fujisan Hongu Jinja. The third shrine, Otoshimioya Jinja was founded during the reign of Emperor Ojin (r. 270-310) according to shrine tradition.

Address: 102-1 Miyagasaki-cho, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka-shi, Shizuoka 420-0868

Tel/Information: 054-245-1820.

How to get there: JR Shinkansen or local line to Shizuoka Station, then by Shizutetsu Bus to the Akatorii bus stop.

Enshrined kami: Onamuchi no mikoto (Kanbe Jinja), Konohanasakuyahime no mikoto (Asama Jinja), Otoshimioya no mikoto (Otoshimioya Jinja).

Prayers offered: Successful childbirth (Asama Jinja), long life and good marriage (Kanbe Jinja).  

Best time to go: Himachi Festival, 25 September. About 500 hand painted paper lanterns are displayed.

While you're here, any readers who are interested in having a kamidana of their own, or would like to send one to a friend or family member, please check out this post: https://shintoshrinesofjapanblogguide.blogspot.com/2019/06/portable-kamidana-jinja.html

Important physical features: In Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion, I have listed this shrine as a sub-entry under Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha, considered the main shrine for Asama (Mt. Fuji) worship. However, in terms of physical properties (other than Fujisan itself) Shizoka Sengen Jinja is at least as magnificent if not more so. For this reason I have recently visited the shrine and decided to go into greater detail on this blog.
           For a person like myself, an artist and designer, Shizuoka Sengen Jinja provides much that is of purely visual interest.Situated on a finger of stone and woods that extends from Mt. Ryuso into the heart of Shizuoka City, Sengen Jinja is actually the name for a group of shrines. Shizuoka was the the nineteenth stop on the old Tokaido rode linking Edo and Kyoto. It was also the home of retired Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu who rebuilt the shrine and resided at nearby Sunpu Castle after 1605. Unfortunately, only the castle grounds still exist, but it was a prosperous and popular city and well endowed by the Tokugawa family. Ieyasu, who had his coming of age ceremony at this shrine in 1555, was himself first laid to rest at nearby Kunozan Toshogu before being relocated to Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture. I detail the magnificent Kunozan Toshogu in my book and also have a Photo Tour elsewhere on this blog. That shrine has undergone major renovation as of 2013 so the paintwork is in splendid condition. There is no question that the exterior of the main shrine of Shizuoka Sengen is in need of repainting, which is a major undertaking that will no doubt occur at sometime in the future, nevertheless both the painted and sculptural detailing of the shrines, along with the splendid view of Mt. Fuji and the city itself as well as the sixth-century Shizuhatayama Kofun are all well worth seeing.
          

Roumon of Shizuoka Sengen

           In fact, the shrine grounds contain some twenty-six Important Cultural Properties of the country and the prefecture—an enormous number matched by few other shrines in Japan. Of these, what must be considered the main shrine in terms of size and status is the combined Kanbe and Asama Jinja. While there are many entrances to the shrine grounds, the one at the end of Hase Dori leads under a stone torii, a gate (which may have once held nio), and a large roumon with zuijin figures from 1816. This gate is interesting for its dragon carvings and its interesting agyo and ungyo rikishi sitting on or suppressing the shishibana.The black plaque in the photo contains the names of Sengen and Kanbe shrines. Passing through the roumon leads to a large buden from 1816 which sits in the center of a square formed by the covered walkway (kairo) that connects the roumon in the front to the haiden in the back. Only the honden is outside of this. This buden is one of the only unpainted structures here though the remains of color on the zoubana indicate that at least parts may have been painted at one time. Extensive carvings in the ranma are by the Tachikawa-ryu as are most of the carvings here (though a volunteer guide I met at the shrine mentioned that the dragon on the roumon was carved by the legendary Hidari Jingoro (1596-1644?)—although it would have had to been salvaged from the original gate which burnt down in 1804).
           The next structure, the haiden, has several distinguishing features. First, one notices that there are two staircases and two entrances, one for the worship of each kami. The other thing is the second story structure, found only on this shrine and Fujisan Hongu. That distinction earns for these two shrines the nomenclature sengenzukuri. The second level (pictured above) is built like a smaller shrine however, unlike Fujisan Hongu, there are no chigi or katsuogi and the illusion of a small shrine is less strong. Nevertheless the irimoya-style roof, balcony and railing give the impression of a complete building sitting on top of the first floor. I am told that, like Fujisan Hongu, this room is not used and that to do so would place a worshiper above the level of the honden where the kami resides. If the combined height is in fact twenty-five meters (about eighty-two feet) as is stated, that would make it taller than Izumo Taisha which is often claimed to be the tallest shrine (at almost eighty feet—twenty-four meters) in Japan. Regardless, this beautiful building from around 1814 reflects the tastes and lavish support that the shrine was given by its powerful Tokugawa patrons. The interior ceiling features a dragon painting by Kanno Horinobu.

Left: The rear of the haiden (left) courtyard and honden.  Right: Honden

           The shrine is encompassed by a kairo that begins at the roumon and ends at the haiden forming a courtyard. Completing this shrine is the detached honden which also has two staircases (Asama Jinja to the left), plus a third for the priests, and is built on a raised level about eight meters high, surrounded by a low fence with kawara roof, and two entrance gates topped by karahafu roofs. The entrance is on the eave side of a simple gabled roof. The construction of the honden above an earth and stone platform is reminiscent of such shrines as Yoshino Mikumari Jinja. 

Left: Torii and zuijinmon of Otoshimioya Jinja   Right: Map of the shrine grounds showing the round kofun.

Yachihoko Jinja with beginning of staircase on the left.

           The other main shrine here is Otoshimioya Jinja which has a completely different entrance and faces south where Asama and Kanbe face east. The entrance is at the end of Sengen Dori and starts with a large red torii at the beginning of the shopping street at the Nakacho intersection of the road that comes directly from Shizuoka Station and passes by the south side of Sunpu Castle. After passing the second red torii, you immediately enter through a zuijinmon and the haiden of the shrine stands about three meters from that. It is immediately apparent that this haiden is more simply appointed than the other buildings on the grounds. The copper roof with karahafu is not the classic dobuki-ita of most Tokugawa sponsored shrines but a simple copper shingle, and the elaborate carvings are missing. The honden is however built much like Asama and Kanbe—detached from the haiden and raised on an earth and stone platform. It is a small building (3x2 bays) in a nagare-zukuri style. The honden does feature a dobuki-ita roof and polychromed carvings without chigi or katsuogi. The shrine dates from the same early nineteenth-century period after a fire destroyed the previous structures in 1804. It is built in a direct line and sitting directly below the sixth-century Shizuhatayama Kofun which can be seen (but not entered) by walking up the left side of the shrine.

Shizuhatayama Kofun
(Kofun photos courtesy of M. Kawaguchi)

Large cutaway mockup

The kofun is a thirty-two meter mound of about seven meters height with a large stone sarcophagus inside. First excavated in 1949, the bones and and most valuable goods were long gone by then but the remaining weapons, armor, and other metal work and pottery marks it as that of an influential family of the sixth or early seventh century. Some of these can be seen at the shrine's museum.

Right side of the shrine

Walking to the right of Otoshimioya you come to a long staircase leading up the mountain. To the right of this is Yachihoko Jinja, elaborately carved, painted and gilded. The roof is irimoya-zukuri with chidorihafu and karahafu all in dobuki-ita (also called dogawarabuki). These features, and a primarily black lacquer exterior were favorite features of Tokugawa-sponsored shrine construction. This shrine as well as most of the others on these grounds are the work of the Tachikawa-ryu family of shrine carpenters who were renown also for their carving abilities. Their magnificent works include Nikko Toshogu in Tochigi and Suwa Taisha in Nagano. They were active from 1774 to the beginning of the Meiji period. This building is a honden only with no haiden. the carving here includes the "The 24 Paragons of Filial Piety" a Confucian text from the thirteenth century that was a favorite of Tokugawa Japan. these scenes are depicted in the kaerumata (frog-leg struts) that encircle the building.

Hayama Jinja haiden with zuijin figure

Side view of the honden.

           Climbing those long stairs and then another shorter climb to the right brings you to Hayama Jinja, another magnificent example of decorative shrine architecture in the Buddhist-Shinto combinatory mold. The most unusual feature of this shrine is that the zuijin guardian figures, usually reserved for entrance gates (mon) are here placed directly on the portico of the haiden. This is a highly unusual feature and no other shrine comes to mind that matches it though there are a number of shrines that have komainu sitting on the portico (I would be interested if any readers could site another example). The haiden is decorated and polychromed above the nuki but otherwise simple in appearance. As with most of the shrines on this site, the haiden and honden are separated which is a little unusual for shrines of this period which were built by the Tokugawa. Most such shrines were of the gongen-zukuri type with the haiden and honden attached by an intermediary heiden. The honden is a nagare-zukuri, 3 x 2 bay type painted primarily in black, with elaborate carving and polychrome. Passing beyond the shrine and a bit more climbing brings you to a wonderful view of Mt. Fuji and the city of Shizuoka stretching out to the sea. This view reminds us of why the shrine exists; to venerate the kami of the mountain.

Mt. Fuji and Shizuoka City with the ocean in the far distance.

Finally is Sukunahikona Jinja located back down the hill to the right side of the main shrine. This is also a honden-only shrine of 3x2 bays, primarily in black lacquer, with extensive polychroming and carving above the nuki. The theme here is the twelve signs of the Chinese/Japanese zodiac.

Sukunahikona Jinja (right side)

Important spiritual features: It is not unusual for more than one shrine to exist on the same grounds. There are generally several reasons offered for this phenomena. One is the concept of a mini-pilgrimage which became popular from the medieval period when the idea of visiting more than one shrine or temple, to gain spiritual benefits, became more widespread. However, even during the Edo period, travel was restricted and costly. So the idea of enshrining famous and far-flung kami on the same site became popular. There was also a question of economics, especially when patronage of the Imperial House dried up as it did from time to time. This prompted the creation of the soja, a site that contained a number of the kami of the province. This is the case with Shizuoka Sengen Jinja. The primary difference here is that where most such structures at other shrines would be modest, many splendid buildings were lavished on this site by the Tokugawa who claimed Suruga no kuni (the old name for Shizuoka) as their home province. It is great luck that these buildings have survived.  Of the many shrines, three are considered to be primary. Of these, the kami of Asama or Sengen Jinja (two different readings of the same Chinese characters)—Konohanasakuya—is usually considered to be the kami of Mt. Fuji and is worshiped at all the Sengen Jinja. Onamuchi no mikoto of Kanbe Jinja is considered the ancestor of the Izumo clan and is the deity of Izumo taisha, Omiwa, and Hiyoshi Taisha. Otoshimioya no mikoto is considered a child of Susano-o, father (or grandfather) of Onamuchi and considered a kami of grains and the market place. He is therefore related to Onamuchi and the Izumo line of deities. He was considered the principle kami of Abe River and the area where the shrine is located.
           While the other shrines here are considered sessha and massha of the principle shrines, it seems that Hayama Jinja ranked on the same level prior to the Meiji period when shrines were reorganized and their rankings confirmed or changed. The deity of the shrine is Oyamatsumi, another of the Izumo line, but the great shrine authority R.A.B. Ponsonby-Fane believed it was originally Hayamatsumi one of the five mountain kami created when Izanagi cut off the head of the fire kami, Kagutsuchi. Hayamatsumi was created from his right hand, Oyamatsumi from the head of the fire kami. What is more to the point is that most of the kami here are related to mountains as one might expect.
           Sukunahikona is a kami closely associated with Onamuchi. He is a kami of grains and also of healing and paired with Onamuchi in "building" the land. Yachihoko is another name for Okuninushi no kami who is considered to be the transformed spirit of Onmononushi after he survived a number of trials by his father Susano-o and returned from yomi, the land of the dead. In fact there are so many alternate names for these kami that it is difficult to pin them down exactly. However, as I mentioned above, these kami in their various guises are enshrined at important mountains of the old Yamato polity such as Mt. Hie and Mt. Miwa.

Mt. Fuji

Description: Shizuoka Sengen Jinja is located in the heart of Shizuoka City, a short walk or bus ride from Shizuoka Station which is on the local and the Shinkansen Line. Since this shrine is not part of the Mt. Fuji World Heritage Site, about one hour by train or car from Fujinomia City where Fujisan Hongu Sengen is located, and far from the beginning of any climbing routes up the mountain, it is likely to be overlooked by foreign travelers. That would be a shame. It really is a most important shrine from the point of view of history, architecture and nature and well worth the trip. Located at the base of the small Shizuhatayama, it contains some beautiful old trees, a short hiking course through Shizuhata Park to the north (which also contains a pond), and splendid views of Mt. Fuij.

Festival: Reitaisai, 1~5 April. On the 5th there is a large procession of around one thousand participants and five dashi (called kuruma here) with musicians and pantomime.There is also a performance of bugaku at the buden on the shrine grounds. Other events throughout the week.

Photo Tour of Kunozan Toshogu Jinja
 
In Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion, my focus was on delivering as much information as possible about as many shrines as possible. The original goal was 100 shrines but this would have necessitated a massive book at a massive price (as well as an irate publisher). Since I was unwilling to compromise the information for each shrine, I compromised on the number of photos. In this blog too, I have followed the style of the book and therefore images are again minimal. But in the assumption that readers of the book and of this blog might also be interested in seeing more of the places being written about, I am presenting a series of Photo Tours.  This one, the magnificent Kunozan Toshogu Jinja.

The zuijinmon of Kunozan Toshogu at the top of a lengthy staircase.

            Another of the splendid Toshogu shrines featured in the book this shrine should perhaps have been the first of these photo tours. After all, it is the first place in which the spirit as well as the physical remains of Tokugawa Ieyasu were interred. At that time the rights were conducted under the direction of the Yoshida family and their brand of Yuitsu Shinto (One-and-only Shinto).

The zuijin (guardian) on the right side of the entrance. His mouth is open in the classic "a" gesture, forming a pair with the closed-mouth figure ("un") on the left side. These are the first and last letters of the Sanskrit alphabet and symbolizes the beginning and end. The gesture is common to Buddhist nio guardian figures at the entrance to temples, as well as the komainu used at the entrance to Shinto shrines. These Shinto guardians are usually sitting upon a lion skin and are armed with swords, bow and arrows.

While shrine visitors who are familiar with the typical stone komainu might find this gold and blue version startling, I am told that it is of a very old type. My first encounter with such was at the Kamigamo shrine in Kyoto, where the coloration is silver and blue. The komainu here are located on the back side of the zuijinmon and sport the same open and closed mouth poses.

            However, this was not to be Ieyasu's final resting place. About one year after after his interment, the story goes that he was transferred to Nikko in Tochigi prefecture so that he could guard the country and his beloved Edo. He was supposed to have left a sort of last will and testament to this effect but it is also the case that the Tendai prelate Tenkai, who was a confidant of Ieyasu and of his grandson Iemitsu, was fighting to preserve the position of his sect after it was devastated by Oda Nobunaga. It is likely too that Iemitsu, who by all accounts revered his grandfather, was anxious to secure his own position and that of his clan by having Ieyasu elevated to the level of kami, at the head of his own sect. He and Tenkai worked together to successfully create the cult of Toshogu Daimyojin.

Near the top of Mount Kuno, overlooking Suruga Bay, on the former sight of one of his implacable enemies, stands the first shrine to Tokugawa Ieyasu. The heiden connected to the honden behind is clearly visible in this photo of the splendidly detailed gongen-zukuri shrine. The photo shows the side gate.

The entrance to the heiden showing the rich detailing especially above the tie-beams. The entrance and surrounding fence primarily in cinnabar red and the shrine primarily in black with polychrome and gold details. Notice the three-hollyhock leaf kamon of the Tokugawa on the saisenbako.

The inside of the main entrance, a four-legged mukaikaramon (also called a karamon) with karahafu on all four sides. The side panels are carved in deep relief and the gate connects to the same type of sukashi-bei fence which we saw on the Ueno Toshogu shrine.

A view toward the honden.

A detail of the rich carving and polychroming above the nageshi. Of particular interest is the way in which one corner has been left un-renovated (the pale color area). This was done to preserve an example of the older decoration in order to assist future renovators with an original reference point. The shrine was completely renovated several years ago.

As with Nikko Toshogu, behind the shrine is located the crypt of Ieyasu. Upon questioning a very kind negi of the shrine, I was told that some remnant of the body was left behind when it was transferred to Nikko. Apparently, the body was originally interred in a sitting position inside the stupa-shaped crypt.

The climb up Mount Kuno is more than only the most hardy can endure. The recommended route is to take the cable car to the top and walk back down. The photo shows one small section of the serpentine stairway that winds up the side of the mountain, along with a glimpse of the bay. Even the trip down was grueling and though it was quite difficult in the summer heat, I wouldn't want to attempt it in a strong wind! There are only several buses per day from the train station to the lift so a taxi may be needed to get you that far.

Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji and its Religious Traditions

Fuji Sengen Mandala
(photo courtesy of
Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha)

In honor of the inclusion of Mt. Fuji in the list of World Heritage properties, I am posting summaries of some scholarly papers related to its religious traditions. This will be along the lines of the posting on Amaterasu omikami and the origins of Ise Jingu.

In Shinto Shrines; A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion, I have included an eight-page entry on Fujisan Hongen Sengen Taisha, which literally owns the top of Mt. Fuji, as well as a number of shrines around the base of the mountain that figure in its history. While guide books and advice on climbing the mountain or lodging nearby abound, here I will review some English-language sources relating to the sacred history of the mountain. Of course, everyone in Japan knows Mt. Fuji and perhaps even a majority of the people consider it the preeminent symbol of the country, yet few are familiar with even the broadest outlines of its sacred history.

Finally, for those who would rather climb Mt. Fuji than read about it, I am happy to present this piece by American Shinto priest, Pat Ormsby, which comes to us via good friend John Dougill's Green Shinto blog. The original piece is here: http://www.greenshinto.com/wp/2013/03/31/fuji-seven-sacred-trails/ and I highly recommend the blog for anyone interested in Shinto or in various aspects of Japanese culture. Several other pieces by Pat Ormsby are posted there as well.

While you're here, any readers who are interested in having a kamidana of their own, or would like to send one to a friend or family member, please check out this post: https://shintoshrinesofjapanblogguide.blogspot.com/2019/06/portable-kamidana-jinja.html

Fuji: Seven Sacred Trails  (11 July 2013)
Reconnecting with the sacred paths of Mt. Fuji
by Patricia Ormsby
Mt. Fuji has been worshiped as a divine entity from as far back as anyone was keeping record, with pilgrimages undertaken to the summit in ancient times.  These days paved roads can take you half way up the steep slopes, and the climb from there is more popular than ever, but the old pilgrimage routes around the base and up the lower slopes have been all but forgotten.  There is not much of a view from the dense forests, and it takes real devotion to put in the long, hot climb required.  The ancient routes are nonetheless notable.

The Yoshida Trail According to the City of Fuji-Yoshida, “The original Yoshida Climbing Route starts from the Fuji Sengen Shrine, where the pilgrims of over 500 years ago came to pray before they started their climb up the sacred mountain.  Today, traditionalists still claim that the only way to climb Mt. Fuji is from the Fuji Sengen Shrine.”  This was the most easily accessed route from Edo, where the devotional Fuji confraternities (more on them later) were very popular during the Tokugawa rule.  Since it is the route of a marathon to the summit each July, it is the best maintained of all the hiking trails below the 5th Station.

The Murayama Route The Murayama Route is the oldest trail up Mt. Fuji, followed by the nearby Suyama Route.  It was developed about 1000 years ago together with a temple complex in the village of Murayama, just south of the volcano, which became a lively center of ascetic Shugendo practice.  The trail fell into disuse in 1903, but has been revived in recent years.  Several years ago, I attempted to follow the Murayama Route, but got lost when it entered a summer home community which had well developed recreational paths heading off in all directions, obscuring the ancient route.  Since then, however, more efforts to reestablish the trail have been made, and two years ago, accompanied by two Shugendo practitioners, I was able follow the entire route from the Murayama Sengen Shrine. The route was well marked, with a few obstacles. At the 5th Station parking lot, it joins the crowded Fujinomiya Trail to the summit.  My companions, in full yamabushi (mountain ascetic) regalia, were delayed several hours on the latter by hikers wanting them to pose for pictures.  Dedicated practitioners start their pilgrimage from the port of Tagonoura in Fuji City.  Their journey has three sections, the first of which is the urban-suburban roadways of what once was a grassy plain, and represented “this world.”  The forests of the Murayama Route represented a transition, and the bare slopes higher up, the world of the dead, to which the pilgrim could go and return.

The Suyama Route Similar to the Murayama Route, the Suyama Route has recently been rescued from oblivion.  It starts from the Suyama Sengen Shrine near Ashitakyama, an eroded volcanic remnant southeast of Mt. Fuji.  Its lower reaches pass adjacent to a golf course and other tourist facilities that lend it a certain quantity of litter and noise, but it is geologically interesting.   Mizutsuka, one of several old cinder cones along the way, is one of the few places on the mountain with reliable surface water.  The trail gives views of all three of the Hoei-zan craters, site of Mt. Fuji’s most recent eruption in 1707, before reaching the Ochuudoh and Fujinomiya Trails at the 6th Station.The Gotemba Route, which parallels it nearby, is the most difficult and picturesque route up Mt. Fuji, climbing through cinders from the Hoei eruption, but the trail appears to have no deep history.

The Subashiri Trail From the vicinity of the Niihashi Sengen Shrine, established about 800 years ago in Gotemba, east of Mt. Fuji, there is a trail going up to the small secondary peak of Kofuji near the Subashiri 5th Station.  I can find nothing on the history of that trail, but have heard that in old times women were allowed access to a smaller peak on pilgrimages, and I have long thought that peak might be it. The main Subashiri Trail currently rises from the 5th Station and meets the Yoshida Trail at the 8th Station.  This causes confusion among hikers attempting to descend on the latter.  If the Ochuudoh route were better known, it would be a cinch for lost hikers to return to the proper trail at the 6th Station, taking about twenty minutes along a level course.

The Shoji Trail The Shoji Trail is one of the most interesting routes, leading from Lake Shoji to the northwest of the mountain to the 5th Station, where it joins the Ochuudoh and Yoshida Trails.  There is no shrine associated with it, and it bisects the haunted forest of Aokigahara, where families once abandoned their elderly to die, currently a destination for suicides. Compasses often do not work in the forest due to geomagnetic anomalies.  This is a shame, because otherwise, it is a most impressive route.  Devotees piled up basalt rocks to make the route smooth and straight, and the dense forest has largely protected their work from erosion. The road was broad enough to accommodate royalty and is still easily passable, despite fallen trees, and unmistakable for its entire course.  The minimal signs are more than adequate.  The two yamabushi and I hiked down it at night.  This trail and the Ochuudoh provide a sense of the degree of devotion once shown by pilgrims, ascetic practitioners and lay followers alike.

The Ochuudoh Literally, “the middle road,” this route circumscribes Mt. Fuji at the 5th to 6th Stations and was particularly beloved by the Fuji confraternity, who maintained at least one shrine along it which also provided lodging.  Representing the Buddhist injunction to avoid extremes, it was nonetheless the most difficult pilgrimage route, with a hazardous crossing of the Ohsawa Kuzure, an erosional gully on the west slope. The route fell out of use several decades ago when the gully became simply too dangerous to cross, but I have traveled nearly all of it and was able to ascertain its current status last October.  The entire route on the Yamanashi (i.e., north) side is in good condition, passing through forests which protect it from rock slides.  Parts of it near the Yoshida 5th Station parking lot have been paved with hand-hewn stones, presenting a broad, currently popular route.  Like the Yellow-Brick Road, however, things get wild further on and care must be taken to stay on course. The Fuji confraternity shrine is just short of the constantly rumbling chasm of the Ohsawa Kuzure in a dense foggy forest about 1.5 hours walk westward from the Yoshida 5th Station parking lot.  Eastward, just short of where it intersects the Subashiri Trail, there are the remains of another shrine.  Crossing over to the Shizuoka (i.e., south) side from there, however, the trail emerges onto bare slopes, where it was annually obliterated even when it had large numbers of travelers. A sandy slog of about an hour, angling slightly upward takes you into view of the Hoei-zan crater, where the Ochuudoh is clearly marked and well traveled, running along the shoulder of the cinder cone, then descending into the crater, emerging at the Fujinomiya Trail 6th Station.  Westward from there, however, it has been entirely obliterated by bulldozer roads, and its point of reentry into the forests beyond can be hard to locate.  There is at least one brave soul, however, who makes the complete circuit regularly, descending to the base of Mt. Fuji to cross the Ohsawa Kuzure, and climbing again on the other side as a summertime exercise when his real passion of cross-country skiing is not possible.

Eight Inner and Eight Outer Lakes The Fuji confraternity was a sect founded in the early 16th century by Hasegawa Kakugyo, an ascetic who bypassed the thriving Shugendo community at Murayama and undertook his own ascetic practice in the Hitoana lava cave to the west of Mt. Fuji.  Highly popular as a lay organization promoting Fuji pilgrimages during the Edo period, it seems to have been bypassed by modernity, the most recent Hasegawa heir shunning the leadership. The remaining members are mostly old enough to remember the deprivations of World War II or its aftermath. Their liturgy mentions “uchisoto hakko no ryuujin,” meaning the dragon gods of the eight inner and eight outer lakes.  The inner lakes include the famous five lakes of Mt. Fuji and three other smaller lakes that are not famous.  The first of these is Lake Osensui, where the Dragon King of hand washing is said to reside.  That is the ritual of purification undertaken before entering sacred ground.  The second is Lake Yamanaka, where dwells the Dragon King of medicine.  The third is Lake Asumi, with the Dragon King of prophecies.  The fourth is Lake Kawaguchi, with the Dragon King of irrigation.  The fifth is Lake Saiko, with the Dragon King of green trees (that is to say, the haunted forest of Aokigahara), from where arise the seeds of our food.  The sixth is Lake Shoji, with the Dragon King of success.  The seventh is Lake Motosu, with the Dragon King of ancient origins from the mists of mythology.  The eighth is Lake Shibire, with the Dragon King of future outcomes. The Fuji sect followers still undertake pilgrimages to these, but travel by car. The Tokai Shizen Hodo, established in recent decades from Tokyo to Osaka, passes fairly close to most of the lakes, making a pleasant trip on foot possible. It would be less strenuous than climbing Mt. Fuji—unless one undertook the traditional ritual bathing at each lake. Fed by Mt. Fuji spring water arising from deep below the surface, they are icy cold. The eight outer lakes include Biwako, Ashinoko, Futamigaura, Suwako, Chuzenjiko, Harunako, Sakuragaike, and Kasumigaura.  Of these, Futamigaura is not actually a lake but a sea coast in Ise. However, it shares with the others the distant visibility of Mt. Fuji, if not directly, then from a mountain nearby. At Futamigaura, which has the famous married rocks joined by a rope of rice straw, the sun rises from directly behind Mt. Fuji at the summer solstice.  Visiting all of these would have been a labor of great devotion in times prior to modern transport.

Asama Jinja in Studies in Shinto and Shrines (6 July 2013)

by R.A.B. Ponsonby-Fane

Less well-known than Chamberlin, Sansom, et al., Ponsonby-Fane wrote extensively on the history of Shinto shrines and their deities in the 1920's and 30's. In his entry for Asama Jinja (Fuji Hongu Sengen Taisha) he begins with the story of the deity of the shrine as it was known at that time, Konohanasakuya-hime, as related in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki. He provides some detail about her father, Oyamatsumi, a deity which makes a number of unrelated appearances in the kiki but which seems to be simply a mountain deity. He then goes into the problem of how Konohanasakuya became the deity of the mountain, considering only that she was supposed to have been a deity of great beauty and the Fuji was regarded as the same. He then goes into the foundations of the shrine which according to tradition, was founded in Yamamiya and moved to its present site in Omiya (now Fujimiya) in 806, displacing a Fuji Jinja mentioned in the engishiki which is now a sessha of Fuji Sengen. In terms of the shrine building itself, he says that the first mention is in Azuma Kagami under the date 1223. The shrine burned during the Onin Wars and was rebuilt around 1578 but burned down again and the present incarnation was rebuilt by Tokugawa Ieyasu in the early 1600's. He then goes into great detail about the shrine buildings. In the next section on sessha and massha, he revisits the Fuji Jinja which is thought to be from the reign of Emperor Korei (legendary emperor whose reign is traditionally dated as 290-215 B.C.). He says that the deity of this shrine is Fuji Tayu  also identified as Oyamatsumi. He also relates an interesting story of how Mt. Fuji got its snow from the Hitachi fudoki. (Paraphrased) "In the old days, Miyoya no kami made the rounds of the abodes of deities and it was night when he came to Suruga where he wished to stay the night. The Fukuji no kami refused him saying that it was a festival day and the house was fasting. At this the Miyoya no kami became angry and said, You! why do you refuse your father? The mountain on which you dwell shall be covered  in snow winter and summer and there will be nothing to eat or drink." He mentions that Asama Jinja owns the top of the mountain above the 8th station but does not go into detail (for more on this, please see my book Shinto Shrines). The entry ends with some details of the priestly family of the shrine and some mention of its Buddhist history (which he refers to as a "contamination") before ending with some notes on the shrine's festivals. Ponsonby-Fane was a royalist and staunch supporter of the Emperor and as such, his research is somewhat tainted. Still, he relates interesting details that speak of the depth of his research.

Available from booksellers, published by Routledge which is happy to provide it to you, complete with a binding that falls apart inside of six months, for the meager price of USD 199.54 

The Formation of Emperor Worship in the New Religions—The Case of Fujido (6 July 2013)

by Miyazaki Fumiko

Despite the focus of this paper on the relation between emperor worship and the formation of the new religions of the late-Edo and early-Meiji periods in general, it gives a good understanding of how worship of Mt. Fuji underwent the change from shugendo and combinatory religion, to a "purely" Shinto-based faith. By the early nineteenth century, Fujido had become the largest of the Mt. Fuji fraternities (know as ko), which were derived from the followers of Kakugyo's and Jikigyo Miroku's teachings. These teachings were that everything was derived from the original father and mother which was also considered to be the sun and the moon. Believers were urged to apply their energies to peace and fertility, diligence in the family occupation and matrimonial harmony—in other words, the basic Confucian values of the Tokugawa era. Where they differed from these values was their stress on the equality of the social classes (warriors, farmers, artisans and tradesmen) and the equality of the sexes. In a time of much strife, Fujido was also one of a number of millenist or "world renewal" movements (such as the "ee ja nai ka", this one focused on the coming of the age of Miroku (Maitreya). While the motivation for many of the Japanese new religions is well known (the social upheavals, coming of Westerners, and the Meiji ban on mixing religions), Miyazaki examines the mechanism by which this change took place in the Fujido. In short, the pressure from the Meiji government to conform to its new standards for religion caused most cults to either close down or to totally revise their doctrines and rituals. While Fujido chose the latter, even changing the name of the organization to Jikkokyo and becoming one of the thirteen authorized Shinto cults. The transition was made by the ninth successor, Gyoga, and Shibara Hanamori who was influenced by the theories of Hirata Atsutane. As an example of how Fujido's views became transformed, Miyazaki talks about their view of history. They believed that for the first 6,000 years of human history, the world was governed by the original father and mother. For the next 12,000 years (the "Age of the Gods") rule was in the hands of Amaterasu omikami (as the child of the sun and the moon). The next 30,000 years were (and this had already begun, in their view) the Age of Miroku. In affecting the adoption of a new Shinto based on the divinity of the Emperor, one important point was the emphasis on "pure Japanese" (i.e. untainted by Chinese [Confucian] or Indian [Buddhist] culture) which existed in both Fujido and the new National Learning. This resulted from the prevailing "commoner (Fujido member) vs. the elite (Confucian-intellectual, Buddhist) mentality on which the new Meiji government made every effort to capitalize. Another factor was that the Age of Miroku came to be seen as a return to an earlier age, which fit in with the restoration (fukko) thinking of the Meiji leaders. This was the concept that the Japanese emperor's existed in one unbroken bloodline from the beginning of human time, and that the new government was actually a return to an idyllic ancient order headed by this demigod.

Available online at http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2430

Mount Fuji and Shugendo (6 July 2013)

by Byron Earhart

This paper is based on Earhart's research for his subsequent book "Mount Fuji", which was released in 2011. Unfortunately, I have not yet read the book but the present paper gives some idea of it's contents. Although I have previously summarized two papers on Mt. Fuji by Royall Tyler, it would probably be a good idea to read this one first. While it goes over much of the same territory, it gives a very good, overall view of the history of the mountain and its worship through the ages. While the same names appear in all three papers, this one gives a more detailed account of the rise and fall of Murayama Shugendo. It also makes clear how Kakugyo inherited the tradition but without revering the lineage of Matsudai and Raison. Instead, he set himself up as the direct receiver of revelations from Sengen Dainichi, after having been "sent" to Fuji by En no Gyoja, the anointed patriarch of the shugendo faith. Earhart makes clear how Kakugyo viewed the mountain and its deity as the source of all life. He then briefly touches on Jikgyo Miroku and his starvation-martyrdom, which spurs the spread of the religion to the common people of Edo, along with the foundation of Fuji-ko worship groups that survive to this day in a much modified form. While he does not go into the final phase of Fuji worship—where it turns from a shugendo based faith, to a Shinto based one—this paper gives a clear and easily understood overview of the faith practiced on the mountain for over one thousand years.
Available online at http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2406

"The Book of the Great Practice" The Life of the Mt. Fuji Ascetic Kakugyo Tobutsu Ku 
(6 July 2013)

by Royall Tyler

The title of this paper is annotated with the words "Introduction and Translation" but it is more than that. The first half is actually a point-by-point description of the text that is translated in the second half, and of the ascetic author, Kakugyo. In the other paper by the same author, summarized below, Kakugyo is introduced in the context of Fuji's history of worship. Here he is brought to the fore. In the introduction, the author sets about informing us of who Kakugyo was and trying to separate fact from fiction as regards the history and the writings. Kakugyo is credited with the beginning of the doctrines and beliefs that characterized Fuji worship from the Edo period to early Meiji. These were handed down in several writings, of which the most important is known as "The Book of the Great Practice" and in Japanese as the "Kakugyo Tobatsu Ku." It is supposed to be a biography written in 1620 by Kakugyo's successor Engan. However, there are a large number of variations and additions that seem to have been made long after Kakugyo's death in 1646. Briefly, Kakugyo had a dream that En no Gyoja instructed him to go to Mt. Fuji and seek out the hitoana cave. This is where Kakugyo did his severe austerities. This is where the Sengen deity instructed him on the true meaning of the mountain and its deities. The name sengen is an alternative reading of the word asama, a common name for mountains in Japan. Both names were used from early times to refer to the mountain, while the name "Fuji" (also around from ancient times but using various characters) came into common use from Meiji. Kakugyo's teachings centered on the sun, the moon and the stars (called the "three luminaries"). Kakugyo viewed Fuji as the axis mundi and the source of all life. But Kakugyo also retains belief in Dainichi, the basis of the shugendo belief system that dominated the mountain until the sixteenth century. At some point, Sengen Dainichi tells Kakugyo, "I am called Konohananasakuya-hime, the beginning of the world and the origin of the human body." This may be the first time the name of the goddess of Takachiho in southern Kyushu is associated with the mountain. Nevertheless, it is this fully-Shinto deity who is now worshiped at Mt. Fuji.

Available online at http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/1793

A Glimpse of Mt. Fuji in Legend and Cult (29 June 2013)

by Royall Tyler

This first paper is a general look at the worship surrounding and inspired by Fuji since legend and belief was first put to paper in Japan. He begins the survey with a poem from the Manyoshu of around A.D.759, which reminds us that "...the lofty peak of Fuji...is a god mysterious." While there are many legends of how the mountain itself came to be, like a number of other sacred mountains in Japan, the sacred history of this one is said to begin with the climb of En no Gyoja around 700. Since that time until the Meiji period, worship of Mt. Fuji was primarily Buddhist of the mountain ascetic, Shugendo variety. However the tradition of Fujisan Hongu is that it was established nearly 700 years earlier than that during the reign of Emperor Suinin. A full scale shrine is reported to have been built in 806, but the action doesn't really heat up until one Matsudai Shonin climbed the mountain several hundred times and built a temple to Dainichi Nyorai on the mountain in 1149. He is credited as the first to "popularize" climbing the mountain and bring Shugendo-style worship. He established the the first real Fuji cult at Maruyama near the southwestern base of the mountain. He was followed in the  early-fourteenth century by Raison who established the Fuji-gyo, attracting increasing numbers of laymen to the mountain. By the early seventeenth century, the power had shifted from Kyoto to Edo and with it, an increase in the number of worshipers coming from the east. Enter an ascetic named Kakugyo who spent many hard years in a cave called hitoana on Mt. Fuji, meditating while standing on a small block of wood, climbing up and down the mountain to do cold water ablutions, and writing is special "received" letters. Though he did not create a great following, his legend attracted others who did. One such was Jikigyo, an Edo townsman turned ascetic, whose "Record of Thirty-One Days" (his teachings recorded by a follower in the days before his death), became an essential part of the Fuji cult, which grew in size and popularity even as the population of Edo flocked to the mountain's slopes.
Available on line with a free subscription to http://www.jstor.org/

Tagata Jinja                                                       UC

Bell of Tagata Jinja
(this and following two photos from yamasa.org)

Date founded: A Tagata Jinja is mentioned in the engishiki written in 927.

Address: 152, Tagata-cho, Komaki City, Aichi 485-0004

Tel/Information: 0568-76-2906 Pamphlet in English available for 100 yen.

How to get there: Take the Inuyama line from Meitetsu Shin Nagoya Station to Inuyama Station. Transfer to the Komaki Line and take the train to Tagata Jinja-mae Station, then a few minutes by foot.

Enshrined kami: Tamahime no mikoto, Mitoshi no kami

Prayers offered: Successful childbirth, anything related to fertility and growth.  

Best time to go: Best to go for the Hounen Matsuri in March.

While you're here, any readers who are interested in having a kamidana of their own, or would like to send one to a friend or family member, please check out this post: https://shintoshrinesofjapanblogguide.blogspot.com/2019/06/portable-kamidana-jinja.html

Important physical features: The smallish grounds and the buildings of Tagata Jinja are of less interest than what lies within and around the buildings. Yet it is these objects of veneration that attract worshipers, visitors and gawkers from around Japan and around the world. Simply put, it is the penis, in every shape and size, in both wood and stone, that attracts so much attention. The grand daddy of them all is the 7-foot, 600-pound O-owasegata carved afresh each year from a cedar log, and used in the shrine's famous Hounen-sai festival. Enshrined afresh each year it will be unceremoniously sold off and replaced with a new one when its time is up. 

O-owasegata in procession

Important spiritual features: The primitive root (pardon the first of many puns) of all religions is the concern for the continuation of human life. The main expression of this concern revolves around fertility, and the focus of fertility worship is always both human fertility and that of mother earth which gives man life. Tagata Jinja enshrines Tamahime no mikoto, said to be the daughter of a local lord. This young woman was betrothed (or married) to a young man named Takeinadane who was killed in battle. It is not quite clear how Tamahime thus came to be a kami of fertility. In fact, there are many female kami called Tamahime or Tamayourihime, etc. This is usually a "human" who attracts and cohabits with a kami (tama means "spirit" but also kami and hime is "woman"). For more on kami please see Shinto Shrines: The Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion. This would imply that her husband was a kami and we would expect to find him enshrined as well. However, we have only to look as far as Atsuta Jingu to find Takeinadane enshrined along with a host of other deities, including Miyasuhime, who is also considered an ancestor deity of the Owari clan that founded the area. Mitoshi no kami on the other hand is said to be a grandchild of Susano-o no mikoto and considered a kami of grain. At one time, a ritual was held on the first and fifteenth of each month in which men holding banners with penis images, lead a procession carrying a huge wooden penis around the shrine grounds. On January 15, the date of the Dosojin festival and the Kinen-sai of the shrine, special horizontal penis banners were waved over the rice fields, thus blessing the harvest. The Dosojin is a group of fertility as well as a protective deities revered all over Japan. Stone tablets of Dosojin—usually depicting a couple, sometimes in a sexual embrace or with other sexual imagery—were erected (oops! there's another one) on roadsides throughout the country. Essentially a folk religion, even when elevated to the level of national/cultural symbolism as in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki, Shinto has always been more concerned with the continuation of life and earthy life-processes than lofty ideas of afterlife, the soul, and the complexities of theology.  

O-owasegata enshrined

Description: Tagata Jinja is located in the town of Komaki about 30 minutes from Nagoya. It is well known as the place with the “penis festival” but the Hounen-sai is actually a “bountiful harvest” festival. Fertility festivals are not unusual in Japan though few are as “in your face” as the Hounen-sai. The only real rival is the Kanamara Matsuri (steel penis festival) of Kanamara Jinja in Kawasaki, where a huge pink penis (scrotum included) is paraded around along with an assortment of wooden phalluses and penis and vagina memorabilia. There are also other shrines that display an assortment of carved manhood  (the Taga Jinja in Shikoku has a particularly life-like specimen), and the culture of seishin (essentially gods of sex) in Japan is, so to speak, long and deep. Though, as I said previously, fertility themes and images are basic to Shinto, still Tagata Jinja seems to go out of its way to visualize the theme. Take for example the bell which one rings before saying a little prayer for a little one. At Tagata, the shape of the bell is suggestive of how that wish might be fulfilled (hint: not by praying).

   This is not to say that the other half of the equation has been totally neglected. There are a number of vaginas in evidence and especially among the various mementos (omiage) offered during festivals. But the female role is left, for the most part, to a sort of sister shrine (poor choice of words perhaps) called Oagata Jinja in the nearby town of Inuyama. Here, the female image is ascendant and the Honen-sai is held on the weekend before that of Tagata. At Oagata one can find the hime ishi (princess stone) in the shape of the vagina. This kind of yin/yang (in/yo in Japanese), male/female imagery is fully accepted for what it is, a mildly titillating prayer for fecundity and good health. To some degree it represents the dichotomy of feeling natural and comfortable with sexuality, while at the same time trying to elevate such images to the realm of the divine. Another take on this dichotomy is offered by scholar Allan Grapard who postulates that women in Japan were relegated to the level of biological production while men were producers of culture. In displays of phallic imagery within the context of the sacred, one sees the perpetual search for accommodation between the “higher” and “baser” self. 

   In Hindu religion, the lingam (male) and the yoni (female) play a similar role as fertility symbols as well as symbols of human sexuality and of the positive and protective powers of the gods. Here too, the symbolism varies from the hidden and subtle to the overt and extrovert. In India as in Japan there is no moral indignation at the use of these symbols—though there may be some embarrassment. In Japan, embarrassment comes with self-consciousness and self-consciousness became greater with exposure to foreign culture. Thus, with the full-scale entry of the West into Japan during the Meiji era, the authorities became self-conscious of this aspect of native culture and did their best to suppress overt sexual images, especially as regards the Dosojin images that populated the countryside. Today, official condemnation is gone but the personal sense of embarrassment (and joy at the embarrassment of others) is just one more important aspect of the celebration at Tagata Jinja and its famous phallic festival!

Maidens of the Hounen-sai
(photo from kikuko-nagoya.com)

Festival: Hounen-sai, 15 March. The festival recreates the visit of Takeinadane to Tamahime no mikoto. This is accomplished by carrying a 7-foot wooden penis on the shoulders of men in their yakudoshi “years of danger” (25, 41 or 61). The wooden phallus is enshrined in Tagata Jinja until the following year when a new one is carved and so delivered. Along with the giant, a large number of mini (but only in relation to the aforementioned) phalluses are carried by a procession of shrine maidens. Sake is freely distributed from a cart, before, during and after the procession, thus assuring a well-lubricated journey (I promise that is the last one!). Finally, a “shower” of mochi rice cakes in the form of white and pink balls is rained down on the waiting mass of festival revelers. Receiving a pair is considered an auspicious sign (perhaps of the night to come?).

Ooagata Jinja

Honden of Ooagata Jinja
(photo by Yuta Yanagida via Google +)

Date founded: Founded in the third century B.C. according to shrine tradition.

Address: 3 Aza-Miyayama, Inuyama City, Aichi 485-0004

Tel/Information: 0568-67-1017

How to get there: Take the Meitetsu Komaki line to Gakuden station and walk about 10 minutes.

Enshrined kami: Ooagata okami

Description: The long approach road rises gradually as you near the stone torii of Ooagata Jinja. The honden was built in the Owari zukuri style in 1661 and is designated an Important Cultural Property. The shrine is located in the foothills east of Nagoya in a lovely setting rich in Japanese apricot (ume) trees. There are several shrines on the grounds, the main one dedicated to Oagata omikami. Other sub shrines are dedicated to Tamahime no mikoto (the same kami as enshrined in Tagata Jinja) and Ebisu. This shrine is considered a pair with Tagata Jinja and they share the same festival, the Honen-sai, with Ooagata holding theirs one week before Tagata. Ooagata is considered the female counterpart and several large stones in the shape of a vagina are venerated. 

Ise Jingu and Amaterasu omikami

Shunsai Toshimasa "Iwato kagura"
courtesy of Wikipedia

As readers of this blog are well aware 2013 is the year of the shikinen sengu—the periodic rebuilding of Ise Jingu. In honor of that event I am reviewing some literature that pertains to Ise, Amaterasu and related aspects of the shrine and its worship, which have contributed to my knowledge of the subject.

In Shinto Shrines; A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion, I have included an eight-page entry on the shrine and its deity and I will not repeat that information here. Instead, I will try to summarize for you some interesting source materials, some of which are available online. As it is a rather big topic I will be adding to it over time, within the original posting, so please check back.

Origin and Growth of the Worship of Amaterasu

by Matsumae Takeshi

This compact but comprehensive study begins with an overview of the prevalence of sun-deities—both male and female—in Japan and Korea. The paper presents a strong case that of all the sun deities, the one which became Amaterasu of the Imperial line, was originally worshipped as the male deity Amateru by the Ama (or Amabe) clans of Ise, who were connected with fishing and the sea. He also makes a case that Sarutahiko no kami was also a solar deity of the Ise area. A strong case is made for the possibility that Amaterasu was therefore originally a male deity—which is one reason that an unmarried priestess was chosen to serve the deity of Ise shrine (as a wife serves a husband). He also contends that Ise shrine was most likely established during the reign of Emperor Keitai in the fifth century when the Outer Shrine (geku) was founded to worship the deity of grain, Toyouke. Apparently many Ise related incidents are recorded from this time. I have also been told—in relation to Usa Jingu in Oita—that facilities to prepare food for offering to the deity were likely created before the main shrine. If that was the case, it may be that the geku was actually established just before the naiku. At present, the order is considered to be the reverse and several hundred years apart. He also contends that the original object of worship was not the sacred mirror (yata) but the sacred pillar (shin no mihashira) and that two distinct lines of ritual developed, one based on the original rituals and one on those "imported" from Yamato. If so, this would be typical of the pattern at many of the older shrines, whereby the original deity was supplanted (but preserved in a subordanate position) by the conquering Yamato clans. Finally, he conjectures that before that adaptation of the sun deity of the Ama, the deity of the Imperial line was Takamimusubi. Though he does not go into detail about the reasons, my own research reveals that this is the prevalent view of scholars today. If you read one paper about the origins of Amaterasu, this should be it.

Online at http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/1069

Alone among Women: A Comparative Mythic Analysis of the Development of Amaterasu Theology by Matsumura Kazuo.

This is a study of the mythology of Amaterasu and the concept of the virgin goddess, which can be applied to her as well as to goddesses found throughout the world. (The study concludes with a comparison of Amaterasu and Athena). The author explains how Amaterasu was free of the perceived pollution of birth by being born of her father alone, and of herself bearing kami without sexual contact and without the birthing process. Acknowledging the role of her brother Susano-o as essential to the result, he nevertheless contrasts her with Izanami who did experience the pollution of birth and subsequently of death. He also relates how Amatarasu is given the position of expeditor between the food goddess who is slain by male gods (a Hainuwele-type myth found in many corners of the world), and the human race who receive the fruits of the food goddess through their utilization by Amaterasu (who plants received seeds to make the crops grow). He shows how the myth of food (especially rice) being received from Amaterasu is then extended to her ancestors—both the first generations to descend from heaven and to the later Emperors—through word association and ritual. I would add here that the emphasis on rice found throughout the Amaterasu myths, clearly dates the derivation from late-Jomon to early-Yayoi when rice farming became prevalent in Japan. Such dating is unintentionally but clearly contrary to the intended dating of the myths. The importance of silk is also highlighted in the mythical sequence wherein Susano-o skins a pony and tosses it into the weaving-hall of Amaterasu—the act that finally forces her to flee to the "heavenly-rock cave." The author shows how this myth is related to the origins of silk production in Japan, and how the myth is originally from fourth-century B.C. China. This is another illustration of one of the author's main premises, that the Kojiki and Nihon shoki need to be seen in the light of the cultural milieu in which they were written, in order to gain a better understanding of their meaning.

Online at http://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/wp/cpjr/kami/matsumura.html

The Origins of the Grand Shrine of Ise and the Cult of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Omikami

by Akima Toshio.

Utagawa Yoyokuni
courtesy of Wikipedia

In this breathtaking study of a number of primary Shinto myths, the author brings us convincingly to the conclusion that Amaterasu is the result of a combination of the deities of Yamato (especially Mount Miwa) and those of the peoples of the Ise region (where the Jingu came to be located and identified with the Emperor). In this respect, his conclusions resemble those of Matsumae Takeshi (see the summary of Origin and Growth of the Worship of Amaterasu).

   There are several important aspects of his thesis. For one thing, he relates the myths of the goddess of the undersea world which are older than those of the sun goddess (a likely scenario for people who relied on the sea for sustenance long before they became farmers). In these myths, a mortal often marries the goddess of the undersea world, after which a miracle child is born or some special powers imparted. The author relates these myths to the rituals involving "escorting" the soul of the dead Emperor to the ne no kuni under the sea (an ancient Japanese conception of the land of the dead), and relates these rituals to the Asobi-be group of female shaman/ritualists. In other words, travel to the ne no kuni was associated not only with death, but also with new life. The idea of reviving the dead is later embodied in the tale of Amaterasu and the Cave of Heaven (heavenly-rock cave), and the Chinkonsai—held at the winter solstice.

   Of all the female shaman, some of the most important were 1. the aunt of Emperor Sujin, Yamato-totobi Momoso-hime, who was said to be the wife of the kami of Mt. Miwa, Omono-nushi, as well as the person who the Chinese identified as Himiko and who is believed to be buried in the Hashihaka kofun. 2. Ame no Uzume, who danced before the Cave of Heaven and lured Amataterasu out. She later married the sun god Sarutahiko and became the progenitor of the Sarume clan who the author believes were a branch of the Asobi-be. Both Ame no Uzume and Sarutahiko were local kami of Ise. 3. Yamato-hime, who was entrusted with finding a home for Amaterasu when Emperor Sujin removed the mirror from the emperor's residence. She also became the first female shaman of Ise (saigu) and is believed to be the model for the image of Amaterasu as a female deity. The author relates how most of the sun deities that were worshiped in various parts of the country, were male deities. The typical ancient pattern was that of a female shaman, married to or serving a male deity (often of the sun).

Probably around the time of Sujin, the male emperor or a male surrogate became "married to" a female deity. The female shaman lost political power and instead took on the position of revitalizing the spirit of the emperor. Thus the goddess of the undersea world is joined by a goddess of the sun, both wedded to the Emperor, and demonstrating his dominion over land and sea. 

   The new center of the sun goddess became (at that time the most eastern port) Ise, home of the Asobi-be, Ame no Uzme, and Sarutahiko (whose position as a sun god becomes diminished). It is also interesting in this context, that Sarutahiko was considered a god of the underworld. One can easily imagine how, in the ancient mind, the sun rising "from" and descending "into" the sea (underworld), was related to the roles of the deities. 

   At the same time, the older center of Yamato worship, Mt. Miwa continued as the primary seat of the Emperor-cult and the rising economic and military power of the Yamato state, until the true emergence of Ise during the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jito.

   I'm sure that, after you have read it, you will find his thesis far more convincing than my summary of it. Indeed, it is a complex web of mythologies and several readings of this important paper are required to make clear the transitions that culminated in the one settled on as it was written in Tenmu and Jito's time. This study is related to two others by the author—one on death rituals and one on the goddess of the undersea world—which I hope to review for you next.

Added: May, 18, 2013

Online at http://shinku.nichibun.ac.jp/jpub/pdf/jr/IJ0407.pdf

The Myth of the Goddess of the Undersea World and the Tale of Empress Jingu's Subjugation of Silla

by Akima Toshio.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi "Jingu"
courtesy of Wikipedia

This study of what the author considers an older (possibly retaining elements of Jomon beliefs) and originally more important mythology than that of the sun goddess, goes somewhat beyond the main topic of this blog entry; Amaterasu omikami and Ise Jingu. But it forms part of the basis of the piece above which explains the transition from the primacy of  this mythology to that of the sun goddess. It is the third of a series of three studies by this author that I am summarizing in this blog.

   One of the primary reasons for the study was to debunk the "Horse-rider theory" of Egami Namio in which it is claimed that an invading group from Korea set up the Imperial line from about the late fourth century. But he does this, in part, by showing how myth and history are mixed in the tale of Empress Jingu. He explains his belief that the Jingu-Ojin mythology is based on the myth of the goddess of the undersea world and the world beyond the sea. Jingu is the quintessential shaman/water-woman who commands the fish in the sea, the tides, and who receives the gifts of the god of the undersea world.  The author shows how the tale of Jingu's son, Emperor Ojin, is also based on the myth of the undersea goddess (identified with the mythical Jingu) who gives birth to a child who is, in a sense, the resurrected spirit of the dead Emperor Chuai brought back from the ne no kuni beyond the sea (in this case, Korea) by the female shaman. While it is true that Japan became involved in territorial battles on the Korean peninsula and held suzerainty over certain territories, the idea that Japan conquered Silla is as ahistorical as that of Korea conquering Japan. However it is known that as commerce and political contacts increased, so too was the culture of Korea imported. This caused a revolution in Japanese technology as well as political advances that began around the time of Ojin (who may also be a mythical figure). Intermarriage with Korean royal families was also prevalent. The height of this tendency was probably during the sixth through seventh centuries when the Korean immigrant family, the Soga, dominated the Imperial Court and married their daughters to the Imperial line. Thus, in the mythology of Empress Jingu (usually called Jingu Kogo), fundamental Japanese myths are represented as history in order to deliver complicated truths in simple story form. This is as true for the tale of Empress Jingu as it is for the entire Nihon shoki.

Added: June, 1, 2013

Online at http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/2513

The Songs of the Dead: Poetry, Drama, and Ancient Death Rituals of Japan

by Akima Toshio.

This study is the earliest of the three papers by this author, which I have reviewed on this page. As with The Goddess of the Undersea World it's main topic is not Amaterasu but gives additional background for the formation of the author's views on the roots of worship of Amaterasu at Ise. It is also an important study of death rituals which are at the very heart of native Japanese religious practices.

The study is centered on poetry (more properly referred to as uta or "songs") which are found in the Kojiki, Nihon shoki, Manyoshu and other ancient writings. The particular focus is those songs which the author considers sung to the dead as they depart for the other world, or songs sung by the dead themselves. He uses evidence of references in the poems—such as to the unasaka; the imagined slope at the end of the horizon that carried ships to the underworld—to reinforce his theories of the relation between the land of the dead, the sea, foreign countries, and the concept of bringing the dead back to life, which are an integral part of early Japanese mythology. He also uses the rituals for the dead to connect the dots between the ancient female shaman of the Asobi-be who conducted such singing and dancing rituals, to the Sarume, to the nenbuttsu odori, to the Hijiwake family who were the male successors of the Asobi-be, to the Kanae and Hosho families of No performers and the evolution of mugen no as a combination of ancient death rituals with stories about how those ritual developed.

Another breathtaking work of detection to rival the fiction of Dan Brown.

Added: June, 15, 2013

Online at http://www.jstor.org, which requires a free registration.

The Myth of the Descent of the Heavenly Grandson

by Matsumae Takeshi

This work examines the myth of the descent of the heavenly grandchild to a mountaintop in Kyshu and the mythological beginnings of the Imperial line. In so doing the author makes a point, which has been made in a number of other works and is widely acknowledged by now; myth often develops in order to explain the "divine" origins of already established rituals and practices. In this case he sets out to establish that the heavenly descent of Prince Hononinigi (usually shortened to Ninigi no mikoto), whose name means "abundant rice ears" and who seems to originally be a rice spirit, is a mythical explanation of the roots and rituals of two ceremonies: the Daijosai ceremony for the investiture of a new emperor, and the Ninameisai harvest festival from which it developed. He shows how this ceremony relates to the concept of the "rice baby" and how the original descent myth depicted Hononinigi as a child, wrapped in a coverlet (which is still used in the Daijosai festival). He describes how Hononinigi, whose father was Oshihomimi ("big rice-ears"), was sent to earth at the behest of Takami-musubi who he also considers to be a fertility deity and the main deity worshipped by the emperor before the advent of Amaterasu. He also believes that the worship of Hononinigi originally belonged to the Hayahito people of southern Kyushu who were subjugated and their beliefs incorporated into the Imperial myths. He goes on to describe how Ameterasu—who he considers a local deity of Ise—was incorporated into the myth of the descent of the rice deity (which then became identified as the heavenly grandchild) to a mountain top in southern Kyushu (the name of which, Takachiho, also meant "abundant rice ears") which he believes did not originally describe an actual place. He sees this as a consequence of the influence of China and Korea where deities of heaven are supreme and where rulers often descended to mountaintops to begin rule of their respective kingdoms. Therefore he views the Imperial mythology as a combination of continental influences (Korean descent myths, five-division system, etc.) and local mythologies of Ise (the Heavenly Cave myth, the Sarume, Sarutahiko, etc.). He also makes it clear that the deity known as Amaterasu was never worshipped in the Imperial court and that the story of how the yata mirror was sent out of Yamato by Emperor Sujin, to ultimately find a new home at Ise, was created to explain the origins of Ise as an imperial cult center. That supposed origin was pushed chronologically into the distant past when the Kojiki and Nihon shoki were compiled in the seventh and eighth centuries.

Added: June, 15, 2013

Online at http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/1211

The Heavenly Rock-Grotto Myth and the Chinkon Ceremony

by Matsumae Takeshi

Another work by this scholar that examines how myth was used to explain the origin and function of certain ceremonies related to the emperor. In this case, the Chinkon-sai, which is a ritual to calm and revive the soul of the emperor, which he relates to the myth of Amaterasu hiding her light in a cave and being resurrected. He believes that this myth and its symbolism was originally related to the winter solstice when it was believed that the sun died and was resurrected. He also believes that the twenty-year ritual rebuilding of the Ise shrine called the sengu-sai, was originally part of the Kanname-sai harvest festival. The Kanname-sai was Ise's equivalent of the Niinamei-sai and held every year, but a special festival was held every twenty years. Both imperial and Ise festivals were held at roughly the same time, at the fall harvest, and the Chinkon-sai (also called the Mitamafuri no matsuri) was held the day before. The purpose of this ritual is to revive the soul of the emperor for the sake of his health, as it was believed that the soul wandered away during the long winter that was to come. During this ceremony an inverted tub (ukefune) was danced upon and struck with a vine-draped spear by a member of the Sarume clan. The author believes it was this same clan that conveyed these myths and rituals to the court at Yamato in the sixth or seventh century He also speculates that elements of the rituals and beliefs of the Mononobe clan were incorporated into the Chnkon-sai. He believes that the custom of tamamusubi (tying the soul so as to keep it from wandering) was originally a Yamato ritual that was overlaid with the Mononobe ritual of tamafuri (shaking the soul) for the purpose of reviving it. He believes (like Akima Toshio) that the Heavenly Cave myth and the worship of Amaterasu (or amateru) was imported from the Ise area.

Added: June 16, 2013

Online at http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/nfile/1111