Showing posts with label takemikazuchi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label takemikazuchi. Show all posts
Friday, December 29, 2023
Kashima Shrine Minabe
Labels:
komainu,
kumano kodo,
saigoku,
Shrine,
takemikazuchi,
torii,
wakayama
Monday, November 6, 2023
Obama Shrine & its Komainu
The main building has a ceiling painting of a dragon which was transferred from the older shrine, but, for me, the most interesting thing at the shrine was the two pairs of small komainu that I suspect came from the two older shrines.
Labels:
komainu,
kyushu108,
nagasaki,
obama,
okuninushi,
shimabara,
Shrine,
sukunahikona,
takemikazuchi,
torii
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Take Shrine
Labels:
engi shiki,
futsunushi,
izumo33,
kojin,
Shrine,
takemikazuchi
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Kasuga Shrine, Hagi
The Kasuga Shrine in Hagi is located on the southern edge of the old samurai district and is one of the approximately 3000 branches of the famous Kasuga Taisha in Nara which is the family shrine of the Fujiwara Family, arguably the most powerful family in Japan for many centuries.
Though most common nowadays, stone komainu were a later feature and were preceded by wooden ones inside the shrine building or later in the zuijinmon.
By the side of the shrine building is an old chinowa, a ring used for purification. usually in the spring a new one will be made and erected in front of the shrine and parishioners will pass through it.
The main kami enshrined here are the same 4 as Kasuga Taisha, Amenokoyane, Takemikazuchi, Futsunushi, both of whom took part in kuniyuzuri, and Himegami, which seems to be a generic name for consorts of male kami. According to Izumo records only Futsunushi came to Izumo for the kuniyuzuri.
The signboard also lists another kami that I had not heard of before:- Iwatsutsuno-o, who, like Takemikazuchi was formed from the blood left on the sword Izanagi used to slay the fire god with.
There were some secondary shrines in the grounds but the signboard gave no details....
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Ube Shrine
Now he is known as a guardian of children and while we were there several ceremonies were held for kids even though it was a few weeks after the "official" shichigosan.
Labels:
izanagi,
kukurihime,
shichigosan,
Shrine,
takemikazuchi,
takenouchinosukune,
tottori,
yamato takeru
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Tahara Shrine
Tahara Shrine is a large shrine located at the foot of the hills north of Matsue castle. It is approached up a long flight of steps flanked by dozens of stone lanterns and komainu. Notable are a pair of komainu that are the largest in the San-in region. Most if not all of the komainu and lanterns are made of Kimachi sandstone, quarried not far away on the shore of Lake Shinji.
Another interesting feature is that 12 of the lanterns are topped with small sculptures of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.
Also known as Tawara Shrine, it includes a branch of the Kasuga Taisha, and the main halls shimenawa is I believe Kasuga style, being braided rather than twisted. The shrine is listed in the 8th Century Izumo Fudoki and has therefore existed for close to a thousand years before Matsue and its castle came into being. The shrine was originally located 500 meters away but was moved here during the war between the Amago and Mori clans.
One of the secondary shrines in the grounds had a polypropylene shimenawa that shows how even plastic can achieve wabi sabi!!
The shrine features a twin pair of hondens. In the east honden are enshrined Futsunushi, Takemikazuchi, and Amenokoyane. The latter two kami are considered ancestors of the Nakatomi-Fujiwara clan, and Futsunushi is the ancestor of the Mononobe. In Izumo records it was Futsunushi who came from the High Plain of Heaven to entreat Okuninushi to give Japan to Amaterasu and her descendants. According to Yamato stories it was Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi, and appears to be a rewriting of the myths to favor the powerful Fujiwara.
The west hinden enshrines Ukanomitama, the child of Susano now mostly identified as Inari.
Behind the hondens a path leads into the forest and a grove of sacred trees with numerous altars scattered around their bases.
Secondary shrines within the grounds include Inari, various aragami, Kojin, Suijin etc
Labels:
futsunushi,
Izumo,
Izumo Fudoki,
komainu,
koyane,
matsue,
shimenawa,
Shrine,
takemikazuchi,
ukanomitama
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Inasa Shrine
Inasa Shrine, also known as Hayatama Shrine, is located in a shady cliffside grove on the path to Kofukuji Temple near Inasa Beach.
It enshrines Takemikazuchi, who, according to the Yamato record of events, was one of 2 kami sent down from the high plain of heaven by Amaterasu to arrange the transfer of Japan to her descendants from Okuninushi, a story known as Kuniyuzuri, and which took place a few hundred meters from this site.
Izumo records however make no mention of Takemikazuchi, rather they say that Futsunushi was the sole emissary. Futsunishi is considered the ancestor of the Mononobe clan, and Takemikazuchi is the ancestor of the Nakatomi, later renamed Fujiwara. As the Fujiwara increased their power at the expense of other clans, notably the Mononobe and the Soga, it seems that Takemikazuchi took on attributes and roles formerly held by Futsunushi.
I will write a more detailed post on the Kuniyuzuri myth as soon as I have posted on one more shrine in the area.
Labels:
futsunushi,
Izumo,
kuniyuzuri,
Shrine,
takemikazuchi
Monday, May 18, 2009
Yatogi Shrine, Tenri
Yatogi Shrine, sometimes pronounced Yatsugi, is a delightful shrine located on the Yamanobenomichi a little south of Isonokami in Tenri. The main hall has a fine thatched roof, and behind it the line of seven hondens have cedar-bark roofs.
The seven kami are quite an eclectic collection. The main kami is Futsunushi, a kami of swords and lightning, and possibly the personification of the main kami at nearby Isonokami Shrine. Also enshrined is Takemikazuchi, a main kami of the Fujiwara clan. The myths have either or both of these kami descending to Izumo and convincing Okuninushi to give Japan to Amaterasu's descendants. As the Fujiwara (known earlier as the Nakatomi) wiped out the Mononobe, it is believed that gradually the Fujiwara kami usurped and replaced the Mononobe kami.
Another enshrined kami here is Amenokoyane, one of the kami who performed rituals to entice Amaterasu out of her cave, and another ancestor of the Fujiwara. Another kami is Kotohira, a variation of Konpira.
Strangely, Susano is enshrined here, though that may be connected to local legends that pertain to the spirit of the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi slain by Susano. It is believed that its spirit became associated with lightning, and in the hills behind nearby isonokami Shrine are rocks said to be it.
Labels:
futsunushi,
kotohira,
koyane,
nara,
shinto,
Shrine,
Susano,
takemikazuchi,
tenri,
yamanobenomichi
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