Goh Shrine

Coming down the small hill on which lies Oh Shrine there is a second small shrine, Goh Shrine, which enshrines Wake no Kiyomaro, a government official in the 7th Century.

He is connected to the famous Dokyo Incident. Usa Shrine, now Usa Hachimangu, rose to power to a certain extent due to its oracles. One oracle in 769 suggested that the monk Dokyo should be the next emperor. Dokyo is often likened to Rasputin. He was very much in favor with Empress Koken after he cured her of an illness in 761. Wake no Kiyomaro was sent to Usa to check the oracle and came back with a second oracle refuting the first by saying that only descendants of Amaterasu, and not commoners could become Emperor.

Under Dokyos influence the Empress banished Kiyomaro, but after her death he was recalled and promoted. He undertook an investigation and found that more oracles were deemed fraudulent and the head priest of Usa was removed.

He is also credited with convincing Emperor Kammu to abandon Nagaoka and move to what is now known as Kyoto.

Oh Shrine

To the east of Usa Hachimangu, just outside the shrine grounds, is a hill with a torii at its base and overgrown steps leading up.

At the top is a small shrine, O shrine (or Ou or Oh or Oo). It is a sessha of Usa Hachimangu and enshrines Hachiman.

According to the legend, when Hachiman returned in 765 from his journey to Nara for the unveiling of the Great Buddha at Todai-ji he stayed on this mountaintop for 15 years.

Very few people seem to make it up here, but obviously some do as attested by the offering left.

Usa Hachimangu Tongu

The grounds of Usa Hachimangu are like a large open park, but it wasnt always that way. Until 1868 the grounds were packed with dozens and dozens of structures,... in a scale model I counted at least eight pagodas...., for this was a huge shrine-temple complex until the government "seperated" the Buddhas and Kami and the buildings were either torn down or dismantled.

The Tongu is a newer structure built where part of the earlier temple complex stood. The Tongu is unused for 362 days of the year, only being used from July 31st to August 2nd when it is home to 3 mikoshi as part of the Nagoshi Festival.

The mikoshi are carried here from the main shrine buildings during which time the three mikoshi battle each other to see who will lead the procession. Once at the Tongu rituals are held. On the third day the mikoshi are taken back up the hill to the main shrine.

Fall Colors at Usa Hachimangu

Hachimangu shrines are the most common type of shrine found throughout Japan, and the Hachimangu in Usa, Oita Prefecture, is the original and head shrine and therefore receives many visitors.

Most visitors though seem to walk through the grounds and head straight to the main buildings on top of the hill and bypass the extensive park-like grounds....

I was starting a 5 day walk across the Kunisaki peninsular and as I had been here before I was not interested in visiting the main shrine again, in fact my purpose was to visit a couple of smaller shrines on the hill to the SE which were the original hachiman shrines.

But before I took a quick walk around the lotus pond hunting fall colors....

It was early in the morning and a little drizzly, so the light was very muted and diffuse

The Bridges at Usa Hachimangu

Back in November I went on a 5 day walk on the Kunisaki Peninsular down in Oita, Kyushu.

I have been wanting to walk the old Kunisaki Pilgrimage route, a shugendo pilgrimage based on a mandala of the Lotus Sutra, but it has been impossible to find details of it.

So I decided to make my own route, starting at Usa Hachimangu, where the original route would have started, and from there heading east over the peninsular to the coast, from there down the coast to Kitsuki, and then once more over the peninsular from south to north.

I spent the first hour exploring the gardens and lotus pond in the grounds of the shrine.

Dotted with several smaller shrines, at first light it was very photogenic despite the light drizzle.