Hokuriku: Imizu Shrines

Takaoka-Jyo Koen

Two Imizu Shrines

There are two shrines in Takaoka-shi, Toyama-ken, with the name Imizu. They are both ichinomiya first shrine of Etchuu.

Imizu Jinja 射水神社

The first one we visited was on the high grounds of the former Takaoka-jyo castle. It is now a public park with woods and streams in the middle of town. The enshrined deity is Ninigi no mikoto, grandchild of Amaterasu (Amateru) of Ise Jingu. Also known as Futagami for his promotion of cultivating rice, harvesting of five grains, and increasing commerce. The shrine has an ancient and honorable origin. Other gosaishin are Ooyamakui no kami, Jinushi no kami, Kukurihime no kami, and Take-minakata no kami. Kukurihime no kami is none other than Shirayamahime, aunt of Amateru. Please note that the chigi is female-cut, and the only female kami enshrined here is Kukurihime Shirayamahime.

 

 

The photo below is from the pamphlet of Imizu Jinja. It shows the Takaoka-Jyo Koen in the foreground, former site of Takaoka Castle on a flat hill surrounded by the moat. The shrine is in the center, adjacent to the grassy lawn. In the background is Futagami mountain.

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Futagami-Imizu Jinja 二上射水神社

 

 

The smaller Futagami-Imizu shrine lies at the southern foot of the Futagami mountain. Futagami mountain is shintaisan, the sacred object of worship, and the deity is Futagami-Okami. The shrine faces due south, and the Futagami yama is behind it in the north.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an old village shrine with an unspecified pedigree going back at least to the year 717. This shrine claims a miraculous 築山 Tsukiyama, constructed mountain, although we are not sure what it is. According to an old document called the Hakusan-ki, this was the original ichinomiya of Etchu but they lacked power to keep this position and lost it to the Imizu Jinja at Takaoka Jyo. As to who is the Futagami, various theories say Ninigi, Takeuchi, Amanomurakumo, and Oonamuchi.

 

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Hokuriku: Asahi and Yuuhi Shrines

Toyama Bay from Asahi Jinja

Asahi & Yuuhi Jinja

These shrines are on the east coast of the Noto Peninsula in Toyama-ken. They are the morning and the evening shrines, for sunrise and sunset. The first enshrines Amaterasu/Amateru, and the other Toyouke Kami. We know from Woshite studies that Amateru was the grandson of Toyoke/Toyouke. They are respectively enshrined at Ise Jingu Naiku and Ise Jingu Geku. The Asahi and Yuuhi shrines are across highway from Toyama Bay. Both Asahi and Yuuhi shrine buildings were constructed in 1689.

Asahi  Jinja

Asahi’s first torii faces north. We measured the direction that the hall faces and it turned out to be 116 degrees SE. GPS readings were 36 degrees 55 min N, 137 deg 1 min E.

It is said that the kami of Ise Jingu, Amaterasu/Amateru was brought here before the Kamakura period (1185–1333). In olden days this shrine was revered as ubusu-gami, guardian of one’s birthplace. Both shrines are approached by a climb upwards and the prayer hall is on one’s right. The buildings are encased in glass (winters are extremely cold and snowy here) and so do not appear remarkable from the outside.

Just past the torii, we see the lanterns flanking the kaidan. So up we go. Along the way is this marvelous stack of stones.

We reach the shrine hall and it looks very plain in its winter coat. But when we take a peek through the glass we see the lovely hinoki wood and a traditional capped hashira post.

Yuuhi Jinja

 

Yuuhi Jinja is 500 m north of Asahi. It is adjacent to a school which you can see in the background. Although this sando faces the bay in the east, the shrine building is facing a southwesterly direction, sitting on the rock of the low mountain.

Yuuhi Jinja was formerly dedicated to Kunitokotachi, the earliest named kami. However, since Asahi corresponds to Ise Naiku inner shrine for Amateru, Yuuhi is considered the Geku outer shrine for Toyouke-kami.

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Hokuriku: Akiha Jinja in Itoigawa

Akiha Jinja, Itoigawa

We reported in the previous post about the Akiha Jinja on the grounds of the Nou Hakusan. There is another Akiha Jinja in the town of Itoigawa, a block or so from the sea. We visited it early the next morning. It was very refreshing with tall trees and sea breezes!

Akiha Shrines 秋葉神社

Akiha-san is a sacred mountain, the shintaisan of Akiha Jinja Hongu in Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka-ken, headquarters of 400 shrines around the country. The enshrined deity is the kami of fire prevention. People read this name 秋葉 as akiha or akiba. It means autumn leaves. This is the Akiha Jinja plaque on the shrine at Nou Hakusan Jinja.

The map shows three of the many Akiha shrines in the Itoigawa area. The shrine on the right is the one on the grounds of Nou Hakusan Jinja, in the previous post. The one in the middle is the one reported on here.

 

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Hokuriku: Nou Hakusan Jinja

Nou Hakusan Jinja

Benten Iwa 弁天岩

Benten iwa is an eye-catching small island immediately off-shore near the Nou Hakusan Jinja.  The two sites are geologically connected, having the same type of stone. Benten is short for Benzaiten, deity of water, originally the Hindu Saraswati. Made by the eruption of the submarine volcano of Fossa Magna 3 million years ago, Benten Iwa is one of the Geosites of Itoigawa Geopark. Itsukushima shrine to Benzaiten (Ichikishima-hime) as the guardian deity of the sea is on the island. The Itsukushima Shrine is considered a satellite shrine of Hakusan. The lighthouse continues to light the way for fishing boats coming back to the Nosei fishing port. There are large koinobori carp kites swimming in the strong wind over the Japan Sea. 

Benten Iwa

Nou Hakusan Jinja 能生白山神社

The Nou Hakusan Jinja is on the side of a small yama near Benten Iwa. In a sense, Benten Iwa is an extension of the mountain. Nou Hakusan is a Hakusan jinja in the Nou district. The honden was built in 1515, although it must have an older origin as a sacred place.  Nou Hakusan contains a number of relics of Hakusan Worship and is a bridge to the Nou Region’s ancient history. It is a Nationally Registered Important Cultural Property. The top photo shows the thatched roof of the prayer hall which resembles that of the Amatsu Jinja, shown earlier.

Kukurihime (Shirayamahime) was the earlier gosaishin. Shirayamahime is the guardian of Hakusan. During the Meiji period, her name was replaced by Nunokawa-hime’s. The current gosaishin are Nunakawahime 奴奈川姫命, Isanagi no Mikoto  伊佐奈岐命 、and  大己貴命 Oonamuchi no Mikoto. The kami trio of Shirayamahime (original gosaishin), Isanagi, and Oonamuchi are closely connected in the Hotsuma Tsutaye. Isanagi was the father of Amateru. When Amateru was born, Shirayamahime heard him speak his name, Uhirugi. That is how she received her Kukurihime name (she heard him). Amateru’s younger brother was Sosanowo, and Oonamuchi was Sosanowo’s son. 

Nou Hakusan Honden

While the dramatic building of the haiden faces the open grounds, the mysterious honden is in the woods behind the haiden. 

Akiha Jinja 秋葉神社

On the grounds of Nou Hakusan is a small shrine, the Akiha Jinja. The next post will show another Akiha Jinja in Itoigawa town.

Nou Hakusan Akiha Jinja

All photos by Okunomichi 2018.

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Hokuriku: Amatsu Shrine

The Amatsu and Nou Hakusan shrines have such strikingly similar architectures, namely their thatched roofs, that we are reporting them sequentially. They are both in the city of Itoigawa (糸魚川), Niigata-ken (新潟県), and they both enshrine Nunakawa-hime, the heroine of this region, plus other kami of interest to those who study the Woshite documents. 

Amatsu Jinja 天津神社

Amatsu Jinja, ichinomiya of Echigo (Niigata), is a few minutes walk from Itoigawa station. When you arrive at the site, cross over a bridge and turn to your left to the temizuya, then resume your path. You are taken to a higher level so you are on a yama. You make a final left turn and suddenly the striking haiden prayer hall comes into view on your left. The hall has an immense thatched roof. There are three altars in the haiden: 奴奈川神社 (Nunokawa Jinja)、天津社 (Amatsu Sha)、住吉の扁額 (Sumiyoshi Hengaku).

The primary gosaishin of Amatsu Jinja is Amatsu-hikohikoho-ninigi-no-mikoto, or  Ninikine. Ninikine (Ninigi) is enshrined in several sacred sites in this Hokuriku area of Niigata and Toyama, far from his home area of Kansai. Ninikine is Wakeikazuchi, kami of Kamigamo Jinja in Kyoto. Also enshrined here are Amenokoyane no Ookami and Futodama no Mikoto; both are mentioned in Aya 20 of Hotsuma Tsutaye. Amenokoyane was Tsurugi no Tomi to Amateru. He was the author of Mikasafumi.

Amatsu Jinja Honden

The Amatsu honden is detached from the haiden and is in the back with other hokora. In the background of the haiden photo, you can see a row of hokora. The one that is visible in the photo is Nunakawa-hime Jinja, left of the honden. Nunakawa-hime is a popular heroine of Itoigawa and she is regarded as kami of jade found in the area. There is a dragon carved on the lintel, closeup photo.

Nunakawahime Jinja

On the right of the honden is the 聖神社 Hijiri Jinja (聖 hijiri means sacred). 

Next to it is a compound of small stone hokora, and they have the great charm of age.

 

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Hokuriku Coast and Basho

Oyashirazu

Northern Alps drop into

the Sea of Japan.

Photo and verse by Okunomichi (c) 2018.

Hokuriku

Along the Sea of Japan, Hokuriku, which means Northlands region, is known for its heavy winter snows. Historically it includes the Koshi and Hokurikudo provinces and the Noto Peninsula. Current prefectures include Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa, and Fukui. This series of posts is about a visit to Niigata and Toyama in May 2018. There are vistas of breathtaking beauty and power, and there are sacred shrines which grew organically out of this primordial region. There is a lot of unknown cultural history over the last ten thousand years, along with well-understood scientific history extending over 500 million years.

Oyashirazu

The cliffs at which the Northern Japanese Alps fall into the Sea of Japan were the product of terrestrial volcanic activity occurring about 100 million years ago. The ancient Hokuriku Road was wedged in a small space between these cliffs and the sea, making for a perilous journey, especially when the waves would surge. Large pockets and caves eroded into the wall where travelers would take refuge from the stormy seas still remain on the face of these cliffs.    

Oyashirazu    ko wa kono ura no    namimakura

koshiji no iso no    awa to kieyuku

Taira-no-Yorimori was a general of the once powerful Taira clan which was defeated by their rivals, the Minamoto clan, in the late 12th century. After their defeat, Yorimori fled to what is now Niigata prefecture. Following after him, his wife crossed Oyashirazu where she lost their child to the raging seas. In her sorrow she wrote this poem, which lends the cliffs their name.

Without his parent knowing,

my child, in this shore’s waves along the Koshiji road,

vanishes in the foam.

The above passages are from the Itoigawa Geopark’s extensive website. Itoigawa is home to the Itoigawa Geopark and the Fossa Magna Museum.  At the Oyashirazu lookout is this statue of a mother and two children, a memorial to all the children who were lost here. All photos are by Okunomichi © 2018.    

Oku no Hosomichi

Matsuo Basho, traveled through the northern country in 1689 with his student Sora. After visiting Kasawaski, they stopped one night in Ichiburi near the Oyashirazu cliffs. At the inn, there were two ladies of leisure. Basho, perhaps mulling over the life and death pathos in the above Oyashirazu waka by Yorimori’s wife, wrote the haiku,

一家に遊女もねたり萩と月 –

hitotsuya ni    juujo mo netari    hagi to tsuki

In the same lodging

Play-girls too are sleeping —

Bush clover and moon.

(tr. by Christine Murasaki Millet, 1997)

This seemingly straight-forward haiku has overtones of contrasting themes: playgirls/monks, women/men, bush clover/moon, impermanence/permanence.

Poetic Monument of Matsuo Basho

At Choenji Temple, a stone monument commemorates Basho’s visit and haiku.

Choenji Temple 2018

 

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What is Fossa Magna and what does it have to do with jade and the islands of Japan?

Ancient jadeite showing skillful techniques

Fossa Magna Museum

This wonderful geology museum is located in the city of Itoigawa. It is named after the Great Crack in the middle of Japan, the terminus of the Japan Median Tectonic Line (map below). The Fossa Magna (Latin for great rift) refers to the place where Pacific/Oceanic and Continental plates meet. You can learn all about it at this museum. Itoigawa is the home of Japanese jade, and this is its museum.

Itoigawa City, Home of Jade

Itoigawa is a charming small city on the coast of the Japan Sea, in the prefecture of Niigata. Itoigawa is on the Japan Median Tectonic Line, and its location is marked with a red arrow. The Fossa Magna zone is shown in yellow. Itoigawa is known as Japan’s source of jade, the mineral/gem jadeite. Jade has a long history in Japan, and it has been worked by early Jomon people. Jadeite is called hisui. It is usually written in kana characters, ヒスイ or  ひすい ,　so perhaps this term is of Jomon origin. Jadeite was named the National Stone of Japan in 2016.

Nunakawa-hime, Lady of Jade

In Koshi-no-kuni, also known as Esshū province, now known as Hokuriku, a folk heroine of Itoigawa is Nunakawahime. Legend says she was beautiful and wise, and she knew how to make magic using jade. Her fame was so great that the famous Ōkuninushi came from Izumo in the west to win her hand. And he did. Their son became Takeminakata, the kami revered at Suwa Taisha in nearby Nagano. This statue of Nunakawahime holding a large jade stands on the north side of the Itoigawa station.

Birth of the Oldest Jade in the World

How was jade created? The process began 500 million years ago. Jadeite crystallizes from a hydrothermal liquid in the subduction zone of two tectonic plates. In a zone about 30 to 50 km below the surface, elements (Na, Al, Si, and H2O) formed jadeite at temperatures of 250 to 650 C. Jadeite was created during the period 100 to 500 million years ago.

Itoigawa lies on the border of two plates. 250 million years ago, the Oceanic plate (right) pushed below the Continental plate (left). Jadeite (colored turquoise) that had been created deep below rose to the surface.

Jadeite comes in various colors depending on the elements present in it. The colors range from white, through various shades of green, lavender, and blue, to black.

History of Jade in Japan

6000 years ago, jade jewelry in the form of small pendants were made. They were of gemstone quality and may be the oldest human-worked jade in the world.

5000 years ago, there were jade workshops making larger pendants in Itoigawa, as found at the Chojogahara and Teraji archaeological sites in Itoigawa.

3000 years ago, magatama pendants were made. 

Magatama means curved bead. They were generally comma-shaped, hence their name; they were also in the shapes of animals and insects.

8th century, a Buddhist statue, containing jade, is made for Todaiji. Subsequently jade mysteriously disappears from the scene. It was believed for a long time that there was no more jade in Japan.

In 1938, the tanka poet Gyofu Soma suggested that jade might be found in Itoigawa because of the Nunakawahime legend. And jade was rediscovered in Japan.

Fossa Magna and The Birth of the Japanese Islands

There is a stunning video at the museum which explains the role of the Fossa Magna in forming the islands of Japan. The Fossa Magna was once under sea. 20 million years ago, the land was still connected to Asia. Then it broke apart from Asia and the Sea of Japan was created. The land split into two parts: the southern part of the land rotated one way and the northern part rotated the other way, creating an opening, like a door. Fossa Magna was in the sea in this gap. Then the eruption of subterranean volcanoes filled the Fossa Magna sea with ash, sand, and mud. And connected the two parts of land. Thus was the main island of the archipelago created. Volcanoes on land formed 2.6 million years ago in the Fossa Magna zone, like Mt. Fuji on the main island of Honshu. The dark area in the middle is the Kanto Mountains, and Mt. Fuji is on the left edge.

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A Visit to the Land of Ne

 

I paid a visit to the Land of Ne (Koyene) from which hailed Takahito. He is known as the founding father Izanagi through the 8th century classic, the Kojiki. I was searching for his sister, Shirayama-hime, the lady of the White Mountain. Takahito and Shirayama are both mentioned prominently in the Hotsuma Tsutae, an even more ancient document.

The White Mountain, Shirayama, is today called Hakusan. I visited it from Ishikawa-ken in the area on the Japan Sea coast known as Hokuriku, northwest Honshu. It straddles three other prefectures: Fukui, Gifu, and Toyama. Hakusan is a beautiful mountain range and the center of the Hakusan National Park, shown above. Around its footills, as well as at one of its peaks, there are a number of Shirayamahime jinja associated with mountain faith of Hakusan. Until the 8th century, people did not climb sacred mountains, and this is certainly a sacred mountain.

The above map of Hakusan National Park indicates the highest altitudes in dark red-brown shade. This is the Ishikawa west side of the mountains. The other side includes the place of deep snow called Shirakawa-go, part of the ancient land of Hida from Toyama, Takayama, and down to Gifu. I had traveled that route just last year.

Our group visited several of these shrines. We found the old mountain shrines most interesting. In this snowy region, they are enclosed  within glass outer walls. Sliding doors glide open to allow prayer access to the devotee.

Seoritsuhime, the wife of ruler Amateru, is remembered in several shrines in this area. Both of these hime are regarded as kami of water and of purity. Seoritsuhime is invoked in the Shinto norito of purification and she whisks away one’s impurities into rivers that plunge ultimately into the sea.

The national park is popular with mountain climbers and skiers. As we drove up the mountain, we passed through many tunnels and saw many dams. This is a vital watershed area, the source of four great rivers, and produces not only water for drinking and agriculture but also hydroelectric power.

Shirayamahime

Shirayamahime is known also as Kokorihime in Hotsuma Tsutae. In the Nihon Shoki her name appears as Kukurihime which means one who binds. Another name is Kikurihime which means one who hears. As the latter, she is regarded as an aspect of 11-Headed Kwannon who listens and responds to people’s pleas.

Shirayamahime appears in Hotsuma Tsutae in Ayas 1, 4, and 24. In the former, when her sister-in-law Isanami gives birth to Amateru, Shirayamahime is the one who gives him his first bath. She is Amateru’s aunt. Shirayamahime is the first to hear the infant speak his name, Uhirugi, spirit of the sun. For this she was called Kikurihime, although at other times Kokorihime.

Aya 24 tells about Ninikine’s travels, by palanquin provided by Ukesuteme, through the Shirayama peaks in the Land of Koshi (Koyene). Together with Ukesuteme, Shirayamahime studied the secret teachings of To no Woshite with Lord Toyoke in his palace in Hitakami. Ukesuteme is the original name of the immortal Mother of the West, Xi Wangmu to the Chinese. This leads me to suspect that Shirayamahime and Ukesuteme may have been masters of The Way and possibly acquired supernatural abilities.

While Shirayama is the name of the hime, Hakusan has become the name of the mountain and the mountain faith. Interestingly, the hongu main shrine in Kanazawa City is called Shirayamahime Jinja while the okunomiya mountain-top shrine is Hakusan Jinja.

Matsuo Basho in the Land of Ne

White Winds of Autumn.   Matsuo Basho preceded me here on his famous trip chronicled in Oku no Hosomichi. He was at the famous Natadera Temple in 1689.

ishiyama no     ishi yori shiroi     aki no kaze

whiter than the stones     of Stone Mountain     are the winds of autumn.

 

Grasshopper in the Helmet.   When I visited Tada Jinja in Komatsu, I learned that Basho had also been here and is memorialized at his own shrine within the Tada shrine grounds. Tada Jinja possesses the elegant helmet of Saito Sanemori, a famous warrior of old.  Basho, as he did in his natsugusa ya haiku, expresses his sadness at lives lost in battles.

muzan ya na     kabuto no shita ni     kirigirisu

grasshopper     under the helmet     how tragic!

 

Shrines in the Land of Ne

It’s been said that there are 3,000 shrines affiliated with Shirayamahime, Hakusan, and Kukurihime. Of course, many of them are in the land of Ne. We visited a number of them and you can read about them at our sister site: www.yamanomiya.wordpress.com.

Life in the Land of Ne

What have I learned from this trip? Something about the preciousness of human life and the courage of those living in harsh yet beautiful environments. I could see that people nevertheless deeply appreciate the gifts of nature such as the mountains which are home of kami and the source of pure water of life.

Updated 2017.01.17

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