The third shrine of the twenty-two is a shrine complex called "Kamo-sha （賀茂社）", comprised of Kamo Wake-ikaduchi Jinja Shrine（賀茂別雷神社） and Kamo Mioya Jinja Shrine （賀茂御祖神社）. Although the two shrines are different currently, they are considered collectively as one body in the emperor's twenty-two favorite shrine list.
The both shrines are located in Kyoto. In Kyoto dialect, north is called "Kami (上:up)" and south is "Shimo (下:down)", so popularly Kamo Wake-ikaduchi Jinja shrine is called "Kami-gamo jinja shrine"(上賀茂神社） as it is located in the north of Kyoto and Kamo mioya jinja shrine is called "Shimo-gamo jinja shrine"（下賀茂神社） in the south. The name "Kamo" comes from a local clan "Kamo-shi" （賀茂氏）, who had influence on the politics in an ancient time.
Kamo Wake-ikaduchi Jinja Shrine （賀茂別雷神社）
As the north guardian of Kyoto Imperial Palace. Please refer to my previous blog on Heian Jingu Shrine （平安神宮）.
Once upon a time, a thunder god (Kamo Wake-ikaduchi no Ookami (賀茂別雷大神）; Its literal meaning is A Great God of young thunder) came to a mountain near from the place where the shrine is built currently and the emperor Tenji(天智天皇: the 38th emperor, 626 AD-672 AD) built the shrine building in 634 AD. The god can control thunders and it burns people's bad karma, sins and uncleanness. He also lightens a passage for his people to go when they get lost. To burn a chain of negativity threatening the emperor Kanmu, his family and the imperial court, the shrine was chosen to be a north guardian. Among other guardian shrines, this shrine has been special to the imperial family since the Emperor Saga(嵯峨天皇:the 52nd emperor, 809 AD- 823 AD) sent her daughter as a maiden to the shrine.
The emperor Saga was Kanmu's second son and the 52nd emperor in the imperial history. He had an elder brother called Hezei (平城天皇:the 51st emperor, 806 AD-809 AD) who had been the 51st emperor as the Kanmu's first son before Saga sit on the throne. Heizei took over the crown after Kanmu's death, but he retired only three years after his inargulation. He gave the crown to Saga and moved from Kyoto to Nara. He advocated that the capital should be moved back to Nara (Heijo-Kyoto: the first capital city betore the emperor Kanmu's move) while Saga wanted it to remain in Kyoto. At that time, the retired emperor sometimes had stronger power in politics than the emperor's and Saga faced the difficulty with his own brother over this capital dispute, which finally led them to battle each other. To win the battle (and to exile the brother Heijo from the politics), Saga made a prayer at the shrine and promised to send one of his unmarried daughters (A virgin princess) to the shrine as a special maiden "Sai-ou" (斎王） to the god if he wins the battle. Eventually, Saga won the battle and as promised, one of his unmarried daughter, the princess Uchiko, was sent to the shrine to serve as a maiden to the god. This "Sai-ou" system lasted for 35 generations; 400 years. The "Sai-ou" system disappered when the court had financial turmoils, but the shrine is still closed to the imperial family. Upon some festivals, the emperor or his imperial family send an ambassador to the shrine to represent the emperor.
The Kami Gamo Jinja Shrine has a huge garden and there is a big cherry blossom tree. When it blooms, its pink and white flowers looks beautiful. If it's fine, you can see the pink-white cherry blossams with the blue sky and green grass on the ground. The color combination makes you spaced out for a moment. In addition, the shrine has a white horse called "Shin-me（神馬）" in the garden. Traditionally, a horse is a gift from people who makes a wish to the god in a shrine. The Kami Gamo Jinja Shrine keeps the horse for the god's ride.
The Kami Gamo Jinja Shrine has a huge garden and there is a big cherry blossom tree. When it blooms, its pink and white flowers looks beautiful. If it's fine, you can see the pink-white cherry blossams with the blue sky and green grass on the ground. The color combination makes you spaced out for a moment. In addition, the shrine has a white horse called "Shin-me（神馬）" in the garden. Traditionally, a horse is a gift from people who makes a wish to the god in a shrine. The Kami Gamo Jinja Shrine keeps the horse for the god's ride.
Kamo Mioya Jinja Shrine （賀茂御祖神社）
The shrine's official article says that Tamayori-hime, the enshrined deity, got a red arrow when she purified her body in a river. She put the arrow on ground and suddenly the arrow transformed into a beautiful man, The young couple fell in love each other and married. Then, Tamayori-hime gave a birth to a son-the thunder deity "Kamo Wake-ikaduchi no mikoto" in Kami-gamo jinja shrine.
Her father, Kamo-Taketsunumi-no-mikoto, is said to have developed the land of Kyoto by applying agricultural technologies in the area. The deity is also believed to have transformed himself into a three-legged crow called Yata-garasu, and guided a troop of the first imperial emperor Jinmu when he and his troop was lost.
A written record that the shrine's fence was built in 90 BC shows that the shrine's origin is quite old, but the details are not that clarified.
As one of Kyoto's historical legacies, the two shrines have been registered as the World Heritage by UNESCO. In addition, the Shimo-gamo Jinja shrine has primeval forest called "Tadasu-no-mori" within the area, and this forest was registered as national historical site by Japanese government in 1983 AD and the UNESCO registration includes this forest, too.
Aoi-Matsuri（葵祭）
The two Kamo shrines co-host a big annual festival called Aoi-Matsuri in May. This festival revitalizes the Sai-Ou system just for entertainment (the actual system was terminated officially). In the festival, a girl who is auditioned from Kyoto-city citizens will wear a traditional female dress as a role of "Sai-Ou", the imperial meiden to the shrine. Especially, since the selected girl is not the actual maiden, we call the girl "Sai-Ou Dai" (Dai means "interim"). The girl follows the ancient steps; to purify herself in Kamo river near from Shimo Gamo Jinja Shrine (The sister shrine) and marches in a parade with traditionally-costumed servants to the Kami Gamo Jinja Shrine (Kamo Wake-ikaduchi Jinja Shrine). The parade looks vivid and you may be attracted.
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