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Nichizen-Gu Shrine(日前宮)

The sun rises in the east and sets down in the west. That's a scientific sense commonly held among people. Putting it in Japanese religious way, the sun goddess appears in the east and disappears in the west .To celebrate this divinity, there are two "sun"shrines in the east and in the west in Kansai Area.

Nichizen-Gu Shrine(日前宮)is located in Wakayama as a part of the three shrine visits (refer to "Itakiso Jinja Shrine""Kamayama Jinja Shrine") and the "west" shrine for the sun deity. I explained before ("Rice and Religion" ), our supreme goddess Amaterasu represents the sun and its main alter is in the main building at Ise Grand Shrine (Jingu of Ise, 伊勢神宮). From Nara and/or Kyoto, where the imperial majesties in history were based as the nation's capital city, the Grand Shrine is located in the east to represent the sun's entrance. Meanwhile, Nichizen-Gu Shrine is located in the south-east and it's said to represent the sun's exit. As its evidence, the deity enshrined in Nichizen-Gu is the same as the Grand Shrine, Amaterasu-the sun goddess.


This shrine's relation with Ise Grand Shrine is proved by the enshrined two mirrors as symbols of the divine spirits. I briefly mentioned a mythological story "Amano Iwato" in the article about  "Tsubaki Ookami Yashiro Shrine" ). Amaterasu hid herself into a cave and the sun disappeared in the world ("eclipse" in a way) . Other gods tried to lure her out of the cave to regain the sunshine. One of the key items in this myth is a mirror. Here is the scene from the myth;


After Amaterasu hid herself into the cave, the world was full of complete darkness. In the darkness, Ameno Uzume got topless and danced with a joy. The dance made other deities laugh loud and Amaterasu in the cave got puzzled at the laugh outside. She opened the cave's door only a little bit and asked "How come Ameno Uzume enjoyed her dance and everyone looked happy, although I, the sun deity, hid into the cave and the world became dark?".


Ameno Uzume answered "Because a god who was more respectful than you have just appeared and we were very pleased". Amaterasu tried to see who was "the more respectful god" and put out her head from the cave. Quickly, a mirror master, Ishikoridome put a mirror she created in advance in front of Amaterasu's face and Amaterasu eventually saw her own face in the mirror. Amaterasu thought the somebody in the mirror was "the more respectful god" and leaned forward from the cave. Ameno Tadikarao, a muscle god, pulled Amaterasu's hand and she finally got out of the cave. Soon after, a god called Futodama stretched a holy rope around the door to never let her inside again. In this way, the sun came back to the world.


The mirror in the myth is now placed inside the main bundilng in Ise Grand Shrine as a symbol of Ameterasu, the supreme goddess' spirit. However, it's been said that Ishikoridome, the mirror creator created two prototype mirrors before the mirror used to save the sun.






Nichizen-Gu is comprised of two main shrines. To the left from its main entrance, there is a shrine called "Hinokuma Jingu Shrine (日前神宮)", and "Kunikakasu Jingu Shrine(国懸神宮)" to the right. The two prototype mirrors are located each in two shrines in Nichizen-Gu Shrine. The mirrors are said to have the same power as the Ise's main mirror; in other words, the same spirit rests in the three mirrors (The divine spirit's flexibility is explained in my previous article; "Ooharano Jinja Shrine").


The deities who appears in the myth are all enshrined in this Nichizen-Gu; Amaterasu as the main deity followed by Ameno Uzume (dancer), Ameno Tadikarao (Muscle god), Futodama (god with a holy rope), Ishikoridome (mirror master). I don't mention above but there is a god called Omoikane who thought of the strategy to save the sun in the myth and Omoikane is also in the shrine.

Left: Hinokuma Jingu Shrine
















Right: Kunikakasu Jingu Shrine

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