Ken@Japan

The Japanese Emperors are said to be an offspring of the supreme sun deity in the heaven, but even if they are the Emperors, they would be cursed to death when they go against the deity's willingness. Kashii-Gu Shrine, located in Kashii district, Fukuoka, used to be a tentative palace called Kashi-no-miya for the 14th emperor Chuai （仲哀天皇）and his wife, the empress Jingu （神功皇后）, the mother of the 15th emperor Oujin（応神天皇）: refer to my previous article ）, when they headed to Kyushu to conquer the hostile tribe called Kumaso （熊襲）who lived in the current Aso area in Kumamoto. The shrine's name "Kashi-i" comes from the palace's name-Kashi. The imperial troupe was planning to conquer the Kumaso, but the deity's wish was different from Chuai's plan. Sumiyoshi deities (three deities representing the ocean） possessed a body of his wife-the empress Jingu at night in a day and told him through Jingu's voice that they would give him a country in the west,...

Hakozaki-Gu shrine （箱崎宮）is located in Fukuoka, the biggest city in Kyushu Island in Japan. The main enshrined god is the 15th Emperor Oujin (応神天皇）, his mother-the Empress Jingu（神功皇后） and Tamayori-hime（玉依姫）, the mother of the first Emperor Jinmu are co-enshrined in the alter. Legendarily, the empress Jingu gave a birth to the emperor Oujin in the current Fukuoka area on her way to Korean peninsula to conquer the nations there. The emperor has been famous as a warrior deity and the three deities enshrined are collectedly called "Yawata-no-kami（八幡神）" and was believed as a deity who gives warriors guards and triumphs in wars. Therefore, the shrine attracted many famous samurai heroes and they visited the shrine in search of the deity's divine power. Due to this history, Hakozaki-Gu shrine became one of the biggest shrines in Japan. Especially, this shrine is said to be one of the three biggest shrines for Yawata-no-kami in Japan. The origin is...

Religion is a complex of cultures. Some people tend to take it cultically and respond allergically, perhaps because of the terrorist attacks by cultically-religious groups. I agree and can relate to their prejudice somehow. However, if you expose yourself to foreign cultures, you’d face to religions in which your foreign friends believe. Sometimes their ethics, thoughts and actions are in line with the belief that their religion teaches them. I believe that knowing the religion help us to know their selves. To this extent, I’d research the local religion before going to a certain country. Being a Buddhist, I researched Buddhism and the Dalai Lama before I went to Ladakh three years ago, so did I for Muslims and Christians before I went to Malaysia and Europe respectively. As you can read in this blog, I've been researching the enshrined deities upon visiting Shinto Shrines throughout Japan, though I didn't make it to cover the whole shrines I'v...

In the woody woods in the north in Kyoto, along a wild river. Going deeper in the woods and you will see a red Tori-i gate, a symbol to a sacred area in Shintoism. There has been a water deity enshrine inside its core for around 2,000 years.  Kifune Jinja Shrine（貴船神社） is located in the northern part of Kyoto called Rakuhoku （洛北）. The place is a water-head of Kamo River（賀茂川） running throughout Kyoto . With this regard, the main deity of the shrine is a water guardian who ensures water supply to people.  A crystal-clear water stream The origin is quite old. It still is unclear when exactly the shrine was started but the official chronicle of the shrine says that Tamayori-Hime, a mother of Jinmu-the first emperor, sailed from Osaka Bay to Yodo River, Kamo River and arrived in the place which is the current "inner palace" （奥宮）of the shrine. Tamayori-Hime built an alter for the water deity and started its prayer. This is the very first moment o...