February 24, 2020

SHRINES - Shiogama Shrine

https://edoflourishing.blogspot.com/2020/01/noda-kaido-highway-numakunai.html

Shiogama Kaido 塩釜街道 Shiogama Highway
Connecting Shiogama with 仙台 Sendai, 宮城県 Miyagi.
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Shiogama (塩竈 or 塩釜)
The city derives its name ("salt furnace") from an ancient method to harvest salt by boiling seawater in large kettles. The ritual is still performed every July at Shiogama Shrine, an important shrine at the center of the town. The shrine is also a popular cherry blossom spot with a large variety of cherry tree varieties.
Shiogama
is often combined with a visit to nearby Matsushima, as the two cities are connected by the popular sightseeing cruises via Matsushima Bay.
- source : japan-guide.com... -




. Shiogama Jinja 塩釜神社 / 鹽竈神社 Shiogama Shrine .
It is the head shrine of several hundred Shiogama shrines located throughout Japan.
In the"Narrow Roads to the Deep North",
the poet, Matsuo Basho, describes traveling from Shiogama to Matsushima by boat.
. tsubo no ishibumi at Tateishi 壷の碑を立石 .


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Shiwahiko Jinja 志波彦神社
It was formerly situated in Iwakiri, to the west of Shiogama, but it was transferred to the precincts of Shiogama Jinja in 1874.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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Shiogama Jinja (鹽竈神社)
Three kami are enshrined at Shiogama Jinja, in three separate buildings:
Shiotsuchi-Oji-no-Kami in the betsugu (detached sanctuary),
Takemikazuchi-no-Kami in the sagu (left sanctuary), and
Futsunushi-no-Kami in the ugu (right sanctuary).
Shiwahiko Jinja is dedicated to another kami, Shiwahiko-no-Kami.
- History
The construction of Shiogama Jinja dates to before the historic era. Per shrine legend, the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu-Omikami, specifically commanded Takemikazuchi-no-Kami and Futsunushi-no-Kami, to develop the Tōhoku area.
A third kami, Shiotsuchi-Oji-no-Kami, guided the other two to this region. After their arrival, the area enjoyed a period of peace, and Shiotsuchi-Oji-no-Kami taught the local people how to make salt from sea water. In gratitude, a shrine was erected to the three kami.
Shiogama Jinja appears in historical records in 820 AD, when it was given exemption from taxes.
- - - More in the WIKIPEDIA !



source : artne.jp/event... 福岡市博物館

塩竈・松島図屏風 Shiogama - Matsushima Byobu folding screen

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kamagafuchi 釜ヶ渕 riverside of the kettle / cauldron
Once one of the 12 sacred kettles of the Deity, shinkama 神釜 / 神竈 / 御釜 O-Kama was stolen.
When the boat of the thieves passed the riverside, it sank to the ground.

O-Kama Jinja 御釜神社 "Shrine of the Divine Kettle"
宮城県塩竈市本町6-1 // O-Kama sha 御釜社

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This unassuming shrine is named for its four metal cauldrons which have been used since ancient times to make salt.
The cauldrons are designated one of the Three Great Miracles of Japan. The color of the water in these cauldrons is said to change before disasters, a belief so prevalent that during the Edo period the shrine was ordered to inform the rulers of the Sendai Domain whenever there was a change in color. It is even said that the color of the water changed just before the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Okama Jinja enshrines Shiotsuchi Oji no Kami,
the god who taught humans how to make salt. An sacred salt-making ritual is held here on July 6 every year, a tradition which has continued for one thousand years.
- source : visitmiyagi.com/contents... -

Shiotsuchi no Oji had originally seven iron kettles, four remain - of two sizes
一口は径四尺 1,2 m diameter
三口は四尺八寸の鉄釜 a bit larger
dedicated to ryuujin 竜神 the Dragon Deity.

Every year on the 10th day of July there was a ritual of shiokumi 汐汲み scooping salt water from the seaside 釜渕 Kamabuchi.

Legend says Shiotsuchi no Oji had originally seven or even 15 kettles.
二口は野田 Two at Noda
一口は釜渕 One at Kamabuchi
四口は加美郡色麻村 Four at Kami district, Shikama
二口は肝沢郡水沢 Two at Isawa district, Mizusawa
一口は黒川郡富谷町志戸田 One at Kurokawa district, Shitoda
一口は仙台市石名坂円福寺 One at Sendai at the temple Enpuku-Ji

The deity 和加佐彦命 Wakasahiko no Mikoto changed into the figure of a young boy with a purple apron and let the bull to the Seaside. His whip was made from wisteria.
To our day people sometimes put a purple apron around their child in the hope it will grow up strong.

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塩竃市 Shiogama city 一森山 Ichimoriyama

Shiotsuchi no Oji 塩釜翁神 / シオツチノオジ / 塩竈明神 Shiogama Myojin
塩椎神 Shiotsuchi no Kami / 塩竃さん Shiogama San

There are three deities venerated at Shiogama Jinja. Later one of them,
武甕槌神 Takemikazuchi no Kami went down the river 利根川 Tonegawa to 鹿島 Kashima.
経津主神 Futsunushi no Kami went to 香取 Katori.
Only 塩椎神 Shiotsuji no Kami stayed here.


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Kotokatsukunikatsunagasa
A local kami who greeted the heavenly grandchild Ninigi upon his arrival at Kasasa of Ata no Nagaya (in Kagoshima Prefecture) after his descent from heaven (tenson kōrin). Nihongi states that the kami made a free-will offering of the land to Ninigi.
According to a variant "alternate writing" also provided by Nihongi, the kami is identified with Shiotsuchi no oji ("old man of the sea"), an offspring of Izanagi.
Shiotsuchi no oji is described elsewhere as guiding Hohodemi to the Palace of the Sea, and telling Emperor Jinmu about the "fair land to the east," with the result that he is viewed as a tutelary kami of the sea.
- source : kokugakuin Kadoya Atsushi -

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tarayooju 多羅葉樹 / タラヨウジュ / Ilex latifolia
The Ilex tree in the compound of 塩釜神社 Shiogama Jinja is called
nanja monja, nanjamonja なんじゃもんじゃ "what is this?"
In former times, when bokesen 卜占 divinations were made, a leaf of this tree was roasted.



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ushiishi, ushi-ishi, ウシイシ gyuseki 牛石 the bull who had become a rock
This huge rock is in the compound of 塩釜神社 Shiogama Jinja.
In the pond East of 塩釜神社 Shiogama Jinja is a huge rock, looking like a bull lying down, with his eyes, nose, horns and ears visible.
On the 6th day of the 7th lunar month, when the well is cleaned, it can be fully seen.
When the deity 塩土翁神 Shiyotsuchi no Oji made salt, the tide brought a huge bull, which turned into this rock.

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