is a

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

located in

Fuchū, Tokyo 260px, Fuchū City Hall is a city located in western Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Fuchū serves as a regional commercial center and a commuter town for workers in central Tokyo. The city hosts large scale manufacturing facilities for Toshiba, NEC ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Six shrines in

Musashi province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, S ...

were consolidated and their gods enshrined there. Ōkunitama is now known as one of the five major shrines in Tokyo, the others being the Tokyo Great Shrine,

Yasukuni Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 resp ...

Hie Shrine Hie may refer to: * Hie (pronoun), an Old English pronoun * Hie Shrine, a Shinto shrine in Tokyo, Japan * Hie Station, in Nishiwaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan * Health information exchange * Highlands and Islands Enterprise * Holiday Inn Expres ...

and

Meiji Shrine , is a Shinto shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo, that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The shrine does not contain the emperor's grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto. History A ...

General description

Within the shrine complex, there are many buildings and points of interest. The main shrine buildings are in an walled inner complex protected by an inner and outer gate. The main shrine is dedicated to

Ōkuninushi Ōkuninushi ( historical orthography: ''Ohokuninushi''), also known as Ō(a)namuchi (''Oho(a)namuchi'') or Ō(a)namochi (''Oho(a)namochi'') among other variants, is a ''kami'' in Japanese mythology. He is one of the central deities in the cycle ...

. In addition, the main shrine is also an amalgamation of branches of the six main shrines from around Musashi Province: In addition, the main shrine complex is surrounded by seven smaller subsidiary shrines. These are ''Matsuo Shrine'', ''Tatsumi Shrine'', ''Tōshōguu Shrine'', ''Sumiyoshi Shrine'', ''Ōwashi Shrine'', ''Miyanome Shrine'' and an '' Inari shrine''. There is also a

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

ring and a

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

memorial, as well as the remains of the former Musashi provincial office.

History

According to the shrine’s legend, it was established on 5 May in the 41st year of the reign of

Emperor Keikō , also known as and , was the 12th legendary Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Both the ''Kojiki'', and the ''Nihon Shoki'' (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Keikō's all ...

, which corresponds to 111 AD in the western calendar. The offspring of ''Noomiame-no-hohino-mikoto'' (出雲臣天穂日命) appointed ''

Kuni no miyatsuko , also read as "kokuzō" or "kunitsuko", were officials in ancient Japan at the time of the Yamato court. Yamato period Kuni no miyatsuko governed small territories (), although the location, names, and borders of the provinces remain unclear. K ...

'' of

Musashi Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Metropolis, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, S ...

, the capital of which was located in what is now Fuchū. Its position as the of Musashi Province was confirmed from the Taika period (645 AD), and archaeological evidence confirms that the shrine was located very close to the provincial capital ('' kokufu'') of Musashi. During the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

(1062)

Minamoto no Yoriyoshi was a Japanese samurai lord who was the head of the Minamoto clan and served as '' Chinjufu-shōgun''. Along with his son Minamoto no Yoshiie, he led the Imperial forces against rebellious forces in the north, a campaign called the Zenkunen War, ...

and his son,

Minamoto no Yoshiie Minamoto No Yoshiie (源義家; 1039 – 4 August 1106), also known as Hachimantarō, was a Minamoto clan samurai of the late Heian period, and '' Chinjufu-shōgun'' (Commander-in-chief of the defense of the North). The first son of Minamoto ...

donated thousands of

zelkova ''Zelkova'' (from Georgian ''dzelkva'', 'stone pillar') is a genus of six species of deciduous trees in the elm family Ulmaceae, native to southern Europe, and southwest and eastern Asia. They vary in size from shrubs (''Z. sicula'') to large tr ...

saplings to the shrine as part of a prayer for victory in military campaigns in

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the comb ...

, and in 1182

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

made an invocation for the safe delivery of a child during the pregnancy of

Hojo Masako Hojo or Hōjō may refer to: Hojo or HoJo: *Howard Johnson's, a U.S. chain of restaurants and hotels *A nickname for Howard Johnson *A nickname for Howard Jones *A nickname for Howard Jones *MGR-1 Honest John, the first nuclear-capable missile ...

. Following the start of the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

, Minamoto no Yoritomo extensively rebuilt the shrine. It was rebuilt again in 1590 under

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow ...

and after a fire in 1649. Under the

State Shinto was Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that emphasized the Emperor as ...

system of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

, the shrine was officially renamed Ōkunitama Jinja in 1872, and appointed a Kanpei-shōsha ( Imperial Shrine, 3rd rank) in 1886. 大国魂神社

Kurayami matsuri

The is claimed to be one of the three oldest festivals in

Kanto region Kantō (Japanese) Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain * Kantō region * Kantō-kai, organized crime group * Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in th ...

. This festival is held every year, between 30 April and 6 May. Originally this festival was described as an . Ryotaro Shiba, a Japanese essay writer and novelist, observed that this festival resulted in disorderly conduct by the participants.司馬遼太郎1964『燃えよ剣』 He claimed that, amongst the single men and women who had gathered to sing and dance for each other, were also those who were married and who intended to have sex under cover of darkness. In the

Meiji Era The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization b ...

, facing criticism from Christian

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

, the authorities put a stop to this festival. In its place, ''Kurayami Matsuri'' was created. ''Kurayami'' means 'darkness' and ''matsuri'' means 'festival' in Japanese. It was originally held during the night, but this was changed to evening in 1959. On May 4, the road approaching the temple () is used as a track for horse-racing and performances of a masked folk dance known as . On May 5, six large taiko drums lead eight

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

to a temporary holding area. They are returned to the shrine early in the morning the following day.

List of Research papers for

Kurayami matsuri and Ohkunitama shrine

*中里亮平 2009 Matsuri boom and influence on festivals: the case of the kurayami-matsuri festival at Okunitama shrine in Fuchu, Tokyo. ''The Japanese folklore review'' (24), 47-60. *中里亮平 2008 Festivals and ''Influential'' members of the community: the case of the Kurayami-matsuri Festival at Okunitama shrine in Fuchu-shi, Tokyo. ''The Japanese folklore review'' (23), 51-64. *Tsuruga Eisuke 2007 Possibility on recovery of the humanity, concerned with festival reciprocity : Through the Fuchu Kurayami Matsuri researches. ''Education for sustainable development'' 6, 105-112. *Mogi Sakae, Shimada Kiyoshi 1989 The Kurayami Matsuri at Okunitama Shrine in Fuchu ''Transactions of the institute for Japanese culture and classics'' 64, 140-207, *杉浦翔子 2006 A study of the chief priest system of the plum wine drinking ritual held at Owari-no-Okunitama Jinja 『皇学館論叢』 39(6), 36-63, *Koide Goro 1983 On Argonauta argo Housed in the Okunitama Shrine.『ちりぼたん』 14(1), 21.

Utagaki

*糸永正之 2009 ''Utagaki'' in Bhutan: the verification of face-to-face interaction through fixed-verse songs. ''Asian folk culture studies'' (8), 1-32. *Nittamachi Yoshinao 1997 The Symbolism of The Expression in Touka. ''Research memoirs of the Kobe Technical College'' 35, 89-94. *Miyazaki Takeshi 1997 A Study of a Traditional Event Utagaki in Tsugaru Area.7 『日本歌謡研究』 37, 73-83.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okunitama Shrine Shinto shrines in Tokyo Fuchū, Tokyo