is a

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

located in the city of

Iga Iga may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ambush at Iga Pass, a 1958 Japanese film * Iga no Kagemaru, Japanese manga series * Iga, a set of characters from the Japanese novel '' The Kouga Ninja Scrolls'' Biology * ''Iga'' (beetle), a gen ...

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefecture to ...

, Japan. It is the ''

Ichinomiya is a Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth. ''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retrieved 2013-5-14. The term gave rise t ...

'' of the former

Iga Province was a province of Japan located in what is today part of western Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Iga" in . Its abbreviated name was . Iga is classified as one of the provinces of the Tōkaidō. Under the ''Engishiki'' cl ...

and claims to have been founded in the seventh century. It is classified as a Beppo Shrine by the

Association of Shinto Shrines The is a religious administrative organisation that oversees about 80,000 Shinto shrines in Japan. These shrines take the Ise Grand Shrine as the foundation of their belief. It is the largest Shrine Shinto organization in existence. Description ...

Enshrined ''kami''

The ''

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

'' enshrined at Aekuni Jinja are: * , son

Emperor Kōgen , also known as was the eighth legendary emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Very little is known about this Emperor due to a lack of material available for further verification and study. Kōgen is known as a "le ...

, deployed to Hokurikudo as one of the ''Shido Shogun''. * , ''kami'' of agriculture, healing, magic, brewing sake and knowledge * , ''kami'' from the

Nangū Taisha is a Shinto shrine located in the town of Tarui in Fuwa District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Mino Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on May 25. The shrine precincts contain 18 structures ...

About the ''Kami''

According to the Engishiki, there used to be only one god. According to the

Rikkokushi is a general term for Japan's Six National Histories chronicling the mythology and history of Japan from the earliest times to 887. The six histories were written at the imperial court during the 8th and 9th centuries, under order of the Emperors. ...

, the name of this god is ''Aekunishin-kami'' (敢国津神). This god's essence maintained power throughout the entire region, together with the Abe clan's patron god, dedicating Mt. Nangu as a place of worship. During the

Muromachi Period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...

, a theory arose that Kanayamahiko was assigned to Aekunishin as a personal god. Soon after, a secondary theory arose stating that the god assigned was actually Sukunabikona. The Kanayamahiko assignment theory, in relation to Mt. Nangu, is rooted in religious documents, as it is mentioned in both the ''Dainipponkoku Ichinomiyaki'' and the '' Engishiki Jinmeicho'' from the late Muromachi Period. There is also literature written down of folklore related to

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

's ichinomiya, Nangu Taisha (modern day

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

, Fuwa District, Tarui), but the evidence and details are lacking. On the other hand, Sukunabikona, also known as the pioneer god, resembles the Iga Province's ''Osanakichigo-no-Miya'' from the '' Ryojin Hisho''. This theory is believed to have been established around the end of the

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. ...

. After that, from the end of the Muromachi Period to the mid.

Edo Period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, the two theories of Kanayamahime and Sukunabikona, and the three theories introducing '' Koga Saburo'' were established. In the third year of the Shotoku Era (1713 AD), it was advocated that Prince Ohiko was actually the god enshrined at Aekuni Shrine. This proposition was based on the fact that in both the ''Nihon Shoki'' and the '' Shinsen Shojiroku'' , Prince Ohiko is described as the founder of the Aya clan. Afterwards, the Prince Ohiko theory was adopted, and Koga Saburo was abolished from the pantheon.

History

As with most Shinto shrines of ancient origin, the story of the shrine's founding is vague, contradictory and lacking in historical documentation. According to the shrine's own myth, it was founded by order of

Empress Kōgyoku , also known as , was the 35th and 37th monarch of Japan,Kunaichō 斉明天皇 (37)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Kōgyoku's reign spanned the years from 642 to 645. Her reign as Saimei encompassed 655 to 661. In other ...

in 658 AD. The principal ''

'', Ōhiko-no-mikoto was the son of the semi-legendary

(reigned 214 to 157 BC). Per the '' Nihon Shoki'' and ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'', he was a general sent to conquer the

Hokuriku region The was located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lay along the Sea of Japan within the Chūbu region, which it is currently a part of. It is almost equivalent to Koshi Province and Hokurikudō area in pre-modern ...

for Yamato, and was the ancestor of the

Abe clan The was one of the oldest of the major Japanese clans (''uji''); and the clan retained its prominence during the Sengoku period and the Edo period.Meyer, Eva-Maria"Gouverneure von Kyôto in der Edo-Zeit." Universität Tübingen (in German). The ...

. After his return to Yamato, he was granted estates in the Asai District of Iga Province, where he eventually died and was buried in a ''

kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia. ''Kofun'' were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century CE.岡田裕之「前方後円墳」『日本古代史大辞典』� ...

''. The secondary ''kami'',

Sukunabikona Sukunabikona or Sukuna bikona (少彦名神, also known as Sukuna-biko, Sukuna-biko-na, Sukuna hikona) is the Shinto kami of the ''onsen'' (hot springs), agriculture, healing, magic, brewing sake and knowledge. His name means "the small lord of re ...

is connected with the immigrant

Hata clan was an immigrant clan active in Japan since the Kofun period (250–538), according to the history of Japan laid out in '' Nihon Shoki''. ''Hata'' is the Japanese reading of the Chinese surname ''Qin'' () given to the State of Qin and the Qi ...

, who were also living in this area. The shrine was originally located on the summit of Mount Nangū to the south, and was later relocated to its present site at the foot of the mountain. During the

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. ...

, another secondary ''kami'', Kanayamahime, from the

was moved to the old shrine at the summit of the mountain, hence where the name "Mount Nangū" originated. In the second year of the Jōgan Era (977 AD) mysterious words appeared, burned into the

shinboku The term refers to trees and forests as ''himorogi'' in Old Shinto, as well as ''shintai''. A tree is a tree, a forest, a ''shintai'', a ''yorishiro'', a Shinto shrine, a warding. It is also called ''goshingi''. The term ''goshingi'' refers ...

of the shrine at the summit. According to the words, Kanayamahime had moved to Aekuni Shrine at the foot of the mountain. The shrine is listed in the ''

Nihon Montoku Tennō Jitsuroku , abbreviated as Montoku Jitsuroku, is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 879, it is the fifth text in the Six National Histories series. It covers the years 850-858, the years of reign of the 55th Japanese sovereign, E ...

'' of 850 AD, ''

Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku , abbreviated as Sandai Jitsuroku, is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 901, it is the sixth and final text in the Six National Histories series. It covers the years 858–887. Background Following the earlier nation ...

'' of 864 AD and the ''

Engishiki The is a Japanese book about laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History In 905, Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ...

'' records of 927 AD, and in the late Heian period ''

Genpei Jōsuiki The , is a 48-book extended version of the ''Heike Monogatari'' (''The Tale of the Heike''). References External links at University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research univ ...

'', it is called the "Ichinomiya Nangū Dai-Bosatsu". During the Nanboku-cho period,

Southern Court The were a set of four emperors (Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitively ...

Emperor Go-Murakami (1328 – March 29, 1368) was the 97th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and a member of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-chō period of rival courts. He reigned from September 18, 1339, until March 29, 13 ...

spent several days at the shrine and awarded it with an estate. However, during the 1579

Tenshō Iga War is the name of two invasions of Iga province by the Oda clan during the Sengoku period. The province was conquered by Oda Nobunaga in 1581 after an unsuccessful attempt in 1579 by his son Oda Nobukatsu. The names of the wars are derived from the ...

, the shrine was burned down by the forces of

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

. It was reconstructed in 1593 by ''

yamabushi are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. They are generally part of the syncretic religion, which includes Tantric Buddhist, Shinto, and Japanese Taoist elements. Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yama-bito and some (saints or ho ...

''. In the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

, with construction of

Iga Ueno Castle , also known as is a Japanese castle located in the city of Iga, Mie Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The castle is also called , or "White Phoenix Castle," because of its beautiful architecture and floor plan. The castle has been prote ...

, the shrine was reconstructed in 1621 by order of

Tōdō Takatora was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of Tōdō clan from the Azuchi–Momoyama to Edo periods. He rose from relatively humble origins as an ashigaru (a light foot soldier) to become a ''daimyō''. Biography During his lifetime he changed his feudal m ...

, as it protected the spiritually vulnerable northeast quadrant of the castle. After the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, the shrine was given the rank of in the

Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines The was an organizational aspect of the establishment of Japanese State Shinto. This system classified Shinto shrines as either official government shrines or "other" shrines. The official shrines were divided into #Imperial shrines (''kampeisha ...

in 1884. It is believed that part of the original worship around Aekuni Shrine was the worship of Mount Nangū itself, as 200 meters south of Aekuni Shrine is a large boulder believed to be ''iwakura''. Currently, this boulder has been lost, however, a ''kofun'' has been found in the vicinity, along with evidence of the enshrining of a great stone god. It is believed that this same stone god is being worshiped at Aekuni Shrine's ''Oishi-sha''.

Shrine structures

Honden In Shinto shrine architecture, the , also called , or sometimes as in Ise Shrine's case, is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined ''kami'', usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a sta ...

Haiden Haiden may refer to: *A Gewürztraminer wine * Haiden (Shinto), the hall of worship of a Shinto shrine See also * Heiden (disambiguation) {{disambig ...

* Heiden * Emaden * Shamusho * Momotaro Rock File:Aekuni jinja Honden.JPG, Honden File:Aekuni jinja Heiden.JPG, Heiden File:Aekuni-jinja haiden.JPG, Haiden

Auxiliary/branch shrines

Auxiliary shrines

* Rokusho-sha - On the eastern side of the main shrine * Kusho-sha - On the western side of the main shrine

Branch shrines

* Wakamiya Hachiman-sha * Kosazuke-sha (Shrine for conception) * Shinmei-sha * Kusunoki-sha (Shrine of the camphor tree) * Musubi-sha (Shrine for marriage) * Oishi-sha (Great stone shrine) * Ichikishima jinja * Asama-sha - The shrine that rests by Mt. Nangu’s summit File:Aekuni-jinja Wakamiya-hachiman-sha.JPG, Wakamiya Hachiman File:Aekuni-jinja Kosazuke-sha.JPG, Kosazuke File:Aekuni-jinja Shinmei-sha.JPG, Shinmei File:Aekuni-jinja Kusunoki-sha.JPG, Kusunoki File:Aekuni-jinja Musubi-sha.JPG, Musubi File:Aekuni-jinja Oishi-sha.JPG, Great Stone Shrine File:Aekuni-jinja Ichikishimahime-sha.JPG, Ichikishima

Festivals

* Every Month ** Monthly festival (Held on the first of every month) * January ** New Year’s Day Festival (January 1) ** First Ceremony of the Dancing Lion (January 3) ** Festival of Reverence for Worshipers (January 11) * February ** Festival of Prayer for Warding off Evil (February 3) ** Kigensai (February 11) ** Prayer Festival (February 17) ** Great Stone Shrine’s Festival of Prayer (February 17) * April ** Great Festival of Spring (April 17) ** Festival of the Dancing Lion (April 17) ** Great Stone Shrine’s Spring Festival (April 24) ** Ichinomiya District’s Prayer Festival for Traffic Safety (April 24) * June ** The Association’s Annual Festival (4th Sunday of June) ** Great Purification Festival (June 30) * July ** Great Stone Shrine’s Gion Festival (July 28) * August ** Shinto Ritual for the Circle of Thatch (August 1) * September ** Ichinomiya District’s Respect for the Elderly Festival (First Sunday of September) ** Memorial service for those who have died related to the shrine (September 21) * October ** Kosha Grand Festival (The Sunday near October 10) * November ** The Emperor’s Harvest Ceremony (November 23) ** Kokutou-sai (November 25) * December ** Asama Shrine Festival (December 1) ** Idol Procession Festival (December 4) ** Habitual Festival (December 5) ** The Emperor’s Birthday (December 23) ** Great Purification Festival (December 30) ** New Year’s Eve (December 31) * Full Moon Festival (Every full moon)

Kagura is a type of Shinto ritual ceremonial dance. The term is a contraction of the phrase , indicating the presence of gods () in the practice. One major function of is , involving a procession-trance process. Usually a female shaman will perfor ...

is performed at Aekuni Shrine’s Festivals of the Dancing Lion on January 3 and April 17, and at the annual shrine festival on December 5. It is said that kagura originated in the Keicho Era (1596 - 1615 AD). Across various parts of Iga are models of the lion kagura, and they have been designated a genuine intangible traditional cultural property of Mie Prefecture.

Cultural properties

Cultural properties of Mie Prefecture

* Tangible cultural properties ** 12 frames of paintings of the 36 Immortals of Poetry *** Paintings of the 36 Immortals of Poetry have been divided among twelve frames. It seems that the paintings were part of an article from “Koushitsu Nenpu Ryaku” in the 14th year of the Keicho Era (1609 AD), but the same article can be found in “Yamatoku”, in which the creator is wrongly attributed to be

Kano Sanraku Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

. The paintings are actually

Konoe Nobutada was a Momoyama period Japanese courtier known as a poet, calligrapher, painter and diarist. Having no legitimate son, he adopted his nephew Nobuhiro as his heir. Other names he is known by are Nobumoto (信基) and Nobusuke (信輔) in his early ...

’s brushwork. They were designated on March 17th, 2005. * Intangible cultural properties ** Aekuni Shrine’s Lion Dance. It was designated on April 1st, 1954.

Cultural properties of Iga City

* Tangible cultural properties ** Yugama iron craftwork - Dedicated in the third year of the Keicho Era (1598). It was designated on November 22nd, 1958. ** Stone lantern craftwork - It was designated on February 26th, 2004.

Local information

Location

* 877 Ichinomiya, Iga City, Mie Prefecture

Transportation access

* Bus ** From the “Sindo Station South Exit” bus stop in front of Shindo Station (JR West Japan Kansai Main Line), take the Mie Kotsu bus (heading for the Ueno Industry Meeting Hall) and get off at the “Aekuni Shrine” stop ** From the “Ueno Industry Meeting Hall” bus stop in front of Uenoshi Station (Iga Railway Iga Line), take the Mie Kotsu bus (heading for the Iga branch office) and get off at the “Aekuni Shrine” stop * Car ** Off Meihan National Highway (National Highway no. 25 Bypass), immediately from the Iga Ichinomiya Interchange

Related literature

* 『古事類苑』Imperial Shrine, Aekuni Shrine ** 『古事類苑第9冊』(National Diet Library Digital Collection) Refer to frames 168-171 * Anzu Motohiko's『神道辞典』Shrine News, 1968, p.1 * 『神社辞典』published by Tokyodo, 1979, p.3

References

External links

Official home page
*https://www.kankomie.or.jp/spot/detail_2965.html Mie Prefecture Official tourist information site]
Iga-Ueno Official tourist information site
{{Shinto shrine Shinto shrines in Mie Prefecture Ichinomiya Iga Province Iga, Mie Beppyo shrines