Futarasan Shrine
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is a Shinto shrine in the city of
Nikkō is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 80,239 in 36,531 households, and a population density of 55 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a popular destination for Japanese and ...
,
Tochigi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the ...
, Japan. It is also known as Nikkō Futarasan Shrine, to distinguish it from the Utsunomiya Futarayama Jinja, which shares the same ''
kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...
'' in its name. both shrines also claim the title of ''
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 former
Shimotsuke Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Tochigi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''SHimotsuke''" in . Shimotsuke was bordered by Kōzuke, Hitachi, Mutsu and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was ...
. The main festival of the shrine is held annually from April 13 to April 17. The shrine consists of three geographically separate sections. The main shrine is located between
Nikkō Tōshō-gū is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in t ...
and the Taiyū-in Mausoleum. Many visitors go to all three, as well as to
Rinnō-ji is a Tendai Buddhist temple in the city of Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. History The site was established in 766 by the Buddhist monk Shōdō Shōnin (735–817). Due to its geographic isolation, deep in the mountains of Japan, the ...
; which are part of the
Shrines and Temples of Nikkō The UNESCO World Heritage Site Shrines and Temples of Nikkō encompasses 103 buildings or structures and the natural setting around them. It is located in Nikkō, Tochigi, Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The buildings belong to two Shinto shrine ...
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
. The "middle shrine" is located of the shore of
Lake Chuzenji A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
and the "inner shrine" is located at the summit of Mount Nantai, the volcano overlooking the lake. The shrine possesses two swords that are National treasures of Japan. Additionally, dozens of buildings and cultural artifacts are listed as National Important Cultural Properties. The precincts were also designated a National Historic Site.


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 Nikkō Futarasan Jinja are: * , god of nation-building, agriculture, medicine, and protective magic * , one of the three Munakata goddesses * , god of agriculture and thunder


Overview

The precincts of the shrine include eight peaks of the Nikkō Mountains (Mt. Nantai, Mt. Nyōhō, Mt. Tarō, Mt. Oku-Shirane, Mt. Maeshirane, Mt. Omanago, Mt. Komanako, Mt.Akanagi) as well as the
Kegon Falls is located at Lake Chūzenji (source of the Oshiri River) in Nikkō National Park near the city of Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The falls were formed when the Daiya River was rerouted by lava flows. The main falls had a height of appro ...
. It covers 3,400 hectares, which is second only to the
Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inner ...
in area. The main shrine is located to the west of
Nikkō Tōshō-gū is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in t ...
where it was relocated to in 1617. The current shrine buildings date from that reconstruction, and 11 buildings in the complex, including the '' Honden'', ''Haiden'' are designated as national Important Cultural Properties. The Middle Shrine is located on the shore of
Lake Chuzenji A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
. It was built in 1096; the current buildings were reconstructed in 1699. Seven buildings in the complex including the main shrine are designated as national Important Cultural Properties. The Oku-no-miya is located at the summit of Mount Nantai and was founded in 782. Archaeologists have found relics and ritual instruments from the
Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the c ...
confirming the site's age, and many of these artifacts have been designated national Important Cultural Properties.


History

The shrine was founded in 767 by Shōdō Shōnin (勝道上人), a
Kegon The Huayan or Flower Garland school of Buddhism (, from sa, अवतंसक, Avataṃsaka) is a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty (618-907). The Huayan worldview is based prima ...
school Buddhist priest who sought a training ground in the northern mountainous area of
Shimotsuke Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Tochigi Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''SHimotsuke''" in . Shimotsuke was bordered by Kōzuke, Hitachi, Mutsu and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was ...
. However, the area had been sacred since at least the
Yayoi period The started at the beginning of the Neolithic in Japan, continued through the Bronze Age, and towards its end crossed into the Iron Age. Since the 1980s, scholars have argued that a period previously classified as a transition from the Jōmon ...
as Mount Nantai (also called ) was a
sacred mountain Sacred mountains are central to certain religions, and are usually the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms. Many rel ...
worshipped as a (a ''
yorishiro A in Shinto terminology is an object capable of attracting spirits called , thus giving them a physical space to occupy during religious ceremonies. are used during ceremonies to call the for worship. The word itself literally means "approach ...
'' housing the enshrined ''kami''), as it supplied streams of water, and therefore life, to the plains below, where people lived.Cambridge History of Japan (1993:524) The mountain was the center of this ancient mountain cult, which merged with the Buddhist ''
Shugendō is a highly syncretic religion, a body of ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn from local f ...
'' religion Significantly, the name itself means "man's body". The mountain not only provides water to the rice paddies below, but has the shape of the
phallic A phallus is a penis (especially when Erection, erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimesis, mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically— ...
stone rods found in pre-agricultural Jōmon sites. According to shrine legend, it was visited by Kukai, who built the Takino Shrine, and by
Ennin , better known in Japan by his posthumous name, Jikaku Daishi (), was a priest of the Tendai school of Buddhism in Japan, and its third . Ennin was instrumental in expanding the Tendai Order's influence, and bringing back crucial training and re ...
, who built the Sanbutsu-dō, which is now the Main Hall of the temple of Rinnō-ji, and Nikko became a center for the
Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...
school of Buddhism. The shrine was relocated a short distance away from the temple to its current location, and together with the original site and the Takino Shrine was collectively called the Nikkō-sansha. 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 ...
, the shrine appears in various national histories, including the 927 AD ''
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 th ...
''; however, there is an ongoing controversy as to whether the ''Engishiki'' is referring to this shrine, or the Utsunomiya Futarayama Jinja. This controversy extends to the designation of ''
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 former Shimotsuke Province, which is likewise claimed by both shrines."Nationwide List of ''Ichinomiya''," p. 2.
; retrieved 2011-08-10
The shrine suffered during the
Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...
as many of its estates were seized by the
Late Hōjō clan Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...
and later by
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...
; however, the construction of the
Nikkō Tōshō-gū is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in t ...
in the early
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 characte ...
resulted in the reconstruction of the shrine by
Tokugawa Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...
and support of the shrine by many ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...
'' and members of the nobility. From 1871 the shrine was officially designated under
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 (''kampei ...
in State Shinto. In 1998, the grounds of the shrine were included within the National Historic Site designation the
Shrines and Temples of Nikkō The UNESCO World Heritage Site Shrines and Temples of Nikkō encompasses 103 buildings or structures and the natural setting around them. It is located in Nikkō, Tochigi, Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The buildings belong to two Shinto shrine ...
, which gained
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
designation the following year.


Sacred Bridge

The crossing the Daiya River belongs to the Futarasan Shrine. This beautiful vermilion lacquered structure is known as one of the three most beautiful bridges in Japan and is a perfect gateway for Nikko. The bridge was registered as a World Heritage in December 1999. Shinkyo measures 28 meters long, 7.4 meters wide, and stands 10.6 meters above the Daiya River. According to legend, a priest named Shōdō and his followers climbed Mt. Nantai in the year 766 to pray for national prosperity. However, they could not cross the fast flowing Daiya River. Shōdō prayed and a 10 foot tall god named Jinja-Daiou appeared with two snakes twisted around his right arm. Jinja-Daiou released the blue and red snakes and they transformed themselves into a rainbow-like bridge covered with sedge, which Shōdō and his followers could use to cross the river. That is why this bridge is sometimes called Yamasugeno-jabashi, which means the "Snake Bridge of Sedge". The Shinkyō has been rebuilt many times but has followed the same design pattern since 1636, when it could be used only by messengers of the Imperial court. It has been opened to the general public since 1973.


Photo gallery

Image:Nikko Futarasan Honden M3325.jpg, The main hall (''honden'') lies within the enclosure. Image:Nikko Futarasan Jinja M3292.jpg, Haiden Image:Nikko Futarasan Jinja Mikoshi M3299.jpg, Building housing ''mikoshi'' Image:Nikko Futarasan Jinja Hie Jinja M3294.jpg, Hie Shrine Image:Nikko Futarasan Chinese Lantern M3301.jpg, Chinese-style lantern, the ''Bake-doro'' ("Ghost Lantern") Image:Nikko Futarasan Daikoku M3303.jpg, Daikoku-den 大黒殿 Image:Nikko Futarasan Jinja Mitomo Jinja M3310.jpg, Mitomo Jinja Image:Nikko Futarasan Jinja M3331.jpg, Other buildings at Futarasan Shrine Image:Nikko Futarasan Gate M3287.jpg, The gate leads to the precincts of the shrine File:Mount nantai and lake chuzenji.jpg, Mount nantai


See also

*
List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts-swords) The term " National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897, although the definition and the criteria have changed since the introduction of the term. The swords and sword mountings in the list adhere to the ...
* List of Shinto shrines *
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 ...


Notes


References

* * Encyclopedia of Shinto
Nikkōsan shinkō
accessed on September 20, 2009 * Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version


External links


UNESCO document
Advisory Body Evaluation
Futarasan Shrine
official Web site


Nikkō National Park
official Web site {{Authority control Beppyo shrines Nikkō, Tochigi Religious organizations established in the 8th century Shinto shrines in Tochigi Prefecture World Heritage Sites in Japan 8th-century Shinto shrines Religious buildings and structures completed in 767 Shimotsuke Province Ichinomiya Historic Sites of Japan