is a

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

located on the island of Ōmishima in the

Seto Inland Sea The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osaka Ba ...

. Administratively, it is part of the city of Imabari, Ehime Prefecture. It was the ''

ichinomiya is a Japanese language, Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a Provinces of Japan, province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth.''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retr ...

'' shrine of former

Iyo Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northwestern Shikoku.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Tosa''" in . Iyo bordered on Sanuki Province to the northeast, Awa Province (Tokushima), Awa to the east ...

. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on the April 22 by the

lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based on the solar year, and lunisolar calendars, whose lunar months are br ...

Enshrined ''kami''

The primary ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'' enshrined at Ōyamazumi Jinja is: * , a god of mountains, sea, and war in Japanese mythology, and the elder brother of

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

and

Susanoo __FORCETOC__ Susanoo (, ; historical orthography: , ), often referred to by the honorific title Susanoo-no-Mikoto (), is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese im ...

History

Located on the west coast of Ōmishima Island, the shrine is situated at the western foot of the island's highest peak, Mt. Washigatou (436.5 meters), which is considered 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 reli ...

. The shrine is in a grove of camphor trees, the oldest of which are between 2,600 and 3,000 years old. The origins of the shrine are unknown.

Archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s have found evidence that the island was a ritual location in the

Yayoi period The Yayoi period (弥生時代, ''Yayoi jidai'') (c. 300 BC – 300 AD) is one of the major historical periods of the Japanese archipelago. It is generally defined as the era between the beginning of food production in Japan and the emergence o ...

, and unverifiable legends state that the worship of Ōyamatsumi came from

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

on the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

and came to Japan from the Japanese domination of

Mimana Mimana (), also transliterated as Imna according to the Korean pronunciation, is the name used primarily in the 8th-century Japanese text '' Nihon Shoki'', likely referring to one of the Korean states of the time of the Gaya confederacy (c. 1st– ...

under

Emperor Nintoku , also known as was the 16th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Due to his reputation for goodness derived from depictions in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, he is sometimes referred to as the . While his existence ...

. Per the '' Izumi-no-kuni

fudoki are ancient reports on provincial culture, geography, and oral tradition presented to the reigning monarchs of Japan, also known as local gazetteers. They contain agricultural, geographical, and historical records as well as mythology and ...

'', the first shrine was established in

Settsu Province was a province of Japan, which today comprises the southeastern part of Hyōgo Prefecture and the northern part of Osaka Prefecture. It was also referred to as or . Osaka and Osaka Castle were the main center of the province. Most of Settsu's ...

and was relocated to Iyo Province by Emperor Suiko in 594. In 701, the shrine was relocated to its present site, with construction competed in 716 and a dedication ceremony held in 719. The shrine first appears in the historical record in an entry in the

Shoku Nihongi The is an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the '' Six National Histories'', coming directly after the and followed by ''Nihon Kōki''. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi served as t ...

dated 766, and appears regularly in the subsequent national histories 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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

(such as the ''

Shoku Nihon Kōki is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 869, it is the fourth volume in the Six National Histories. It covers the years 833–850. Following the earlier national history ''Nihon Kōki'' (840), in 855 Emperor Montoku o ...

'' and ''

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 nati ...

''), rising steadily in official rank. In the 927 ''

Engishiki The is a Japanese book of 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 Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishi ...

'', it is listed as a and the ''

'' of the province. It was also given the title of , or "Protector shrine of Japan". The shrine has been supported by successive imperial courts and warlords, especially by members of the

Taira The was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period of Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto, the Fujiwara, and the Tachibana. The clan is divided into four major groups, named ...

and Minamoto clans, who made it a practice to donate swords and armor to the shrine as votive offerings for success and protection in battle. Due to this practice, the shrine has an enormous collection of weaponry, estimated by some to include approximately 40% of Japan's arms and armor designated as either a

National Treasure A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

or an Important Cultural Property, including eight National Treasures and 76 Important Cultural Properties (as of 2014). The

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 ...

and Haiden of the shrine were destroyed by fire in 1322 and rebuilt in 1427. Both structures are designated as Important Cultural Properties. The priesthood of the Ōyamazumi Shrine was hereditary to the Ochi clan, who had been the ''

Kuni no miyatsuko , also read as ''kokuzō'' or ''kunitsuko'', were officials in ancient Japan during the Yamato period who governed provinces called ''kuni''. Yamato period ''Kuni no miyatsuko'' governed provinces called ''kuni'' (国), although the location, nam ...

'' of Iyo since the

Kofun period The is an era in the history of Japan from about 300 to 538 AD (the date of the introduction of Buddhism), following the Yayoi period. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes collectively called the Yamato period. This period is ...

. During the

Edo Period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

, the shrine gained in popularity as an unnumbered stop on the

Shikoku pilgrimage The or is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kūkai (''Kōbō Daishi'') on the island of Shikoku, Japan. A popular and distinctive feature of the island's cultural landscape, and with a long history, ...

. Following 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, with the establishment of

State Shinto was Empire of Japan, 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 Kannushi, priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that ...

the shrine was classified as a , and was the highest ranking shrine in the

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

region. During the

American occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...

following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, some 10,000 pieces of weaponry and armor were relocated to the shrine under the pretext of being dedicated as sacred objects from the

Imperial Japanese Naval Academy The was a school established to train line officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was originally located in Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo, in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima, in 1888. Students ...

and

Itsukushima Shrine is a Shinto shrine on the island of Itsukushima (popularly known as Miyajima), best known for its "floating" ''torii''.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005)"''Itsukushima-jinja''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 407. It is in the cit ...

by authorities who feared that they would be confiscated. The GHQ authorities were disturbed by the vast number of swords, and ordered the disposal of all items except those which had already been designated as

s. The shrine authorities responded by secretly burying them and later, after the end of the occupation and the establishment of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, they returned the swords to the Japanese government. In 1992, the shrine suffered from an arson attack by leftist extremists of the

Chūkaku-ha is a Japanese far-left revolutionary group, often referred to as Chūkaku-ha (, "Central Core Faction") in Japanese. Their main goal is to have Japan, and the entire world, adopt communist policies. Chūkaku-ha rejects imperialism and Stalinism ...

who saw the shrine as a symbol of

Japanese imperialism The territorial conquests of the Empire of Japan in the Western Pacific Ocean and East Asia began in 1895 with its victory over Qing China in the First Sino-Japanese War. Subsequent victories over the Russian Empire (Russo-Japanese War) and the ...

. The shrine is located seven kilometers from the Omishima IC on the Nishiseto Expressway (Shimanami Kaidō)

Gallery

Ooyamazumijinja 02.jpg, Second Torii Ooyamazumi 02.jpg, ''Honden'' Ōyamazumi-jinja houkyou-into.JPG, ''Hokyoin-to'' Oomisima 20191210 08.jpg, Gate Armor of the Kono Michiari.JPG, Armor of Kono Michiari

References

External links

Official home page

Jinja Honcho home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oyamazumi Shrine Shinto shrines in Ehime Prefecture Imabari, Ehime Iyo Province Ichinomiya Beppyo shrines Myōjin Taisha Kokuhei Taisha Ehime Prefecture designated tangible cultural property

Enshrined ''kami''

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links