Hotaka Shrine
Religion
AffiliationShinto
Deityall the deities of its province,

Utsushihikanasaku,

Watatsumi
TypeSōja shrine
Glossary of Shinto

Hotaka Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Hotaka, Azumino, Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.[1][2][3][4][5] It is one of the three main shrines in Shinano Province. The Engishiki Jinmyocho describes it as a Myojin Taisha and it is now a Beppyo shrine.

It is a Sōja shrine. It enshrines all the kami of the shrines in Shinano Province. Whenever a new governor of Shinano Province was appointed he would be sent to the shrine to worship all the gods of the province.[6]

Ichinomiya and Soja are not the same thing but were sometimes combined.[7] In this case the Suwa-taisha is the Province's Ichinomiya.[8][9][10][11]

Many people pray here before hiking in the Japanese Alps.[1] It is located near Mount Hotakadake, a major Japanese mountain.[12]

The shrine is near Hotaka Station, and located in a Chinju no Mori or sacred forest full of Japanese cedar and pine trees.[1][13]

Two main gods are important here. The sea god Watatsumi, and his son, Hotakami no Mikoto (Utsushihikanasaku) the tutelary deity of the Azumi people.[1][13][14] and their ancestor.[15] Hotakami no Mikoto is said to have descended to earth on the nearby Mount Hotakadake.[16]

History

The shrine was founded by Azumi people who migrated from Kyushu.[1][13] The migrants searched extensively across Japan until they eventually found the Azumino valley and settled there, giving up their nautical lifestyle for an agricultural one.[1][13] This is why the shrine worships the sea gods Watatsumi and Hotakami despite being inland.[1][13] It is an agriculturally focused shrine.[1]

In 927 it was listed as a Myojin Taisha of the Engishiki Jinmyocho.[17] It was well known across Japan in the tenth century.[1]

Architecture

The shrine has several buildings:

  • Kaguraden: This is used for ceremonies.[1]
  • Haiden: People pray and offer rituals here.[1]
  • Honden: These are three small buildings for gods. The central one is for Hotakami no Mikoto.[1]

The buildings are rebuilt every twenty years in the process of Sengu. This keeps old building methods alive.[1]

There is also a museum of local culture on the premises.[1]

Myojin Pond

Myojin Pond

At the Hotaka Shrine in Azumino City, there is an annual festival at which people express their gratitude for the gift of water. In the city, there is a traditional spot in which all three rivers (Azusa, Karasu and Nakabusa), as well as the water from the melted snow of Kamikochi's mountains, meet. Kamikochi mountain holds a great significance to the Azumi people as the water which flowed down this mountain was once used to irrigate their crops.[18] Using this water, the people of Japan perform the rituals known as "Omizu-tori" (taking water) and "Omizu-gaeshi" (returning water), whereby the water is deemed to rightfully return to the Myojin Pond.[18] During this celebration, the Azumi People commemorate their direct connection to water and their gratitude for it as it has always assisted them – both in their history as skilful seafarers and crop farmers.[19]

The Myojin Pond in Kamikochi, Japan attracts both traditional descendants of the Azumi people, as well as tourists. It has a clear, mirror-like reflection, and is classified as one of the most revered places to worship the deities of the Azumi people.[20]

Today, the Myojin Pond accommodates many visitors as the water that lays within is a reminder of the culture, tradition, and history of the Azumi people.[21]

Branch shrines

The shrine has many branch shrines across the region.[4] some include

  • Okumiya Branch: It's near Myojin Pond in Kamikochi. Here, they remember the Azumi clan's sea roots.[1]
  • Minemiya Branch: It's on top of Mt. Oku-Hotaka. It's for Wadatsumi no Mikoto. It's a place for hikers to pray.[1]

Festivals

Every year, there is a big festival. The festival celebrates local gods and the sea.[1]

The Shrine has an Ofune Matsuri, or ship festival every September.[1][22]

Obisha Matsuri is held every March.[1][23] Priests shoot arrows at targets. It is said if they accurately hit the target there will be a good harvest.[23] Visitors take the arrows home with them for good luck.[23]

Deities

Amaterasu[24]Takamimusubi[25][26][27]
Ame-no-oshihomimi[24]Takuhadachiji-hime[25][26][27][28][29][30]Ōyamatsumi[31][32]
Ninigi-no-Mikoto[28][29][30][24][33]
（天孫）		Konohanasakuya-hime[31][32]Watatsumi[34][1][13][35]
Hoderi[31][32][36]Hosuseri[31][32]
（海幸彦）		Hoori[31][32][33]
（山幸彦）		Toyotama-hime[34]Utsushihikanasaku[1][13][35][37]Furutama-no-mikoto
Tensori no Mikoto[36]Ugayafukiaezu[33][38]Tamayori-hime[34]Azumi people[37]（Owari clan
Yamato clan)
Hayato people[36]Itsuse[38]Inahi[38]Mikeiri[38]Jimmu[38]Ahiratsu-hime[39]
Imperial House of JapanTagishimimi[40][41][42][39]
  • Red background is female.
  • Green background means groups
  • Bold letters are three generations of Hyuga.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 "Explore Azumino! - Hotaka Shrine". Explore Azumino!. Japan Tourism Agency. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  2. ↑ "Japanese ghost spot: Hotaka Shrine | Kowabana". 2017-09-03. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  3. ↑ "HIKES IN JAPAN". hikesinjapan.yamakei-online.com. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  4. 1 2 Moon, Okpyo (1989). From Paddy Field to Ski Slope: The Revitalisation of Tradition in Japanese Village Life. Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-2957-8.
  5. ↑ Geographical Review of Japan. Association of Japanese Geographers. 2003.
  6. ↑ Bocking, Brian (2016). A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138979079.
  7. ↑ https://archive.today/20230428181137/https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/eos/detail/id=8841 Encyclopedia of Shinto
  8. ↑ Aston, William George (1896). "Book XXX" . Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697 . pp. 403–404 – via Wikisource.
  9. ↑ "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 2.; retrieved 2011-08-010
  10. ↑ Tanigawa (1987). p. 130.
  11. ↑ Inoue (2003). pp. 362-371.
  12. ↑ "Chūbu-Sangaku National Park". Ministry of the Environment (Japan). Archived from the original on February 27, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 https://www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db/common/001562761.pdf
  14. ↑ "Mt. Hotaka also have deities enshrined, and these deities are as their tutelaries : JINJA-GAKU 3 | HIKES IN JAPAN". web.archive.org. 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  15. ↑ "Ofune Matsuri – A Unique Festival in Nagano, Japan! - Festivals & Events｜COOL JAPAN VIDEOS｜A Website With Information About Travel, Culture, Food, History, and Things to Do in Japan". cooljapan-videos.com. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  16. ↑ "Kamikochi - A Place of Special Importance". SNOW MONKEY RESORTS. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  17. ↑ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Engi-shiki" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 178.
  18. 1 2 Habington, Will (12 June 2012). "Azusa - Nature and Culture Flow as One in the Sacred River". Kamikochi. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  19. ↑ Rambelli, F (2018). The Sea and The Sacred in Japan. Camden: Bloomsbury Academic Publishing. pp. preface. ISBN 978-1350062870.
  20. ↑ Takeshi (3 October 2019). "Myojin-ike Pond". Find New Japan. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  21. ↑ Andriyenko, L (15 March 2011). "The Azumi Basin in Japan and Its Ancient People". Web Archive. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  22. ↑ "Explore Azumino! - Ofune Matsuri (wooden boat parade)". Explore Azumino!. Japan Tourism Agency. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  23. 1 2 3 "Explore Azumino! - Obisha Matsuri (Shinto ritual)". Explore Azumino!. Japan Tourism Agency. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  24. 1 2 3 Borgen, Robert; Ury, Marian (April 1990). "Readable Japanese Mythology: Selections from Nihon shoki and Kojiki" (PDF). The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese. American Association of Teachers of Japanese. 24 (1): 61–97. doi:10.2307/489230. JSTOR 489230. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  25. 1 2 "万幡豊秋津師比売命 – 國學院大學 古典文化学事業". kojiki.kokugakuin.ac.jp. Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  26. 1 2 "Encyclopedia of Shinto - Home : Kami in Classic Texts : Futodama". eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  27. 1 2 https://archive.today/20230406174104/https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/eos/detail/?id=9716
  28. 1 2 "タクハタチヂヒメ". nihonsinwa.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  29. 1 2 "栲幡千千姫命（たくはたちぢひめのみこと）ご利益と神社". xn--u9ju32nb2az79btea.asia (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-01-17.
  30. 1 2 "Ninigi". Mythopedia. Retrieved 2023-04-06.
  31. 1 2 3 4 5 Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by William George Aston. Book II, page 73. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. ISBN 978-0-8048-3674-6
  32. 1 2 3 4 5 "According to the 'Kojiki', the great 8th century A.D. compilation of Japanese mythology, Konohana Sakuya-hime married a god who grew suspicious of her when she became pregnant shortly after their wedding. To prove her fidelity to her husband, she entered a benign bower and miraculously gave birth to a son, unscathed by the surrounding flames. The fire ceremony at Fuji-Yyoshida recalls this story as a means of protecting the town from fire and promoting easy childbirth among women."
  33. 1 2 3 "みやざきの神話と伝承101：概説". 2021-08-04. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  34. 1 2 3 Akima, Toshio (1993). "The Origins of the Grand Shrine of Ise and the Cult of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami". Japan Review. 4 (4): 143. ISSN 0915-0986. JSTOR 25790929.
  35. 1 2 "Mt. Hotaka also have deities enshrined, and these deities are as their tutelaries : JINJA-GAKU 3 | HIKES IN JAPAN". 2020-10-01. Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  36. 1 2 3 Tsugita, Masaki (2001) [1977]. 古事記 （上） 全訳注 [Complete Translated and Annotated Kojiki, Part 1]. Vol. 38. 講談社学術文庫. p. 205. ISBN 4-06-158207-0.
  37. 1 2 "Ofune Matsuri – A Unique Festival in Nagano, Japan! - Festivals & Events｜COOL JAPAN VIDEOS｜A Website With Information About Travel, Culture, Food, History, and Things to Do in Japan". cooljapan-videos.com. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 The History of Nations: Japan. Dept. of education. Japan. H. W. Snow. 1910.
  39. 1 2 "Ahiratsuhime • . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史". . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  40. ↑ Norinaga Motoori (2007). The Poetics of Motoori Norinaga: A Hermeneutical Journey. University of Hawaii Press. p. 191. ISBN 978-0-8248-3078-6.
  41. ↑ Gary L. Ebersole (1992). Ritual Poetry and the Politics of Death in Early Japan. Princeton University Press. pp. 108–109. ISBN 0-691-01929-0.
  42. ↑ The Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters. Tuttle Publishing. 19 June 2012. p. 218. ISBN 978-1-4629-0511-9.

Bibliography

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