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81-569: In addition to playing a role in Suwa Shrine's religious rites, the Mishaguji are also enshrined in 'Mishaguji Shrines ' (御社宮司社 Mishaguji-sha ) found throughout the Lake Suwa region and its vicinity. Worship of kami with similar-sounding names are also attested in various localities throughout east and central Japan. Such deities have been speculated to be related to the Mishaguji. The exact nature of

162-778: A himorogi , or an object believed to be capable of attracting spirits, called a yorishiro , which can also serve as direct bonds to a kami . There may be a haiden ( 拝殿 , meaning: "hall of worship") and other structures as well. Although only one word ("shrine") is used in English, in Japanese, Shinto shrines may carry any one of many different, non-equivalent names like gongen , -gū , jinja , jingū , mori , myōjin , -sha , taisha , ubusuna or yashiro . Miniature shrines ( hokora ) can occasionally be found on roadsides. Large shrines sometimes have on their precincts miniature shrines, sessha ( 摂社 ) or massha ( 末社 ) . Mikoshi ,

243-652: A kami is believed to reside in them. Shintai are not themselves part of kami , but rather just symbolic repositories which make them accessible to human beings for worship; the kami inhabits them. Shintai are also of necessity yorishiro , that is objects by their very nature capable of attracting kami . The most common shintai are objects like mirrors, swords, jewels (for example comma-shaped stones called magatama ), gohei (wands used during religious rites), and sculptures of kami called shinzō ( 神像 ) , but they can be also natural objects such as rocks, mountains, trees, and waterfalls. Mountains were among

324-532: A storm god fighting a sea serpent is itself a popular mythic trope potentially originating with the Proto-Indo-European religion and later transmitted into the religions of the ancient Near East most likely initially through interaction with Hittite speaking peoples into Syria and the Fertile Crescent . This motif, known as chaoskampf ( German for "struggle against chaos"), represents

405-489: A cultural import which provided much of Shinto architecture's vocabulary. The rōmon ( 楼門 , tower gate ) , the haiden , the kairō ( 回廊 , corridor ) , the tōrō , or stone lantern, and the komainu , or lion dogs, are all elements borrowed from Buddhism. Until the Meiji period (1868–1912), shrines as they exist today were rare. With very few exceptions like Ise Grand Shrine and Izumo Taisha , they were just

486-537: A dozen" orochi < woröti etymologies, while Western linguists have suggested loanwords from Austronesian , Tungusic , and Indo-European languages . The most feasible native etymological proposals are Japanese o- from o ( 尾 , "tail") , (which is where Susanoo discovered the sacred sword), ō ( 大 , "big; great") , or oro ( 峰 , "peak; summit") ; and [[[wiktionary:霊#Noun|-chi]]] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help ) , meaning "god; spirit", cognate with

567-403: A fence round about, in that fence make eight gates, at each gate tie [together] eight platforms, on each platform put a liquor-vat, and into each vat pour the eight-fold refined liquor, and wait." So as they waited after having thus prepared everything in accordance with his bidding, the eight-forked serpent came truly as [the old man] had said, and immediately dipped a head into each vat, and drank

648-773: A five-headed dragon at Enoshima in 552. Kuzuryū ( 九頭龍 , "nine-headed dragon"), deriving from the nagarajas (snake-kings) Vasuki and Shesha , is worshipped at Togakushi Shrine in Nagano Prefecture . Compare the Nine-headed Bird ( 九頭鳥 ) in Chinese mythology . Comparing folklore about polycephalic dragons and serpents, eight-headed creatures are less common than seven- or nine-headed ones. Among Japanese numerals , ya or hachi ( 八 ) can mean "many; varied" (e.g., yaoya ( 八百屋 , lit.   ' 800 store ' ) , "greengrocer; jack-of-all-trades"). De Visser says

729-635: A high deity. Jingū ( 神宮 ) is a shrine of particularly high status that has a deep relationship with the Imperial household or enshrines an Emperor, as for example in the case of the Ise Jingū and the Meiji Jingū. The name Jingū alone, can refer only to the Ise Jingū, whose official name is just "Jingū". It is a formulation close to jinja ( 神社 ) with the character Sha ( 社 ) being replaced with gū ( 宮 ) , emphasizing its high rank Miya ( 宮 )

810-605: A number of authors have speculated that Mishaguji worship may ultimately originate from Jōmon religious beliefs. A few even surmise that the Mishaguji were already being worshiped in Suwa before the cult of Takeminakata - claimed here to be a later import - was introduced into the region; the appearance of the Mishaguji in the Upper Shrine's rites are seen by these scholars to be a relic of original local beliefs. These assumptions, however, have recently come into question. Multiple variants of

891-448: A part of a temple-shrine complex controlled by Buddhist clergy. These complexes were called jingū-ji ( 神宮寺 , literally: "shrine temple") , places of worship composed of a Buddhist temple and of a shrine dedicated to a local kami . The complexes were born when a temple was erected next to a shrine to help its kami with its karmic problems. At the time, kami were thought to be also subjected to karma , and therefore in need of

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972-557: A possessing spirit are reflected in texts that describe Mishaguji being 'brought down' (降申 oroshi-mōsu , i.e. being summoned into a repository, whether human or object) or 'lifted up' (上申 age-mōsu , i.e. being dismissed from its vessel) by the Moriya jinchōkan , the priest with the exclusive right to call upon Mishaguji in the religious rites of the Suwa Grand Shrine. Folk beliefs considered Mishaguji to be associated with fertility and

1053-410: A possible origin. Ōwa Iwao (1990) meanwhile theorized the name to be derived from (mi)sakuchi (honorific prefix 御 mi- + 作霊, 咲霊 sakuchi ), a spirit ( chi ; cf. ikazu-chi , oro-chi , mizu-chi ) that brings forth or opens up ( saku , cf. 咲く 'to bloom', 裂く 'to tear open', 作 'to do/make/cultivate/grow'；cf. also the verb sakuru / shakuru 'to dig/scoop up') the latent life force present in

1134-454: A rock or waterfall housing a local kami ), or of an artificial one, which must therefore be procured or made to the purpose. An example of the first case are the Nachi Falls , worshiped at Hiryū Shrine near Kumano Nachi Taisha and believed to be inhabited by a kami called Hiryū Gongen . The first duty of a shrine is to house and protect its shintai and the kami which inhabits it. If

1215-544: A salvation only Buddhism could provide. Having first appeared during the Nara period (710–794), the jingū-ji remained common for over a millennium until, with few exceptions, they were destroyed in compliance with the new policies of the Meiji administration in 1868. The Shinto shrine went through a massive change when the Meiji administration promulgated a new policy of separation of kami and foreign Buddhas ( shinbutsu bunri ) with

1296-424: A shrine has more than one building, the one containing the shintai is called honden ; because it is meant for the exclusive use of the kami , it is always closed to the public and is not used for prayer or religious ceremonies. The shintai leaves the honden only during festivals ( matsuri ), when it is put in portable shrines ( mikoshi ) and carried around the streets among the faithful. The portable shrine

1377-413: A shrine to another: the divided spirit's new location can be a privately owned object or an individual's house. The kanjō process was of fundamental importance in the creation of all of Japan's shrine networks ( Inari shrines , Hachiman shrines , etc.). The shake (社家) are families and the former social class that dominated Shinto shrines through hereditary positions within a shrine. The social class

1458-489: A small shrine ( chinjusha ) dedicated to its Shinto tutelary kami , and vice versa Buddhist figures (e.g. goddess Kannon ) are revered in Shinto shrines. The defining features of a shrine are the kami it enshrines and the shintai (or go-shintai if the honorific prefix go- is used) that houses it. While the name literally means "body of a kami", shintai are physical objects worshiped at or near Shinto shrines because

1539-406: A space of eight hills and eight valleys." The botanical names used to describe this Orochi are akakagachi or hoozuki (winter cherry or Japanese lantern, Physalis alkekengi ), hikage (club moss, Lycopodiopsida ), hinoki (Japanese cypress, Chamaecyparis obtusa ), and sugi (Japanese cedar, Cryptomeria ). The legendary sword Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi , which came from

1620-421: A term used for sacred stones or rocks that were worshiped as repositories ( shintai ) of kami (it has been observed that stones or stone items were employed as shintai in many Mishaguji-related shrines), or shakujin (尺神), due to another association with bamboo poles and measuring ropes used in land surveying and boundary marking . The term sakujin (作神 'harvest / crop deity') has also been suggested as

1701-485: Is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami , the deities of the Shinto religion. The honden (本殿, meaning: "main hall") is where a shrine's patron kami is/are enshrined. The honden may be absent in cases where a shrine stands on or near a sacred mountain, tree, or other object which can be worshipped directly or in cases where a shrine possesses either an altar-like structure, called

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1782-518: Is all constantly bloody and inflamed." (What is called here akakagachi is the modern hohodzuki [winter-cherry]) Then His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness said to the old man: "If this be thy daughter, wilt thou offer her to me?" He replied, saying: "With reverence, but I know not thine august name." Then he replied, saying: "I am elder brother to the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity. So I have now descended from Heaven." Then

1863-452: Is also used as a suffix -sha or sometimes -ja ( 社 ) , as in Shinmei-sha or Tenjin-ja , indicates a minor shrine that has received through the kanjō process a kami from a more important one. A mori ( 杜 ) is a place where a kami is present. It can therefore be a shrine and, in fact, the characters 神社, 社 and 杜 can all be read "mori" ("grove"). This reading reflects the fact

1944-423: Is an operation called kanjō , a propagation process through which a kami is invited to a new location and there re-enshrined. The new shrine is administered completely independent from the one it originated from. However, other transfer mechanisms exist. In Ise Grand Shrine's case, for example, its network of Shinmei shrines (from Shinmei, 神明; another name for Amaterasu) grew due to two concurrent causes. During

2025-497: Is believed to serve the mountain on which it stands—images or objects are therefore unnecessary. For the same reason, it has a worship hall, a haiden ( 拝殿 ) , but no place to house the kami , called shinden ( 神殿 ) . Archeology confirms that, during the Yayoi period, the most common shintai ( 神体 ) (a yorishiro actually housing the enshrined kami ) in the earliest shrines were nearby mountain peaks that supplied stream water to

2106-507: Is its best extant example. In Shinto it has played a particularly significant role in preserving ancient architectural styles. Izumo Taisha , Sumiyoshi Taisha , and Nishina Shinmei Shrine each represent a different style whose origin is believed to predate Buddhism in Japan. These three styles are known respectively as taisha-zukuri , sumiyoshi-zukuri , and shinmei-zukuri . Shrines show various influences, particularly that of Buddhism,

2187-550: Is the Tōshō-gū shrines erected to enshrine Tokugawa Ieyasu , or the many shrines dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane , like Kitano Tenman-gū . Often the shrines which were most significant historically do not lie in a former center of power like Kyoto , Nara , or Kamakura . For example, Ise Grand Shrine , the Imperial household 's family shrine, is in Mie prefecture . Izumo-taisha , one of

2268-599: Is the Ontō Mishaguji Sōsha (御頭御社宮司総社) in Chino, situated within the grounds of the Moriya family estate. Before the Meiji period , the Moriya ( 守矢氏 ) served in the Upper Suwa Shrine as priests known as Kan-no-Osa (神長) or Jinchōkan (神長官). The Jinchōkan was second only to the Ōhōri (大祝), the shrine's high priest revered both as the descendant and the living vessel or shintai of the shrine's deity, Takeminakata, and

2349-476: Is the kunyomi of -gū ( 宮 ) and indicates a shrine enshrining a special kami or a member of the Imperial household like the Empress, but there are many examples in which it is used simply as a tradition. During the period of state regulation, many -miya names were changed to jinja . A taisha ( 大社 ) (the characters are also read ōyashiro ) is literally a "great shrine" that was classified as such under

2430-502: Is uncertain. During the early modern period when the Mishaguji were conflated with the divine children ( mikogami ) of Takeminakata, the god of the Upper Suwa Shrine, the name was explained as being derived from the term sakuchi (闢地, lit. 'to open up / develop the land'), which in turn was connected with legends that credit Takeminakata's offspring with forming and developing the land of Shinano . The name has also been interpreted as deriving from shakujin / ishigami (石神 'stone deity'),

2511-465: Is used to physically protect the shintai and to hide it from sight. Often the opening of a new shrine will require the ritual division of a kami and the transferring of one of the two resulting spirits to the new location, where it will animate the shintai . This process is called kanjō , and the divided spirits bunrei ( 分霊 , literally: "divided spirit") , go-bunrei ( 御分霊 ) , or wakemitama ( 分霊 ) . This process of propagation, described by

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2592-632: The mizuchi river-dragon. Benedict originally proposed woröti "large snake" was suffixed from Proto-Austro-Japanese * (w)oröt-i acquired from Austronesian * [q]uḷəj , "snake; worm"; which he later modified to * (u-)orot-i from * [q,ʔ]oḷəj . Miller criticized Benedict for overlooking Old Japanese "[[[wiktionary:尾ろ|worö]]] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help ) 'tail' + suffix -ti – as well as an obvious Tungus etymology, [Proto-Tungus] * xürgü-či , 'the tailed one'", and notes "this apparently well-traveled orochi has now turned up in

2673-597: The Engi-shiki (延喜式, literally: "Procedures of the Engi Era") was promulgated in fifty volumes. This, the first formal codification of Shinto rites and Norito (liturgies and prayers) to survive, became the basis for all subsequent Shinto liturgical practice and efforts. In addition to the first ten volumes of this fifty volume work, which concerned worship and the Department of Worship , sections in subsequent volumes addressing

2754-698: The Japanese Middle Ages , shrines started being called with the name gongen ( 権現 ) , a term of Buddhist origin. For example, in Eastern Japan there are still many Hakusan shrines where the shrine itself is called gongen . Because it represents the application of Buddhist terminology to Shinto kami , its use was legally abolished by the Meiji government with the Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order ( 神仏判然令 , Shin-butsu Hanzenrei ) , and shrines began to be called jinja . Ancestors are kami to be worshipped. Yayoi period village councils sought

2835-613: The Kami and Buddhas Separation Order ( 神仏判然令 , Shinbutsu Hanzenrei ) . This event triggered the haibutsu kishaku , a violent anti-Buddhist movement which in the final years of the Tokugawa shogunate and during the Meiji Restoration caused the forcible closure of thousands of Buddhist temples, the confiscation of their land, the forced return to lay life of monks, and the destruction of books, statues and other Buddhist property. Until

2916-470: The Kantō and Chūbu regions of Japan. Shrines enshrining these gods are found in places such as Shizuoka (233 shrines), Aichi (229 shrines), Yamanashi (160 shrines), Mie (140 shrines) and Gifu (116 shrines). On the other hand, such shrines are conspicuously absent in the two prefectures of Niigata and Toyama , located to the north of Nagano. The head shrine of the local Mishaguji shrine network in Suwa

2997-458: The Man'yōshū . Sha ( 社 ) itself was not an initially secular term. In Chinese it alone historically could refer to Tudigong , or soil gods, a kind of tutelary deity seen as subordinate to City Gods . Such deities are also often called ( 社神 ; shèshén ), or the same characters in the reverse order. Its Kunyomi reading Yashiro ( 社 ) is a generic term for shinto shrine like jinja . It

3078-536: The Ministry of Ceremonies (治部省) and the Ministry of the Imperial Household (宮内省) regulated Shinto worship and contained liturgical rites and regulation. In 1970, Felicia Gressitt Brock published a two-volume annotated English language translation of the first ten volumes with an introduction entitled Engi-shiki; procedures of the Engi Era . The arrival of Buddhism in Japan in around the sixth century introduced

3159-515: The "twenty Mishaguji of the Maemiya" (前宮廿ノ御社宮神). Mishaguji are believed to be spirits that dwell in rocks, trees, or bamboo leaves, as well as various man-made objects such as phallic stone rods ( 石棒 sekibō ), grinding slabs (石皿 ishizara ) or mortars (石臼 ishiusu ). In addition to the above, Mishaguji are also thought to descend upon straw effigies as well as possess human beings, especially during religious rituals. This concept of Mishaguji as

3240-519: The 'Daijōkan' banned the application of Buddhist terminology such as gongen to Japanese kami and the veneration of Buddhist statues in shrines. The third stage consisted of the prohibition against applying the Buddhist term Daibosatsu (Great Bodhisattva ) to the syncretic kami Hachiman at the Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū and Usa Hachiman-gū shrines. In the fourth and final stage, all

3321-677: The 720 AD Nihon Shoki writes it as 八岐大蛇 . In both versions of the Orochi myth, the Shinto storm god Susanoo (or "Susa-no-O") is expelled from Heaven for tricking his sister Amaterasu , the sun goddess. After expulsion from Heaven, Susanoo encounters two "Earthly Deities" ( 國神 , kunitsukami ) near the head of the Hi River ( 簸川 ) , now called the Hii River ( 斐伊川 ) , in Izumo Province . They are weeping because they were forced to give

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3402-485: The Deities Foot-Stroking-Elder and Hand-Stroking-Elder said: "If that be so, with reverence will we offer [her to thee]." So His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness, at once taking and changing the young girl into a multitudinous and close-toothed comb which he stuck into his august hair-bunch, said to the Deities Foot-Stroking-Elder and Hand-Stroking-Elder: "Do you distill some eight-fold refined liquor. Also make

3483-475: The Japanese words for "mountain" and "forest", which can also mean "shrine". Many shrines have on their grounds one of the original great yorishiro : a big tree, surrounded by a sacred rope called shimenawa ( 標縄・注連縄・七五三縄 ) . The first buildings at places dedicated to worship were hut-like structures built to house some yorishiro . A trace of this origin can be found in the term hokura ( 神庫 ) , "deity storehouse", which evolved into hokora (written with

3564-402: The Mishaguji is a matter of debate. Medieval documents from the Upper Shrine seem to imply them to be lesser gods or spirits subordinate to the shrine's deity, Suwa Daimyōjin (a.k.a. Takeminakata), with post-medieval sources conflating them with Suwa Daimyōjin's children. The term 'Mishaguji' was often interpreted as an epithet of these gods during the early modern period. Outside of Suwa Shrine,

3645-626: The Mishaguji were also worshiped as, god(s) of boundaries and tutelary protectors ( ubusunagami ) of local communities. In this regard they are functionally similar to the guardian gods known as Dōsojin or Sai-no-kami . Upon becoming the focus of intense study during the modern period (especially during the postwar era), various theories as to the origins and original nature of Mishaguji worship and its relation to Suwa Shrine began to be put forward by local historians and other scholars. One theory, for instance, claims that they were originally deities of fertility or agriculture, another proposes that

3726-550: The Mishaguji were viewed as spirits that inhabited sacred rocks or trees, while yet another claims that 'Mishaguji' originally denoted an impersonal, empowering force in present in nature analogous to the Austronesian concept of mana . As phallic stone rods ( 石棒 sekibō ) dating from the Jōmon period and similar prehistoric artifacts are employed as cult objects ( shintai ) in some Mishaguji-related shrines in Suwa and other areas,

3807-421: The Orochi one of their daughters every year for seven years, and now they must sacrifice their eighth , Kushi-inada-hime ( 櫛名田比売 , "comb/wondrous rice-field princess") , who Susanoo transforms into a kushi ( 櫛 , "comb") for safekeeping. The Kojiki tells the following version: So, having been expelled, [His-Swift-impetuous-Male-Augustness] descended to a place [called] Tori-kami ( 鳥髪 , now 鳥上 ) at

3888-540: The advice of ancestors and other kami , and developed instruments, yorishiro ( 依り代 ) , to evoke them. Yoshishiro means "approach substitute" and were conceived to attract the kami to allow them physical space, thus making kami accessible to human beings. Village council sessions were held in quiet spots in the mountains or in forests near great trees or other natural objects that served as yorishiro . These sacred places and their yorishiro gradually evolved into today's shrines, whose origins can be still seen in

3969-553: The broadly similar concept of saikami (patrons of boundaries or borders). Within the Suwa region, syncretism with other myths has resulted in the representation of Mishaguji as snakes, as well as their connection with the story of Takeminakata-no-kami and Moreya-no-kami; Moreya-no-kami is said to represent the autochthonous worship of Mishaguji that syncretized with the worship of new gods represented by Takeminakata-no-kami. Shinto shrine A Shinto shrine ( 神社 , jinja , archaic: shinsha , meaning: "kami shrine")

4050-411: The clash between order and chaos. Often as these myths evolve from their source, the role of the storm god (often the head of a pantheon) is adopted by culture heroes or a personage symbolizing royalty. In many examples, the serpent god is often seen as multi-headed or multi-tailed. The fight of a hero, sometimes of extraordinary birth, against a dragon who demands the sacrifice of maidens or princesses

4131-430: The concept of a permanent shrine. A great number of Buddhist temples were built next to existing shrines in mixed complexes called jingū-ji ( 神宮寺 , literally: "shrine temple") to help priesthood deal with local kami , making those shrines permanent. Some time in their evolution, the word miya ( 宮 ) , meaning "palace", came into use indicating that shrines had by then become the imposing structures of today. Once

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4212-461: The defrocked bettō and shasō were told to become "shrine priests" ( kannushi ) and return to their shrines. Monks of the Nichiren sect were told not to refer to some deities as kami . After a short period in which it enjoyed popular favor, the process of separation of Buddhas and kami however stalled and is still only partially completed. To this day, almost all Buddhist temples in Japan have

4293-454: The eight-forked serpent of Koshi has come every year and devoured [one], and it is now its time to come, wherefore we weep." Then he asked him: "What is its form like?" [The old man] answered, saying: "Its eyes are like akakagachi , it has one body with eight heads and eight tails. Moreover on its body grows moss, and also chamaecyparis and cryptomerias . Its length extends over eight valleys and eight hills, and if one looks at its belly, it

4374-468: The eight-headed Yamata no Orochi and three-headed Trisiras above, are a common motif in comparative mythology . For instance, multi-headed dragons in Greek mythology include the 9-headed Lernaean Hydra and the 100-headed Ladon , both slain by Heracles . Two other Japanese examples derive from Buddhist importations of Indian dragon myths. Benzaiten , the Japanese form of Saraswati , supposedly killed

4455-607: The end of Edo period , local kami beliefs and Buddhism were intimately connected in what was called shinbutsu shūgō (神仏習合), up to the point where even the same buildings were used as both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. After the law, the two would be forcibly separated. This was done in several stages. At first an order issued by the Jingijimuka in April 1868 ordered the defrocking of shasō and bettō (shrine monks performing Buddhist rites at Shinto shrines). A few days later,

4536-495: The first permanent shrines were built, Shinto revealed a strong tendency to resist architectural change, a tendency which manifested itself in the so-called shikinen sengū-sai ( 式年遷宮祭 ) , the tradition of rebuilding shrines faithfully at regular intervals adhering strictly to their original design. This custom is the reason ancient styles have been replicated throughout the centuries to the present day, remaining more or less intact. Ise Grand Shrine , still rebuilt every 20 years,

4617-450: The first shrines were huts built to house some yorishiro . -gū ( 宮 ) indicates a shrine enshrining an imperial prince, but there are many examples in which it is used simply as a tradition. The word gū ( 宮 ) often found at the end of names of shrines such as Hachimangu , Tenmangū , or Jingu ( 神宮 ) comes from the Chinese ( 宮 ; gong ) meaning palace or a temple to

4698-402: The first shrines were simply sacred groves or forests where kami were present. Hokora / hokura ( 神庫 ) is an extremely small shrine of the kind one finds for example along country roads. The term Hokora ( 祠 ) , believed to have been one of the first Japanese words for Shinto shrine, evolved from hokura ( 神庫 ) , literally meaning "kami repository", a fact that seems to indicate that

4779-430: The first, and are still among the most important, shintai , and are worshiped at several famous shrines. A mountain believed to house a kami , as for example Mount Fuji or Mount Miwa , is called a shintai-zan ( 神体山 ) . In the case of a man-made shintai , a kami must be invited to reside in it. The founding of a new shrine requires the presence of either a pre-existing, naturally occurring shintai (for example

4860-411: The harvest , as well as healers of diseases like the common cold or pertussis . Mishaguji have been worshipped as tutelary deities of whole villages (産土神 ubusuna-gami ) as well as specific kinship groups (祝神 iwai-gami ). Further reflecting this relationship between Mishaguji and local communities is their being believed to preside over the act of founding villages as well as their being associated with

4941-507: The head-waters of the River Hi in the Land of Idzumo. At this time some chopsticks came floating down the stream. So His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness, thinking that there must be people at the head-waters of the river, went up it in quest of them, when he came upon an old man and an old woman, – two of them, – who had a young girl between them, and were weeping. Then he deigned to ask: "Who are ye?" So

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5022-453: The hereditary succession continues to present day. The Unicode character representing a Shinto shrine (for example, on maps ) is U+26E9 ⛩ SHINTO SHRINE . Jinja ( 神社 ) is the most general name for shrine. Any place that owns a honden ( 本殿 ) is a jinja . These two characters used to be read either "kamu-tsu-yashiro" or "mori" in kunyomi , both meaning "kami grove". Both readings can be found for example in

5103-576: The late Heian period the cult of Amaterasu , worshiped initially only at Ise Grand Shrine, started to spread to the shrine's possessions through the usual kanjō mechanism. Yamata no Orochi#Etymology Yamata no Orochi ( ヤマタノオロチ , also 八岐大蛇 , 八俣遠呂智 or 八俣遠呂知 ) , or simply Orochi ( 大蛇 ) , is a legendary eight-headed and eight-tailed Japanese dragon / serpent . Yamata no Orochi legends are originally recorded in two ancient texts about Japanese mythology and history. The 712 AD Kojiki transcribes this dragon name as 八岐遠呂智 and

5184-425: The liquor. Thereupon it was intoxicated with drinking, and all [the heads] lay down and slept. Then His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness drew the ten-grasp saber, that was augustly girded on him, and cut the serpent in pieces, so that the River Hi flowed on changed into a river of blood. So when he cut the middle tail, the edge of his august sword broke. Then, thinking it strange, he thrust into and split [the flesh] with

5265-636: The name 'Mishaguji' exist such as 'Mishaguchi', 'Misaguchi', 'Misaguji', 'Mishakuji', 'Misakuji(n)', or 'Omishaguji'. There are also various ways of rendering the name in kanji such as 御左口神, 御作神, 御社宮神, or 御社宮司, with 御左口神 being the commonly used form in medieval documents penned by the Suwa Shrine priesthood. Outside Suwa, deities thought to be related to the Mishaguji with names such as '(O)shaguji', '(O)shagoji', '(O)sangūji', 'Sa(n)goji', 'Saguji', 'Shagottsan', 'Shagottan', 'Jogu-san', 'Osangū-san', 'Oshamotsu- sama ', or ' Oshamoji -sama' - with different ways of writing them in kanji - are found. The name's etymology

5346-459: The number 8 is "stereotypical" in legends about kings or gods riding dragons or having their carriages drawn by them. The slaying of the dragon is said to be similar to the legends of Cambodia, India, Persia, Western Asia, East Africa and the Mediterranean area. Smith identifies the mythic seven- or eight-headed dragons with the seven-spiked Pteria shell or eight-tentacled octopus. The myth of

5427-556: The number of shrines at 79,467, mostly affiliated with the Association of Shinto Shrines ( 神社本庁 ) . Some shrines, such as the Yasukuni Shrine , are totally independent of any outside authority. The number of Shinto shrines in Japan is estimated to be around 100,000. Since ancient times, the Shake (社家) families dominated Shinto shrines through hereditary positions, and at some shrines

5508-475: The old man replied, saying: "I am an Earthly Deity, child of the Deity Great-Mountain-Possessor. I am called by the name of Foot-Stroking-Elder, my wife is called by the name of Hand-Stroking Elder, and my daughter is called by the name of Wondrous-Inada-Princess." Again he asked: What is the cause of your crying?" [The old man answered] saying: "I originally had eight young girls as daughters. But

5589-537: The old system of shrine ranking, the shakaku ( 社格 ) , abolished in 1946. Many shrines carrying that shōgō adopted it only after the war. Chinjusha ( 鎮守社•鎮社 , or tutelary shrine ) comes from Chinju written as 鎮守 or sometimes just 鎮. meaning Guardian, and Sha ( 社 ) Setsumatsusha ( 摂末社 ) is a combination of two words Sessha ( 摂社 , auxiliary shrine ) and massha ( 末社 , undershrine ) . They are also called eda-miya ( 枝宮 , branch shrines ) which contains Miya ( 宮 ) During

5670-480: The oldest and most revered shrines in Japan, is in Shimane Prefecture . This is because their location is that of a traditionally important kami , and not that of temporal institutions. Some shrines exist only in one locality, while others are at the head of a network of branch shrines ( 分社 , bunsha ) . The spreading of a kami can be evoked by one or more of several different mechanisms. The typical one

5751-458: The palanquins which are carried on poles during festivals ( matsuri ), also enshrine kami and are therefore considered shrines. In 927 CE , the Engi-shiki ( 延喜式 , literally: "Procedures of the Engi Era") was promulgated. This work listed all of the 2,861 Shinto shrines existing at the time, and the 3,131 official-recognized and enshrined kami . In 1972, the Agency for Cultural Affairs placed

5832-456: The plains where people lived. Besides Ōmiwa Shrine, another important example is Mount Nantai , a phallus -shaped mountain in Nikko which constitutes Futarasan Shrine 's shintai . The name Nantai ( 男体 ) means "man's body". The mountain provides water to the rice paddies below and has the shape of the phallic stone rods found in pre-agricultural Jōmon sites. The first known Shinto shrine

5913-544: The point of his august sword and looked, and there was a great sword [within]. So he took this great sword, and, thinking it a strange thing, he respectfully informed the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity. This is the Herb-Quelling Great Sword. The Nihongi also describes Yamata no Orochi: "It had an eight-forked head and an eight-forked tail; its eyes were red, like the winter-cherry; and on its back firs and cypresses were growing. As it crawled it extended over

5994-506: The priests, in spite of this name, not as a division but as akin to the lighting of a candle from another already lit, leaves the original kami intact in its original place and therefore does not alter any of its properties. The resulting spirit has all the qualities of the original and is therefore "alive" and permanent. The process is used often—for example during Shinto festivals ( matsuri ) to animate temporary shrines called mikoshi . The transfer does not necessarily take place from

6075-480: The same characters 神庫) and is considered to be one of the first words for shrine. True shrines arose with the beginning of agriculture, when the need arose to attract kami to ensure good harvests. These were, however, just temporary structures built for a particular purpose, a tradition of which traces can be found in some rituals. Hints of the first shrines can still be found. Ōmiwa Shrine in Nara , for example, contains no sacred images or objects because it

6156-571: The soil or the female womb. Research conducted by local historian Imai Nogiku in the 1950s revealed a total of 780 shrines to the Mishaguji (or similarly-named deities) within Nagano Prefecture, 109 of which are in the Suwa area (comprising the modern municipalities of Chino , Suwa , Okaya , Shimosuwa , Fujimi , and Hara ). As noted above, worship of possibly related kami with names such as 'S(h)aguji' or 'S(h)agoji' are also attested in neighboring areas, being notably widespread throughout

6237-409: The speculation of the [Indo-European] folklorists." Littleton's hypothesis involves the 3-headed monster Trisiras or Viśvarūpa, which has a mythological parallel because Indra killed it after giving it soma , wine, and food, but lacks a phonological connection. Polycephalic or multi-headed animals are rare in biology, but commonly feature in mythology and heraldry . Multi-headed dragons, like

6318-561: The tail of Yamata no Orochi, along with the Yata no Kagami mirror and Yasakani no Magatama jewel, became the three sacred Imperial Regalia of Japan . The Japanese name orochi ( 大蛇 ) derives from Old Japanese woröti with a regular o- from wo- shift, but its etymology is enigmatic. Besides this ancient orochi reading, the kanji , 大蛇 , are commonly pronounced daija , "big snake; large serpent". Carr notes that Japanese scholars have proposed "more than

6399-535: Was abolished in 1871, but many shake families still continue hereditary succession until present day and some were appointed hereditary nobility ( Kazoku ) after the Meiji Restoration . Some of the most well-known shake families include: Those worshiped at a shrine are generally Shinto kami , but sometimes they can be Buddhist or Taoist deities, as well as others not generally considered to belong to Shinto. Some shrines were established to worship living people or figures from myths and legends . An example

6480-508: Was built in roughly 478. In 905 CE, Emperor Daigo ordered a compilation of Shinto rites and rules. Previous attempts at codification are known to have taken place, but, neither the Konin nor the Jogan Gishiki survive. Initially under the direction of Fujiwara no Tokihira , the project stalled at his death in April 909. Fujiwara no Tadahira , his brother, took charge and in 912 and in 927

6561-464: Was responsible for conducting the shrine's religious ceremonies. Summoning and dismissing the Mishaguji in rituals was held to be the prerogative of this priest. However, local historians believe that the Maemiya (前宮), one of the Upper Shrine's two sub-shrines and one of the four sites that comprise the Suwa Grand Shrine complex, was the original center of local Mishaguji worship, known as the 'Great Mishaguji' (大御社宮神 Ō-Mishaguji ). Medieval records refer to

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