The burial mound of Emperor Ichijo on the hill above Ryoan-ji
Kyoto’s Ryoan-ji houses the most famous rock garden in the world. Sadly the World Heritage site is closed at present, because of the Coronavirus crisis. Not many people know, however, that on the hillside behind it called Shuyama are woods containing seven imperial burial mounds.
The present emperor’s father, who stepped down last year, is considered the 150th of his lineage. There is a grave at Kashihara Jingu for the first of the imperial line, but not for other early emperors who are generally considered to be fictitious. An official listing of emperors’ graves begins with no. 26 and includes the most famous of them all – the enormous World Heritage mound at Sakai in Osaka known as the Daisen Kofun and erroneously claimed as Emperor Nintoku’s burial place.
Unsurprisingly, a great many of the emperors’ graves are located in and around Kyoto, imperial capital for over 1000 years. The city’s first and last emperors, Kammu and Meiji (born and raised in Gosho), are buried not far from each other in the south-east of the city. And at nearby Sennyu-ji nearly all the emperors who died in the Edo Period are buried in the Tsukinowa Cemetery.
Two of a row of three emperors’ graves containing Go-Reizen, Go-Sanjo and Go-Shujaku
Aristocrats in Heian times were known as ‘cloud-dwellers’, since they were thought to be so august as to live on a higher plane, far above normal humans. A consequence of this was that like divine beings they were not referred to directly by name, but were often called after the place where they lived. Hence in The Tale of Genji one of the most famous females is known as Lady Roku-jo, named after the street where she lived.
Similarly the emperors buried on the Shuyama hill above Ryoan-ji have street names familiar to anyone who resides in Kyoto – Emperor Horikawa (1079-1107), Emperor Sanjo (976-1017), and Emperor Ichijo (980-1011).
One interesting oddity of the Ryoan-ji graves is that the mounds have torii in front of them except for one – that at the top. Moreover, it is not referred to as goryo (burial mound) but as a tsuka. It seems that in contrast to a burial mound, tsuka is not an emperor’s grave but contains remains that can’t be identified or an imperial family member of lesser status. In this case a notice board indicated that the site is where cremation of an emperor took place and his remains buried elsewhere.
The tsuka site of a cremation, hence no torii
Over the course of centuries there have been changes in the preference for burial or cremation. Early emperors from no. 26 to no. 40 were buried, with the first to be cremated being Empress Jito (d.703).
For a long period of time practice alternated between burial and cremation, with nos. 63 to 73 being cremated and nos.108 to 124 being buried. The sole exception was no. 81, death in water, grave unknown. This was the tragic child-emperor Antoku, who was drowned aged five at the end of the Genpei War (1180-1185) between the Heike and the Genji.
In the Edo Period the custom was for emperors to be buried at the Tsukinowa Cemetery in Kyoto, and this continued up to present times. However, Emperor Akihito, who resigned last year, has declared a wish to be cremated. This is in keeping with the general postwar tendency in Japan to change from burial to cremation. As a result, it’s said that today an astonishing 99.94% of Japanese are cremated.
Return to nature – ancestral spirits in an animist setting
Water basin at the entrance to Shuyama housing the imperial mounds. Simple. natural and aesthetically pleasing – very much in the Japanese tradition.
The precincts at Shirakumo are smaller than the other two Gosho shrines, giving a feeling of compactness and intimacy.
Shirakumo Shrine in Gosho, like the nearby Itsukushima Shrine, is linked with Benzaiten (also known as Benten). The reason, however, is different. Whereas Itsukushima Shrine stands on a small island, Benten being associated with water, Shirakumo Shrine is linked with the musical instrument she plays – the biwa.
The shrine stands on the site of the former Saionji residence, and the Saionji family were head of the Biwa School of music. The form of the deity worshipped is Ichikishima-hime-no-mikoto, a manifestation of Benten that was invited from Chikubushima Island in Lake Biwa (so named because the lake resembles the shape of the instrument).
Benzaiten playing a biwa
The shrine has a long and complicated history. It originated in ancient times as a Buddhist temple dedicated to a manifestation of Benten known as Myo-Onten, or Myo-On Benzaiten. One of her worshippers was Fujiwara no Moronaga, described in The Tale of the Heike as a distinguished biwa player.
In 1224 the temple was situated where the Golden Pavilion now stands. Thereafter it suffered various mishaps before being moved in 1769 to its present position, within the grounds of the Saionji residence. After the Saionji family moved to Tokyo following the Meiji Restoration, the temple was re-dedicated as a shrine in accord with the law about the separation of Shinto and Buddhism.
In place of the syncretic Benzaiten, the newly enshrined deity was pure Shinto and the shrine took its name from Shirakumo village (I’ve been unable as yet to find the location or the connection). According to a noticeboard at the shrine it was here that Saionji Kinmochi, prime minister and friend of Emperor Meiji, founded a private academy in 1869 that became Ritsumeikan University.
Shirakumo means ‘white clouds’, and clouds in the Daoist tradition are symbols of good luck, which is why they are often seen in Chinese architecture and paintings. Because they fuse elements of water and air, as well as mediating between sky and earth, they were considered auspicious as yin and yang symbols. In addition, the Chinese reading of the kanji (‘un‘) is a homonym for ‘luck or fortune’, and white as the colour of purity is much favoured in Shinto – white snakes, white horses, white shide strips. The name of the shrine thus has potent significance.
Sacred rock with healing power
Clouds might also be considered appropriate for a water goddess, and the shrine’s water reputedly has healing properties. This is augmented by a sacred rock with curative power that stands behind the Honden (Sanctuary). As elsewhere in Shinto, the idea is to rub the rock to absorb the energy, then to rub the part of the body that one wants to be improved or healed.
Shirakumo presides over five divine benefits: * Music – musical ability, the arts, creativity * Water – life, fire prevention, disaster prevention * Knowledge – wisdom, scholarship, eloquence * Wealth – riches, prosperity, victory * Luck – good luck, health, long life
The shrine’s prized possession, not on display, is a seated image of Myo-On-Benzaiten, possibly dating back to Heian times. In 2012 it was designated an Important Cultural Property – the only Shinto statue of a deity to be so honoured.
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This is the final posting in a four-part series about the three shrines of Gosho (Former Imperial Palace and Park in Kyoto). For Part One click here, Part Two here, and Part Three here.
One of the shrine’s large ema shows a scene from the Boshin War. Needless to say which side the aristocratic shrine supported. One of the pair of guardian komainu has a most appealing snarl Topical outreach to a foreign audience, sadly at a time of no tourists in KyotoOblivious of the virus, Benzaiten serenely strums her biwa. (The two white mice refer to the year of the rat/mouse in the Chinese Zodiac. Benzaiten’s familiar is a white snake.)
The following piece concerns Shinto and Shugendo responses to the Corona crisis. It is extracted from a longer article by Levi McLaughlin entitled Japanese Religious Responses to Covid-19. (Photos from the original article.)
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Ritual expulsion of COVID-19 is widespread across Japan. On April 8, Shinto priests at Matatabisha, a branch shrine of the famed Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, performed a Gion goryōe, or “assembly at Gion for angry spirits,” specifically aimed at quelling malevolent powers for the quick elimination of coronavirus.
Rites at Matatabisha Shrine in Kyoto
This ritual was, in a sense, business as usual for the shrine. An annual spring festival at Gion began in the year 869. The Gion Festival is a huge event that now attracts tens of thousands of participants from all over the world. Worship in the district, which comprised part of the capital Heian-kyō (now Kyoto), still centers on reverence for “disease divinities” (ekijin), which are understood to cause pestilence, earthquakes, and other disasters.
The spectacular annual Gion festival—sadly, and perhaps ironically, canceled for 2020—began as one of many rituals to quell powerful personages that manifested as goryō, spirits of deceased members of the ruling class whose anger at political events was credited as the cause of epidemi
Shinto priests informed me that Jinja Honchō, the Association for Shinto Shrines that oversees 80,000 ritual sites, has sent their clergy newly-composed norito (prayers to the kami) that include wording aimed at ridding Japan of COVID-19. The priests have been enjoined by their Association to perform these prayers daily.
Across Japan, Shinto shrines are highlighting their historical contributions as providers of solace and healing from epidemics. In western Tokyo, for example, Seta Tamagawa Shrine priest Takahashi Tomoaki has turned public attention to the role his shrine has played in invoking the power of Japan’s deities to counter epidemics.
In a series of guest blog posts for a website that serves his neighborhood, Takahashi guides readers on a virtual pilgrimage to Kasamori Inari Jinja, one of several branch shrines that lie within the territory consecrated for Seta Tamagawa; worship at the small outdoor facility does not require the presence of a priest, and social distancing residents can walk over there to pray.29
Kasamori Inari Jinja, disease protector in Futago Tamagawa, western Tokyo
This branch shrine was founded in the Tokugawa era (1603-1867), when it was sited near the fifty-third station of the Tōkaidō, the highway that ran from Edo (now Tokyo) to the historic capital Kyoto. Tradesmen, pilgrims, and other travelers would avail themselves of the worldly pleasures that awaited them at the stop, thus necessitating a specific deity for the treatment of kasa, skin lesions resulting from syphilis. The shrine’s syphilis-relieving deity has since been patronized during epidemics of all sorts, and it now hosts an annual festival every April 15—sadly, like the Gion festival, canceled in 2020 thanks to understanding of viral contagion.
Reverend Takahashi is an experienced disaster responder. He oversees Seta Tamagawa in Tokyo, but his birth family’s shrine is in a region of coastal Iwate prefecture that was devastated by the 11 March 2011 tsunami. Takahashi’s family shrine and home housed hundreds of refugees for months after the disaster, an experience that inspired him to found dynamic reconstruction efforts, including an NGO that combines reverence for the kami of land and sea with expertise from participating scientists to encourage large-scale replacement of old growth forests in the devastated region.
For Takahashi, responding to COVID-19 is contiguous with other revitalization efforts. The current crisis calls for pragmatic use of the most effective means to generate care for people and tradition. It demands cutting-edge scientific research in concert with cultivating public reverence for the kami.
Ritual Crises, Online Adaptations, and Technical Difficulties Innovation in the face of emergency is nothing new for Japanese religions. However, online access now allows practitioners unprecedented chances to innovate across physical divides. Striking examples of this can be found in Shugendō, a combinatory mountain asceticism tradition that maintains institutional bonds with Shingon Buddhism and includes kami worship, challenging bodily austerities, secret teachings and initiations, and other distinctive elements for worship at remote mountain sites.
Major Shugendō affiliate temples have been responding to the pandemic in ancient ways. For example, the Shingon temple Daigoji in Kyoto on April 15 dedicated the centerpiece of its three-week-long sakurae (cherry blossom assembly), a goma kuyō (fire pūjā) and performance of kyōgen (comic ritual plays), to eliminating the disease.
Another goma kuyō was performed at noon daily at the Shugendō-affiliate temple Kinpusenji in Nara’s Yoshino district to drive away the virus. On March 6, fifty shugenja (Shugendō renunciants) gathered at a daikitōe, a “great prayer assembly,” a goma kuyō put on jointly by Kinpusenji and the temple Ōminesanji. This was the first ritual collaboration between these sites since they were separated in the Meiji era (1868-1912). The event was broadcast over social media and received hundreds of supportive messages.33
The Daikitoe (great prayer assembly) held at Kinpunsen-ji to expunge COVID-19
Shugendō followers who have been going online are confronting a particular COVID-19 challenge: how can a pilgrimage tradition persist if practitioners must stay home? Caleb Carter, Assistant Professor of Japanese Religions at Kyushu University who is a Shugendō expert, kindly shared a write-up of his engagement with a ritual led online in early April by a pilgrimage leader:
The service was organized by a Shugendō priest (ordained through the Yoshino lineage) who leads a confraternity (kō) he established some years ago. He’s very charismatic and personable. He and most of the members are based in the Tokyo area. Their main activity is to meet monthly in the city and play the horagai (conch shell trumpet) together in a ritual/prayer/training atmosphere. They also regularly go to mountains together on trips he organizes and charges a fee for, where they circuit the temples and shrines, pray to the deities, and play the horagai.
He communicates with the group through a Facebook group he set up (about 100 members). Under the current circumstances, he decided to begin 90-minute services over Zoom with members in their homes. There were eight of us, including him and me. In front of an altar of Tibetan thangka (paintings of sacred images) and other Buddhist objects in his friend’s home, he led prayers to end the virus, chanted the Heart Sutra, performed mudra (esoteric hand gestures), chanted a number of mantra devoted to various Shugendō and Buddhist divinities, and played the horagai.
He then led us in some light self-massage techniques and an Indian-based chakra dhyāna (meditation focused on the seven chakras). We finished with responses from each member. Despite a few technical hiccups, I thought it went smoothly and successfully. Everyone’s reactions were very positive. I think it was effective in bringing the group together for a sense of community, sharing how everyone is coping and advice on how to stay well, mentally and physically. He plans to continue with these services, twice a month. I think he also hopes attendance will pick up over time.
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For more about the Gion Festival, please click here or here or here.
Gosho’s Itsukushima Shrine stands on a small island surrounded by a pond. To the left is a teahouse, pictured below.
There’s an attractive pond area in the south-west of the Gosho park which contains a shrine for Benzaiten (or Benten for short). It’s named after the famous Itsukushima Shrine near Hiroshima, and was once part of a residential estate belonging to the prestigious Kujo family, one of the five regent houses close to the emperor whose members served as chief advisors. One of the family’s females became wife to Emperor Taisho.
Towards the end of the Edo Era the Tokugawa shogunate yielded to the demands of the USA to open up the country, though the imperial side led by Emperor Komei were strongly opposed. This led to fierce debate about whether or not to sign the Harris Treaty, and negotiations were held here in 1858 at the Kujo residence (Kujo Hisatada was Emperor Komei’s chief advisor).
Today all that remains of the estate is the pond with a Tea Ceremony House and a Benten shrine that served as guardian for the Kujo family. It’s said that the island on which the shrine stands was shaped to resemble that of Itsukushima.
The small shrine bears one striking feature – an unusually shaped torii. The karahafu curve is often seen in shrine architecture, but not in torii. A noticeboard states that it was first built by Taira Kiyomori at the end of the Heian Period, and that it was relocated on more than one occasion, eventually being placed here in Edo times.
Torii in karahafu style, The torii is the distinguishing feature of the small Itsukushima Jinja
Associated with water and the subconscious, Benzaiten is patron of the arts and creativity. With origins in India, she is served by a white snake and is the only female aboard the Treasure Boat carrying the Seven Lucky Deities. (Click here to read more about them, and about Benten herself.)
Unlike other Shinto deities, the syncretic and foreign origins of Ben(zai)ten means that she is often portrayed in paintings and statues. (Until the arrival of Buddhism, kami were considered to be unseen spirits and consequently there could exist no representations.) No doubt her status as muse of the arts is conducive too, and the shrine’s ema portrays the goddess with auspicious symbols and in creative mode as the patron saint of music.
Benten as a deity of music, whose favoured instrument is the biwaPond, shrine (and heron)Modern representation of Benten, with characteristic water, biwa and white snakes as her spiritual envoy. An Indian touch too, suggestive of her origins as Saraswati.
Please note the second item concerns a Supporter Club Name Survey which is closing in 3 days, so please take action immediately if you can.
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!!!WE ARE CHANGING OUR NAME!!!
Our new name will be
SHINTO SHRINE OF SHUSSE INARI IN AMERICA.
Spring has come and a fresh start has begun! This spring, we at Shusse Inari Shrine of America will be changing our name to Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America.
Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
We have seen an increase in the number of people interested in Shinto since we opened our US branch in 2017. Our new name will make us easier to find for people who have an interest in Shinto.
This spring, we will begin raising funds to bring the first Shinto Shrine to the Los Angeles area since World War II. Initially, we are planning to have a pop-up/mobile Shinto Shrine so we can visit your area, and you can experience Japanese culture and show your appreciation and pay your respects to the nature spirits. Later, we will build a permanent Shinto Shrine where we can hold annual Omatsuri and various Gokitō services as well as wedding ceremonies and funeral services.
We will announce the fundraising program when it is ready. Stay tuned!
May the Nature Spirits be with you! Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America Rev. Izumi Hasegawa
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Supporter Club Name Survey
Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is planning to start a Supporter Club program to introduce Japanese culture, Shinto to a wide range of people and raise funds to bring the first Shinto Shrine to the Los Angeles area since World War II. Initially, we are planning to have a pop-up/mobile Shinto Shrine so we can visit your area, and you can experience Japanese culture, and show your appreciation and pay your respects to the nature spirits. Later, we will build a permanent Shinto Shrine where we can hold annual Omatsuri and various services as well as wedding ceremonies and funeral services.
The first assistance we would like to ask of our Supporter Club is for help in choosing its name:
Shinto Inari Shinto Club Shinto Inari Club Kitsune Club Inari Club Team Inari Team Kitsune
Everyone who completes the form and registers for our newsletter will have a chance to win a gift from the Shrine. We appreciate your support!
Earth Day celebrations on April 22 this year were sadly overshadowed by the Corona crisis. The news and social media were dominated by the virus, and ecological concerns were pushed aside.
However, one Shinto shrine that bucked the trend showed itself to be a progressive force in terms of environmental concerns – the Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America. It has featured before on Green Shinto, and we’re delighted to highlight the shrine here again. For Earth Day the Shusse Inari’s youtube channel carried a live recording of a special ceremony held for Mother Earth, together with publication of an entirely ‘green’ reading of what Shinto represents (see below).
Both thumbs up from Green Shinto for pioneering priestess Izumi Hasegawa, who has set up a branch shrine in Los Angeles of the shrine in Matsue run by her family for generations.
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Photo by Richard Fukuhara / Shadows For Peace
Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America
DEAR EARTH: Live stream of Shinto ceremony to Show Respect and Appreciation to mother nature on Earth DayLink —-> https://youtu.be/HdhALFB-EG4 Channel —> ShintoInari
Izumi Hasegawa writes: Shinto is a mindset and way of living with respect for nature, living things and our ancestors, and it has long been recognized as Japan’s cultural root. Unlike Buddhism, Christianity, or other religions, Shinto has no holy texts, and there is no individual founder. It is said that Shinto has been practiced for more than 2,000 years. One of the most important elements of Shinto is paying respect and seeking harmony between people and nature, among our families, communities, and the world. In today’s society, the need to strive for these goals has become more apparent than ever before. We hold various events introducing the traditional Japanese eco-conscious way of life so that future generations can enjoy nature as we do. Details about Shinto and these events can be found on our Newsletter, website, and social media. Please come and enjoy our events!! Passing along eco-conscious traditions to the next generation.
Stay safe and well! May the Nature Spirits be with you! Rev. Izumi Hasegawa Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America 当神社では、季節の行事や文化・伝統を紹介するイベントを開催しています。ご家族、お友達をお誘い合わせのうえ、ぜひ、ご参加ください!!詳細はNews Letter, ウェブサイト、SNSを参照ください。
Spirits of Good Fortune, Success, and Happiness Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America (Formerly: Shusse Inari Shrine of America) Passing along eco-conscious traditions to the next generation! www.ShintoInari.org Instagram @ShintoInari Facebook@ShintoInari Twitter@ShintoInari YouTube ShintoInari
Izumi Hasegawa before the Matsue Shusse Inari Shrine, run by her family for generations
The tree-lined approach Harmony of man and nature in the fortune slips and fading cherry blossom
The three Munakata deities, known also as the Munakata sisters, are associated with the head shrine dedicated to them near Fukuoka, which has been recognised as a World Heritage Site. As daughters of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, they are highly regarded in Shinto. They also have a prestigious role in presiding over roads and sea routes, recognised as guardians of transport and by extension industry and culture.
According to shrine legend, Munakata Jinja was founded in 795, a year after Heian-kyo was established by Emperor Kammu. It was he apparently who invited the deities to his new capital. At the time the imperial estate lay further west, aligned with Senbon dori, so one presumes the shrine was moved to Gosho when the imperial estate relocated to its present position.
Oddly the shrine boasts a Kyoto Tourism subshrine within its grounds, which may be unique. I wanted to ask about this, but the shrine office was shut. As the kami is Saruta-no-mikoto, who guided Ninigi no mikoto when he descended to earth, I presume it’s frequented by Kyoto guides.
Scion of a cherry tree that once stood in front of the emperor’s ceremonial hall
Nearby is the oldest tree in the whole of the National Park, a camphor thought to be 600 years old. Standing before it, you can’t help wondering at the changes it must have seen over its lifetime. Unsurprisingly it’s marked as a shinboku, or sacred tree. (In shamanic cultures, phenomena singled out by the gods have special features, such as longevity.)
The camphor is not the only tree of interest, for there is also an ancient cherry tree descended from one that stood in front of the Enthronement Hall (Shishinden) on the left side. (On the right stood a tachibana mandarin tree.)
A third tree of note is a lusterleaf holly with leaves that are said to have been used in India for writing Sanskrit sutras. The custom was transmitted to Japan through China, and this explains the reason why Japanese call postcards ‘hagaki‘ (leaf writing).
The lusterleaf holly (angelika) bearing the sort of leaf on which Sanskrit sutra were writtenRustic simplicity for a water basin in a nobleman’s shrine Scion of the cherry tree that used to stand in front of the Shishinden (Enthronement Hall) of the old Imperial Palace. The cherry stood on the left and a Tachibana (mandarin) on the right. Evidently cats feel very much at home here though notices say not to feed them.A stone marker for Kyoto Kanko Jinja, a subshrine for Kyoto Tourism. The kami is Saruta-no-mikoto, deity of guides. A notice board states the shrine was erected in 1968 by Kyoto citizens, and amongst the named sponsors are Miyako Hotel and the Ryokan Association. An approach to the Maiden added in 2016 is built in the style of a roji pathway leading to tearooms. Perhaps the priest enjoys the aesthetics of the tea ceremony. The Maiden intended for ritual performances for the kami houses an ‘objet trouvé’ in a piece of wood that from the side looks eerily like an inoshishi (wild boar) doing obeisance.Gosho’s oldest tree, a 600 year old camphor, nestled in a corner of the shrine precincts. Look carefully and you’ll see the paper ‘shide’ around its trunk, marking it as a sacred tree.
