Isonokami-jingū
The Isonokami-jingū ( Japanese. 石 上 神宮 ) is a Shinto shrine in the city of Tenri in Nara Prefecture in Japan .
The Isonokami-jingū is located on the 20 km long Yamanobe-no-michi , which used to be the oldest national main road in Japan and is now a hiking trail. The shrine is mentioned in a poem in Man'yōshū , the oldest Japanese collection of poems. He also owns Japan's oldest prayer hall.
The main object of worship at the shrine is the sword Futsu-no-mitama (-no-tsurugi), the shrine's kami . According to some Shinto theologians, this is the mitama of Japan. According to legend, it is the sword with which Susanoo slew the dragon Yamata-no-orochi and which Take-mika-dzuchi sent to Jimmu on the Kumano in order to subdue Japan. From Sujin- tennō it is said to be in the year 93 BC. u. Z. have been stored in the shrine after it had previously been in the imperial palace. The mitama of the sword-kami itself has its own sessha on the site.
In honden the intended Tenson-hongi the Kojiki According to the ten treasures (the Tokusa-no-kandakara are in the Kojiki), the Amaterasu to have given Kushi-dama-nigi-haya-hi-no-mikoto once in order about Yamato to rule. Nigi-haya-hi then gave them to his son, Umashi-maji-no-mikoto, who in turn gave them to Jimmu-tennō, which is said to have finally found their place in the shrine. Whether the ten treasures actually exist or are just symbols is a matter of dispute. The Buddhist monk Kūkai is said to have seen it once.
Inside the shrine there are a large number of weapons, a particularly famous relic is the Nanatsusaya-no-tachi , a seven- edged sword from 369 . According to tradition, 1,000 swords are also stored (in Kojiki cross swords, tachi ; in Nihonshoki Kahakami-tomo or Aka-hadaka-tomo , Karl Florenz translates as " stark naked group", which should indicate that the swords had no scabbards) as Gift from Suinin- tennō.
The heathen of Isonokami-jingū is a gift from Shirakawa -tennō, who has also been venerated as a kami in the shrine for some time.
Originally the Mononobe , a noble family of the Yamato period , held the patronage of the shrine.
Since the Meiji Restoration , the priesthood at the shrine is no longer hereditary.
In the shrine, the practice of a special spiritual practice ( tama-furi ) called furube-no-kamu-waza is taught, which consists largely of breathing techniques, prayers and certain movements. The cleansing kami I-buki-do-nushi-no-kami, who is said to have healing powers , supposedly goes to the believers who perform the tama-furi correctly.
Web links
- Information offered by Isonokami-jungū - Japanese
- Information offered by the city of Tenri - Japanese
Coordinates: 34 ° 35 ′ 53 ″ N , 135 ° 51 ′ 7 ″ E