Kashima-jingu

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Kashima-jingu
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The Kashima-jingū ( Japanese. 鹿島 神宮 ) is a Shinto shrine in the Japanese city of Kashima , Ibaraki Prefecture . It is one of the most famous shrines in the Kantō region.

Its exact age is not known. A legend goes back to the year 660 before Christ. The Hitachi no kuni fudoki from the 8th century, however, he emerged from the amalgamation of three shrines during the reign of Empress Shōtoku (r. 764-70).

The main deity of Kashima-jingū, Takemikazuchi (see below), is also mentioned in the oldest myths and, as the ancestral deity of the mighty Fujiwara, was of particular relevance for the Kami cult at the ancient Tennō court . That is why the Kashima shrine bears the title “Palace of the Gods” ( 神宮 , jingū ) and also belongs to the Chokusaisha , shrines that receive gifts at regular intervals (here: six years) from an emissary of the Tennō. It was originally - like the other palaces of the gods Ise and Katori-jingū - up until the 15th century it was demolished and rebuilt every 20 years (see shikinen sengū ).

The shrine is particularly popular for harai and misogi exercises that can be done there. a. be practiced at the sacred pond Mitarashi (or Ō-te-barai ).

Kami

According to the Hitachi no kuni fudoki (713–721) describing local customs and traditions, the main deity was Kashima-no-ama-no-ōkami ( 香 島 天 之 大 神 ). Kojiki (712) and Nihonshoki (720) who represent the official imperial perspective, however, name Takemikazuchi as the main deity. Presumably a local deity was "nationalized" after the Nakatomi clan, which is closely connected to the imperial family, took over the shrine and thereby identified Takemikazuchi with this deity as Kashima daimyōjin ( 鹿島 大 明 神 ).

Takemikazuchi has a special relationship with Futsunushi , the main kami of the nearby Katori-jingū , as both of them together prepared the descent of Ninigi to earth by "pacifying" the country, and also played an important role in the mythology of Shinto play. They are said to visit each other often, which is why the area between the two shrines (called Shin-shin-goetsu ) is considered sacred. Both shrines also represent the centers of their own shrine networks and associated cults (here the Kashima belief ( 鹿島 信仰 Kashima shinkō )), which are widespread throughout Japan. In feudal Japan, warriors often made a pilgrimage to the Kashima Shrine called kashima-dachi before going into battle.

Around the Kashima-jingū, as well as around the Kasuga-Taisha in Nara, one can find tame deer. These are considered to be messengers of the gods or animal companions of the Takemikazuchi. Numerous medieval depictions show how this god, accompanied by Futsunushi on the back of a deer, moves to the area of ​​the capital in order to move into a kind of second home in the Kasuga shrine.

The god body ( shintai ) of Takemikazuchi is a particularly long sword that was drawn in ancient times during the Kashima festival and worshiped by the priests, while everyone present also wore swords and drew them in front of the shrine.

According to tradition, the armor of Takemikazuchi was worshiped in a small side shrine, the Mikasa-jinja (a massha , formerly known as Kabuto-no-miya ) on the site.

Other side shrines exist on the Kashima-jingū site, in which the “wild souls” ( ara-mitama ) of Take-mika-zuchi and Ame-no-koyane are worshiped.

Other kami of the shrine are u. a. Izanagi (venerated in Kumano-jinja , a massha ), Hiru-ko (venerated in Umi-be-no-yashiro a masha ), Toyouke-hime (here under the name Miketsu-no-kami), Taka-okami and Kuraokami . There is also a shrine for Susanoo and two for Ōkuninushi , as well as one each for Iku-tsu-hiko-ne (a son of Amaterasu ) and Takakuraji (a companion of Jimmu-tennō).

In toshi-sha , an unspecified toshi-gami is worshiped.

Kashima and the earthquake catfish

Kaname-ishi

In the Edo period , the deity of Kashima (then more commonly known as Kashima Daimyōjin) was primarily famous for its ability to control earthquakes. The so-called Kaname-ishi (English keystone ), a rock that is venerated in a side shrine, testifies to this until today . This rock supposedly protrudes deep into the earth and holds the giant catfish ( ō-namazu ), which is responsible for the eruption of earthquakes in the legend, under the surface of the earth. Since the strength of the rock alone is not enough to control the giant catfish, Kashima daimyojin was called, who should help with his sword to hold the catfish's head to the ground. The giant catfish with the keystone on its back was depicted on some woodblock prints after the great earthquake of 1855. Occasionally there are also images of Kashima daimyojin trying to keep the catfish under control with the sword.

The legend was taken so seriously that Tokugawa Mitsukuni , the daimyo of Mito , had excavations carried out around the rock, which, according to the shrine legend, only resulted in the pit dug during the day filling up by itself at night. It is said that in ancient times the stone was attached to the ground with wisteria tendrils.

Festivals

March 9th: Saito-sai day, around a thousand ujiko (parishioners) in ancient armor reenact the pilgrimage that samurai made here before going into battle.

1st - 3rd September: Shikinen-mi-fune-sai takes place every fifteen years on these days . During the first half of the first day, misogi and mitama-shizume are practiced in the old koshin-do style.

Cultural assets

The swordshintai of Kashima is a national treasure of Japan .

Several buildings, including the main hall ( honden ), prayer hall ( haiden ), sacrificial hall ( heiden ) and its connecting corridor ( ishinoma ), the gate building ( rōmon ), the alternative hall ( karidono ), the main hall of the branch shrine ( sessha ) Okunomiya ( 奥 宮 ), as well the oldest preserved lacquered saddle from the Kamakura period are listed as important cultural assets of Japan .

Web links

Commons : Kashima-jingu  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Nogami Takahiro:  "Kashima Shinko" . In: Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugaku-in , February 24, 2007 (English)
  2. ↑ 鹿島 大 神 . In: デ ジ タ ル 版 日本人 名 大 辞典 + Plus at kotobank.jp. Retrieved June 23, 2019 (Japanese).
  3. ↑ Cornelis Ouwehand: Namazu-e and Their Themes: An Interpretative Approach to Some Aspects of Japanese Folk Religion . Brill Archive, 1964, I.2.2 The Kashima legend, p. 57–61 ( limited preview in Google book search [accessed on June 23, 2019] doctoral thesis at the University of Leiden ).
  4. ^ Albrecht and Gisela Rabitz: When the namazu shakes its body. Japanese catfish prints published after the Ansei earthquake in 1855. In: Andon. Bulletin of the Society for Japanese Arts. No. 88, July 2010, pp. 5–27 (English)
  5. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from November 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bokuden.or.jp
  6. ↑ 鹿島 神宮 本 殿 ・ 拝 殿 ・ 幣 殿 ・ 石 の 間 （附 棟 札 2 枚） . Ibaraki Prefecture Education Committee, accessed January 3, 2015 (Japanese).
  7. ↑ 鹿島 神宮 楼門 . Ibaraki Prefecture Education Committee, accessed January 3, 2015 (Japanese).
  8. ↑ 鹿島 神宮 仮 殿 . Ibaraki Prefecture Education Committee, accessed January 3, 2015 (Japanese).
  9. ↑ 鹿島 神宮 摂 社 奧 宮本 殿 （附 棟 札 1 枚） . Ibaraki Prefecture Education Committee, accessed January 3, 2015 (Japanese).
  10. ↑ 梅 竹 蒔 絵 鞍 （附 四 手 蒔 絵 居 木 一双） . Ibaraki Prefecture Education Committee, accessed January 3, 2015 (Japanese).

Coordinates: 35 ° 58 ′ 7.69 ″  N , 140 ° 37 ′ 53.33 ″  E