Nezu shrine

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Nezu shrine

The Nezu Shrine ( Japanese 根 津 神社 , Nezu-jinja ) is a Shinto shrine in the district of the same name in the north of the Bunkyō district of Tokyo . In addition to the Asakusa Shrine and the Tōshōgū , it is the third shrine in Tokyo that has the status of "Important Cultural Heritage", and also one of the ten shrines known as Tōkyō-jissha .

history

The construction of the shrine is attributed to the legendary priest Yamato Takeru no Mikoto, who is said to have founded the shrine in Sendagi ( 千 駄 木 ) in honor of the deity Susanoo around 1900 years ago . The building, still visible today, goes back to the fifth Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi and is dated to 1705. It was Tsunayoshi who moved the shrine from Sendagi to neighboring Nezu. Before the separation of Shinto and Buddhism , the shrine was called Nezu Gongen . ( 根 津 権 現 ).

Honden ( 本 殿 , “main hall”), Haiden ( 拝 殿 , “prayer hall”), Heiden ( 幣 殿 , “sacrificial hall”), Karamon ( 唐門 , “Chinese gate”), Rōmon ( 楼門 , “two-story gate”) and Sukibei ( 透 塀 , “transparent wall”) have been almost completely preserved and are among the oldest structures in Tokyo that are still preserved in their original form. They establish the status of "important cultural heritage".

construction

The buildings are built in the Gongen style, which was preferred during the Tokugawa Shogunate. The main hall is painted with red Gongenzukuri paint. Tor and Honden show clear Buddhist influences; many decorations are typical of Buddhist temples. During the Edo period, Shinto and Buddhism were not yet strictly separated, as in subsequent epochs, so this is typical for shrines of this epoch.

Behind the rōmon is the Kagura -den ( 神 楽 殿 ) on the right , a stage on which the ritual dances are performed at the shrine festivals ( Matsuri ). On the left is the rock Bungō ikoi no ishi ( 文豪 憩 い の 石 , dt. "Hearthstone of the poets"), on which the writers Natsume Sōseki and Mori Ōgai found inspiration for their novels and then immortalized the shrine in their novels.

Straight ahead is Karamon as the entrance to the courtyard, which is enclosed by the Sukibei, with the actual sanctuaries. Here the deities Susanoo , Ōyamakui , Handawake ( Hachiman ), Ōkuninushi , as well as the deified Sugawara no Michizane are worshiped.

The shrine garden is to the left of the inner courtyard. At the beginning of the garden is the Otome-Inari-Shrine ( 乙 女 稲 荷 神社 , Otome-Inari-jinja ) in which the rice god ( Inari ) Uga-no-mitama is worshiped. Typical of this type of shrine are the fox statues ( kitsune ), as servants of the Inari, as well as the red torii, which are lined up here along both sides of the shrine. The shrine garden has a pond with carp and turtles. The terrain rises behind the pond. Almost 3,000 azalea bushes of 50 species are planted on the slope and bloom in mid to late April. One of the two great shrine festivals is held at this time. The shrine is also known for its plum blossom.

To the north of the Otome-Inari-Shrine there is another Inari-Shrine, the Komagome-Inari-Shrine ( 駒 込 稲 荷 神社 , -jinja ) in the pair of primal gods Izanagi and Izanami , as well as the rice god Uga-no-mitama and the wind gods Shinatobe and Shinatsuhiko to be worshiped.

Matsuri

Several Matsuri (shrine festivals) take place in the shrine. The most important is the Reisai ( 例 祭 ) and is held on September 21st. The Matsuri is next to the Kanda Matsuri of the Kanda Myōjin and the Sannō Matsuri of the Hie Shrine, one of the three Tenka Matsuri ( 天下 祭 , dt: "Imperial festivals"), which go back to Shogun Tokugawa Ienobu who founded three Mikoshi (portable shrines) and thus belonged to the most important festivals of old Edo . Another big and special one is the "Azalea Festival" ( つ つ じ ま つ り , Tsutsuji-matsuri ) from April 9th ​​to May 5th during the azalea blossom.

Image gallery

  • Rōmon on the outside

  • Karamon on the inside with Haiden in the background

  • Torii of the Otome Inari Shrine

  • No stage (during the Azalea Festival in April)

  • Azalea blooms in April

  • Panorama of the beginning of the azalea blossom in April

  • Drum group during the Matsuri

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Nezu-jinja Shrine. (No longer available online.) Japan National Tourism Organization, archived from the original on June 6, 2010 ; accessed on June 4, 2011 . 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.jnto.go.jp
  2. ↑ 根 津 神社 . In: 神社 人 . 神社 文化 振興 評議 会 , accessed June 5, 2011 (Japanese).
  3. ↑ a b c Nezu Jinja (Nezu Shrine). (No longer available online.) In: Japan-i. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011 ; accessed on June 4, 2011 . 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.japan-i.jp
  4. ↑ a b ご 由 緒 . Retrieved June 4, 2011 (Japanese).
  5. ↑ 駒 込 稲 荷 神社 . Nezu Shrine. Retrieved June 4, 2011 (Japanese).
  6. ↑ a b 行事 . Nezu Shrine. Retrieved June 5, 2011 (Japanese).
  7. ↑ Endō Jun: The early modern period: in search of a Shinto identity . In: Inoue Nobutaka , Itō Satoshi, Endō Jun, Mori Mizue (eds.): Shinto - A Short History . Routledge Shorton, 2003, ISBN 0-415-31179-9 , pp. 128 ( limited preview in Google Book Search - original title: 神道 - 日本 生 ま れ の 宗教 シ ス テ ム . Translated by Mark Teeuwen, John Breen).

Coordinates: 35 ° 43 ′ 12.8 "  N , 139 ° 45 ′ 38.6"  E