Recent Additions​

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November 26: Sazare-ishi  さざれ石

​My interest in Sazare-ishi was piqued after coming across them at both Okawa Jinja and Meguro Hachiman Jinja. Sazare-ishi literally means gravel/pebbles or boulder formed from gravel and sediment. They are stone monuments wishing  the emperor a long life in  accordance with Kimigayo, the Japanese national anthem.

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November 23: Okawa Jinja　　　大川神社

The shrine legend tells us that its origins date to March 23, 485. It is included in the Tango Province, Kasa District entry in the Engi-Shiki, where of eleven shrines it is the only one designated as major. It is also one of the 285 shrines listed in the same work whose Kami is officially recognized as Myojin (名神).It is also mentioned in the Six National Histories.

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November 15: Meguro Hachiman Jinja　目黒八幡神社

​Probably founded in the 1660s as part of the Edo Bakuhu's campaign to strengthen rural loyalty by having the peasantry worship Hachiman, the guardian deity of the Minamoto clan. ​

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November 7:   Otori Jinja   大鳥神社

​The oldest shrine in Tokyo's Meguro-ku. Its origins date back to 71-130, although it was not officially founded until 806. It is situated on an intersection of the busy Meguro-dori and Yamata-dori highways; the intersection is called Otori Jinja.Its celebration of the Tori-no-Ichi (酉の市) festival is one of the most popular in the city. 

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October 26:    Sakuramori Inari Jinja          櫻森稲荷神社

Relatively little is publicly known about this Inari Jinja. It is most notable for the two Koshin-to in its grounds. One of the two dates to 1730, the other to 1810. ​

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October 19:   Himonya Hachiman-Gu         碑文谷八幡宮

It is said that this particular Hachiman-Gu was founded sometime during the Kamakura Period. The current shrine buildings were rebuilt in 1674, renovated in 1872 and again in 1887.  Until the Separation of  Shinto and Buddhism Act was enacted along with the Meiji Restoration, the shrine’s affairs were managed by a sub-temple in the grounds of the nearby Enyu-ji Temple, Jingu-in.

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Oct ??:   Kameido Katori Jinja                   亀戸香取神社

Sept 28: Futoo Myogi Jinja    太尾妙義神

Probably about 300 years old, it was originally located at a crossroads in Futoo-cho which connected the towns of Koyasu and Mizunokuchi before being moved to its present location. In addition to attracting local parishioners, it also attracted people who wanted to worship at the main Myogi Jinja at Mt. Myogi in Gunma-ken but were unable to do so and hence used this jinja as a substitute.​

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Sept​22:  Morooka Kumano Jinja      師岡熊野神社

The shrine describes itself on its home page as "the centre of Kumano faith in the Kantō region and the guardian shrine for northern Yokohama". Along with Kameido Katori Jinja in Tokyo’s Koto-ku it is one of the two football-related "power spots" in Kanto.

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June 26:  Doso Jinja　 道祖神社

​A small shrine near Kyoto Station where Saruta-hiko-Okami and his spouse, Ameno-uzume-Mikoto, an emblem of marital bliss engraved in a stone Dosojin carving, are enshrined.

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June 14: Rokusono Jinja　六孫王神社

Rokusono is the childhood name of Minamoto Tsunemoto, grandson of Emperor Seiwa and the shrine is seen as the birthplace of the Seiwa Genji clan, the most successful and powerful line of the Minamoto clan: the founders of both the Kamakura and Ashikagu Shogunates descended from it, and Tokugawa Ieyasu claimed descent from it.

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​June 6: Sutoku Tenno　崇徳天皇

​The 75th Japanese emperor, and one of the Three Great Vengeful Spirits, along with Sugawara Michizane and Taira Masakado.

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June 2:  Shiramine Jingu　　白峯神宮

This is one of a small number of shrines dedicated to sports and one of an even smaller number dedicated to ball sports as opposed to the martial arts. The main deity at the shrine is Emperor Sutoku (reigned 1123-1142) and along with Sugawara Michizane and Taira Masakado he is regarded as one of Japan's Three Great Vengeful Spirits.　　

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May 25:   KisshoinTenman-Gu   吉祥院天満宮

​Said to have been founded in 1934 this is the oldest of Japan's 10,000+ Tenman-Gu. The shrine claims to have been the birthplace of the Kami of Knowledge, Sugawara Michizane, although this is disputed. Among the relics in the shrine grounds are a mound said to contain Michizane's umbilical cord.

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