普通の外にいくつかの著名な品質を持っている、と畏敬の念を起こさせるあるいかなるビーイングは、カミと呼ばれています。
春日神社
Nara-ken, Nara-shi, Kasugano-cho 160 奈良県奈良市春日野町160
Nearest station: Kintetsu Nara Line: Kintetsu
A UNESCO World Heritage Site since December 1998, this is the head shrine of the 3,000 or so Kasuga Jinja scattered around the country. It is one of the 22 Shrines and is one of the 37 shrines listed in the Engi-Shiki for Sonokami district in Yamato Province.
It traces its origins to 768, when Empress Shotoku, the 45th ruler of the country, ordered Fujiwara-no-Nagate to oversee the construction of a shrine to honour four Kami, Takemikazuchi, Futsunushi, Amenokoyane, and Hime-Gami. The site chosen was in the foothills of the sacred Mt. Mikasa, which is now known as Mt. Kasuga.
The shrine is closely related to the Fujiwara Clan. Takemikazuchi-no-Kami and Futsunushi-no-Kami are both guardian deities of the clan: Takemikazuchi is the kami of Kashima Jingu in Kashima, Ibaraki-ken, Futsunushi that of Katori Jinja in Katori, Chiba-ken. Amenokoyane-no-Mikoto is the clan's ancestral deity and the Kami of Hiraoka Jinja in what was Kawachi Province, now Higashi Osaka. Hime-Gami is Amenokoyane's wife, although there is a theory that she is in fact Amaterasu-Okami.
Over 2,200 festivals are held at the shrine each year. The most important of these is the Kasuga Festival, which is held on March 13, and has been for over 1,200 years. It is attended by an imperial messenger. Another important festival is the Kasuga Wakamiya Onmatsuri Festival. In 1135 Wakamiya-sama appeared and built a new main shrine hall at the current location of the shrine. The following year a festival was held to commemorate this. It has been held ever since, and has been designated as an Important Intangible Folk Culture Asset.
There are at least twenty-seven nationally designated tangible Important Cultural Properties in the shrine. Perhaps the most well-known of these is the main torii. 7.75m high, it was rebuilt in 1638, and is one of the Three Main Torii Gates of Japan: the other two are those at Kehi Jingu Jinja in Tsuruga, Fukui-ken and Itsukushima Jinja in Itsukushima in Hiroshima-ken.
There are over 3,000 of the lanterns shown here in the shrine; each one is a donation.
Enshrined Kami:
Main
Takemikazuchi-no-Kami 武甕槌命
Futsunushi-no-Kami 経津主命
Amenokoyane-no-Mikoto 天児屋命
Hime-Gami 比売神
In-ground Subordinate Shrines:
Wakanomiya Jinja 若宮神社
Hongu Jinja 本宮神社
Enomoto Jinja 榎本神社
Mizuya Jinja 水谷神社
Kii Jinja 紀伊神社
Tejikarao Jinja 手力雄神社
Hiraiden Jinja 飛来天神社
Hachirai Jinja 八雷神社
Kurikara Jinja 栗柄神社
Umimoto (?) Jinja 海本神社
Sugimoto Jinja 杉本神社
Sagun Shrine 佐軍神社
Aosakaki Jinja 青榊神社
Karasasaki Jinja 辛榊神社
Anaguri Jinja 穴栗神社
Iguri Jinja 井栗神社
Iwamoto Jinja 岩本神社
Taga Jinja 多賀神社
Tsubakimoto Jinja 椿本神社
Kazenomiya Jinja 風宮神社
Tsugo (?) Jinja 通合神社
Tejikarao Jinja 手力雄神社
Miwa Jinja 三輪神社
Hyozu Jinja 兵主神社
Nangu Jinja 南宮神社
Hirose Jinja 広瀬神社
Katsuragi Jinja 城神社
Sanjuhassho Jinja 三十八所神社
Sarake Jinja 佐良気神社
Meoto Daikoku-sha 夫婦大国社
Kinryu Jinja 金龍神社
Munakata Jinja 宗像神社
Sumiyoshi Jinja 住吉神社
Ichinoi Ebisu Jinja 一井胡神社
Funato Jinja 船戸神社
Sogu Jinja 総宮神社
Hitokotonushi Jinja 一言主神社
Ryuo-Sha 龍王社
Tsubogami Jinja 壷神神社
Haraido Jinja 祓戸神社
Kamadono Jinja 竃殿神社
Sakadono Jinja 酒殿神社
Atago Jinja 愛宕神社
Seimei Jinja 聖明神社
Ukigumo Jinja 浮雲神社
Tenjin-Sha 天神社
Hyoshi Jinja 拍子神社
Outside Subordinate Shrines:
Naruikazuchi Jinja 鳴雷神社
Kanno Jinja 神野神社
Kamimizuya Jinja 上水谷神社
Omiwa Jinja 大神神社
Takayama Jinja 高山神社
Akachi Jinja 赤乳神社
Shirachi Jinja 白乳神社
Tejikarao Jinja 手力雄神社
Uneme Jinja 采女神社
Nogami Jinja 野上神社
Ishiko Jinja 石荒神社
Minami-ichi Ebisu Jinja 南市恵毘須神社
Takama-ichi Ebisu Jinja 高天市恵毘須神社
Hatsumiya Jinja 初宮神社
Daifuku Inari Jinja 大福稲荷神社
Annual Festival: March 13
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