1.
Izumo-taisha
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Izumo-taisha, also Izumo Ōyashiro, is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan. No record gives the date of establishment, located in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture, it is home to two major festivals. It is dedicated to the god Ōkuninushi, famous as the Shinto deity of marriage and to Kotoamatsukami, the shrine is believed by many to be the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan, even predating the Ise Grand Shrine. A style of architecture, taisha-zukuri, takes its name from the hall of Izumo-taisha. That hall, and the buildings, were designated National Treasures of Japan in 1952. According to tradition, the hall was much taller than at present. The discovery in the year 2000 of the remains of enormous pillars has lent credence to this, several other buildings in the shrine compound are on the list of Important Cultural Properties of Japan. Amaterasu was much pleased by this action and she presented Izumo-taisha to Ōkuninushi, at one time, the Japanese islands were controlled from Izumo, according to Shinto myths. Izumo, known as the realm of gods or the land of myths, is Izumo-taishas province and its main structure was originally constructed to glorify the great achievement of Ōkuninushi, considered the creator of Japan. Ōkuninushi was devoted to the building of the nation, in which he shared many joys, in addition to being the savior, Ōkuninushi is considered the guardian god and god of happiness, as well as the god who establishes good relationships. According to the Nihon Shoki, the sun goddess Amaterasu said, From now on and you shall cast a spell of establishing good relationship over people to lead them a happy life. I will build your residence with colossal columns and thick and broad planks in the architectural style as mine. The other gods were gathered and ordered by Amaterasu to build the palace at the foot of Mt. Uga. This was due to early Shinto cosmology, when the people believed the gods were above the world and belonged to the most extraordinary. Therefore, Izumo-taisha could have been an attempt to create a place for the kami that would be above humans, before being known as Izumo Ōyashiro or Izumo-taisha, the shrine was known as Okami-no-miya in Izumo, Itsukashinokami-no-miya, Kizuki-no-Oyashiro, Kizuki-no-miya, or Iwakumanoso-no-miya. Evidence of the original Grand Shrine has been found, for example, part of one of the pillars for the structure was found, three cedar trees with a three-meter diameter at its base. It is on display at the shrine, during the Kamakura era, around 1200, the main structure was reduced in size. Then in 1744, the shrine was reconstructed to the present size of 24 meters high and 11 meters square at its base, in the 18th and 19th centuries, as travel became more common in Japan, the shrine became a central place of pilgrimage
2.
Kami
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Kami are the spirits or phenomena that are worshiped in the religion of Shinto. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, as well as beings and the qualities that these beings express, and include the spirits of venerated dead persons. Many kami are considered the ancient ancestors of entire clans, traditionally, great or sensational leaders like the Emperor could be kami. In Shinto, kami are not separate from nature, but are of nature, possessing positive and negative, good and they are manifestations of musubi, the interconnecting energy of the universe, and are considered exemplary of what humanity should strive towards. Kami are believed to be “hidden” from this world, and inhabit a complementary existence that mirrors our own, to be in harmony with the awe-inspiring aspects of nature is to be conscious of kannagara no michi. Though the word kami is translated in multiple ways into English, in this way, the ambiguity of the meaning of kami is necessary, as it conveys the ambiguous nature of kami themselves. Kami is the Japanese word for a god, deity, divinity and it has been used to describe mind, God, supreme being, one of the Shinto deities, an effigy, a principle, and anything that is worshipped. Although deity is the interpretation of kami, some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term. The wide variety of usage of the word can be compared to the Sanskrit Deva and the Hebrew Elohim, some etymological suggestions are, Kami may, at its root, simply mean spirit, or an aspect of spirituality. It is written with the kanji 神, Sino-Japanese reading shin or jin, in Chinese, the character means deity. In the Ainu language, the word refers to an animistic concept very similar to Japanese kami. In his Kojiki-den, Motoori Norinaga gave a definition of kami. any being whatsoever which possesses some eminent quality out of the ordinary, because Japanese does not normally distinguish grammatical number in nouns, it is sometimes unclear whether kami refers to a single or multiple entities. When a singular concept is needed, -kami or -kamisama is used as a suffix. The logograms for kami-sama are those used for shén yàng in Pŭtōnghuà, kami-sama can be used for a divinity, or for a human, such as Tezuka Osamu. The term generally used to refer to multiple kami is kamigami, gender is also not implied in the word kami, and as such it can be used to reference either male or female. The word megami, the use of female kami is a new tradition. The Kojiki also includes descriptions of various kami, in the ancient Shinto traditions there were 5 defining characteristics of kami. They can nurture and love when respected, or they can cause destruction, Kami must be appeased in order to gain their favor and avoid their wrath
3.
Shinto
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Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified Shinto religion, practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual, dating from around the time of the Nara and Heian periods. The word Shinto was adopted, originally as Jindō or Shindō, from the written Chinese Shendao, the oldest recorded usage of the word Shindo is from the second half of the 6th century. Kami are defined in English as spirits, essences or gods, Kami and people are not separate, they exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity. Shinto is the largest religion in Japan, practiced by nearly 80% of the population, Shinto has 81,000 shrines and 85,000 priests in the country. According to Inoue, In modern scholarship, the term is used with reference to kami worship and related theologies, rituals. In these contexts, Shinto takes on the meaning of Japans traditional religion, as opposed to religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Islam. Shinto religious expressions have been distinguished by scholars into a series of categories, Shrine Shinto and it consists in taking part in worship practices and events at local shrines. Before the Meiji Restoration, shrines were disorganized institutions usually attached to Buddhist temples, the current successor to the imperial organization system, the Association of Shinto Shrines, oversees about 80,000 shrines nationwide. Folk Shinto includes the folk beliefs in deities and spirits. Practices include divination, spirit possession, and shamanic healing, some of their practices come from Buddhism, Taoism or Confucianism, but most come from ancient local traditions. Sect Shinto is a designation originally created in the 1890s to separate government-owned shrines from local organised religious communities. These communities originated especially in the Edo period, the basic difference between Shrine Shinto and Sect Shinto is that sects are a later development and grew self-consciously. They can identify a founder, a set of teachings. Sect Shinto groups are thirteen, and usually classified under five headings, pure Shinto sects, Confucian sects, mountain worship sects, purification sects, and faith-healing sects. Koshintō, literally Old Shinto, is a reconstructed Shinto from before the time of Buddhism, today based on Ainu religion and it continues the restoration movement begun by Hirata Atsutane. Many other sects and schools can be distinguished, Kami or shin is defined in English as god, spirit, spiritual essence, all these terms meaning the energy generating a thing. Since the Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural, kami refers to the divinity, or sacred essence, that manifests in multiple forms, rocks, trees, rivers, animals, places, and even people can be said to possess the nature of kami
4.
Izumo Province
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Izumo Province was an old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture. The province is in the Chūgoku Region and it was one of the regions of ancient Japan where major political powers arose. Even today, the Izumo Shrine constitutes one of the important sacred places of Shinto, it is dedicated to kami, especially to Ōkuninushi, mythical progeny of Susanoo. The mythological mother of Japan, the goddess Izanami, is said to be buried on Mt. Hiba, at the border of the old provinces of Izumo and Hōki, by the Sengoku period, Izumo had lost much of its importance. It was dominated before the Battle of Sekigahara by the Mōri clan, in Japanese mythology, the entrance to Yomi was located within the province, and was sealed by the god Izanagi by placing a large boulder over the entrance. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5, OCLC58053128 Media related to Izumo Province at Wikimedia Commons Izumo Province at JapaneseCastleExplorer. com Murdochs map of provinces,1903
5.
Hare of Inaba
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The Hare of Inaba can refer to two distinct Japanese myths, both from the ancient province of Inaba, now the eastern part of Tottori Prefecture. The Hare of Inaba legend belongs to the Izumo denrai, or tradition of myths originating from the Izumo region, the Hare of Inaba forms an essential part of the legend of the Shinto god Ōnamuchi-no-kami, which was the name for Ōkuninushi within this legend. The hare referred to in the legend is the Lepus brachyurus, or Japanese hare, the Japanese hare ranges between 43 centimetres and 54 centimetres in length, and is much smaller than the common European hare. Japanese hares are typically brown, but may turn white during winter in areas with a varying climate, one version of the tale of the Hare of Inaba is found in the Kojiki, the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, which dates from early in the 8th century. The legend appears in the first of the three sections of the Kojiki, the Kamitsumaki, also known as the Jindai no Maki, or Volume of the Age of the Gods. This section of the Kojiki outlines the myths concerning the foundation of Japan prior to the birth of the Emperor Jimmu, the first Emperor of Japan. In the Kojiki version of the myth, a hare tricks some wanizame into being used as a bridge in order to travel from the Island of Oki to Cape Keta. Cape Keta is now identified with the Hakuto Coast in the city of Tottori. The hare challenges the sharks to see whose clan is larger—that of the sharks, the hare had the sharks lie in a row across the sea. The hare then hopped across them, counting them as he went, nearing the end, the hare exclaims that he has deceived the sharks in order to use them as a bridge. The last shark attacks the hare, ripping his fur from him, Ōnamuchi-no-kami and his eighty brothers were traveling through the Inaba region to woo Princess Yakami of Inaba. While the brothers were on their way to visit the princess, rather than helping the hare, they advised it to wash in the sea and dry itself in the wind, which naturally caused it great pain. In contrast Ōnamuchi, unlike his elder brothers, told the hare to bathe in fresh water from the mouth of a river. The body of the hare was restored to its original state, in gratitude, the hare told Ōnamuchi, the lowest born in the family, that he would marry Princess Yakami. The Hare of Inaba legend emphasizes the benevolence of Ōnamuchi, who was enshrined at the Izumo-taisha. The version of the Hare of Inaba legend told in the Kojiki has been compared to similar myths from Java in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the white hare bit Amaterasus clothes and took her to an appropriate place for a temporary palace along Nakayama mountain and Reiseki mountain. About two hours walk, accompanied by the hare, Amaterasu reached a mountain top plain. Then, the white hare disappeared at Ise ga naru, the place of this legend is in Yazu town and Tottori city, in Tottori Prefecture, where the shrine Hakuto Jinja reveres the white hare
6.
Kojiki
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Kojiki, also known as Furukotofumi, is the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, dating from the early 8th century and composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Genmei. The Kojiki is a collection of myths concerning the origin of the four islands of Japan. Along with the Nihon Shoki, the contained in the Kojiki are part of the inspiration behind many practices. Later, the myths were re-appropriated for Shinto practices including the misogi purification ritual, while the historical records and myths are written in a form of Chinese with a heavy mixture of Japanese elements, the songs are written with Chinese characters that are only used to convey sounds. This special use of Chinese characters is called Manyōgana, a knowledge of which is critical to understanding these songs, the Kojiki is divided into three parts, the Kamitsumaki, the Nakatsumaki and the Shimotsumaki. The Kamitsumaki also outlines the myths concerning the foundation of Japan, the Nakatsumaki begins with the story of Emperor Jimmu, the first Emperor, and his conquest of Japan, and ends with the 15th Emperor, Emperor Ōjin. Many of the stories in this volume are mythological, and the historical information in them is highly suspect. Recent studies support the view that these emperors were invented to push Jimmus reign further back to the year 660 BC, the Shimotsumaki covers the 16th to 33rd emperors and, unlike previous volumes, has very limited references to the interactions with deities. These interactions are very prominent in the first and second volumes, information about the 24th to the 33rd emperors are largely missing, as well. In the Edo period, Motoori Norinaga studied the Kojiki intensively and he produced a 44-volume study of the Kojiki called Kojiki-den. A translation of the Ko-ji-ki or Records of ancient matters, yokohama, Japan, R. Meiklejohn and Co. Princeton University Press and Tokyo, University of Tokyo Press, the Kojiki, An Account of Ancient Matters. There are two branches of Kojiki manuscripts, Ise and Urabe. The extant Urabe branch consists of 36 existing manuscripts all based on the 1522 copies by Urabe Kanenaga, the Ise branch may be subdivided into the Shinpukuji-bon manuscript of 1371–1372 and the Dōka-bon manuscripts. While divided into the Ise branch, it is actually a mixture of the two branches, the monk Kenyu based his copy on Ōnakatomi Sadayos copy. In 1266, Sadayo copied volumes one and three, but did not have access to the second volume, finally, in 1282, he obtained access to the second volume through a Urabe-branch manuscript that he used to transcribe. Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo International Research Center for Japanese Studies Japanese Historical Text Initiative Historiography of Japan Bentley, the Authenticity of Sendai Kuji Hongi, A New Examination of Texts, With a Translation And Commentary. Japanese historians and the myths, 1600-1945, The Age of the Gods
7.
Nihon Shoki
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The Nihon Shoki, sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. The book is called the Nihongi. The Nihon Shoki was finished in 720 under the supervision of Prince Toneri. It is believed to record accurately the latter reigns of Emperor Tenji, Emperor Tenmu, the Nihon Shoki focuses on the merits of the virtuous rulers as well as the errors of the bad rulers. It describes episodes from mythological eras and diplomatic contacts with other countries, the Nihon Shoki was written in classical Chinese, as was common for official documents at that time. The Kojiki, on the hand, is written in a combination of Chinese. The Nihon Shoki also contains numerous transliteration notes telling the reader how words were pronounced in Japanese, collectively, the stories in this book and the Kojiki are referred to as the Kiki stories. The tale of Urashima Tarō is developed from the mention in Nihon Shoki that a certain child of Urashima visited Horaisan. The later tale has plainly incorporated elements from the famous anecdote of Luck of the Sea, the later developed Urashima tale contains the Rip Van Winkle motif, so some may consider it an early example of fictional time travel. Chapter 01, Kami no Yo no Kami no maki, Chapter 02, Kami no Yo no Shimo no maki. Chapter 03, Kanyamato Iwarebiko no Sumeramikoto, Chapter 04, Kamu Nunakawamimi no Sumeramikoto. Yamato Tarashihiko Kuni Oshihito no Sumeramikoto, Chapter 05, Mimaki Iribiko Iniye no Sumeramikoto. Chapter 06, Ikume Iribiko Isachi no Sumeramikoto, Chapter 07, Ōtarashihiko Oshirowake no Sumeramikoto. Chapter 08, Tarashi Nakatsuhiko no Sumeramikoto, Chapter 09, Okinaga Tarashihime no Mikoto. Chapter 13, Oasazuma Wakugo no Sukune no Sumeramikoto, Chapter 14, Ōhatsuse no Waka Takeru no Sumeramikoto. Chapter 15, Shiraka no Take Hirokuni Oshi Waka Yamato Neko no Sumeramikoto, Chapter 16, Ohatsuse no Waka Sasagi no Sumeramikoto. Chapter 18, Hirokuni Oshi Take Kanahi no Sumeramikoto, Take Ohirokuni Oshi Tate no Sumeramikoto. Chapter 19, Amekuni Oshiharaki Hironiwa no Sumeramikoto, Chapter 20, Nunakakura no Futo Tamashiki no Sumeramikoto
8.
Inaba Province
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Inaba Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today the eastern part of Tottori Prefecture. Inaba bordered on Harima, Hōki, Mimasaka, and Tajima Provinces, the ancient capital, and the castle town, were at Tottori city. Ube jinja was designated as the chief Shinto shrine for the province, ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5, OCLC58053128 Inaba Province at JapaneseCastleExplorer. com Murdochs map of provinces,1903
