#Shimogamo Shrine

[chitaka45]

京都　下鴨神社　🌸光琳の梅🌸

kyoto shimogamojinja 🌸plum blossoms🌸

[redsamuraiii]

Kyoto Love Story / Fukuyado Honpo (Ep 1)

[kyotodreamtrips]

Shimogamo Shrine in the North of Kyoto is a special place. The Dragon ema is always special.

[tenjin-no-shinja]

Kyoto

Kamo Wakeikazuchi Jinja

Enshrined Kami: Kamo Wakeikazuchi no Ōkami

Prayers Offered: Protection against danger, and to find love and marriage.

In front of the hosodono (a type of worship hall often seen in Buddhist temples) are two cones of sand called tatesuna, a permenant fixture of the shrine, which are said to reflect the shape of Mount Ko. There is a sprig of pine at the top that represents the pine forest of Mount Ko and the way the kami was worshipped by erecting a himorogi (temporary altar) on the mountain top. The reason for two cones is explained as representing the principle of yin/yang, for the Kamo clan who founded the shrine were experts of onmyodo (yin/yang divination). Kamo no Tadayuki was a teacher of the famous tenth-century onmyodo master Abe no Seimei. Although the symbolism of the cones is more far reaching, perhaps it is yin/yang too that accounts for the honden and gonden pairing.

—Page 116

It is documented in the Nihon shoki that Emperor Kinmei began a festival here around the year 544 in order to remove the displeasure of the Kamo deity, which was thought to be causing storms and failed crops. The festival’s proper name is the Kamosai, but it is commonly known as the Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival). The popular name derives from the hollyhock decoration worn by all the participants in the procession. The hollyhock is associated with the story of Wakeikazuchi (literally, “divided thunder”), the kami enshrined here…

…There is archeological evidence of habitation or worship on the mountain from as far back as 100 B.C. An ancient secret ritual called the miare shinji held in the black of night every year on 12 May reflects the shrines origins. A himorogi (temporary altar) is erected near two cone-shaped piles of sand where the deity descends and is then carried back to the honden to renew the sacred spirit of the shrine…

—Page 117

Both the saiin and saio were virgins, usually selected from among daughters of the imperial family by divination. Once selected, they left the imperial compound and were kept in ritual purity in a separate residence until they were prepared to take up residence near the shrine. The ritual purity extended to a taboo on the use of words in the presence of the saiin relating to Buddhism or suggesting impurity. The Engishiki (“Procedures of the Engi Era,” completed in 927) lists such words as Buddha, pagoda, sutra, blood, death, etc., that could not be uttered. Instead, euphemisms (imi kotoba, or “taboo words”) were used, such as “long-haired” for monk and “sweat” for blood.

—Page 117

The Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrines were both founded by the Kamo clan. Together with the Hata clan (also of continental origin), they controlled most of the area in 794 when Emperor Kanmu came looking for a place to locate his new capital, Heiankyo. It is the tradition of the Hata clan, as expressed in their family history, that Ikakoyahime of the Hata clan married Kamo Taketsunumi no mikoto and produced two children. This would imply a family relationship between the clans. While the claim is disputed at Kamigamo, other scholars record that the Hata were the sacerdotal lineage of the Kamo shrine in the eighth century. Be that as it may, both the shrine of the Hata clan, Matsuo Taisha, and that of the Kamo were included in the upper rank of the twenty-two shrines (nijunisha) receiving offerings from the imperial court during the Heian period. From that time, Kamigamo grew to be the guardian shrine of Kyoto and one of the most important shrines in the nation, second only to Ise Jingu during certain periods in its history.

—Page 118

Kamo Mioya Jinja (Shimogamo Jinja)

Enshrined Kami: Kamo Taketsunumi no mikoto (identified with yatagarasu) and his daughter Tamayorihime no mikoto.

Prayers Offered: A good harvest, a good marriage, safe childbirth, and safety on the roadways. Fortunetelling slips related to marriage, based on The Tale of Genji, are available. There are also seven small auxiliary shrines housing deities of the twelve Chinese zodiac years (such as ox, snake, dragon, and monkey); people pray at the site where the deity of their birth year is enshrined.

Perhaps Kamo Mioya Jinja’s most striking physical feature is its location in an old-growth forest called Tadasu no mori (“forest of truth”), in the northern part of Kyoto, at the confluence of the Kamogawa and Takanogawa rivers. Along with its sister shrine, Kamigamo Jinja (the upper shrine), it is one of the oldest shrines in Kyoto and was designated a World Heritage Site in 1994. (Kamo Mioya Jinja is commonly known as Shimogamo, which means “lower Kamo”). With just 30 acres the shrine area is much smaller than Kamigamo’s, but since the long sando takes you right through the center of the small forest, it makes a strong impression. Tadasu no mori has been shown to be the oldest patch of forest in the city of Kyoto. It is also largely deciduous, which is due partly to its being mostly unspoiled and partly to the composition of the water that flows through the site. Evidence of human occupation in the Yayoi period (ca. 300 B.C. to A.D. 300) comes from excavations of earthenware.

—Page 119

In the little courtyard between the two kairo stand seven small shrines called eto no yashiro. Each is dedicated to one or two signs of the Chinese zodiac. The system is based on the year of birth, with each year being assigned an animal such as rat, dragon, or monkey. The shrines probably date from the Edo period, when the signs were amalgamated with Shinto kami (as here) and Buddhist deities. Inside the small courtyard, it is customary to stand before the honden to pray. That on the right is dedicated to Tamayorihime no mikoto, and that on the left to Taketsunumi no mikoto.

—Page 120

…The legend of Kamo Taketsunumi states that he descended to Mount Takachiho in Kyushu and helped to guide Emperor Jinmu on his expedition to Yamato, at one point taking the form of yatagarasu, the “eight-span crow.” The kami subsequently moved to Yamashiro, where he settled near the Semi no ogawa river (possibly the Kamogawa river), married a kami called Ikakoyahime, and had a boy and a girl, Tamayorihiko and Tamayorihime. One day, when Tamayorihime was playing by the river, she snatched up a red-lacquered arrow that was floating on the water and put it by her bedside before she went to sleep. When she awoke, she was pregnant with a male child.

This type of myth, in which a human figure is wed to a kami and bears a divine child, is common in Shinto. The name Tamayorihime means “spirit-inviting maiden” and often occurs in stories related to supernatural relations and miraculous births. Water in the form of rivers, waterfalls, and rain is a common feature of myths and often associated with female deities. The myth continues that when the divine child grew, his grandfather was determined to learn the identity of the father. He organized a banquet and invited all the local deities. Then he gave the child a cup of rice wine and instructed him to take it to his father, whereupon the child flew up, broke through the roof of the dwelling, and ascended to heaven. The father was therefore said to be Honoikazuchi, the god of thunder, and the child was named Wakeikazuchi (divided thunder). The grandfather, who longed to see his grandson again, received a vision that if he would worship in a manner that included the wearing of leaves from the aoi (hollyhock) and katsura (Judas tree; Cercidiphyllum japonicum), the kami would descend.

—Page 121

…The present form involved woman figures and their retinue: the imperial messenger (chokushi), who delivers an offering from the emperor to the Kamo deities, and a girl acting as the saiin (who once maintained ritual purity as the head priestess). However the office of saiin was not instituted until A.D. 810 and altogether there were thirty-five priestesses before the custom was abandoned in the early thirteenth century. It was modeled on the saio of Ise the first of whom was said to have brought the goshintai (“sacred body”) of Amaterasu from the imperial court and installed it in the Naiku of Ise Jingu. Traditionally, the saiin proceeded from her isolated lodgings situated between the Kamigamo and Shimogamo shrines while another procession proceeded from the palace. The two groups met up on the way to enter the shrines together

—Page 122

[musubi-sama]

Spent my birthday exploring more shrines, temples, and gardens. And my favorite, receiving goshuin.

[weerentheworld]

Sound on for crows

[killersholiday]

[radioshiga]

Kyoto celebra Ano Novo com tradicional jogo de kemari

Kyoto, Japão, 6 de janeiro de 2025 (NHK) – Como parte das celebrações de Ano Novo, o tradicional jogo japonês “kemari” foi encenado no Santuário Shimogamo, em Kyoto, um local declarado Patrimônio Mundial pela UNESCO. A prática remonta ao período Heian, entre os séculos VIII e XII, quando era popular entre a nobreza japonesa. Realizado no dia 4 de janeiro todos os anos, o ritual reuniu oito…

[eduseyes]

Welcome to 2024 at Shimogamo Shrine 下鴨神社

[ishido-enjoyer]

My first trip to Japan - Day 5 & 6

Day 5 started with a visit to Shimogamo-jinja, one of Kyoto’s oldest Shinto shrines, a little northwest of the Imperial Palace. I bought an omikuji (fortune slip) to dip into the water, but when the text appeared it was too blurry for my translation app to read. :/ It was a beautiful little place though, and the surrounding forest was a nice escape from the heat.

After that, it was on to the Imperial Palace. Access is only permitted to the palace grounds, you don’t get to actually go inside any of the buildings. As far as royal residences go, it struck me as surprisingly modest and underwhelming, especially compared to the old palaces of European royalty where ostentation was maximized. It made for a nice contrast with my next destination, Nijo Castle, built by Tokugawa Ieyasu after he became Shogun. For a higher ticket price, you can go inside the main palace (Ninomaru). Each room’s screens are painted with different themes meant to either impress or intimidate those visiting the Shogun with imagery symbolizing Tokugawa strength, wealth, longevity etc. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos of the building’s interior.

I had planned to visit Daitoku-ji and the onsen south of it afterwards, but I was pretty done in by the time I left Nijo.

This morning the sky was cloudless and the heat gearing up to be even worse than the previous day, so I took the train to Fushimi Inari Taisha at around 6AM. There was still a fairly decent crowd, but not anywhere near as bad as it was by the time I left. I really underestimated how hard this particular trek would be, and the heat definitely didn’t help. At one point I reached a gorgeous viewpoint, and thought surely I must be close to the top… until I beheld this map of demoralization posted helpfully at the foot of the next stairway (note where the “You are here” is):

The closer I got to the mountain top, the smaller the crowd became. Most of the people who started the hike didn’t go all the way to the top. By the time I made it up there, my clothes were basically glued to my body. There’s no special viewpoint or anything at the top either, just a little shrine, so it felt a bit anticlimactic, but given that my cardio isn’t great and I don’t deal well with heat in general, it was just satisfying to be able to say I did it.

On the way up there was a guy doing the hike in a pair of leather business loafers. No idea if he made it to the top.

The heatwave doesn’t seem like it’s going to let up for the rest of my time here. :/ My tentative plan for tomorrow is to try to go to Sekigahara, which should be about 1 hour and 40 minutes by train, so I’m gonna try to get up at the crack of dawn. Pocari Sweat from the vending machines is my new best friend.

[itsmarjudgelove]

Yabusame(流鏑馬) is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets. This style of archery has its origins at the beginning of the Kamakura period. Minamoto no Yoritomo became alarmed at the lack of archery skills his samurai possessed. He organized yabusame as a form of practice.

Nowadays, the best places to see yabusame performed are at the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in Kamakura and Shimogamo Shrine in Kyoto (during Aoi Matsuri in early May). It is also performed in Samukawa and on the beach at Zushi, as well as other locations.

[chitaka45]

京都　達磨寺(法輪寺) 干支土鈴

kyoto daruma-dera

京都　大豊神社　狛巳　干支土鈴

kyoto otoyo-jinja

京都　下鴨神社　絵馬

kyoto shimogamo-jinja

京都　護王神社　絵馬

kyoto goo-jija

[lilacroads]

shimogamo shrine (2025/1/1)

[kyotodreamtrips]

Shimogamo Shrine in the North of Kyoto is a special place. The Dragon ema is always special.

[tenjin-no-shinja]

Mitarashi Festival 2023 御手洗祭

I went to the Mitarashi Festival at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine.  They also had a bunch of Tanabata Festival decorations up.

Like at Shimogamo Shrine, we walked to the creek and lit candles. The colors of candles have various meanings. Blue candles are used to improve one's artistic ability and sports performance, red candles are used to bring good luck and family happiness, yellow candles are used to improve one's financial fortune and bring good luck and fortune, white candles are used to fulfill one's wishes and find employment, and purple candles are used to ensure one's safety and prolong one's life.

The festival got its start at Shimogamo Shrine, and is where the famous Mitarashi Dango were invented.  The name comes from the place where you perform ritual hand washing before entering the shrine, hence "Hand Washing Festival". The festival itself is to pray for good health and a long life, while you wade through a stream.  I've included pictures from the Shimogamo Mitarashi Festival below as well!

[theluminousgalaxy22]

To learn more on why I made this painting consider reading my newest article below!