USHIJIMA-JINJA = USHIJIMA SHRINE was founded in around 860 AD by the great Buddhist leader Jikaku Daishi (794-864) who was a priest of the Tendai school. There was floodplain in this area on the east bank of the Sumida river at the time of the first shrine construction. As cattle was grazing here the place was called Ushijima = Cow Island. Hence the name of the shrine. Even during most of the Edo period (1603-1868) this bank of the river was mainly grassland and was rather rustic.
Prior to the Meiji era (1868-1912) this area of present day Sumida-ku Honjo was officially called Ushima, which is abbreviated from Ushijima.
It is the main shrine of the Honjo neighbourhood in Sumida ward. Legend has it that in 1251 the shrine was visited by a bull demon which dropped a knot of hair as it ran around the shrine. The hair knot was enshrined as a sacred treasure.
On the approach to every Shinto shrine there is a gateway erected – the Tórii. The word tórii literally means a bird perch and was derived from the Indian word “torana” 🙂 think of German word Tor, English word door. Indian torana however has three cross-bars on the top whereas the Japanese torii has two of them. Do you still remember my article STREETS? I write about Kamakura Ichi no tórii, Ni no tórii, San no tórii = the first, the second, the third gate. These tórii are the birds´honorable perchesNi no tórii = The Second Gate. I can bet that you would be able to guess the inscription on the gate. 🙂 Yeees, it reads USHIJIMA JINJABeautiful hall of worship can be seen behind the tripple Myójin tórii. It is believed that Minamoto Yoritomo had this shrine built in 1181. We have visited his burial place in my article KAMAKURA SHOGUNATEWe can admire this very rare type of shinto gate – Miwa torii, special to the Miwa shrine – Ómiwa Jinja in Sakurai Nara. This type of torii has two more side torii beside the main one = two smaller torii attached on both sides of it. The top bar = kasaki, the bar bellow kasaki, which is a reinforcement of kasaki = shimaki. Notice that both kasaki and shimaki are inclined upwards at both ends, this makes it a Myojin torii. This is a triple Myójin toriiHaiden = the hall of worship, or the front shrine, because it is placed in front of the main sanctuary = Honden. Haiden and Honden are interconnected with a room between them under one roof. This style is called gongen-zukuri style. People pray in front of the Haiden as Honden is not accessible – because kami is enshrined there. Haiden is made of cypress wood. This beutifully decorated Haiden seen in the picture is made of Japanese cypress woodKomainu = Lion dog wooden carving under the roof of Haiden carved of cyprus woodTwo Komainu at the corner – wooden carving, cyprussThis woodcarving depicts the Japanese dragon, which is also associated with Shinto shrines. Dragons are worshipped as water kami and is important for agriculture – prayers are addressed to him concerning rain, crops, good catch of fishermenCypress wood carvings under the Haiden roof are really gorgeous. Bird motifs occur in Shinto shrines, the cock is highly regarded, but other birds can be seen, tooNadeushi shrine – nade means to touch, to stroke…, ushi means cowNadeushi = the stroking cow, was donated to the shrine in 1824. According to the legend this Nadeushi will heal your wounds. If you have some wound to heal or some painful area, stroke it, then stroke respective spot at Nadeushi and it will speed the healing or your recovery
This guardian dog Komainu is guarding Ema – those small wooden plaques with paintings and prayers or wishes. E = picture, ma = horse – picture horse. They are kept in the shrine and Kami – gods or spirits are believed to receive them. Long time ago a live horse was offered to a shrine, the idea being that the god would ride it. The horse thus offered is called “Shimme” = god´s horse. Many live horses offered to a shrine… think of it… + not many people could afford to offer a live horse. Thus some 700 years ago an horse of wood, metal, clay, paper or a painted horse was offeredStill life with O-mikuji – For a small offering choose your O-mikuji – fortune slip. Hopefully you are lucky and your fortune is good. To make it even better you can attach it here in the shrine. If your fortune is not as good, then definitely leave it here in the shrine to make it not to function and change for the better 🙂
