15 Jan 2016

SHRINES Aoso Jinja Sendai

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. Shinto Shrine (jinja 神社) - Introduction .
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Aoso Jinja 青麻神社 "Green Hemp Shrine", Miyagi, Sendai
宮城県仙台市宮城野区岩切青麻山 / Aosozawa-32 Iwakiri, Miyagino Ward, Sendai



the headquarters of Aoso shrines all over the country. It was founded in 852 by Hozumi Yasumasa 穂積保昌, the ancestor of the current shrine priest’s family, who came to this area from Kyoto. He enshrined
Amaterasu Omikami 天照大御神 (the sun goddess),
Ame no Minakanushi no Kami 天之御中主神 (the god of the universe), and
Tsukuyomi no Kami 月読神 (the god of the moon)
in the cave where holy water sprang out; hereby the shrine is famous as the place where the sun, the stars and the moon are enshrined together.

Yasumasa taught the villagers how to grow hemp plants.
It is said that the shrine name “Aoso,” which literally means Green Hemp, was derived from this episode. The shrine has been known for its divine power to cure and prevent palsy, and it is said that if you visit this shrine three times, you will never be stricken with palsy for the rest of your life.

As the Hozumi clan was involved in maritime industry, the shrine is also worshipped as the deity of navigation safety.
The famous fine water “Osuzu” springs out in the precinct. A lot of visitors come to take a drink of this holy water.
- quote by Nipponkichi -

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Eidai Kagura of the Sakaki School in Tomiya town 富谷町
handed down in Ohgame, is characterized by dancing in ancient ceremonial court costumes derived from a myth, and with drum and flute music. It was originally transmitted from the Shinto commissioner to the 32nd priest of Aoso Shrine in Sendai, and then started to be performed in Kashima Amatariwake Shrine in 1848. Since then it has been continuously transmitted from generation to generation for more than 1500 years. It is now being performed by many citizens as an intangible cultural property of the town. It is recognized as a very rare Kagura that still observes an ancient style of performing only by actions without words or lyrics. Today, this Kagura is performed every year in April in dedication to the god of the shrine.
- source : town.tomiya.miyagi.jp -

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Sakakiryuu Aosa Kagura 榊流青麻神楽 Aoso Kagura


Hinokawa Kami no Mai 肥川上舞(ひのかわかみのまい)

文化四年(西暦1807年)京都神祇伯白川家より伝習。
仙台市無形民俗文化財平成三年十月一日指定全十四座で、神話を題材に一座が二節の所作で成り、発声歌曲は用いず、笛太鼓の曲と舞のみ。調節を尊び、姿整を重んじ、乱舞に流れず、笑曲に失せず、相伝以来の荘重と中庸とを保っている。
春祭の初日と三日に奉納され、境内は森の若葉と相俟て古雅な風情にあふれる。従来湯立神事もあったと伝えるが明治期に廃止、現在に至る。
- source : www12.plala.or.jp/aosojin/kagura-

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shuin 朱印 stamp



omamori お守り amulet



ema 絵馬 votive tables

- - - - - HP of the shrine
- source : www12.plala.or.jp/aosojin -

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Yearly Festivals 年中行事

歳旦祭 -- 1月1日 -- 新年特別祈祷斎行
松納焚上祭 -- 1月14日 -- 午後六時焚上
厄祓 -- 1月~2月節分  
春季例大祭 -- 5月1日~3日 -- 例祭・春祭特別祈祷斎行
榊流青麻神楽奉納 - Kagura
(明治の改暦により旧暦4月1日を新暦5月1日と改める)
春祭中は岩切駅よりバスの便あり。
夏越茅輪くぐり -- 6月晦日  
七五三 -- 11月上~中旬  
秋祭 -- 11月23日 -- 新嘗祭斎行
月次祭 -- 毎月1日

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. Minamoto no Yoshitsune 源の義経 and Aoso Shrine .


. Hitachibo Kaison Sennin 常陸坊海尊仙人 .
Retainer of 源の義経 Yoshitsune
He is venerated at Aoso Jinja as a deity to heal eye diseases 眼病の神.

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. Amaterasu Omikami 天照大神 .

. Ame no Minakanushi no Kami 天之御中主神 .

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- - - - - Tsukiyomi 月読 / 月夜見 (つきよみ) - - - - -
Tsukuyomi no Kami 月読神 , Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto - Deity of the moon
Tsukiyomi no Mikoto 月夜見尊(つきよみのみこと) 月読命
Tsukiyomi no Mikoto Aramitama 月夜見尊荒御魂(つきよみのみことのあらみたま)
Tsukiyumi no Mikoto月弓命



Amulet from Ise Shrine

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Tsukuyomi no mikoto
Other names: Tsuki no kami (Nihongi), Tsukiyumi no mikoto (Nihongi).
The second of Izanagi and Izanami's "three noble children," and usually considered a male kami with rule over the night. The name tsuku-yomi is thought to be originally related to the lunar calendar, and refers to the "reading" (yomu) of the phases of the "moon" (tsuki). According to Kojiki and an "alternate writing" in Nihongi, Tsukuyomi came into being when Izanagi washed his right eye as he was undergoing ablution. Tsukuyomi was entrusted by Izanagi with rule variously over the sea (Nihongi) or over the realm of night (Kojiki). In the main account of Nihongi, Tsukuyomi is produced jointly from Izanagi and Izanami, and is entrusted to the sky as a complement to the sun kami.
In another "alternate writing" related by Nihongi, Tsukuyomi comes into being from the white copper mirror held in Izanagi's right hand. These accounts of the kami's genesis, involving the juxtaposition of left eye to right eye, left hand to right hand, and sun to moon, tend to agree with the interpretation of Tsukuyomi as a male counterpart to Amaterasu, who is commonly considered female.
In Kojiki,
Tsukuyomi does not appear again after the anecdote regarding his birth, but an "alternate writing" in Nihongi relates that Tsukuyomi originally resided together with Amaterasu in heaven, but after killing the kami of foods Ukemochi, he was condemned by Amaterasu as an "evil kami" and forced to live apart from the sun, resulting in the separation of day and night.
Nihongi's record of Emperor Kensō
includes an episode in which a human medium delivers an oracle of the moon kami stating that land should be offered to the kami Takamimusuhi. The fact that the aforementioned "alternate writing" transmitted by Nihongi describes Tsukuyomi as ruler of the sea and killer of the food deity Ukemochi gives him characteristics in common with the kami Susanoo; in consideration of the theme of the killing of the food deity and the relation of the moon to harvest in the lunar calendar, Tsukuyomi can be considered a tutelary of agriculture.
Tsukuyomi
is the object of worship (saijin) at the detached shrine (betsugū) Tsukuyomi no Miya of the Grand Shrines of Ise (Ise Jingū), as well as at several shrines listed in the Engishiki (see shikinaisha) in the Yamashiro and Ise areas.
- source : Mori Mizue, Kokugakuin 2005 -

Tsukiyomi-no-miya 月夜見宮 Shrine for Tsukiyomi
. gekuu, gekū 外宮 Geku Outer shrine complex of Ise .

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Tsukuyomi or Tsukiyomi (月読, also known as Tsukiyomi-no-mikoto),
is the moon god in Shinto and Japanese mythology. The -no-mikoto ending is a common honorific suffix for the names of gods, of similar meaning to "the grand, the great, the exalted". The name "Tsukuyomi" is a compound of the Old Japanese words tsuku (月, "moon, month", becoming modern Japanese tsuki) and yomi (読み, "reading, counting").
The Nihon Shoki mentions this name spelled as Tsukuyumi (月弓, "moon bow"), but this yumi is likely a variation in pronunciation of yomi (読み, "reading, counting").
An alternate interpretation is that his name is a combination of tsukiyo (月夜, "moonlit night") and mi (見, "looking, watching").
"Yomi" may also refer to the Japanese underworld, though this interpretation is unlikely.

Unlike the myths of ancient Greece or Rome, the Japanese moon deity is male. This is clear in the earliest mentions in sources such as the Kojiki and the Man'yōshū, where Tsukuyomi's name is sometimes rendered as Tsukuyomi Otoko (月讀壮士, "moon reading man") or as Tsukihito Otoko (月人壮士, "moon person man").

Tsukuyomi was the second of the "three noble children" (三貴子, みはしらのうずのみこ, Mihashira-no-uzunomiko) born when Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the god who created the first land of Onogoro-shima, was cleansing himself of his sins while bathing after escaping the underworld and the clutches of his enraged dead wife, Izanami-no-Mikoto. Tsukuyomi was born when he washed out of Izanagi's right eye. However, in an alternate story, Tsukuyomi was born from a mirror made of white copper in Izanagi's right hand.

After climbing a celestial ladder, Tsukuyomi lived in the heavens, also known as Takamagahara, with his sister Amaterasu Ōmikami, the sun goddess who also later became his wife.

Tsukuyomi angered Amaterasu when he killed Uke Mochi, the goddess of food. Amaterasu once sent Tsukuyomi to represent her at a feast presented by Uke Mochi. The goddess made the food by turning to the ocean and spitting out a fish, then facing the forest and game came out of her mouth, and finally turned to a rice paddy and coughed up a bowl of rice. Tsukuyomi was utterly disgusted by the fact that, although it looked exquisite, the meal was made in a disgusting manner, and so he killed her.
Soon, Amaterasu learned what happened and she was so angry that she refused to ever look at Tsukuyomi again, forever moving to another part of the sky. This is the reason that day and night are never together.
In later versions of this myth, Uke Mochi is killed by Susanoo instead.
- source : wikipedia -


- quote -
. . . . . Another kami identified with Inari is Uke-mochi, the Shinto goddess of food. According to a myth recorded in the Nihongoki,
Uke vomited rice and fish to give to Tsukiyomi, the Moon Kami, at a banquet. (This may have symbolized the eternal recycling of food from one life form to another.) In any case, Tsukiyomi apparently did not appreciate the gesture, for he killed Uke instantly. Her dead body then produced all the foods and animals that are related to agriculture.
. . . . . According to the legend recounted in the Nihon Shoki (“Chronicles of Japan”), the moon god, Tsukiyomi, was dispatched to earth by his sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, to visit Ukemochi no Kami. (According to the Kojiki, “Records of Ancient Matters,” it was another brother, the storm god Susanoo, who was sent on the mission.) The food goddess welcomed him by facing the land and disgorging from her mouth boiled rice, turning toward the sea and spewing out all kinds of fishes, and turning toward the land and disgorging game. She presented these foods to him at a banquet, but he was displeased at being offered the goddess’s vomit and drew his sword and killed her. When he returned to heaven and informed his sister of what he had done, she became angry and said, “Henceforth I shall not meet you face to face,” which is said to explain why the Sun and Moon are never seen together.
- source : Mark Schumacher -


- Reference : 月夜見尊
- Reference : Tsukiyomi

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. Legends and Tales from Japan 伝説 - Introduction .

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Chiba 千葉県 長生郡 Chosei district

Aoso sama 青麻様 - 天狗 Aoso Sama and Tengu
The 鹿間家の屋敷神 Deity of the House of Shikama is called Aoso Sama. It is Tengu.
On the first day of the fourht and ninth month he is welcomed as the deity of 中風 illness and 赤飯 red festival rice is offered. Since he does not likeカボチャとネギ pumpkin and leek, this family does not prepare them at all.



Tengu from Aoso Jinja 天狗様 青麻神社

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Miyagi, Sendai, 宮城野区 Miyagino Ku

Sobakomezaka 蕎麦米坂 and Aoso Kaido 青麻街道

The Aoso Kaido road passes the slight slope up to 高森城跡 the remains of Takamori Castle.

伊達政宗がこの城の今市某を攻めた時、山城で井戸がなく、水は利府の神谷沢から運んでいるのを知って水の手を絶った。城方は寄せ手を欺き、白米と蕎麦粉を高いところから落として馬の脚を洗うふりをしたが、鴉がとまったので計略がばれて落城する。城の西側、青麻道の辺りに蕎麦米坂というところがあって白い米粒のような砂と蕎麦粉のような砂が見られる。落城した後、米と蕎麦が砂に化したという。

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- source : nichibun yokai database -

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. asa 麻 (あさ) hemp in Japan .

. Shrine, Shinto Shrine (jinja 神社) - Introduction .

- #aosojinja #sendaiaososhrine #tsukiyomi -
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