Shinto Shrines: A Guide to the Sacred Sites of Japan's Ancient Religion

CHUGOKU AND KINKI

CHUGOKU AND KINKI 230 CHUGOKU AND KINKI CHUGOKU AND KINKI 231 Hiyoshi Taisha I mportant physical features: Hiyoshi Taisha is approached from the eastern slope of Mount Hiei, facing Lake Biwa. The train brings you to the town of Sakamoto, which has since the Heian period been the temple town (monzen-machi) that developed along with the religious complex of Mount Hiei. You encounter   torii about 10 minutes from the station. Continuing through the torii brings you to a red torii to the right and the entrance to the grounds. From here you cross a bridge and shortly after encounter the sanno torii, which originated from this shrine. Its appearance is unusual in that it has a gable-shaped structure set above the upper horizontal lintel. The grounds of Hiyoshi Taisha are divided intotheNishiHonguandHigashiHongu(western and eastern compounds), located about three hundred yards apart and each with an almost identical honden, haiden, and romon. If you continue straight down the road from the sanno torii, you come to the romon gate of the western compound, built in 1595. After passing through you encounter an open-sided haiden, also dating to 1595, then the honden with its hie-zukuri         structure with an irimoya-zukuri roof that is truncated on the back side and surfaced in cypress bark. It has no chigi or katsuogi. The interior has a three-by-two-bay core called a moya and a one-bay corridor called a hisashi. The latter is slightly lower in height and surrounds the moya on the front and sides. The walls are made of horizontal wooden boards, and a veranda encircles the entire building. The roof on the front side is greatly extended to cover the stairs in the center. Its corners curve Haiden and honden of Hiyoshi's Nishi Hongu 0  # MAP 1 DATE FOUNDED: The foundation date is not clear, but worship was conducted at the site from at least the seventh century. Expanded by the founder of the Tendai Buddhist sect, Saicho (767–822), from around 806. Many of the current buildings are from the late sixteenth century. ADDRESS: 5-1-1 Sakamoto, Otsu-shi, Shiga 520-0113 TEL/INFORMATION: 077-578-0009 HOW TO GET THERE: Take the IshiyamaSakamoto Line to Keihan Sakamoto Station. From there it’s about 10 minutes on foot. Also the JR Kosei Line to Hieizan Sakamoto Station and then about 20 minutes on foot. ENSHRINED KAMI: Onamuchi (Omononushi ) no kami and Oyamakui (Oyamagui) no kami, and others, collectively known as Hiei Sanno (“mountain king of Hiei”). PRAYERS OFFERED: Divine protection, especially in the years of danger (yakudoshi), and the well-being of the family. BEST TIME TO GO: The fall season around November, when the shrine’s renowned maples are at their best. 232 CHUGOKU AND KINKI upward to form peaks, while those at the back are cut at a diagonal, giving the building its distinctive look. The general impression of this building, constructed in 1586, is as much temple as shrine except for the fact that there are wooden komainu sitting on the veranda. It is also unusual in that a fence does not surround it, as is the case with most honden. To the right of this group is Usagu and to the right of that Shirayamagu. A short walk from here leads to the eastern compound, which was rebuilt in 1595, after the entire site was burned down in 1571. Unlike Nishi Hongu it contains two shrines within the area behind the romon: Jugegu and then the main shrine. The honden of both compounds are designated National Treasures. But there are two additional shrines belonging to Higashi Hongu; the Sannomiyagu (1599) and Ushiogu (1595) on the 1,200-foot hill called Mount Hachioji. An arduous walk uphill takes you to them, beginning at a rough stairway to the left of the romon. They are built on stilts (kake-zukuri) on the side of the mountain. The layout is very unusual, with the entrances to the two shrines directly facing one another. A stone staircase passes between them, at the top of which is a huge boulder called the “golden rock” (kogane no iwa) because it is said to shine like gold in the sun. It is here that the origins of worship at Hiyoshi Taisha are found. I mportant spiritual features: Emperor Tenji invited the kami of Omiwa, Onamuchi (Omononushi) no kami, to be enshrined at Omiya...