User:Immanuelle/Nyakuichiōji Shrine

Immanuelle/Nyakuichiōji Shrine
Religion
Affiliation	Shinto
Glossary of Shinto

Nyakuichiōji Shrine (若一王子神社, Nyakuichiōji jinja) is a shrine located in Omachi, Ōmachi, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture . Its former Rank was that of a prefectural shrine, but it is currently a beppyo shrine under the Association of Shinto Shrines.

It worships Nyakuichiōji

Worshipped deities

The following five gods are enshrined here:

• Nyakuichiōji – A god enshrined in the fifth shrine Kumano Nachi Taisha
• Amaterasu Omikami
• Izanami-no-Mikoto
• King Nishinao
• Princess Imoya

history

Nyakuichiōji Shrine is said to have originated during the reign of Emperor Suinin, when Prince Nishina, who ruled the area, built a shrine dedicated to Izanami-no-Mikoto, the goddess of water.

The location where it was built was near a waterway called a "seki" (dam) that was developed by the Nishina clan during the Kamakura period, and was an important location for diverting water into the city center.

The temple was founded in the Kamakura period when Nishina Morito, a local lord who ruled the Azumi County area, made a pilgrimage to Kumano Gongen in Kii Province and invited Nyakuichiōji, who is enshrined in the fifth hall of Nachi Taisha, to be the guardian deity of Nishina Manor . Since then, the temple has been called "Nyakuichi no Miya" (Nyakuichioji Temple, Oji Gongen). During this time, Morito gained the favor of Emperor Go-Toba and served him as a Western Guard warrior . When the Nishina clan was destroyed along with their lord the Takeda clan, the rulers of Japan after Oda Nobunaga made Azumi County the territory of successive lords of Matsumoto Castle and came under the protection of the Matsumoto Domain .

During the Meiji era, when Shinto and Buddhism were separated, the temple name was abolished and the shrine was renamed to its current name. In 1931 ( Showa 6), it was promoted to a prefectural shrine, and in 1976 (Showa 51), it was added to the list of beppyo shrines of the Association of Shinto Shrines.

Shinto-Buddhist syncretism

The shrine features both torii gates and shrine buildings, as seen in Shinto shrines, and Kannon halls and three-storied pagodas, as seen in Buddhist temples, coexisting within the same precincts, preserving the appearance of syncretism between Shinto and Buddhism. It is said that the Nyakui Onji Shrine was preserved in this form because, during the Meiji Restoration, in response to the movement to abolish Buddhism initiated by the Matsumoto domain, the predecessors ingeniously built small embankments between each building, arguing that the shrine and the temple were separate entities. .

Torii gate and three-story pagoda of Nyakuiichioji Shrine

Temple grounds

Main Hall

Kannon Hall (photographed on October 21, 2023)

Three-story pagoda (photographed on October 21, 2023)

Beech trees growing within the temple grounds (photographed on October 21, 2023)

The main hall was built by Nishina Moriyasu in 1556 and is designated as an Important Cultural Property. The worship hall was donated to the temple in 1975 as part of the former shrine building of Ise Grand Shrine .

The Kannon Hall to the east of the main hall houses a statue of the Eleven-Headed Kannon, which is said to be the local Buddha of Prince Nyakui. There is also a three-story pagoda.

building

The main buildings within the grounds are as follows:

Main Hall (Important Cultural Property)

The one-bay shrine is made in the Kasuga style with wooden corners and a cypress bark roof.

Kannon Hall (Nagano Prefectural Treasure)

Built in 1706 ( Hoei 3). The building is three bays wide, has a hipped roof, thatched roof and a gabled entrance. A one-ken shingled roof is installed at the front.

A palace (shrine) is placed in the inner sanctuary. The palace is a one-bay, hip-and-gabled building with a gabled entrance and horizontal board roof.

There are carvings of celestial maidens on the handrails inside the veranda and a carving of a kirin on the front toad-legs. In the center of the outer sanctuary ceiling is a ink-painted dragon, and the inner sanctuary has a coffered ceiling with brightly colored flowers and birds painted between the coffers.

The Kannon Hall houses a bronze eleven-headed Kannon seated statue with its remains (Nagano Prefecture Treasure) and a wooden standing statue of the eleven-headed Kannon Bodhisattva (Omachi City Tangible Cultural Property).

The Nagano Prefectural Treasure, the bronze eleven-faced seated Kannon statue, is the principal image of the Kannon Hall and is said to be the local Buddha of Prince Nyakuicho. The statue is 19 centimetres tall, and the panel has been removed, leaving only the Buddha body. On the other hand, the wooden standing statue of Eleven-Headed Kannon Bodhisattva is made of cypress wood and inlaid with wood, and parts of it were destroyed by fire.

Three-story pagoda

It was built in 1711 (8th year of the Hoei era) with the support of Mokishoku Sankyo. It has three bays, three sides and a thatched roof.

On the lower floor, there are seated statues of the Five Wisdom Buddhas (Mahavairocana, Akshobhna, Treasures of Wisdom, Amitabha and Shaka Buddha).

Inside the toad-leg structure on the first floor are carved figures of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals with human bodies and animal faces.

Other buildings

It houses a worship hall, a shrine office, Gokoku Shrine, and Yasaka Shrine.

Shrine forest

On April 30, 1965, 17,186.4 m² was designated Natural monument by Nagano Prefecture.

The shrine grove is surrounded by coniferous trees, mainly cedars, but there are also scattered broadleaf trees and one beech tree .

Festivals

Origin of Nyakuichioji Shrine (photographed on October 21, 2023)

The annual festivals are as follows:

Annual Festival

• July 17

Annual celebration festival

• Fourth Sunday in July
• Yabusame Ritual
• Stage Events

Omachi Yabusame

(Source: )

• The Yabusame of Nyakuichioji Shrine, popularly known as Omachi Yabusame, is said to be one of the three major Yabusame in Japan, along with Tsurugaoka Hachimangū in Kamakura and Kamo Shrine in Kyoto, and was brought to the area by the Nishina clan, who ruled the area for around 500 years from the Heian period through to the Kamakura period. It is said that this tradition began in 829, when Emperor Go-Toba issues the order to pursue and kill Hōjō Yoshitoki, and Nishina Morito offered a yabusame performance before the altar and prayed for good fortune in battle before setting out for battle. Nishina had a deep knowledge of Yabusame at Kamo Shrine, and is said to have brought it to his hometown of Omachi.
• Until the Meiji Restoration, it was held jointly with Nishina Shinmei Shrine . The same archers performed the event at Nishina Shinmei Shrine on June 16th of the lunar calendar, and at Nyakuichioji Shrine the following day, the 17th, covering a distance of about two ri (approximately 2 ri), but after the Meiji Restoration, they began to hold the event separately. In Omachi, Shigeemon Ito of Kaminakacho proposed selecting archers from among the general parishioners, and donated horse equipment and costumes from his own pocket to each neighborhood, laying the foundation for the Omachi Yabusame, in which ten horsemen from ten neighborhoods compete as they do today. In 1971, it was designated a folk cultural property of Omachi City, and in 2001, it was designated by Nagano Prefecture. ( List of cultural properties designated by Nagano Prefecture)
• A distinctive feature of Omachi Yabusame is that the archers are young boys between the ages of six and nine. The boy has makeup on his face, wears hunting clothes and a battle kimono, and is dressed as an archer, carrying a long sword and a Shigefuji bow, with arrows in his quiver. As a child of God possessed by God, I take great care to ensure that my feet do not touch the ground. The archers are called bobo by the locals, and the horses that the bobos ride are accompanied by mouthpieces, fan holders, hat holders, bodyguards, bow carriers, and attendants, all dressed in old-fashioned attire, and the sight of them parading around to the chant of "Hao, hao, hao" gives the performance the appearance of a feudal lord's procession.

Cultural Assets

Important Cultural Property (重要文化財)

• Main Shrine (本殿)

Nagano Prefecture Treasure (Nagano Prefecture Designated Tangible Cultural Property) (長野県宝（長野県指定有形文化財）)

• Three-Storied Pagoda
• Statue of the Eleven-Faced Kannon, Remaining Part (十一面観音坐像御正体残闕)

Nagano Prefecture Designated Intangible Folk Cultural Property (長野県指定無形民俗文化財)

• Yabusame (Archery on horseback) (流鏑馬)

Nagano Prefecture Designated Natural Monument (長野県指定天然記念物)

• Shrine Grove (社叢)

Omachi City Designated Tangible Cultural Property (大町市指定有形文化財)

• Kannon Hall and its Repository (観音堂および厨子)
• Standing Statue of the Eleven-Faced Kannon (十一面観音立像)
• Former Portable Shrine of Yasaka Shrine (八坂神社の旧神輿)

Traffic access

• Approximately 10 minutes walk from Kita-Ōmachi Station on the JR Ōito Line

Gallery

• 
  Yabusame archery event at Nyakuichiouji Shrine (photographed on July 22, 2018)
• 
  Archers on horseback at Nyakuichiouji Shrine (photographed on July 22, 2018)
• 
  Traditional horseback archery at Nyakuichiouji Shrine (photographed on July 22, 2018)
• 
  Yabusame ceremony scene at Nyakuichiouji Shrine (photographed on July 22, 2018)
• 
  Close-up of a Yabusame archer at Nyakuichiouji Shrine (photographed on July 22, 2018)
• 
  Yabusame target hitting at Nyakuichiouji Shrine (photographed on July 22, 2018)
• 
  General view of Nyakuichiouji Shrine
• 
  Sanshuden Hall at Nyakuichiouji Shrine (photographed on July 22, 2018)
• 
  Entrance gate of Nyakuichiouji Shrine
• 
  View of the approach to the shrine from the public road (photographed on July 22, 2018)
• 
  Inner garden of Nyakuichiouji Shrine
• 
  Night view of lanterns at Nyakuichiouji Shrine
• 
  Three-story pagoda at Nyakuoji Shrine in Omachi City
• 
  Yasaka Shrine at Nyakuoji Shrine in Omachi City
• 
  Information plaque about Yasaka Shrine at Nyakuoji Shrine (photographed on October 21, 2023)
• 
  Ancient beech tree at Nyakuoji Shrine
• 
  Main hall of Nyakuoji Shrine
• 
  Historical marker at Nyakuoji Shrine
• 
  Kannon hall at Nyakuoji Shrine
• 
  Torii gate and three-story pagoda at Nyakuoji Shrine

Related pages

• List of cultural properties designated by Nagano Prefecture
• Mr. Nishina
• Nishina-so
• Danseiji Temple

Related websites

• 若一王子神社 - 公式ウェブサイト
• 若一王子神社 - 信濃大町なび（大町市観光協会）

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simple:User:Immanuelle/Nyakuichiōji Shrine
• Nyack College
• Shinto shrines in Nagano Prefecture
• Kumano faith
• Shinbutsu shūgō
• Important Cultural Properties of Japan
• Important Cultural Properties of Nagano Prefecture
• Nagano Prefecture designated tangible cultural property
• Beppyo shrines
• Shinto shrines in Nagano Prefecture
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Pages with unreviewed translations
• Fuken-sha