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Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine The shrine is situated at the peak of Mt. Otokoyama in the
historical city The temple was greatly venerated by the court and imperial family as a shrine to guard the country. A temporary festival took place after the rebellion by Taira no Masakado and Fujiwara Sumitomo and became popular as an annual court festival in southern Kyoto along with the royal festival held in Kamo in northern Kyoto. The Ki family, descendants of monk Gyokyo, had control over the shrine. In the mountainous area of Otokoyama are many related temples and shrines, and Buddhist style ceremonies before the Hachimangu Shrine were continued until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Samurai Warriors "Tsurezuregusa" (Random Thoughts from My Leisure Hours), a miscellany in the zuihitsu (random jottings) authored by Yoshida Kenko, contains a famous story connected with Hachimangu Shrine: a Buddhist priest of Ninna-ji Temple mistook the magnificent Gokuraku Temple and Kora Shrine at the foot of the mountain for Hachimangu Shrine, and returned home without even visiting Hachimangu Shrine at the top of the mountain. Minamoto Yoshiie celebrated his coming of age before Hachimangu Shrine and called himself Hachiman Taro. For this reason, the shrine was worshiped by samurai warriors as the Minamoto family's deity or the god of battle. In the Muromachi Period (1333-1568), the shrine was frequently visited by Shoguns because the mother of the 3rd Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had come from the Ki family. The 6th Shogun was chosen by lot at the shrine. Historical value The shrine building was in the hachiman-zukuri style. The main shrine consists of a series of three buildings. In front of the main shrine is an outer shrine of the same scale, surrounded by corridors. Between the main hall and the outer hall is a golden tub, which was contributed by Oda Nobunaga (1534-82), a military hegemon, in 1580. The present shrine was constructed by the 3rd Shogun of the
Edo Period, Tokugawa Iemitsu (designated important cultural property).
Source: The Yawata municipal government |
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