Japan Australia Pages

Showing posts with label Shrine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shrine. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Cherry Blossoms at Gifu Gokoku Shrine

This year the cherry blossoms reached peak bloom a lot earlier than usual in Gifu City. I just had to pick up my camera and head out to explore some of my favourite sakura spots in Gifu. First up is Gifu Gokoku Shrine which is close to the Nagara River.

Gifu Gokoku Shrine is a Shinto shrine located at the base of Mount Kinka near Gifu Park in Gifu City. The shrine is dedicated to the residents of Gifu Prefecture who have died in wars since the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

History

Plans to construct the shrine were made after the Russo-Japanese War ended in 1905, but actual construction did not start until 1939 and was completed in 1940. 

The Entrance to Gifu Gokoku Shrine
 

Cherry Blossoms

Gifu Gokoku Shrine is known for its sakura (cherry blossoms) in spring. There are a few cherry blossom trees in the shrine’s precincts, but the best spot is along the road just outside the shrine leading to the Nagara Bridge, where you can catch the beautiful blossoms with amazing views of the Nagara River as well as the shrine architecture. 

Cherry Blossoms at Gifu Gokoku Shrine

 
Stone Lantern and Cherry Blossoms at Gifu Gokoku Shrine

Shrine Gate and Cherry Blossoms
 

The shrine is also famous for its ukai-zakura cherry blossom tree, which is one of the earliest bloomers in Gifu City. The large tree was planted over 100 years ago and is about 8 meters tall. The stunning tree received its name (ukai-zakura) because it is said that its blossoms can predict the amount of ayu (sweet fish) caught during the upcoming ukai (cormorant fishing) season. A bumper bloom means a lot of delicious ayu and a good ukai season.

The tree hadn’t quite reached peak bloom during my visit on March 26, 2021, but still looked beautiful anyway. 

Ukai Zakura at Gifu Gokoku Shrine

 
Cherry Blossoms at Gifu Gokoku Shrine

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Kifune Shrine - A Hidden Gem of Kyoto

Kifune Shrine Staircase
Kifune Shrine is a hidden gem of Kyoto tucked away in a rural village near Kurama in the mountains of northern Kyoto. This charming shrine is full of history and natural beauty, but is often overlooked by tourists on their travels in Kyoto due to its remote location.

The ancient shrine is only 30-minutes from downtown Kyoto, but it feels like a world away from the hustle and bustle of Kyoto with its calm and tranquility.

Kifune Shrine is probably most famous for its stone staircase which is lined with beautiful red wooden lanterns. A walk up the well-worn staircase to Kifune Shrine’s main hall will take you away to another time and place and is truly a magical experience.

Kifune Shrine Staircase
Kifune Shrine Staircase | Photo: Chi King on Wikimedia Commons

According to legend, a goddess traveled in a boat from Osaka all the way up the river into the mountains north of Kyoto. The location of where her boat journey had come to an end was honoured by building a shrine on the sacred site.

Kifune Shrine enshrines the god of water and rain and at 1,600 years old is actually older than Kyoto itself. The shrine received Imperial patronage during the early Heian period (794-1185) and as such was a place that imperial envoys used to visit in order to pray for rain. It wasn’t just royalty that visited the shrine, farmers and sake brewers also traditionally paid homage to pray for rain in order to grow good crops.

First Torii Shrine Gate
The First Torii Shrine Gate | Photo: Yanajin33 on Wikimedia Commons

If you are looking to escape the summer heat of Kyoto, which is one of the hottest places in Japan during mid-summer, the shrine is an oasis due to its fresh mountain air and cool stream which help to keep the grounds cool and comfortable.

In summer, many restaurants and ryokan (traditional inns) in the area serve meals out on platforms built over the cool pure mountain water of the Kibune River. This style of dining is called kawadoko in Japanese, and is a relaxing way to enjoy a traditional kaiseki meal and beat the heat.

Kawadoko Along the Kibune River
Kawadoko Along the Kibune River | Photo: 663highland on Wikimedia Commons

If you are planning to visit Kyoto, definitely put Kifune Shrine down on your list of places to visit. 

Friday, January 9, 2015

Hatsumode at Kogane Jinja in Gifu

Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu
This year we made our first shrine visit of the New Year (hatsumode) at Kogane Jinja in Gifu City. Hatsumode (初詣) is the Japanese tradition of visiting a shrine or temple during the first few days of the New Year. This is usually around January 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

The main purpose of hatsumode is to pray for health, happiness and success for the year ahead.

Kogane Jinja (金神社) is one of Gifu’s most famous Shinto shrines and is conveniently located in the city center. The shrine was founded way back in 135 and has long been considered a place to pray for financial blessings in Gifu.

Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu
Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu City

This year we chose Kogane Jinja because we wanted to avoid all the crowds at Gifu’s main shrine, Inaba Jinja as well as pray for a financial successful year. This is important to us as we recently had a baby and we need all the financial help we can at the moment with just me working to support the family.

Kogane Jinja has been destroyed and rebuilt on several occasions with the current structure built in 1988. The shrine has a nice feel to it and is always a popular place in Gifu to pray as it is so conveniently located to the downtown area.

The enshrined god at Kogane Jinja is the goddess, Nunoshihime-no-mikoto, who is the wife of Inishiki-Irihiko-no-mikoto, the god of Inaba Shrine.


the Main Shrine Gate at Kogane Jinja
The Main Shrine Gate at Kogane Jinja

We made our hatsumode at Inaba Jinja last year, which you can read about on this post.

The New Year’s period is always the busiest time for Kogane Jinja, with an estimated 150,000 worshipers visiting the shrine over the three-day period (January 1st ,2nd ,3rd).

Here are a few customs and traditions we followed for our hatsumode at Kogane Jinja:

Osaisen 


Osaisen (賽銭) is the custom of offering money to the gods at the shrine for good luck. Simply throw a small coin (5 yen is best) into the saisen-bako (賽銭箱) donation box, bow twice, clap twice, pray to the gods for a happy and prosperous year and bow once again as you finish. Why is a 5 yen coin the best? Because go-en (5 yen in Japanese) means chance, fate or destiny, and is considered lucky and to bring about good fortune.

Osaisen at Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu
Osaisen at Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu

Omikuji 


Omikuji (おみくじ) is another common custom when visiting a Shinto shrine in Japan. You can buy an omikuji at many different locations around the shrine for 100 yen. It is basically a fortune written on a small piece of paper. There are typically twelve different kinds of fortune you can receive ranging from good to bad. Don’t worry if you receive a bad fortune, simply tie it onto the special rack or tree on the shrine grounds, and this will ensure that the prediction will not come true. Remember to keep it if you receive a good one.

Omikuji at Inaba Jinja Shrine in Gifu
Omikuji at Inaba Jinja Shrine in Gifu City

Hamaya 


Hamaya (破魔矢) is a decorative wooden arrow sold at shrines to ward off misfortune and attract good luck. It is traditionally only available during the first few days of the year. They are sometimes also called ‘demon-breaking arrows’. Each shrine has its own unique design and they make a very cool decoration for your genkan (entrance at home) or souvenir. Traditionally, they are placed at the north-east and south-west corners of the house to protect against evil spirits. It is believed that these parts of the house are the most susceptible to evil influences. This year is the Year of the Sheep, so hamaya will feature a wooden wishing plaque called an ema (絵馬) with a sheep.

Hamaya from Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu
Hamaya from Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu

Ema Wooden Wishing Plaque
Ema ~ Wooden Wishing Plaque from Kogane Jinja Shrine

Amazake 


Amazake (甘酒) is one of my favourite New Year traditions at a shrine in Japan. It is a sweet traditional Japanese sake that is usually drunk to celebrate a special occasion such as the New Year.

A great way to finish off your hatsumode is by drinking a cup of steaming hot amazake by the bon-fire at the shrine.

Kogane Jinja Homepage


Kitsune at Kogane Jinja Shrine in Gifu
Kogane Jinja

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Cherry Blossoms at Inaba Shrine Gifu

Inaba Jinja Shrine (伊奈波神社) is a Shinto shrine located at the foot of Mount Kinka in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture. The shrine is one of the three major Shinto shrines of Gifu City, and is the biggest and most famous. It is a popular spot for hatsumode (first shrine visit of the New Year) and Shichi-Go-San. The shrine has a history of over 1,900 years and was first built in the year 85 AD when Emperor Keiko dedicated the land for a shrine. The god Inishiki-Irihiko-no-Mikoto is enshrined and worshipped here. The shrine was moved to its present location by the samurai warlord, Saito Dosan in 1539. Saito Dosan is widely credited with creating Gifu City as we know it today, and has his own festival on the first Saturday of April, that honours his brave feats. I hope to blog about the festival in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Hatsumode ~ First Shrine Visit of the New Year

Happy New Year everyone from all of us here at Japan Australia! Today, January 2nd, we paid our first shrine visit of the New Year 2014. This custom is called hatsumode (初詣) in Japanese. It is tradition in Japan to visit a shrine or temple during the first few days of the New Year, usually January 1st, 2nd or 3rd. The main purpose of the visit is to pray for health, happiness and success.

We visited Inaba Jinja, which is the biggest and most famous shrine in Gifu City. Inaba Jinja or Inaba Shrine (伊奈波神社) was founded in 85 AD, so has a history of over 1900 years. It is a pretty special place to welcome in the New Year or visit for hatsumode.

Inaba Shrine in Gifu City

The crowds weren't too bad for New Year’s and we managed to do everything we wanted to do in around 90 minutes. The shrine had a fun festival atmosphere about it with the street vendors out in force, selling all kinds of Japanese festival food. The people around us were in a great festive mode as well and everyone was polite while paying their respects for hatsumode.

Street Vendors at Inaba Shrine

Here are some of the common customs done at hatsumode:

Osaisen 


Upon reaching the main shrine, a common custom is osaisen (賽銭), which is money offered to the gods for good luck. Simply throw a small coin like a 5 or 10 yen coin (5 yen is best) into the saisen-bako (賽銭箱) donation box, bow twice, clap twice, then pray to the gods for a happy and prosperous New Year. 

Osaisen at the main shrine

Omikuji 


Another common custom for hatsumode is to buy an omikuji, which is a fortune written on a small piece of paper. These cost 100 yen and can be purchased from many different locations around the shrine. There are typically twelve different kinds of fortune you can receive, but don’t worry! If your omikuji predicts bad luck, simply tie it onto the special rack or tree on the shrine grounds. This will ensure that the prediction will not come true. This year, I received Dai-kichi (大吉) ~ Great Blessing, which is the luckiest omikuji you can receive. Yatta!

Omikuji at Inaba Shrine

Yatta! I was lucky to get Dai-kichi ~ Great Blessing!

Hamaya 


A popular item sold during the New Year at Shinto shrines is a hamaya. It is a special good luck charm that is traditionally only available during the first few days of the year. A hamaya is basically a decorative wooden arrow sold at shrines to ward off misfortune and attract good luck. They are sometimes called “demon-breaking arrows”. Each shrine has its own unique design and they make a very cool decoration for your genkan (entrance at home) or souvenir. Traditionally, the custom was to place the hamaya at the north-east and south-west corners of the house, which were the most susceptible to evil influences. This year is the Year of the Horse, so hamaya will feature an ema with a horse.

Hamaya at Inaba Shrine

Amazake 


Amazake (甘酒) is a traditional sweet Japanese sake usually drunk to celebrate a special occasion such as the New Year. We finished off our hatsumode visit to Inaba Shrine with a cup of steaming hot amazake by the bon-fire. It was a great visit and we hope that 2014 will be a great year for Japan Australia and all our friends and followers.

Welcome to the New Year at Inaba Shrine


Hatsumode at Inaba Shrine in Gifu 

Share This via Social Media

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...