The precincts of the shrine include eight peaks of the Nikkō Mountains (Mt. Nantai, Mt. Nyōhō, Mt. Tarō, Mt. Oku-Shirane, Mt. Maeshirane, Mt. Omanago, Mt. Komanako, Mt.Akanagi) as well as the Kegon Falls. It covers 3,400 hectares, which is second only to the Ise Grand Shrine in area. The main shrine is located to the west of Nikkō Tōshō-gū where it was relocated to in 1617. The current shrine buildings date from that reconstruction. 11 buildings in the complex, including the Honden, Haiden are designated as national Important Cultural Properties.
The Middle Shrine is located on the shore of Lake Chuzenji. It was built in 1096. The current buildings were reconstructed in 1699. Seven buildings in the complex including the main shrine are designated as national Important Cultural Properties. The Oku-no-miya is located at the summit of Mount Nantai and was founded in 782. Archaeologists have found relics and ritual instruments from the Nara period confirming the site's age, and many of these artifacts have been designated national Important Cultural Properties.
History
The shrine was founded in 767 by Shōdō Shōnin (勝道上人), a Kegon school Buddhist priest who sought a training ground in the northern mountainous area of Shimotsuke Province. The area had been sacred since at least the Yayoi period as Mount Nantai (also called Futarasan (二荒山)) was a sacred mountain worshipped as a go-shintai (御神体) (a yorishiro housing the enshrined kami), as it supplied streams of water, and therefore life, to the plains below, where people lived.[4]
The mountain was the center of this ancient mountain cult, which merged with the Buddhist Shugendō religion.[4] Significantly, the name Nantai (男体) itself means "man's body".[4] The mountain not only provides water to the rice paddies below, but has the shape of the phallic stone rods found in pre-agricultural Jōmon sites.[4]
According to shrine legend, it was visited by Kukai, who built the Takino Shrine, and by Ennin, who built the Sanbutsu-dō, which is now the Main Hall of the temple of Rinnō-ji, and Nikko became a center for the Tendai school of Buddhism. The shrine was relocated a short distance away from the temple to its current location, and together with the original site and the Takino Shrine was collectively called the Nikkō-sansha. During the Heian period, the shrine appears in various national histories, including the 927 AD Engishiki. There is an ongoing controversy as to whether the Engishiki is referring to this shrine, or the Utsunomiya Futarayama Jinja. This controversy extends to the designation of ichinomiya of former Shimotsuke Province, which is likewise claimed by both shrines.[5]
The Sacred Bridge (神橋, shinkyō) crossing the Daiya River belongs to the Futarasan Shrine. This beautiful vermilion lacquered structure is known as one of the three most beautiful bridges in Japan and is a gateway for Nikko. The bridge was registered as a World Heritage in December 1999. The Shinkyo measures 28 meters long, 7.4 meters wide, and stands 10.6 meters above the Daiya River.
According to legend, a priest named Shōdō and his followers climbed Mt. Nantai in the year 766 to pray for national prosperity. They could not cross the fast flowing Daiya River. Shōdō prayed and a 10 foot tall god named Jinja-Daiou appeared with two snakes twisted around his right arm. Jinja-Daiou released the blue and red snakes and they transformed themselves into a rainbow-like bridge covered with sedge, which Shōdō and his followers could use to cross the river. That is why this bridge is sometimes called Yamasugeno-jabashi, which means the "Snake Bridge of Sedge".
The Shinkyō has been rebuilt many times but has followed the same design pattern since 1636, when it could be used only by messengers of the Imperial court. It has been opened to the general public since 1973.
Photo gallery
Haiden
Building housing mikoshi
Hie Shrine
Chinese-style lantern, the Bake-doro ("Ghost Lantern")
Yoshiki, Emi (2007). Zenkoku 'Ichinomiya' tettei gaido (in Japanese). PHP Institute. ISBN978-4569669304.
References
Brown, Delmer M. (1993). The Early Evolution of Historical Consciousness in "Cambridge History of Japan", Vol. 1. Cambridge, New York & Victoria: Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-22352-2.
Encyclopedia of Shinto, Nikkōsan shinkō accessed on September 20, 2009
Iwanami Kōjien (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version
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