This page: Iwatateo Shrine Contents Previous

Iwatateo Shrine

The Iwatateo Shrine has an ancient provenance, since it was mentioned in the Engi shiki, the compilation of court ritual and laws collected in the early decades of the tenth century. The title means literally "rock-shield-tail," a name apparently taken from the presence of a large natural rock formation which was venerated as an expression of non-everyday power; ancient Japanese native religion was centered on the worship of such powers (called kami), which were frequently invited to descend into and possess people and symbolic religious objects, mainly trees called himorogi or rocks called iwasaka. The rock formation here at Iwatateo was apparently one of the latter. The shrine was devoured in fire as part of the battle of Mimase Pass (near Aikawa) in 1569. That battle involved some 30,000 warriors (4,000 or so of whom were killed) as Takeda Shingen advanced from neighboring Yamanashi against the Hôjô clan centered in Odawara; all the old records stored at the shrine were destroyed in that conflagration. Takeda sent the Hôjô limping back to Odawara after the battle, and many of the losing warriors fled deep into the mountains, where they and their immediate families formed the core of new villages which continue to exist today. The shrine was thereafter rebuilt, but it met with disaster again in 1717; according to a sign standing in the shrine's precincts, the oldest of the current buildings (the middle gate) was built in 1724. The shrine is located in the Nakura district on Fujino's eastern border, just above the Sakaigawa Bridge. To return to your previous location, use your browser's "BACK" button, or click your heels together three times while saying, "there's no place like home" . . .

Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
by Norman Havens nhavens@gol.com
Updated: April 20, 2002

URL: http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens/