March 14, 2009

• Munakata Shrine & Chinkokuji

  Today's "go somewhere" is Munakata Shrine.  It is located near the "K" of Kitakyushu.

  

  

  Here is their tour map and below is their manhole.

  

  

  This is the entrance to Munakata Shrine.  The historical importance will be explained later, because we have some serious rubbernecking to do.

  

  There were a few carp in the pond, and I wanted to get more pictures, but hubby told me to turn around!

  

  That red umbrella can only mean a wedding!!

  

  Let's follow along...

  

  The umbrella is parked and the ceremony is about to begin.

  

  The bride and groom are seated, her family on the left and his on the right.  This was NOT a warm and balmy day, but the ladies take off their coats as this is a formal occasion and to wear them would be impolite.  Everyone has removed their shoes as well, and I imagine they are not comfortable as they freeze their tootsies off.

  

  Friends and bystanders have seating down below.  The peanut gallery does not require removal of coats.

  

  The priest waves a paper pompom on a stick to ward off evil.

  

  The ceremony consists of blessings and an exchange of sake sipping.  Music is provided by the fellows on the right.

  

   A closer view of the band.

  

  The bride has received her ring, and now it is the groom's turn.

  

  Each of the family members also gets a cup of sake to toast the new couple.  That looks like mother in law on the right.  I hope she is nice to the new bride.

  

  Everyone stands for the toast.  They probably could use it right now to warm themselves up!

  

  The happy couple.  If anyone knows where they live, tell me and I will email them the picture.

  

  The photographer poses the couple for their wedding picture.

  

  Is she going to throw a bouquet?

  

  The photographer gets everything ready for the family picture.

  

  Ceremony finished, umbrella stowed for the next time.

  

  The wedding is over, and the family is off to the reception, hopefully for them in a warmer place.  Here is a side view of the Munakata Shrine building.  This shrine is dedicated to the goddess of travel, Ichikishima Himenokami.

  

  People have written their requests on shingles and hung them up.

  

  These small shrines are where "gods" who gather stay during their visits here. There are supposedly 108 of them who come to visit from 75 branch shrines.

  

  Here are some more "godly" hotel rooms.

  

  There is an inner shrine at the back of the main shrine at the top of the stairs.

  

  Oh, there are these stairs, too.

  

  Here is one of the inner shrines. 

  

  For 300 yen you can get one of these good luck talismans.  You write your name on the right side and after splitting it along the groove in the wood, hang it up on the rack.  The other half goes home with you. 

  

  Here is the rack.  I don't believe in the protective powers of a piece of wood, but these made a lovely sound when a breeze passed by.

  

  Look left of the previous shrine to see a "holy area."  There are three steps up to the table that is used as an altar during ceremonies.  This place made me feel a bit creepy, dunno why. A guide book says that this is a divine ritual site where three goddesses descend.

  

  This is an unrelated photogenic tree stump encountered along the path. 

  

  A couple more shrine buildings, #2, dedicated to the goddess Tagori Himenokami, 

  

  and #3, dedicated to the goddess Tagitsu Himenokami. 

  

  This is a side view of #2. 

  

  This is not really interesting contentwise, but I just liked the sun shining on the gold decorations. 

  

  Here is a museum that holds artifacts that have been declared as a national treasure.  There are a couple of island extensions of Munakata Shrine, and these items were found on one of the islands, Okinoshima Island.  The items were mainly those offered to the goddesses, and are of very high quality.  There are vessels, beads, miniatures of objects used in daily life, horse fittings, jewelry and ancient mirrors.  The island was and still is considered holy, and visitors were and are still restricted to limited numbers of male priests.  Hubby was amazed that we were the only visitors to the museum, and was rather disappointed that people don't take more interest in history.  Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed in the building.

  

  Here are the three goddesses, born when their mother, the sun goddess, broke a sword given to her by her husband.  (And they say Biblical creation is hard to believe?)

  Chinkokuji Temple was another place on Hubby's list.  According to Munakata City's website, "This temple is said to be the first temple built by Kobo Daishi (Great Master Kobo, whose posthumous name is Kukai) when he returned from China in 806 (1st year of Daido period). The temple was an appendage of Munakata Taisha and has a structure of shichido garan (seven-structured temple compound). The temple has a standing statue of “Fudo Myo-O” (national treasure), Gobutsu-dou (five Buddha statues: prefecturally-designated cultural property), and Goma-dou (small compound for goma fire ritual).  Now had I known that I might have taken a closer look inside the buildings, as we probably won't be going back there.

  

  

  The fish in the pond were pretty, though.

  

  

  The spring water here is said to be famous.

  

  You can bring your own tanks and fill them up here for free.

  

  This image of Kannon is supposed to be dedicated to the elderly and has powers to protect against senility.

  

  You can buy one of these images and write the name of your favorite elderly relative.  This will help prevent them from becoming senile.

  

  Back down the stairs and heading for the bus stop back to the train station.

  

  This is the hill from which we descended.  Hubby asks what I want for supper.  I tell him anything is fine as long as I don't have to make it. 

  • 07:05
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