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First Internet Edition. All rights reserved. First created: 14 Apr 2006. Last updated: 01 Jan 2008.

 

Supplement 3: In the place where Susa-nö-wo killed the dragon

 

1. Izumo kagura

2. Yaegaki Jinja, dedicated to Susa-nö-wo and his wife Kusi-nada-pime

3. Kumano Jinja, dedicated to Susa-nö-wo and his wife Kusi-nada-pime

4. Susa Jinja, dedicated to Susa-nö-wo and his wife Kusi-nada-pime

5. Hinomisaki Jinja, dedicated to Ama-terasu and her brother Susa-nö-wo

6. Sada Jinja, dedicated to the gods that created Japan

1. Izumo kagura

 

 

The current Shimane Prefecture being the modern political union of the former Provinces of Oki, Iwami, and Izumo, and Susa-nö-wo, after all, having descended to Izumo after being cast out of Heaven, then to perform so many heroic deeds here, it is not surprising that Susa-nö-wo should be one of the more popular deities in Shimane. Evidence of this popularity may be found not only in the numerous Shimane shrines dedicated to him, or to him and his bride Kusi-nada-Pime (known locally as Inata), or to him and his Sun Goddess sister Ama-terasu, but also in the local Kagura dance tradition, which reenacts his slaying – and his extraction of the sword Kusanagi from the tail – of the seasonally rampaging dragon that was, around the time of his descent, threatening the maiden Kusi-nada-Pime, who would, in consequence, become Susa-nö-wo’s bride. In some local interpretations, this dragon is thought to represent the recurrent experience of excessive seasonal flooding that used to destroy the old-time local farmers’ rice fields, with Susa-nö-wo’s slaying of it a reference to some unspecified water-containment projects Susa-nö-wo undertook; its local name, Yamato no Orochi, suggests instead that it may symbolize the annual tax- or tithe-collectors sent up from the central Yamato government, with Susa-nö-wo’s slaying of it some successful form of tax rebellion.

 

In the Izumo Kagura, whose tradition probably has its origins in an ancient form of Noh theater, Susa-nö-wo is no longer depicted as Ama-te-rasu’s “evil” brother, but as the hero who saved the land – and Inata – from the ravages of this dragon; and it, his slaying of it, his discovery of Kusanagi in its tail, and his marriage to Inata, all figure prominently, both in the ritual performances taking place at set times in various shrines, for religious purposes, and in the many seasonal secular performances. Iwami Kagura, though having the same material as its basis, has developed in a tradition thought somehow to be different from that of Izumo Kagura. In Izumo, or eastern Shimane, for example, there is Kagura in May, at the famous Izumo Taisha Jinja, and in September, at the Suga and Sada Shrines; in Iwami, or western Shimane, Kagura is performed mostly in September. At the secular level, there is not far from Izumo Daito Station the Kodai Tetsu Kagura Museum, whose large stage easily accommodates Izumo Kagura performances; on display here are the huge dragon prop used during performances, as well as numerous other articles associated with Kagura. And Masuda City, in Western Shimane, is famous for the public Kagura performances that take place there roughly every other week throughout the year.

 

 

 

 

 
 

2.Yaegaki Jinja, dedicated to Susa-nö-wo and his wife Kusi-nada-pime

 

Today Susa-nö-wo and Kusi-nada-pime are believed to be the primary gods of arranged marriages and protectors of marriage. Of the several shrines dedicated to them throughout Shimane province, the Yaegaki Shrine seems to be the most famous. According to local legend, this shrine is exactly the wedding palace (in the place the Kojiki calls Suga) in which Susa and Inata took up residence once Susa had killed the giant eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi. The main hall of Yaegaki Jinja is covered with “the oldest mural paintings of any shrine in Japan.” One of these three surviving mural paintings, believed to depict Princess Kusi-nada-pime, “was so well preserved that you can still see her vividly colored skin and hair and her bright red lips. … The reverse side of the painting used to be the outside wall of the main hall, [and] the scribbling of the ancient worshippers can still be seen [there]”.

 

 

 

The small grove behind the shrine, and the “mirror pond” within it, are both legendary. According to one legend, Kusi-nada-Pime used this pond as a mirror when applying her make-up. According to another, this is the wood in which she hid to escape the clutches of that eight-headed serpent; a ritual kagura is still performed in this connection every third of May. And there is a custom, still popular among unmarried women today, of divining one’s marriage prospects by placing a coin on a piece of waxed paper, floating this on the pond surface, and seeing how long it takes, and how far it floats out, before it sinks.

Some time ago, clay horses of the sort that could have been used in ancient rituals were discovered in this pond, which suggests that this had been treated as a sacred place quite early on. “Indeed, in ancient times, when there were no temples and shrines, people used to come to places such as this grove to worship the gods that they believed dwelled in giant rocks and the huge trees. These places where these gods lived were called ‘iwakura’ or ‘himorogi.’ It could be said that this grove is a site of one such ancient himorogi, which would have been a sacred place in ancient times.” (A guidebook to the Province of the Gods, p. 23) So it is quite possible that Yaegaki Jinja got built here, as a shrine, in furtherance of this sacredness of place.

 

 

 

 

3. Kumano Jinja, dedicated to Susa-nö-wo and his wife Kusi-nada-pime

 

Kumano Jinja, located upstream along the Iu River, and one of Ou Rokusha shrines, is dedicated principally to Susa-nö-wo no Mikoto. There are sources claiming that it is this shrine, and not Yaegaki Jinja, that marks the place in Suga where the wedding palace of Susa-nö-wo and Kusi-nada-pime was located. Other sources suggest that, at the time of the ancient chronicle Engi-Shiki (927-967), this shrine was in fact dedicated to a deity called Kushimikenu no Mikoto, a patron deity of water and agriculture, worshipped as such by well-to-do farming families farther downstream along the Iu River. In any event, at least until the beginning of the Heian era (7^th century), Kumano Jinja was of considerable importance, being counted as the Ichinomiya, i.e., both the most historical and the highest-ranking shrine, of that time.

 

 

Kumano Jinja and Izumo Taisha Jinja hold a joint annual festival called ‘Sanka-Sai’ each October 15 This “is a traditional ceremony in which Kumano Shrine gives to Izumo Taisha two old-fashioned fire-kindling tools, called ‘Hikiriusu’ and ‘Hikirigine.’ Izumo Taisha uses these tools in ‘Shinjyo-Sai’ festival on November 23^rd to kindle fire in the ancient way. Every year on October 15^th, Kokuso of Izumo Taisha visits Kumano Shrine to receive these tools. In return for receiving the tools, Kokuso has to offer a pair of large rice cakes to Kumano Shrine. Before the rice cakes are offered, a priest called Kamedayu of Kumano Shrine makes it a rule to find faults with the cakes, such as they are smaller than the previous years’ cakes, or they are a bad color. When Komedayu has finished finding faults, he accepts the cakes and gives the tools to Kokuso. This kind of ceremony, where the person accepting a tribute complains, is very rare.” (A Guidebook to the Province of the Gods, p. 33.)

The other joint annual festival of Kumano Jinja, called ‘Migushi-sai’, is believed to originate in the ancient Izumo myth according to which Susa-nö-wo no Mikoto, before he married Kusi-nada-pime (Inata), gave her a comb as an engagement gift. This mythical act is repeated every year on April 13, with Kumano Jinja ritually offering a comb to the Kusi-nada-pime shrine Sessha Inata Jinja. Cf. illustration 26 above.

 

 

4. Susa Jinja, dedicated to Susa-nö-wo and his wife Kusi-nada-pime

 

Susa Jinja, dedicated to Susa-nö-wo and his wife Kusi-nada-Pime, is located in the rolling woodlands between Sada town and Kakeya.town, considerably south of Izumo-shi. Despite its geographical separation from the Grand Shrine of Izumo Taisha, which is located considerably to the north of Izumo-shi, this shrine maintains somehow a spiritual bond with Izumo Taisha, where Opo-kuni-nushi is the principal deity. Perhaps this spiritual bond, despite the geographical separation between the two shrines, mirrors what the Kojiki shows us of both distance and closeness between Susa-nö-wo and his distant descendant, rival and son-in-law, Opo-kuni-nushi, the two deities these shrines are dedicated to.

 

 
 

5. Hinomisaki Jinja, dedicated to Ama-terasu and her brother Susa-nö-wo

 

Hinomisaki Jinja, dedicated to Ama-terasu and her brother Susa-nö-wo, is located in Hinomisaki, at the western end of the Shimane peninsula, just across from Fumi-shima Island and not far from the Izumo Taisha Grand Shrine. It was already mentioned, under the name Misaki Jinja, both in the ancient Izumo no Kuni Fudoki and in the Engi-shiki (927-967). Upon passing through its red entrance gate, one sees straight ahead the Hishizumi-no-miya shrine, where Ama-terasu is enshrined, with the Kan-no-miya shrine, where her brother Susa-nö-wo is enshrined, to the right, on slightly higher ground. It is believed that the current locations of these shrines are not the original ones. According to legend, Kan-no-miya was moved here from its original location on Kakurega-Oka hill, and Hishizumi-no-miya, originally built in 948 on nearby Fumi-shima Island, just 100 meters offshore, was later moved here as well. While the extent of its influence in ancient times remains unknown, Hinomisaki Jinja had reportedly become quite influential in both religion and economic life by the time of the middle ages.

 

 

6. Sada Jinja, dedicated to the gods that created Japan

Sada Jinja is located along the spine of the Shimane peninsula, at the base of Asahi-San Mountain, somewhat northwest of Matsue. Its unusual triple-grand-shrine building enshrines multiple deities. In the center are enshrined the first couple Izanagi and Izanami, along with the local deities Sada-no-Ookami, Kototokio-no-Mikoto, and Hayatamao-no-Mikoto. On the right side are enshrined Amaterasu and Ninigi; on the left, Susa-nö-wo. According to the old Izumo chronicles, the Izumo no Kuni Fudoki, Sada Jinja was one of the four great shrines of the Izumo area (Izumo Taisha, Kumano Taisha, and Nogi no Ookami were the others), and had a great number of devout believers.

46. Left-side guardian of the gate.

47. Sada Jinja’s triple-shrine.

48. Right-side guardian of the gate.