is a

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintoist ...

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

located in

Chūō-ku, Kumamoto is one of the five wards of Kumamoto City, Japan. The ward is located in the center of the city. As of 2012, it has a population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, regio ...

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,0 ...

, Japan. It is dedicated to

Emperor Ōjin , also known as (alternatively spelled 譽田別命, 誉田別命, 品陀和気命, 譽田分命, 誉田別尊, 品陀別命) or , was the 15th (possibly legendary) Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. No firm d ...

Empress Jingū was a legendary Japanese empress who ruled as a regent following her husband's death in 200 AD. Both the ''Kojiki'' and the ''Nihon Shoki'' (collectively known as the ''Kiki'') record events that took place during Jingū's alleged lifetime. Leg ...

and

Sumiyoshi Sanjin is the generic name for the three Shinto gods ''Sokotsutsu no O no Mikoto'' (底筒男命), ''Nakatsutsu no O no Mikoto'' (中筒男命), and ''Uwatsutsu no O no Mikoto'' (表筒男命). The Sumiyoshi sanjin are regarded as the gods of the sea and ...

History

In 935, Fujisaki Hachimangu was established with the

Bunrei is a Shinto technical term that indicates both the process of dividing a Shinto ''kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, force ...

of Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ...

, at Chausuyama (now Kumamoto Fujisakidai Baseball Stadium),

Kumamoto Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, in Kumamoto Prefecture. It was a large and well fortified castle. The is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, but several ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original castle ...

at the order of

Emperor Suzaku was the 61st emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 朱雀天皇 (61)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Suzaku's reign spanned the years from 930 through 946. Biography Before his ascension of the Chry ...

. The word Fuji derives from a tale that at the time of establishment, sticking of fuji resulted in fuji

Wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae), that includes ten species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and nor ...

taking root and grew. Fujisaki Hachimangu has been respected as the defender of Higo,

Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, Miyaza ...

. In 1542,

Emperor Go-Nara was the 105th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He reigned from June 9, 1526 until his death in 1557, during the Sengoku period. His personal name was Tomohito (知仁). Genealogy He was the second son of Empero ...

presented a wooden frame ''八幡藤崎宮'' which is now engraved over the

Torii A is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred. The presence of a ''torii'' at the entrance is usually the simples ...

. Rebuilding of the shrine, 20 years apart, had been made with the order of the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

. In 1877, the shrine was burnt amid the battle of

Satsuma Rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and be ...

and was reconstructed at Igawabuchi Machi, the present location. In the

modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines The was an organizational aspect of the establishment of Japanese State Shinto. This system classified Shinto shrines as either official government shrines or "other" shrines. The official shrines were divided into #Imperial shrines (''kampeis ...

, Fujisaki was listed in 1915 among the 3rd class of nationally significant shrines or . In 1952, the shrine was designated a

religious corporation A religious corporation is a type of religious non-profit organization, which has been incorporated under the law. Often these types of corporations are recognized under the law on a subnational level, for instance by a state or province governme ...

Great Festival

Of the events of the shrine, most known is the parade of

Kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the ...

with horses in September. This had been called Boshita Festival because ''seko'' (followers) followed dancing horses, shouting, "Boshita, boshita." However, this reminded some people of the term "Horoboshita," a phrase or slogan which loosely meant "Korea is destroyed," and supposedly used during the

Imjin Wars The Imjin River ( in South Korea) or Rimjin River ( in North Korea) is the 7th largest river in Korea. It flows from north to south, crossing the Demilitarized Zone and joining the Han River downstream of Seoul, near the Yellow Sea. The riv ...

of the 1590s, when

Katō Kiyomasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods. His court title was Higo-no-kami. His name as a child was ''Yashamaru'', and first name was ''Toranosuke''. He was one of Hideyoshi's Seven Spears of Shizugatake. Biograph ...

was part of a campaign to conquer Korea. Now the festival attendants shout, "Doukai, doukai."

External links of horse festival

horse festivalHorse festivalautumn festival of Fujisaki Hachiman

Treasures

*A wooden sitting

Hachiman In Japanese religion, ''Yahata'' (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements f ...

statue and a female god statue are designated as

Important Cultural Properties of Japan An The term is often shortened into just is an item officially classified as Tangible Cultural Property by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs ( Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) and judged to be o ...

. There are old documents, swords and other weapons.

References

*Pamphlet of the Fujisaki Hachimanguu on Nov. 26, 2010.

History

Great Festival

External links of horse festival

Treasures

References

See also