Hananoiwaya Shrine is a

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

in the Arima neighborhood of the city of Kumano, Mie, Japan. It is a site of worship for the

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

Izanami , formally referred to with the honorific , is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial ...

and Kagu-tsuchi. The shrine is the site of a cave, the Flower Cavern , that is said to be the grave of Izanami. The cave is believed to mark the entrance to the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

where

Izanagi Izanagi (イザナギ/伊邪那岐/伊弉諾) or Izanaki (イザナキ), formally referred to with a divine honorific as , is the creator deity (''kami'') of both creation and life in Japanese mythology. He and his sister-wife Izanami are the ...

attempted to find Izanami after she died giving birth to Kagu-tsuchi. According to the ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

'', after Izanagi saw Izanami's rotting corpse, he sealed the entrance from the world of the living with a large boulder. In 2004, the shrine was registered as part of the

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located on the Kii Peninsula in Japan. Selection criteria The locations and paths for this heritage site were based on their historical and modern im ...

by UNESCO.

History

The shrine complex at Hananoiwaya Shrine dates back to the

Paleolithic era The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

and is described in the ''Nihon Shoki''. The shrine is one of the oldest in Japan, although the exact date of its construction is unknown; the first written record of it dates back to 720 AD in the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

. The shrine area has no actual buildings that house the kami, but rather the object of veneration is the massive rock itself. Hananoiwaya is not mentioned as a shrine in either the

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

or the

Engishiki The is a Japanese book of laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishi ...

, but rather as the name of a cemetery. Hananoiwaya was given the status of a shrine during the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

. Hananoiwaya Shrine figures in both Shinto and Buddhist histories. The 10th century priest and poet Zōki, in his pilgrimage account , describes how the area around the cavern that was identified as the tomb of Izanami, as well as the cave itself, was full of buried

sutra ''Sutra'' ()Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a ...

s, in the belief that the texts will later rise up from the earth when

Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...

, the future Buddha, arrives. D. Max Moerman describes the sutra burials as a way of making the area sacred to both a Buddhist future and the

Imperial House of Japan The is the reigning dynasty of Japan, consisting of those members of the extended family of the reigning emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present constitution of Japan, the emperor is "the symbol of the State ...

as the descendants of Izanami.

Festivals

A 170-meter , made by local citizens from seven intertwined ropes, is extended from a concrete pole (previously a sacred pine tree) and the 45-meter high rock face that blocks the entrance to the underworld. A rope-changing festival called is held semiannually, on February and October 2, following a sacred dance to the gods. If the rope does not give way during the pulling, it remains until it breaks - a rope that withstands is considered a sign of good luck and a new rope is placed alongside it. This festival has been designated as an Intangible Cultural Property of Mie Prefecture.

References

{{coord, 33.880, 136.0936, display=title Shinto shrines in Mie Prefecture