, formerly , 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 ...

located at the far western end of

Shijō Street runs in the center of Kyoto, Japan from east to west through the commercial center of the city. Shijō literally means ''Fourth Avenue'' of Heian-kyō, the ancient capital. History The section between Shinkyōgoku street and the vicini ...

, approximately 1.3 kilometers south of the

Arashiyama is a district on the western outskirts of Kyoto, Japan. It also refers to the mountain across the Katsura River, Ōi River, which forms a backdrop to the district. Arashiyama is a Cultural Properties of Japan, nationally designated Monument ...

district of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. It is home to a spring at the base of the mountain, Arashiyama, that is believed to be blessed. It is said that during the move of the capital from

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

to Kyoto, a noble saw a turtle bathing under the spring's waterfall and created a shrine there. It is one of the oldest shrines in the Kyoto area, its founding extending back to 700 CE. The restorative properties of the spring bring many local

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

and

miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. It is a thick paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and kōji (the fungus ''Aspergillus oryzae''), and sometimes rice, barley, seaweed, or other ingredients. It is used for sauces and spreads; p ...

companies to the shrine for prayers that their product will be blessed. The shrine also serves a ''kinpaku miki'' (gold leaf filled blessed sake) during ''

hatsumōde is one of the major Japanese traditions of the new year, which is the first visit to a Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine visit of the Japanese New Year. Typically taking place on the first, second, or third day of the year, it is meant to bring a ...

''.

History

The shrine became the object of Imperial patronage during the early

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. In 965,

Emperor Murakami The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother ( empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rul ...

ordered that Imperial messengers were sent to report important events to the guardian ''

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 ...

'' of Japan. These ''heihaku'' were initially presented to 16 shrines including the Matsunoo Shrine. From 1871 through 1946, Matsunoo-taisha was officially designated one of the , meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.

Shofuen Gardens

After a new set of buildings was finished in 1973, modernist garden designer Mirei Shigemori was brought in to design new garden areas at Matsuo Taisha. Shigemori designed three new garden areas, which were completed in 1975: * Kyokosui no Niwa 曲水の庭 (Garden of the Winding Stream) with a clear flowing stream in the style of the

* Jōko no Niwa 上古の庭 (Prehistoric Garden), a setting of large stones that references the ancient Mt. Matsuo shrine stone behind the shrine buildings * Horai no Niwa 蓬莱の庭 (Garden of Horai), a garden referencing the land of Horai in Chinese and Japanese myth The gardens at Matsuo Taisha were Shigemori's last project; his son, Kanto, supervised the final work after Shigemori's death on March 12, 1975.

Images

File:Matsuo Taisha front gate.jpg, Front gate File:Shofuen Matsuo-taisha Kyoto Japan01s3.jpg, Horai Garden of Shofuen File:Shofuen Matsuo-taisha Kyoto Japan07s3.jpg, Kyokusui Garden of Shofuen File:Tsukuyomi shrine Kyoto.jpg, Shrine to

Tsukuyomi , or simply or , is the moon kami in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. The name "Tsukuyomi" is a compound of the Old Japanese words and . The ''Nihon Shoki'' mentions this name spelled as , but this ''yumi'' is likely a variation ...

Notes

References

* Breen, John and

Mark Teeuwen Mark J. Teeuwen (Marcus Jacobus Teeuwen, born 9 February 1966, Eindhoven) is a Dutch academic and Japanologist. He is an expert in Japanese religious practices, and he is a professor at the University of Oslo.University of Oslo faculty CV/ref> In a ...

. (2000)
''Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami.''
Honolulu:

University of Hawaii Press A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962).
''Studies in Shinto and Shrines.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. * ____________. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society.

External links