Okayama Kibiji

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Okayama Kibij　岡山　吉備路 The Kibi Region


source :　www.okasci.or.jp/kibiji

Kibiji senbei 吉備路せんべい rice crackers
with motives of the Kibiji region

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The Kibiji District is an area with majestic ancient history and legendary stories.

The myth of 吉備津彦命 Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto and 温羅 Ura
passed down through the years, is said to have been the root of an old tale called “Momotaro”. The myth is as follows.
“The Prince Ura of Kudara (Baekje: A country that existed from the 4th to 7th centuries in what is the present day Korean Peninsula), used to live in Kinojo (castle of the devil) and caused trouble for the people living in the village. In order to defeat Ura, Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto was delivered to Kinojo by the emperor’s government. After a blistering battle, Ura was defeated by Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto. In the old tale “Momotaro”, Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto is portrayed as Momotaro, and Ura is portrayed as the defeated devil.

Kibitsuhiko Shrine which is still majestic now is said to have been occupied by Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto when he battled Ura.

There are buildings and ceremonies in Kibitsu Shrine which come to us from the legend; Okama-den (palace) is the place in which the neck of Ura is said to have been buried, and the holy Yatate Ceremony is for warding off evil spirits.

There are many places connected with the old tale as well, such as Yagui-no-miya (the place where an arrow shot by Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto and a rock thrown by Ura were said to have crashed and landed), Chisui-gawa (literary translated, “blood-sucking river”; after being shot out by Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto, the blood from Ura’s one eye was said to have colored this river red), and Koikui Shrine (a carp-eating shrine where Ura, who tried to escape by transforming himself into carp, was said to have been held in the mouth of Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto who had changed to a cormorant bird).
source : okayama-japan.jp



Kibitsu Hiko Jinja 吉備津彦神社
Okayama. Kibitsuhiko shrine


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お守り o-mamori amulets

with a peach against fire and misfortune 災難除け守り
for your health 健康開運守り
to find a good partner 縁結び守り
four-leaf clover for good luck 幸福守り
四ツ葉のクローバー
childbirth and child rearing 安産守り
- - - and many more
source : amulets from Kibitsuhiko Shrine



yatate shinji　矢立神事 ceremony of standing bows
kigo for the third day of the new year.
. . . CLICK here for Photos !

. WKD : Kigo Calendar .


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Kibitsu Jinja 吉備津神社
Okayama. 岡山県岡山市吉備津931


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quote
Called Kibi-no-kuni in ancient times, the Kibi region was so powerful that it could even compete with the Yamato Dynasty (government that ruled over Japan mainly in the Yamato region during 4th-7th centuries). Even today, valuable cultural assets and huge burial mounds remain in this peaceful rural area.
The Kibitsu Shrine in the eastern part of the Kibi region is where the Okibitsuhiko-Daijin is enshrined. Okibitsuhiko-Omikami is the general who brought stability and peace to this region.

As legend goes, he was the one who built the foundation of the current Kibi culture. The shrine's Honden and Haiden were reconstructed in 1425 and both are designated as national treasures. Here at the Kibitsu Shrine, a special ritual called Narukama-Shinji 鳴釜神事 is conducted in which a pot is beaten and the sound that comes from doing so is used to determine if your wish will come true or not.
Additionally, this is the shrine where the legend of driving away the ogres has been handed down which served as the base for the folk tale Momotaro (story of a boy born from a peach who, after growing up, drove the evil ogres away).
source : www.japan-i.jp

Some legends say it is the severed head of Ura, boiled in the huge pot, and it sometimes makes a noise, crying.

御先大明神 Misaki Daimyojin is the Misaki Deity of 吉備津神社 Kibutsu Jinja.
岩山大明神 Iwayama Daimyojin is the Jinushigami 地主神 the land god of Kibitsu Jinja.
. Misaki ミサキ Legends about the Misaki deity .
Misaki Daimyoojin 御先大明神 / ミサキ大明神 Misaki Daimyojin

From the main shrine building there is a long corridor down to a special hall for another famous ritual:

narukama shinji 鳴釜神事
. . . CLICK here for Photos of the groaning water kettle !


- quote -
Kibitsu no Kama (The Cauldron of Kibitsu):
"The story of a husband who runs off with a prostitute. The wife dies and her spirit possesses the prostitute who herself dies." The remainder of the story chronicles the husband's ineffectual attempts to combat the spirit of his deceased wife.

Ugetsu Monogatari 雨月物語 Tales of Moonlight and Rain
- source : wikipedia -

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amulet of a peach 桃,
the symbol of the region and the "Peach Boy" legend

. Momotaro (Momotaroo 桃太郎 ) Peach Boy .




amulet for traffic safety　交通安全　
with crane and turtoise "tsurukame"　鶴亀



. Daruma Doll Family from Kibitsu Shrine　


HP of the shrine
http://kibitujinja.com/

Okibitsuhiko no Mikoto 大吉備津彦命
Kamitsumichi no Omi 下ツ道臣

quote
Kibitsu-zukuri (吉備津造), kibi-zukuri (吉備造) or
hiyoku irimoya-zukuri (入母屋造, paired wing hip-and-gable roof style) is a traditional Japanese Shinto architectural style characterized by four dormer gables, two per lateral side, on the roof of a very large honden (sanctuary).
The gables are set at a right angle to the main roof ridge, and the honden is part of a single complex also including a haiden (worship hall). Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan is the sole example of the style, although the Soshi-dō of Hokekyō-ji in Chiba prefecture is believed to have been modeled on it.
©　More in the WIKIPEDIA !

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komainu こまいぬ Koma-inu dogs and bird

The clay dolls relate to the stone komainu dogs at the entrance of the shrine.

They come in a set of three, a sitting dog (komainu 狛犬) , a standing dog and one 鳥 bird.
They are only about 3 cm long. They are twisted from clay (tebineri　手捻り).
The dogs protect from fire and thieves, the bird protects from choking on food.
Legend tells us that once there was a fire at the shrine, and the Komainu took a piece of burning wood, running to the priest to inform him of the fire, which could then be extinguished.
Now people buy them as an amulet to protect from fire and for the safe upbringing of children.

Kibitsuhiko, one of the Four Shogun 四道将軍 Shido Shogun appointed by the Emperor Sujin Tenno 崇神天皇 (in the Kojiki records) to the West. There was always a dog and a bird at his side to guide him on the way.
They are now amulets at Kibitsu Jinja 吉備津神社 and Kibitsuhiko Jinja.


Kibitsu Komainu 吉備津狛犬 amulets from the shrine




Kibitsu Komainu 吉備津狛犬 in the Shrine compound
His tail is especially formed, almost like a flame.


source and more photos : plaza.rakuten.co.jp/inosisi72/diary

. komainu, koma-inu 狛犬 / 高麗犬 / 胡麻犬 "Korean Dog" .

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URAJA URA JA URA URA URA JA

温羅面 Mask of URA
for the Kagura performance at Kibitsu Shrine

Uraja, now a popular dance in Okayama, even in our village.
The dancers impersonate a local monsterlin, URA, and paint their faces to look like a monster.

. Uraja dance in Okayama .

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. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .

Many legends relate to 温羅 Ura.
The bird amulet from Kibitsuhiko Shrine might be the 雉 pheasant or rather a 鵜 cormorant, eating the Koi fish..
See above, Koikui Shrine.

The reign of 垂仁天皇 Suinin Tenno (Ikumeiribikoisachi no Mikoto, 69 BC - 70 (died at age 138)
and the invasion of 温羅 Ura.
垂仁天皇の時代、吉備国で略奪を繰り返す百済の鬼神、温羅を退治するため、イサセリヒコノミコトが派遣された。勢い凄まじい温羅を攻めあぐねたミコトは、神力を現して１度に２本の矢を放ち、温羅の左目を射抜いた。雉や鯉に姿を変えて逃れる温羅を捕らえたミコトは、首を刎ねて曝したが、その首が何年も大声でうなり続けたため、温羅の霊を祀って鎮めた。
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The three animals at Kibitsuhiko Shrine are a Komainu, a bird and a bull狛犬、鳥、牛の3個の玩具, related to the Four Shogun 四道将軍 Shido Shogun.

The 便所神 Deity of the Toilet in the Shrine is blind.

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At the shrine was a painting of a horse by 巨勢金岡 Kose no Kanaoka, a court painter of the Heian period. This horse would take off from the painting and destroy the fields around the shrine.
He was a famous painter of horses, more of his legends are here :
- reference source : Nichibun Yokai Database (08) -

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Okayama, 円城村 Enjo

昔大吉備津彦命四道将軍となって備前五山の1つ加茂山の山系の峰に来た頃、峰の西方に火柱天に沖する妖怪が現れ、里人は大いに悩んだ。命は大弓を放ちこれを退治した。妖怪は的石と化した。その際の出来事により弓張、矢懸、高片、目無、的岩、立石という地名がついたという。

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Okayama 加茂川町 Kamogawa

崇神天皇の四道将軍、吉備津彦命が備前に入り本宮山の峰に来た頃、その峰の西方約１里の所に毎夜妖怪が現われ、里人はたいそう恐れていた。里人は命に妖怪を退治してくれるように願い出た。数日後のある夜、気比神社の西方3キロのところに火柱が現われ、命は境内の見晴らしの良い駒岩から弓でこの怪物を射た。矢が命中するや否や、大音響と共に怪物は岩となった。これを今に残る的岩という。

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広島県 Hiroshima 沼隈郡 Numakuma district 山波村 Yamanami village

When Kibitsuhiko no Mikoto passed the village, he hit his tsue 杖 walking stick into the ground.
From it grew the tree named 馬耳の木 "Horse Ear Tree".

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- reference : Nichibun Yokai Database -

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H A I K U

吉備津彦神社蜥蜴の尾の長し
Kibitsuhiko jinja tokage no o no nagashi

Kibitsuhiko Shrine -
the tail of this lizzard
is so long

Nagamine Chikuhoo 長峰竹芳

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. yookai, yōkai 妖怪 Yokai monsters – ABC-List .


石燕

鳴釜（なりがま） Narigama Yokai Monster
A tsukumogami originating from the myth of an iron kettle which could predict one's fortune.

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. Amulets and Talismans from Japan .　

MORE
. Okayama Shrines .


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