Illustrated
Scroll of
the Origin of Kitano Tenjin |
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Votive tablet
with illustration
of a Sacred Horse |
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| Votive tablet
with illustration of Benkei on horseback |
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| Desk and
ink-stone case with decorations by sprinkled
golddust over lacquered surfaces |
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| Mirror with a map
of Japan |
The Nihon Shoki,a
Chronicle
of ancient Japan |
Grand Tea Ceremony
at Kitano Shrine held by the Regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi |
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・・・Located
in Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto City.・・・ |
HISTORY
This shrine enshrines Michizane Sugawara
, who because
of his great learning during his lifetime is worshipped
as
the patron of learning. Michizane was first especially
favored
by Emperor Uda, who bestowed great trust in governmental
affairs upon him. But later he was exiled to Kyushu because
of
slander and died in exile in 903. After his death, severe
earth-
quakes and thunderstorms did constant damage in the home
provinces, and it was thought commonly that these were
the
result of his wrath. The Imperial Court granted him the
post-
humous title of Karai TenJin, or God of Fire
and Thunder ;
because of the increasingly large number of his slanderers
and
their families who met with unexpected disaster, his power
was
more and more feared by the Court and the common people.
The process of divinization of Michizane
was greatly assisted
by sympathy with his misfortune of having died in exile,
by admiration for his unchanging spirit of loyal service,
by the mute judgment of the masses against their rulers,
and by the social unrest caused by the ever-continuing
disasters. Because of the prophe-cies spoken in 942 by
Tajihi-no-Ayako, who lived in Nishi-no-kyo Shichijo,
and in 947 by Taro-maru, a child of Hirano Yoshitane of
Omi,
a shrine was built in the present location and was known
as
Tenman Tenjin. In 959, the Udaijin (Minister of the Right)
Fujiwara-no-Morosuke enlarged the buildings. On the fifth
day
of the eighth month of 987, the Kitano-matsuri was celebrated
for the first time ; this festival continues to the present
day.
In 1004, Emperor lchijo paid the shrine its first Imperial
visit,
and later the shrine was included, with the other great
shrines such as Kamo and lwa-shimizu, in the numberof
the
great 22 shrines. The shrine was often the object of Imperial
visits, and the regents, shoguns, and common people of
all
ages since have paid it extraordinary reverence.
Its annual festival is August 4, and there are also very
many
special rites connected with literary pursuits and agriculture.
SHRINE A part of the present Honden,
or Main Shrine, was
built in 1607 by Toyotomi Hideyori. Both the Honden
and Haiden
have the irimoya-zukri style of roof, and there
is a stone room
between the two buildings. To the West and East of the
Haiden
are Gaku-no-ma, or Music Chambers' ; the roofs
of these bulldlngs
are all united Into one roof this style of architecture
is called
yatsu-rnune-zukuri or gongen-zukuri.
The buildings are designated as important cultural properties,
and are representative examples of Momoyama architecture.
The many plum trees in the shrine precincts are due to
the
fact that Michizane was fond of plum trees in his lifetime.
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