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23-576: The Sumiyoshi taisha has four buildings dedicated to four kami —the three Sumiyoshi brothers and Empress Jingū who is also enshrined. According to Japanese mythology as written in works such as the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki , the Sumiyoshi sanjin were born together with the Watatsumi Sanjin (綿津見三神) when Izanagi performed a purification ceremony after returning from Yomi . Originally

46-468: A province . Shrines of lower rank were designated ninomiya ( 二宮 , second) , sannomiya ( 三宮 , third) , shinomiya ( 四宮 , fourth) , and so forth. The term gave rise to modern place names, such as the city of Ichinomiya, Aichi , named after Masumida Shrine in the former Owari Province . The term "Ichinomiya" literally means "first shrine" and is popularly regarded as the highest ranking shrine in each province . The second ranking shrine

69-430: A certain prestige, and often after all vestiges of the provincial capital had fallen into ruins and its exact location lost, the term "Ichinomiya" was often preserved as a place name. Tachibana Mitsuyoshi, a noted Shinto scholar in the early Edo Period , visited ichinomiya nationwide for 23 years starting 1675, and wrote the record of his travels in a 13 volume account. This began the popularization of pilgrimages by

92-462: A daughter of The Akashi Princess, who eventually becomes Empress. Sumiyoshi taisha Sumiyoshi-taisha ( 住吉大社 ) , also known as Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine , is a Shinto shrine in Sumiyoshi-ku , Osaka , Osaka Prefecture , Japan . It is the main shrine of all the Sumiyoshi shrines. It gives its name to a style of shrine architecture known as Sumiyoshi-zukuri . The shrine

115-572: Is a shrine with connections to the ancient Yamato royalty's diplomacy and sailing, protecting the Imperial embassies to China . As the head priests, the Tsumori clan also boarded these embassy ships. The embassies departed from Suminoe no Tsu , a port on the Hosoe-gawa (also known as Hosoi-gawa. Known as Suminoe no Hosoe in ancient times), a river located to the south of the shrine. Suminoe no Tsu

138-602: Is a theory that suggests the Sumiyoshi sanjin are the deification of the three main stars in the Orion constellation . In the olden days the Orion constellation was used for navigational purposes so it was perhaps for this reason that they were deified. Also, the locations of Tsutsu on Tsushima Island , Tsutsuki on Iki Island , and Tsutsuki in Itoshima , Fukuoka prefecture are in the arrangement of these three Orion stars . Probably

161-549: Is also regarded as the ancestor shrine of Hachiman , the god of war, as the shrine enshrines Empress Jingū, who was the mother of Emperor Ōjin, who was deified as Hachiman. Therefore, the shrine is guardian of the Kawachi bloodline of the Minamoto clan . Also, Hachiman is the god of war on land, and the Sumiyoshi gods are the gods of war on the sea. Later, Sumiyoshi-taisha became one of the three kami of waka . Sumiyoshi-taisha

184-459: Is called Sumiyoshi-san or Sumiyossan by the locals, and is famous for the large crowds that come to the shrine on New Year's Day for hatsumōde . Sumiyoshi taisha enshrines the Sumiyoshi sanjin (Sokotsutsu no Ono-mikoto, Nakatsutsu no Ono-mikoto, and Uwatsutsu no Ono-mikoto) (collectively known as the "Sumiyoshi Ōkami") and Okinagatarashi-hime no Mikoto ( Empress Jingū ). The shrine became

207-468: Is known as the Sumiyoshi design. In Murasaki Shikibu 's The Tale of Genji , the shrine is used as an important stage in some chapters concerning the Akashi Lady. In the folktale "Issun-bōshi", an old couple who had no children prayed at Sumiyoshi taisha. Their prayers were granted. When their child went on a voyage, he departed at Sumiyoshi harbor, sailed down Hosoe-gawa to Osaka Bay , sailed up

230-574: Is not necessarily the largest, or oldest, in that province, and is not necessarily one of the " Myojin Taisha ", which are regarded as the most important shrines. Rather, per the Ritsuryō legal and administrative system established in the Nara period , kokushi were appointed as imperial governors of each province. When the kokushi travelled from Heian-kyo to his local seat at the provincial capital ,

253-470: Is referred to as the "Ninomiya" and third ranking shrine as "Sannomiya", and so on. However, there is no documentary material stipulating on how the shrines in each province are to be ranked, or even when this ranking system was created. As a general rule, all shrines designated "Ichinomiya" are of ancient origin and are listed in the Engishiki records completed in 927AD. However, the shrine selected

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276-607: Is the oldest international port in Japan, and was opened by Emperor Nintoku . It was the Silk Road 's entrance into Japan. Although Sumiyoshi taisha is currently completely landlocked, until the Edo period , the shrine riding grounds (currently Sumiyoshi Park ) faced the sea and were considered the representative of the beautiful "hakushaseishou" (white sand and green pines) landscape. So much so that this type of scenery in designs and art

299-532: The Yodo River , and entered Kyoto . The honden is built in the Sumiyoshi-zukuri style and has been designated a national treasure on the grounds that it is the oldest example of this style of architecture. There is an okichigi ( 置千木 ) a forked finial , on the roof of the main shrine, as well as 5 square katsuogi ( 堅魚木 ) , billets placed horizontally along the length of

322-632: The Shinto Shrines that enshrine the Sumiyoshi sanjin the oldest are Sumiyoshi jinja in Hakata-ku , Fukuoka city, Fukuoka prefecture , Sumiyoshi jinja in Iki city, Nagasaki prefecture , and Moto Sumiyoshi Shrine in Kobe , Hyōgo prefecture . However, it is not known which one of these is the oldest. The tsutsu part of the names of the three gods has a connection to the planets, and there

345-661: The Sumiyoshi sanjin and Watatsumi sanjin were the same gods, but when, in ancient times, the throne was moved east from Kyūshū to the area now known as Kinki , it was the Sumiyoshi sanjin that supposedly served an important role. In other words, the Watatsumi sanjin stayed in Kyūshū and the Sumiyoshi sanjin moved to Kinki. The three Watatsumis are speculated to correspond to three historical fishing practices Uwatsu Watatsumi no Kami (sea surface god), Nakatsu Watatsumi no Kami (middle depth god) and Sokotsu Watatsumi no Kami (depths god). Of

368-462: The common populace to these shrines. Under State Shinto , the ichinomiya were not accorded any special status. Many were accorded high ranks under the Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines . While there can be only one "first shrine" in each province, several provinces have various rival candidates for the title. This has arisen for various reasons: relocation of the provincial capital can result in

391-528: The first shrine he called upon officially in his province was the "ichinomiya". As the purpose of this visit was to announce to the local kami of his appointment to office, it was important that this shrine be dedicated to important local deities and to be located close to the provincial capital. Even after the collapse of the Ritsuryō system by the Kamakura period , the ichinomiya continued to enjoy

414-525: The honden, is known as the Kakutorii ( 角鳥居 ) . It is unusual in that the middle bar does not extend outside of the vertical posts, and all pieces have square edges. This type of torii is called Sumiyoshi torii after the shrine. Ichinomiya Ichinomiya ( 一宮 , also 一の宮 or 一之宮 ; first shrine) is a Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in

437-595: The most notable appearance is in The Tale of Genji where it is the luck deity which the father of the Akashi Lady prays to help his daughter find a husband and secure her well-being. The father, who is the Novitiate of the Province of Akashi, hence the name "Akashi Lady", devoutly prays to Sumiyoshi for many years and eventually Sumiyoshi grants his prayers and Hikaru Genji ends up taking the Akashi Lady and giving her

460-422: The object of Imperial patronage during the early Heian period . In 965, Emperor Murakami ordered that Imperial messengers were sent to report important events to the guardian kami of Japan. These heihaku were initially presented to 16 shrines including Sumiyoshi. Sumiyoshi was designated as the chief Shinto shrine ( ichinomiya ) for the former Settsu Province . From 1871 through 1946, Sumiyoshi taisha

483-423: The roof. [1] There are no corridors around the sanctuary. It is surrounded by a plank tamagaki fence ( 玉垣 ) , which is further surrounded by an ara-imi fence ( 荒忌垣 ) . The pillars are round, and stand on stone foundations. The planks between the pillars are horizontal. The area seen from front is the nave, and beyond is the inner shrine and second room. One of the stone torii at the shrine, just south of

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506-536: The same time, she told him to enshrine the Sumiyoshi sanjin, as she had been told to do so by an oracle from Amaterasu and three Sumiyoshi kami . Later, the Empress herself was also enshrined at Sumiyoshi. The Tsumori clan  [ ja ] , whose members have succeeded the position of head priest of Sumiyoshi taisha since the reign of Emperor Ōjin , are the descendants of Tamomi no Sukune's son, Tsumori no Toyoada (or Tsumori no Toyonogodan). Sumiyoshi taisha

529-605: Was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha ( 官幣大社 ) , meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines. Sumiyoshi taisha was founded by Tamomi no Sukune in the 11th year of Empress Jingū 's reign (year 211). A member of a powerful family in the area, he was given the clan name of Owari by the empress when she visited the coast of the Gokishichidō (Modern Shichidou in Sakai, Osaka ). At

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