Takayama Inari Shrine: Beautiful views, unique torii gates, suitable for any time and scene
Takayama Inari Shrine is located on a high ground near Shichiri-Nagahama on the coast of the Sea of Japan, from where you can see the beautiful scenery of Mt. Iwaki, the Sea of Japan and Lake Jusan. It is also a shrine that is very effective in praying for a good harvest, safety at sea, and prosperous business. The deities enshrined at Takayama Inari Shrine are the same as those at Fushimi Inari Taisha, the main shrine of Inari shrines nationwide, and they enshrine the three great gods: Uka-no-Mikoto, Sadahiko-no-Mikoto, and Omiya-no-Mikoto. Enter the shrine and climb more than a hundred stone steps to the worship hall, where you can see the red Thousand Torii gates lined up along a curve.
The history of the Thousand Torii Gates is actually only about 40 years old. At first, local farmers donated a few torii gates, and later more and more people expressed their desire to donate torii gates. However, there are ponds scattered throughout the shrine grounds, making it difficult to arrange the torii gates in a straight line. Because there is a "Ryujin Shrine" built in the area, the idea of "arranging the torii like a winding dragon" was thought of, so a thousand torii gates were created with a beautiful curve.
It is unknown when the shrine was first founded, but it is said to have been founded by the Ando clan, a powerful family that ruled the area from Kamakura to Muromachi.
On an old map from the Edo period, the Takayama area is described as Sankoho-no-Yama, and according to the founding history of the Sankoho-no-Yama shrine, there is a row of 13 temples around the Sankoho-no-Yama Shrine. The Takayama Inari Shrine was once the main spiritual center of the Ando clan and flourished as a center of prayer, but it was burned down by the southern army around 1443 or 1432. It is said that at that time, the Three Emperors descended on the sacred mountain like a meteor, emitting a golden light.
According to the history of the founding of Inari Shrine, in 1701 during the Edo period, due to the assassination of Ako Domain lord Asano Naganori by Ako Domain samurai Terasaka Sagoro in Edo Castle, the Ako Domain was destroyed in Harimako, and the Inari god enshrined in Ako Castle was dedicated to him. He went into exile in Hirosaki Castle in Tsugaru, and later moved to Ajigasawa, where he ran a sake brewing business under the name of "Ako-ya", and his business prospered. When his descendants moved to the Big Island, they were told that they would be worshipped at this sacred place in the mountains.
Based on the above, people believe that the original shrine enshrined here was the Sanno Shrine, and later the Inari Shrine was built during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. With the rise of Inari worship in the Edo period, the Inari Shrine gradually prospered, and the original Sanno Shrine was moved back. #OverseasTravel #Japan #JapanTravel #JapanAttractions #JapanFreeTravel #JapanGoodPlaces #JapanTravelStrategy #AomoriCounty