Hachiman!

"Shrines of the City. Seventy-eight in total, of which eight bear the name Hachiman..."

The philosopher Tanabe Marebumi, writing in the late 18th century, began his record of Sendai's shrines with these words. All around Japan, there are shrines to Hachiman who is famous as the kami of war. At left is a photo of a scroll depicting Hachiman in the guise of a Buddhist monk.

During the Edo period, there were three shrines that were given particularly special treatment within Sendai. Two of them were to Hachiman, one was to the deified Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the last shogunal dynasty.

I'd like to talk a little bit about each of them below. During the Edo period, while the other 24 districts then part of Sendai were under the jurisdiction of the city magistrate (machi-bugyo), these three shrines and their surrounding neighborhoods were under the special supervision of the Date administration's Temples-and-shrines office. (Mihara, Kyodoshi Sendai Mimibukuro, p. 124) Of the three, I have visited Osaki Hachiman and Tosho-gu in the fall of 2005.

Consider this a "miscellany" post.

1. Kameoka Hachiman shrine

Not to be confused with its more famous cousins in Kamakura or Tokyo. This shrine has followed the Date clan from its foundation in the 12th century until its relocation to what is now Sendai. The Hachiman as enshrined here is the Date family's patron deity. The shrine was first created at Takako, in modern-day Fukushima Prefecture, where the family first resided. It was later moved to Yonezawa, and finally to Sendai. After a few moves within Sendai, it was placed on a hill at Kawauchi, below Mount Aoba and Sendai Castle. The shrine, and its surrounding neighborhood, were founded in 1683. The shrine remains there today, though it was almost entirely destroyed in the American firebombing of 1945.

In the Edo period, its surrounding neighborhood, called Kameoka-cho, had the privilege of brewing vinegar. (Mihara, p. 124)

The shrine's website is here.

2. Osaki Hachiman shrine

This shrine and neighborhood were founded in 1607. The present building dates to Date Masamune's time, and was built by the legendary architect and sculptor Hidari Jingoro. It was designated a National Treasure in 1952, and recently renovated.

Next to the shrine is a temple called Ryuho-ji. In the Edo period, the Sendai domain school's library kept its collection of classics (mainly Confucian and Buddhist texts) here. Before Shinto and Buddhism were forcibly divested from each other in the Meiji period, the head monk of Ryuho-ji also oversaw the operations of Osaki Hachiman shrine. The temple is still extant, and has a two storied treasure pagoda (taho-to) in excellent condition.

Osaki Hachiman shrine is listed by the Japanese government as a National Treasure, and was recently renovated. Its website is here.

3. Tosho-gu shrine

This shrine was built in 1653, during the reign of Masamune's son Tadamune. It is one of several around Japan devoted to the deified Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The shrine's neighborhood is called Miyamachi (or with the honorific, Omiyamachi). In the Edo period, only Miyamachi had the right, out of all the neighborhoods of Sendai, to brew sake. (the Date lord kept a private brewery within his castle)

The shrine's website is here.

Sources

*Mihara Ryokichi. Kyodoshi Sendai Mimibukuro.

*Tanabe Marebumi. Honai Fudoki.