Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya

About Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya

Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya (鳥海山大物忌神社吹浦口ノ宮) is the lowland shrine of Chōkaisan Ōmonoimi Shrine in Fukura, Yuza Town, Yamagata Prefecture; its founding is traditionally dated to 564, and six of its structures were entered on the national register as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2012.

The place name 吹浦 is read Fukura, not Fukiura, and the shrine also appears in print as Fukura Kuchi-no-miya or Fukura Kuchinomiya. Kuchinomiya means a shrine at the foot of the mountain, the starting point for pilgrims bound for the summit.

Chōkaisan Ōmonoimi Shrine is a single institution spread over three sites: the main sanctuary on the summit of Mount Chōkai (2,236 meters) and two lowland shrines, one here at Fukura and one at Warabioka to the southeast. The arrangement was fixed in 1880, and the three sites have shared their present name since 1955.

What sets Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya apart is that it has long enshrined two deities side by side: Ōmonoimi, the god of Mount Chōkai, and the god of Mount Gassan, read here as Tsukiyama no Kami. The tenth-century register of shrines known as the Engishiki lists both the Ōmonoimi and the Tsukiyama shrines at Fukura among its highest-ranked shrines, and in medieval times the pair was worshipped as the Ryōsho, or Twin, deities of Dewa Province.

How the grounds of Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya are laid out

The precinct climbs the south face of a low hill in a series of terraces. After passing the first and second torii gates and walking north along the approach, you reach the Lower Worship Hall on the right, on the lowest terrace. A flight of about one hundred stone steps rises to the left, past the third torii, to the Worship Hall and its covered stairway.

At the top of that stairway stands the Middle Gate, with corridors running east and west. Behind it, on the highest terrace, the Main Hall of the Ōmonoimi deity and the Main Hall of the subsidiary Tsukiyama Shrine stand next to each other. A wooden tamagaki fence wraps around their sides and back, and a small gate opens in the center of the rear fence.

Each terrace brings you closer to the sanctuary, which is why the twin halls cannot be seen from the approach below. The six registered structures, all entered on the register on February 23, 2012, are:

• Main Hall (about 1711)
• Subsidiary Tsukiyama Shrine Main Hall (about 1711)
• Worship Hall and Ascending Corridor (Showa era)
• Middle Gate and Corridors (1939)
• Rear Gate and Tamagaki Fence (1939)
• Lower Worship Hall (1879)

A short building history of Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya

The buildings at Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya span roughly 230 years. According to Tsuruoka City and Yuza Town, a fire in 1706 destroyed the earlier sanctuary, and the Sakai family, lords of the Shōnai domain, rebuilt it in 1711. The two main halls on the upper terrace date from that rebuilding and were both restored in 1963.

The Lower Worship Hall followed in 1879. Much of the rest of the precinct was rebuilt in the Showa era: the Middle Gate, its corridors, the rear gate, and the fence date from 1939. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives the era of the Worship Hall as Showa 18 (1943) but lists its Western year as 1885, so its exact date remains unresolved.

Before the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in the early Meiji period, Fukura was home to 25 lodgings for mountain ascetics and 3 priestly households, who performed rites for Mount Chōkai in a temple hall attached to the shrine. Their annual observances continue today as Shinto festivals.

Getting to Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya and visiting

Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya is about a 7-minute walk north of Fukura Station on the JR Uetsu Line, or about 3 minutes by car. Drivers can reach it in about 10 minutes from the Yuza-Chokai interchange or about 25 minutes from the Sakata-Minato interchange on the Nihonkai-Tohoku Expressway. There is parking for around 30 cars.

The grounds are open to worshippers, and there is no admission fee. The interiors of the shrine buildings are not open to the public.

The amulet counter is staffed daily from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.; it closes for lunch, so plan around that hour if you want a goshuin stamp. Stamps for seven related shrines, including Warabioka Kuchinomiya and the summit sanctuary, are all issued here. Inquiries go to the shrine office at 0234-77-2301.

The steps to the Worship Hall are steep, so take care in rain or snow.

Festivals at Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya

The biggest event at Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine Fukura Kuchinomiya is the annual festival on May 4 and 5. On the eve, dancers perform the hanagasa dance of Fukura Dengaku in front of the twin main halls, wearing hats decorated with fresh yamabuki and double cherry blossoms. On the main day the flowers are red artificial ones, and at the climax the hats are thrown into the crowd.

On July 14, portable shrines of the two deities travel to Nishihama beach for the Ohamaide rite, when bonfires are lit at the same time on the coast, on the summit of Mount Chōkai, and on Tobishima island. The Tsukiyama Shrine festival follows on July 15.

Dates and times can change, so check with the shrine before planning a visit around a festival.