Virtual Iruhi Bando 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #6 Gion-do Hall

 

     The Lion Dance is performed to drive away evil spirits in some parts of Japan.  The dance is often performed by a lion-dancer but, in some villages, by 1 or 2 male lion(s) and a female lion.

     The Japanese word Gion comes from Jetavana, which was one of the 5 most famous Buddhist monasteries or viharas in India. The five are believed to have already existed while the Buddha still lived. Gion Shrine enshrines the guardian god of Jetavana, who was called Gozu in Japan. The root or the source of the guardian god of Jetavana was Bhaisajyaguru, who chose to be born as a son of Mudang as a part of the syncretism of Buddhism. The son had a bull head, and grew up to find no bride to get married with. One day, he set out on a journey to find a bride. In brief, at last, he got married to a daughter of Naga, who lived in the ocean. Gozu might have had the power to control water as a natural process.

     Gozu was first enshrined at Hiromine Shrine in today’s Himeji. He was invited to today’s Kyoto when the Kamo River flooded and plague spread, they wished for the healing and anti-flood power of Gozu. He was made the main deity of Gion Shrine, or Yasaka Shrine today, in Kyoto.  He was further invited to many parts of Japan, as we had many floods and epidemics, and he is enshrined in more than 2,300 shrines.  Tsushima Shrine became the general agency in Tokai Region, which included Musashi Province.

     In 1802, smallpox was prevalent in many parts of Japan.  In Hongo Village, Okano Rokuzaemon, Sakamoto Kanzaemon, Sakashita Sakuemon, and others visited Tsushima Shrine, which enshrines Gozu Tenno, literally Ox-Headed Heavenly King, who is a syncretic Japanese deity of disease and healing.  There, they got 1 or 2 male-lion head(s) and a female-lion head.  They enshrined the male lion head(s) in Takaone Hamlet and a female-lion head in Sakashita Hamlet.  The 2 shrines were both called Yasaka, but the one in Sakashita was also called Gion-do Hall.  They and Suzumiya Shrine were merged with Hie Shrine in Tonogayato Hamlet in 1907, and the merged shrine came to be called Yasaka Shrine.  As Tonogayato literally means Lord's Valley, the lord of Hongo Village might have lived near where Yasaka Shrine is located.  Under the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1867), the village was ruled by the Ishiguro Family.

Address: Hongo, Tokigawa, Hiki District, Saitama 355-0353

Yasaka Shrine

Address: 771 Hongo, Tokigawa, Hiki District, Saitama 355-0353

Tsushima Shrine

Address: 1 Shinmeicho, Tsushima, Aichi 496-0851

Phone: 0567-26-3216