Virtual Akata 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #23 Kusushi Shrine

 

     It is unknown when and where Kusushi Shrine was founded.  Kusushi Shrine is the #23 deity of the Akata 33 Kannon Pilgrimage.  If Yakushi Shrine is a Shinto shrine, it belongs to Shinto.  If Yakushi is Bhaisajyaguru, it is the Buddha of healing and medicine.  If it is a Shinto shrine, it should have been merged to Shinmei-sha Shrine sometime between 1910 and 1918, after the Shrine Bureau, which implemented Shrine Consolidation Policy, was created as a branch of the Home Ministry in 1900.  It wasn't documented that Yakushi Shrine became independent again in 1945 after World War II ended, but, due to Association of Shinto Shrine, 4 shrines became independent from Shinmei-sha Shrine in 1945 along with Koshio, Oyamazumi, and Kumano Shrines.  Yakushi Shrine could have been the 4th shrine that became independent from Shinmei-sha Shrine.

     It is unknown how many Kusushi Shrines there are in Japan.  It is unknown if Kusushi Shrine in Akata was invited from the most major one that is located at the top of Mount Fuji.  First of all, Kusushi Shrine at the top of Mount Fuji used to be called Yakushi-do Hall not Kusushi Shrine in the Edo Period, when the Akata 33 Kannon Pilgrimage was organized.

3 small shrines are enshrined in Yakushi Shrine's hall.  One of them could be Kusushi Shrine, whose original location is unknown.

Yakushi Shrine

Address: Sanno-68 Akata, Yurihonjo, Akita 015-0023

Kusushi Shrine

Address: Oyama, Sunto District, Shizuoka 410-1431

Phone: 0544-27-2002