Virtual Miki County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #30: Shijimi-no-Iwamuro

 

     Around the 5th century, during a violent succession dispute, Prince Ichinohe-no-Oshiha was killed by the faction of Emperor Ohatsuse Wakatake.  The prince’s 2 sons, Princes Oke and Woke—who would later ascend as the 24th Emperor and the 23rd Emperor, respectively—fled for their lives.  Local tradition holds that they sought refuge in this stone chamber in Shijimi.

     The Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan), completed in 720 AD, explicitly identifies this site as the "Shijimiyama Stone Chamber."

     The chamber itself is an impressive natural formation, measuring 2.7 meters high, 14.5 meters wide, and 7.2 meters deep. While it remains a sacred site today, it is unknown exactly when the statue of the Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha was first enshrined within its depths.

Addreaa: 1708 Shijimicho, Miki, Hyogo 673-0515