Yoshino Mikumari Shrine

34°21′14″N 135°52′23″E / 34.35389°N 135.87306°E / 34.35389; 135.87306ArchitectureDate establishedUnknown, possibly 806

Glossary of Shinto

Yoshino Mikumari Shrine (吉野水分神社, Yoshino Mikumari-jinja) is a Shinto shrine located on Mount Yoshino in Yoshino district, Nara, Japan.^[1] It is closely associated with Emperor Go-Daigo.

The Shrine is dedicated to mikumari [Wikidata], a female Shinto kami associated with water, fertility and safe birth. Yoshino Mikumari Shrine is one of four important mikumari shrines in the former province Yamato. The shrine also houses six kami that are more or less related to mikumari (Takami-musubi-no-kami, Sukuna-hiko-no-kami, Mikogami, Ama-tsu-hiko-hi-no-ninigi-no-mikoto, Tamayori-hime-no-mikoto, and Yorozu-hata-toyo-akitsushi-hime-no-mikoto). A wooden statue of the deity Tamayori hime is registered as a National Treasure of Japan.

The present-day buildings go back to 1605, when Toyotomi Hideyori rebuilt the shrine, as his father Toyotomi Hideyoshi once had prayed here for a son and successor. The main hall (honden), an Important Cultural Property，is an unusual structure 9 ken long and 2 ken wide. Built in the nagare-zukuri style, it has however an independent 1x1 ken unit in the kasuga-zukuri style at the center. The three resulting edifices all lie under the same bark roof, which has three dormer gables.^[2]

In 2004, it was designated as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.

Notes

^ Richard, Ponsonby-Fane. (1964) Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan, pp. 300-307.
^ "Yoshino Mikumari Jinja". Cultural Properties Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 1 January 2010.

References

Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 399449
____________. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
____________. (1964). Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby-Fane Memorial Society. OCLC 1030156

Shinto shrines

Shinto architecture

Buildings	chōzu or temizu Haiden Heiden hokora honden / shinden / shōden kagura-den setsumatsusha
Architectonic elements	Chinjusha chigi hidden roof kaerumata: see nakazonae kairō karahafu karamon katōmado katsuogi kitsune (fox) komainu mon nakazonae shinboku shōrō sōrin tamagaki tokyō torii tōrō
Styles	hirairi-zukuri tsumairi-zukuri hachiman-zukuri hiyoshi-zukuri irimoya-zukuri ishi-no-ma-zukuri kasuga-zukuri kibitsu-zukuri misedana-zukuri nagare-zukuri ōtori-zukuri owari-zukuri ryōnagare-zukuri shinmei-zukuri sumiyoshi-zukuri taisha-zukuri
Decorations	Sandō Saisen Tomoe Shimenawa

Others

Implements	An Chōzubachi Chōzuya Hakama Himorogi Jōe Kagura suzu O-miki Ō-nusa Gohei Sanbo Shide Shinsen Suzu Tamagushi Masakaki Washi
Head shrines¹	Fushimi Inari Taisha Inari Ōkami Inari shrine Usa Hachiman-gū Hachiman Hachiman Shrine Ise Grand Shrine Amaterasu Jingūkyō Jingu Taima Shinmei shrines Dazaifu Tenman-gū Tenjin Tenmangū Munakata Taisha daughters of Amaterasu Suwa Taisha Takeminakata Yasakatome Kotoshironushi Hiyoshi Taisha Ōkuninushi Oyamakui no Kami Sannō torii Sannō Ichijitsu Shintō Kumano Nachi Taisha Kumano Kodō Kumano Sanzan Tsushima Shrine Gion cult Yasaka Shrine Gion cult
Tutelary deities	Ujigami Chinjugami Garanshin Dōsojin Jinushigami Yama-no-Kami Oyagami Sorei Ubusunagami Kunitama
Yorishiro and Shintai	Mirrors Shinboku (trees) Chinju no Mori (forests) Iwakura (rocks) Meoto Iwa Kannabi (locations) Katashiro (dolls) Kadomatsu Bunrei and Kanjō (propagation) Ofuda Jingu Taima Omamori Senjafuda Arahitogami Mikoshi Matsuri float Shinko-shiki
Staff	Kannushi Miko
Miscellaneous	A-un Kanjo Nawa Junrei Misaki Miyamairi Shinshi
Classification	Twenty-Two Shrines Gokoku Shrines Beppyo Shrines Shinkai (divine rank) Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines Engishiki Jinmyocho Chinjusha Setsumatsusha Hokora Buddhist elements jingū-ji miyadera Whale mounds Kamidana Mitamaya Sōja shrine
History	Shrine Parishioner Registration Secular Shrine Theory Shrine Consolidation Policy Shrine Shinto
Misc practices for visitors	Ō-mikuji Shuin Ema
Institutions	Jinja Honchō
Rites	Futomani Harae Kagura Misogi Hakushu Two bows, two claps, one bow Jichinsai
¹ (in order of the size of the shrine network they head)