日本史の中の経済的・軍事的勢力として「水軍」という存在は大きい。東アジアの漢字文化圏における伝統的な水上兵力の呼称。西洋・近代の軍事における海軍に相当するが東洋の水軍においては河川や湖沼における水上兵力の比重も大きい。水師、船師、舟師ともいう。海上・水上交通を支配してさまざまな経済利権について掌握する機能性を持った組織体といえるだろう。
紀州方面に於いては別当氏に代表される「熊野水軍」が代表格であり、治承・寿永の乱に於いては湛増などが壇ノ浦などで活躍している。湛増は平安時代末期から鎌倉時代初期にかけて活躍した熊野三山の社僧で21代熊野別当。別当とはそもそも律令制度で「官司」の職務全体を統括・監督する地位に就いた時に補任される地位とされる。その職制がやがて「苗字」として名乗られるようにもなる。宗教勢力による軍事力であり、陸戦での「僧兵」と対比される。これらは後には「九鬼水軍」へと引き継がれていく。
上の「熊野速玉大社参詣曼荼羅」は境内にあった板画ですが、活発な「海上・水上交易」の様子が描かれていて、それによって地域の独自勢力として日本史の中で存在感を示し続けていたことがわかる。
紀ノ川は現在の和歌山市周辺で大阪・堺との関係性、強く中央と結びついた存在だが、この熊野は紀伊半島の熊野灘地域全域を支配する非常に独立性の高い地域だったことが容易に想像できる。宗教的権威として朝廷の尊崇が篤く、そして社僧自身が海上軍事戦力の首領を担うという独立権力の姿が浮かび上がってくる。
戦国期、こういった熊野の独立性の高さに対して天下布武・中央集権体制を志向した信長も軍事侵攻し、秀吉の代では実弟・秀長の家臣筆頭、藤堂高虎が1589年（天正17年）頃、一揆鎮圧拠点として「赤木城」を築いている。これは紀州の豊富な森林資源を管理しつつ、熊野の宗教勢力を鎮圧しようとしたもの。
江戸期には紀州の豊富な木材資源での投機的交易で紀伊國屋が財を成すけれど、そもそも木材出荷こそが熊野地域の経済力の源泉なのだともいえる。その「水運」がいかに重要かは自明だろう。
一枚の絵から、さまざまな情報が喚起されてくる。



わたしの家系伝承のなかに「往昔紀州にて仕官したるところ」という記述をしてくれたご先祖様がいて、そのかすかな手掛かりから、なんとかこの地方のことを調べてみたくなったのだけれど、北海道とは2000kmを超える非常な遠隔地で困難に直面していたけれど、それが今回の熊野探索の強い動機になっている。
日本民俗としても非常に存在感が大きな地域であるということがわかって、日本史の理解に奥行きが広がってきたように思えて感謝している。明日からはふたたび神武東征の跡をたどってみたい。

English version⬇

Hayatama-taisha, the Keystone of the Sea and Rivers: A Journey to Kumano and the Myth of the Imperial Family – 29
The location of Kumano Hayatama-taisha, which suppresses the mouth of the Kumano River to the Pacific Ocean. A religious force with naval and military power in contrast to the land-based “priestly army”. …

The “navy” is a significant economic and military force in Japanese history. This is the traditional name for waterborne forces in the Kanji cultural sphere of East Asia. It corresponds to the navy in Western and modern military affairs, but in the Eastern navy, the waterborne forces on rivers and lakes also play a significant role. Also called water masters, ship masters, and boat masters. It can be said to be an organization with the function of controlling maritime and waterway traffic and seizing various economic interests.
In the Kishu area, the Kumano Suigun, represented by the Betsudo clan, is a representative example, and Tanmaso and others were active at Dannoura and other locations during the Jisho and Juei Disturbances. Tanmasu was the 21st Betsudo of Kumano, a priest of Kumano Sanzan who was active from the end of the Heian Period to the beginning of the Kamakura Period. Betsudo is a position that is considered to be a supplementary position when a “kanshi” (government official) assumes the position of overseeing and supervising the overall duties of a “kanshi” under the Ritsuryo (law) system. This position eventually became known as “surname. The “kuuki” were the military forces of the religious powers, and were contrasted with the “priests” of the land warfare. These were later succeeded by the “Kuki Suigun” (navy).
The “Kumano Hayatama-taisha Pilgrimage Mandala” above is a board painting that was found in the precincts of the shrine. It depicts active “maritime and waterborne trade,” which shows that they continued to show their presence in Japanese history as a unique regional power.
While the Kino River has a relationship with Osaka and Sakai in the area around present-day Wakayama City and is strongly connected to the center of the country, it is easy to imagine that this Kumano was a very independent region that controlled the entire Kumano-nada region of the Kii Peninsula. The Kumano shrine was revered by the imperial court as a religious authority, and the priests themselves were the heads of the maritime military force, which reveals an independent power.
In the Warring States period, Nobunaga, who was aiming for a centralized power system under the Emperor, made a military invasion against Kumano’s high level of independence, and around 1589, Hideyoshi’s brother, Takatora Todo, the first vassal of Hideyoshi, built Akagi Castle as a base for suppressing revolts. This was an attempt to suppress religious forces in Kumano while managing the abundant forest resources of Kishu.
During the Edo period, Kinokuniya made a fortune through speculative trading in Kishu’s abundant timber resources, but it can be said that timber shipments were the source of the economic power of the Kumano region in the first place. The importance of “water transportation” should be obvious.
A single picture evokes a variety of information.

I have an ancestor who wrote in my family tradition that he served in Kishu in ancient times, and from this faint clue, I wanted to do some research on this region, but I was facing difficulties because it is very remote, over 2000 km from Hokkaido, but this was a strong motivation for this Kumano This was a strong motivation for my exploration of Kumano.
I am grateful to have learned that Kumano is a region with a large presence in Japanese folklore, which has broadened the depth of my understanding of Japanese history. Starting tomorrow, I would like to trace the trail of the Jinmu expedition once again.

Posted on 2月 2nd, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
Filed under: 日本社会・文化研究 | No Comments »

日本の祭りでは、各地で「神奈備」のひとつとしてまことに勇壮な神事が執り行われる。そういったひとつとも思えるけれど、この新宮・神倉神社の奇祭の危険度は非常に高い。これら火祭りの画像は一般社団法人 共同通信社が配信しているKYODO NEWSの動画から静止画としたもの。
カミと一体化するために多くの人びとは身を清め、相当の覚悟を持って神事に参加する。毎年２月６日に行われるということで、花の窟神社の御綱祭事が２月２日であることと関係するように思える。実際にこの奇祭の趣旨として、旧暦での新しい年の新しい「火」を里人の家に送り届けるというような共同体社会としての意味があるのだという。
花の窟神社で祭神として祀られた軻遇突智（カグツチ）は「火の神」としてイザナミが産んだけれど、その時の火傷でイザナミが命を落とした。そのときにカグツチも花の窟神社に葬られたとされるけれど、しかし火は人間社会にとって絶対必要欠くべからざる存在。そこで花の窟神社の神体と類似したこのゴトビキ岩から火の神が駆け下りるという神意をまつりごととして実現させたように想像できる。
神事に当たって参加者たちは海辺で神体を清め、神主さんに御祓いをして貰い、白装束に身を固めて固く決意をもって急峻な参道を上ってゴトビキ岩に向かう。

北海道ではこういった伝統的神事はあまりない。明治以降、全国から分散的に移住してきた人びとが無縁性の高い社会を作り始めてからまだ150年ほどであり、こうした神奈備風習は多くない。対比的に熊野のような地域社会では習俗が連綿と繰り返され、それが地域のアイデンティティとして成立し続けている。
列島社会としてはこうしたものが継続され続ける社会の精神性基盤があるということ。地域の生き方に強く関わっていて、個人を超える「公共」という意識を強く涵養し続けたことだろう。
こういった神奈備へのリスペクトを基盤とした社会というものはどのような精神を育んでいくか。なりわいを中心にして形成される地域毎の「ムラ」社会が、こういった機縁を共同体のおおきな結束根拠として活用していくことは自然だったことだろう。
そういった強い共同体意識はムラ同士の間では、ある緊張関係をもたらして、非常に分権的な社会構造が出来上がっていくことが容易に想像できる。島嶼地域アジアで強い王権や政体が出現しにくかったことと、やや北方に位置するこの日本列島社会の底流とは、類縁性が高いと思われる。
そういったなかにも関わらず、いわばゆるやかな王権を確立させた日本の皇統は、各地に残るさまざまな地域的統合説話と丹念に向き合って、説話レベルでの「統合」を図っていったのではないだろうか。天武帝と舎人親王は地道な各地域の説話に整合性を与えていく困難な作業を厭わず、日本書紀・古事記を成立させて世界最長の皇統の歴史を築いていったように思われる。

English version⬇

The “God of Fire” who runs down in the Fire Festival: The Myth of the Imperial Lineage and the Kumano Journey-27
A decentralized society unified by the “matsuri goto” culture of the Mura unification. The cultural policy of the Japanese imperial lineage, which made efforts to be consistent with such a reality. …

In Japan, many festivals are held in various places to perform truly heroic rituals as one of the “kannabis”. Although it seems to be one of those, this strange festival at Kamikura Shrine in Shingu is very dangerous. These images of the fire festival are stills from the KYODO NEWS video distributed by Kyodo News.
In order to become one with Kami, many people purify themselves and participate in the ritual with considerable determination. The fact that the festival is held every year on February 6 seems to be related to the fact that the Gozuna ritual at Hana-no-Kutsu Shrine is held on February 2. In fact, the purpose of this strange festival is to send a new “fire” for the new year in the lunar calendar to the homes of the villagers as a communal society.
Kagutsuchi, the Kagutsuchi enshrined at the Hana no Kutsu shrine, was the “fire god” and was born to Izanami, but Izanami lost her life due to a burn at that time. Kagutsuchi is said to have been buried at the shrine of Hana-no-Kutsu Shrine, but fire is an absolute necessity for human society. It can be imagined that the divine intention of the god of fire running down from Gotobiki Rock, which is similar to the sacred body of the Hana-no-Kutsu Shrine, was realized in the form of a festival.
Participants in the ritual purify the body of the god on the beach, have it purified by the priest, and then, dressed in white, walk up the steep path to Gotobiki Rock with firm determination.

There are not many of these traditional Shinto rituals in Hokkaido. It has only been about 150 years since the Meiji period (1868-1912), when people dispersedly immigrated from all over Japan and began to create a highly unrelated society, and there are not many such kannabi-style customs in Hokkaido. In contrast, in local communities such as Kumano, customs have been continuously repeated and have continued to be established as a local identity.
This means that the archipelagic society has a social spiritual foundation that continues to sustain these customs. They are strongly related to the local way of life and continue to cultivate a strong sense of “publicness” that transcends the individual.
What kind of spirit will be fostered in a society based on this kind of respect for Kannabi? It would have been natural for the local “mura” society, which is formed around the community’s “nari-wari,” to utilize this kind of opportunity as a basis for community cohesion.
Such a strong sense of community would have brought about a certain tension between the mura, and it is easy to imagine that a very decentralized social structure would have been created. The fact that strong kingships and political systems were difficult to create in island Asia and the underlying currents of society in the Japanese archipelago, which is located slightly to the north, seem to have a strong similarity.
The Japanese imperial lineage, which established a loose royal authority in spite of such circumstances, may have worked to “unify” at the level of legend by carefully examining the various regional unification legends that remained in various regions. Emperor Temmu and Prince Shonin seem to have established the history of the world’s longest imperial lineage by establishing the Nihonshoki and Kojiki through their willingness to go through the difficult task of bringing consistency to the various regional legends.

Posted on 1月 31st, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
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熊野那智大社の社域には隣接して「青岸渡寺」という天台の寺院がある。
それほど予備知識なく訪問したわたしは「え、なにこれ、神社なのに仏塔がある？」としばし唖然としておりました。調べてみると「那智山」は熊野三山の一つで熊野信仰の霊場として長い歴史がある。もともと那智の滝を中心にした神仏習合の一大修験道場だったが、明治初期に青岸渡寺と那智大社に分離した。今も寺と神社は隣接していて、双方を参拝する人が多い、のだという。
もともとが修験道の聖地という歴史があるとされている。この青岸渡寺の由緒書きを見ると以下。
〜開基は仁徳帝の頃(4世紀)、印度天竺の僧「裸形」上人が那智大滝において修行を積みその暁に瀧壷で八寸の観音菩薩を感得し、ここに草庵を営んで安置したのが最初。 その200年後、推古天皇の頃、大和の「生佛」上人が来山し、前述の話を聞き一丈(3ｍ)の如意輪観世音を彫み、裸形上人が感得した八寸の観音菩薩を胸佛に納め勅願所として正式に本堂が建立された〜
裸形とか、生佛（どう考えても「いきぼとけ」か）とかの露骨な人名表現。どうも仏教の本筋というよりもやや飛躍した、いかにも修験道的な風合いがそこに感じられるように思う。
そういう修験的な寺院として、日本的な鷹揚さをもった神社信仰が徐々に「習合」していったような経緯を感じさせてくれる。

修験道は断食、瞑想、経典の唱え、滝の下での祈りなどの禁欲的な修行などを指す。7世紀の伝説の神秘家であり術師でもある役行者または役小角（634–700年）が起源と言われるけれど、日本的な常識的ビジュアルとしてはやはり「瀧に打たれる」という様子がイメージされる。
三千六百峯とされる熊野の豊かな自然環境の代表スポットとしてこの那智の滝が表徴化されたのか。そういった修験道スポットに対して敬意を表して神社が勧請され、さらに日本独特な宗教の垣根取り払い運動があって、神仏習合という概念が進んで行ったのではないだろうか。
やはり多様な国土環境の中での精神風土として「純粋性」よりも「和を尊ぶ」傾向がより優勢になるのが日本の特徴であるように思う。一神教と多神教の社会の違いとも思える。世界の中でこういった日本人はやはり特異な精神性を持っていると言えるのだろうか。
その後、戦国期になってキリスト教・一神教が浸透してきたけれど、やはり多数派としては多神教的社会の保持に傾いていったのには、この熊野那智大社と青岸渡寺のような宗教ジャパネスク、習合思想が底流としてあるのだと思える。
やはり神社信仰は宗教というよりは習俗・慣習の面の方が大きい。列島人の基本心性がそのことを表現しているのだろう。それが熊野という特殊な日本的地域信仰形成につながった。

English version⬇

The Shinto/Buddhist syncretism of religious Japanesque Myths of the Imperial Family and the Kumano Journey – 25
Japanese society does not “fit in” with monotheistic exclusion of others. The “let bygones be bygones” sentiment prevails over the fundamentalism that leads to dictatorship. …

Adjacent to Kumano Nachi Taisha is a Tendai temple called Seigantoji.
I visited the temple without much prior knowledge and was stunned to see a pagoda in the midst of a shrine. I was stunned. Nachi is one of the three mountains of Kumano and has a long history as a sacred place of Kumano worship. Originally, it was a major training center for the practice of Shintoism and Buddhism, centering on Nachi Falls, but it was separated into Seigando-ji Temple and Nachi Taisha Shrine in the early Meiji period (1868-1912). The temple and shrine are still adjacent to each other, and many people visit both.
It is said that the temple has a history of originally being a sacred place for Shugendo. The history of Seigando-ji is as follows
〜The temple was founded in the 4th century during the reign of Emperor Nintoku (4th century) by a priest named Nigakata Shonin from India, who ascended to the Nachi Great Falls and, upon ascending, saw the eight-sided bodhisattva Kannon in the waterfall basin. Two hundred years later, during the reign of Emperor Suiko, a “Seibutsu” priest from Yamato came to the temple, heard the above-mentioned story, and carved a one-length (3 m) Nyoirin Kannon.
The use of explicit personal names such as “nakagata” and “ikibutsuke” (“living Buddha” or “ikibotoke”). I feel that the temple has an atmosphere of Shugendo, which is a leap forward rather than the main line of Buddhism.
It seems to me that the Japanese-style worship of shrines was gradually “merged” with this kind of Shugendo-like temple.

Shugendo refers to ascetic practices such as fasting, meditation, chanting sutras, and praying under waterfalls, and is said to have originated with the legendary 7th century mystic and practitioner En no Gyoja or En no Shokaku (634-700), but the common Japanese visual image is still “being hit by a waterfall. The image of a waterfall is also commonplace in Japan.
Nachi Falls may have been symbolized as a representative spot of the rich natural environment of Kumano, which is said to have 3,600 peaks. Shrines were built to pay homage to such spots of Shugendo, and the concept of Shintoism-Buddhism syncretism may have developed as a result of the movement to remove religious boundaries unique to Japan.
I believe that the tendency to “respect harmony” rather than “purity” is a characteristic of Japan’s spiritual climate in the midst of its diverse land environment. This can be seen as the difference between a monotheistic and a polytheistic society. Can it be said that the Japanese people have a unique spirituality in the world?
Later, during the Warring States period, Christianity and monotheism penetrated Japan, but the majority tended to maintain a polytheistic society, which I believe is based on the religious Japanesque and syncretistic philosophy of Kumano Nachi Taisha and Aogishitoji Temple.
After all, shrine worship is more of a custom and practice than a religion. The basic mentality of the people of the archipelago expresses this. This is what led to the formation of Kumano, a unique Japanese regional belief.

Posted on 1月 29th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
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熊野に残る精神文化空間のひとつの象徴がこの花の窟神社。やはり一番奇異を感じるのは、本殿建築のかわりに巨石、露頭岩石をそのままイザナミのご神体としているポイントだろうか。
熊野本宮大社の古社があったとされる所在地・現大斎原は３つの河川の合流地点で、ひろやかな砕石・砂利石が清浄な、仏教的な言い方で言えば「三途の川原」を感じさせる空間の「神奈備」を訴求してくるけれど、しかしそこにたくさんの「高床式」の木造社殿が祀られていた。またアマテラスを祀る伊勢神宮も同様の木造の神殿群が展開している。
建築的に見れば「高床」とは集団的農耕の結果生産物であるコメの長期保存のために「通風性」を第一に考えた木造建築デザインだろう。湿潤な温熱環境のなかでしかもネズミなどの食害をも防ぐ意味からも床が高く上げられ、床下は風洞構造を目指している。内部の乾燥を第一に追求した性能とデザインの日本的完成形。
わたし的にはこういう「神奈備」についての花の窟神社と他社の社殿意識の相違は、やはり縄文から弥生への「精神伝統」の歴史的変化表現ではないかと思える。コメ文化が列島に流入してきたときの「在来」社会との関係性の表現かと。
日本列島でもコメ文化以前の「神奈備」空間として列石群などの空間は一般的にある。縄文由来の生活文化を継承してきた地域文化として、東北北部・北海道などで見ることができる。石器社会から連綿としてこのような巨石に「神宿る」と感じる精神性は底流としてあり続けたのだろうが、こんなふうな始原的な神奈備とその文化を初めて正視する思いがした。
そしてその象徴から「しめ縄」を海にまで長大に「つなげる」神事が継続し続けている奇観。いかにも「熊野」らしい習俗文化だと強くメッセージしてくる。


原初的な精神性神話の始原とされるイザナミ尊が身ごもって、火の神「カグツチノミコト」を産むとき火傷をして亡くなったので、ふたりを花の窟に葬ったのだという。花の窟神社には露頭岩の本殿に対置してカグツチの神体巨石がある。またさらに丸石が信仰対象として置かれている。イザナミの体内からこの丸石が飛び出してきたと言われる。
どうもこのあたりは、火山活動・造山活動の様子を「神宿る」ことがらとして信仰対象としてきた痕跡を感じさせられる。火山列島である国土で普遍的に「自然崇拝」が人びとのこころに根付き続けていたことを物語る。八百万の神々とは多様性に富んだ海洋性火山列島の国土にふさわしい精神文化なのでしょう。
そういう国土において皇統が統一的政体として、どのように維持し、発展していったのか。わたしの熊野詣、いよいよ核心的な部分・覚醒ポイントに差し掛かってきたと感じさせられています。

English version⬇

The Jomon-era “Gigantic Stone” Worship: The Myth of the Imperial Lineage and a Trip to Kumano-23
The Jomon-like worship of nature, the land where eight million gods dwell, and the imperial lineage as a symbol of rice culture. The missing link between these two cultures and harmony. …

The Hana-no-Kutsu Shrine is a symbol of one of Kumano’s remaining spiritual and cultural spaces. What is perhaps most unusual about the shrine is that instead of a main shrine building, a huge rock outcropping is used as the sacred body of Izanami.
The location where the old shrine of Kumano Hongu Taisha is said to have been located, the present Osaibara, is at the confluence of three rivers, and the open crushed stones and gravel stones are clean, appealing to the “Kannabis” of the space, which in Buddhist terms is the “Sanzu no Kawahara,” but there are many wooden shrine buildings built on stilts enshrined there. The Ise Jingu Shrine, dedicated to Amaterasu, also has a similar group of wooden temples.
From an architectural point of view, “stilts” are probably a wooden architectural design that places the highest priority on ventilation for the long-term preservation of rice, a product of collective agriculture. The floor is raised to prevent rodents and other predators from feeding on the rice in a humid thermal environment, and a wind tunnel structure is intended to be built under the floor. It is a Japanese perfection in performance and design, with the primary focus on keeping the interior dry.
In my opinion, the difference in the awareness of “Kannabi” between Hana-no-Kutsu Shrine and other companies may be an expression of the historical change in “spiritual tradition” from the Jomon to the Yayoi period. It may be an expression of the relationship between the “native” society and the rice culture when the rice culture was introduced to the archipelago.
In the Japanese archipelago, there are generally rows of stones and other spaces that were “kannabi” spaces prior to the rice culture. This can be seen in the northern Tohoku and Hokkaido regions, where the Jomon-derived lifestyle and culture has been inherited. The mentality of feeling that “gods reside” in such megaliths has been an underlying current since the Stone Age, but this was the first time for me to see Kannabi and its culture in its primordial form.
It was the first time for me to see the primordial Kannabi and its culture in a proper light. It is a strong message that this is a custom and culture that is very typical of Kumano.

Izanami, the originator of the myth of primordial spirituality, was pregnant and died of burns when giving birth to Kagutsuchinomikoto, the god of fire, and the two were buried in the Cave of Flowers. The Kagutsuchi no Mikoto was buried in Hana no Kutsura Shrine, and the huge stone of the Kagutsuchi deity stands opposite the main shrine built of outcropping rocks. A round stone is also placed as an object of worship. It is said that this round stone came out of Izanami’s body.
This area seems to show traces of volcanic and orogenic activities that have been regarded as objects of worship as “dwelling places for the gods”. This tells us that “nature worship” has been universally rooted in the hearts of the people of this volcanic archipelago. The 8,000,000 gods are a spiritual culture appropriate to a land of diverse oceanic volcanic archipelago.
In such a land, how was the imperial lineage maintained and developed as a unified political entity? My pilgrimage to Kumano has finally reached the point of awakening to the core of the matter.

Posted on 1月 27th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
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日本の神社信仰では必ず「注連縄」という習俗を持っている。この注連縄というものは稲作と非常に強い関連性を持っていると思われる。稲ワラを手作業で作り上げていく作業には合掌のポーズが必然化する。そういう体動作と造作物との間に直感的な連動性を感じています。
で、その神社のなかで「最古」と伝承されているのがこの「花の窟＜いわや＞神社」 。
三重県熊野市有馬町の太平洋に面した海岸線地形のなかに、特異な窟の露頭（花の巌）が顕現していて、それを天然の社殿として祀られている。祭神は国生みの母神・イザナミ尊。夫のイザナギとの間で神々を産み落としてきたけれど、火の神「カグツチノカミ」を産み落としたときに、その火に焼かれて亡くなったという伝承。
こういう国生み説話段階の言い伝えを保守する神社の祭礼として、「御縄かけ神事」が２月２日と10月２日の春秋に執り行われ続けているという。これは花の窟の頂上部分から社殿が面している太平洋の海岸砂浜に向かって「注連縄」を日本一長いともいわれる約１７０メートルほどつないでいくという奇祭。
神社の建物の中にあった説明文を読むと、この神事は日本列島に稲作が伝承した経緯としての「海からの渡来」を表現した厳然としたものであると記述されている。
その社殿の「始原性」はこの列島の縄文期の人びとの自然崇拝を残滓として明瞭に示しているように思えるし、国生みという伝承に込められたある「真実性」がうかがわれるのではないか。いわば縄文から弥生の世への列島社会の変遷を物語っているように感じられる。
言ってみれば皇統神話に描かれた「真実性」部分を表徴しているように感じている。もちろん科学的立場とは言えないけれど、歴史と伝承の中間地点、想像力の世界が可視化されている。稲作を象徴している注連縄が、海から花の窟の露頭につなげられることを、歴世繰り返してきた民人がいることがわかる。

日本書紀には以下の記述。「 一書曰伊弉冉尊火神（いざなみのみこと)を生み給う時に灼(や)かれて神退去(さり） ましぬ　故(か)れ紀伊国　熊野の有馬村に葬（かく）しまつる 土俗(くにびと）此神の魂(みたま）を祭るには 花の時に花を以って祭る 又鼓 吹幡旗(つづみふえはた)を用て歌い舞いて祭る」
日本書紀の成立は720年とされるけれど、その古代に於いてすでにこの「神社」が成立していたことが傍証されているわけだ。神社信仰の起源は不明だけれど、この花の窟神社は最古格であるとされている。北海道人としては神話と現実の符合の狭間に教えられることがある。
熊野への旅は日本の起源のなにごとかにもつながっている。

English version⬇

The “Hana no Kutsu Shrine” described in the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan): A Journey to Kumano and the Myth of the Imperial Family – 21
Although the name “Izanami” does not give me a sense of reality, I think there is something irresistibly true about a festival that symbolizes the “sea road” of the origin of rice cultivation in the archipelago. The myth of Izanami is not very realistic.

Japanese shrine worship always has a custom called “shimenawa. This shimenawa is thought to have a very strong connection with rice cultivation. The manual work of making up the rice straw inevitably involves the use of the palms together. I feel an intuitive linkage between such bodily movements and the construction of the work.
The “Iwaya Shrine” is said to be the “oldest” of these shrines.
In the coastal landscape facing the Pacific Ocean in Arima-cho, Kumano City, Mie Prefecture, a unique cave outcropping (hana no kutsu (flower rock)) has been revealed, and is enshrined as a natural shrine. The deity is Izanami, the mother goddess of the nation. Legend has it that she gave birth to gods with her husband Izanagi, but when she gave birth to Kagutsuchi-no-Kami, the god of fire, she was burned to death by the fire.
The “Onawa-kake ritual” has been held in spring and fall on February 2 and October 2 as a shrine ritual to maintain this legend of the birth of the nation. This is a strange festival in which a shimenawa, said to be the longest in Japan, is strung 170 meters from the top of the Hana-no-Kutsu Cave to the beach of the Pacific Ocean where the shrine building is located.
According to an explanation found inside the shrine building, this ritual is a solemn expression of the “arrival of rice from the sea” as a way of transmitting rice cultivation to the Japanese archipelago.
The “primitive nature” of the shrine building seems to clearly show the nature worship of the Jomon period people of this archipelago as a remnant of their nature worship, and it may suggest a certain “truthfulness” in the tradition of the creation of the nation. In other words, it seems to tell the story of the transition of the archipelago’s society from the Jomon to the Yayoi period.
In other words, I feel that it represents the “truthfulness” depicted in the mythology of the imperial lineage. Of course, this is not a scientific standpoint, but it is a visualization of the world of imagination, the middle ground between history and folklore. We can see that the shimenawa, which symbolizes rice cultivation, is connected from the sea to the outcropping of the Hana no kutsu, and that there are people who have repeatedly done this in successive generations.

The Chronicles of Japan contains the following description. The god was burned when he gave birth to Izanami no Mikoto, and was therefore buried in the village of Arima in Kumano, Kii Province.
The Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan) is said to have been written in 720, but this is evidence that this “shrine” was already established in that time. The origin of shrine belief is unknown, but Hana-no-Kutsu Shrine is said to be the oldest of its kind. As a Hokkaido native, I am sometimes taught by the gap between myth and reality.
The trip to Kumano is connected to something about the origin of Japan.

Posted on 1月 25th, 2024 by 三木 奎吾
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