Miho Shrine: A Paired Shinto Sanctuary in Japan
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.5
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Japan
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Japanese, Tokugawa, Toyotomi regime
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Sanctuary
On this page10 sections
History
Miho Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Japan whose present main sanctuary was rebuilt in 1813 in the distinctive Miho-zukuri form, a paired arrangement of two Taisha-zukuri sanctuary buildings. Its foundation date is unknown, but archaeological discoveries indicate ritual activity in the area before the Kofun period. Located at Mihonoseki on the eastern part of the Shimane Peninsula, southeast of Miho Bay, the shrine has long been associated with the settlement and is regarded as the head shrine of approximately 3,385 Ebisu shrines in Japan.
Early worship and written records
Fragments of a magatama jewel dating from the fourth century and a clay horse from the late sixth century were found in the shrine area. The horse was probably connected with rainmaking rites. These finds point to religious activity before the shrine’s formal history can be traced. Miho Shrine appears in the Izumo fudoki, compiled in 733, and in the Engishiki of 927. Its absence from other early records may indicate that it did not hold a formal place in the early system of divine ranks.
The name Miho is associated with Mihotsu-hime, one of the shrine’s principal deities. The institution is called Miho Shrine in the Izumo fudoki, the Engishiki, and records from 1534. By 1583 it was known as Miho Two Shrines, and early-modern records also used the names Miho-seki Great Shrine and Miho Two Great Shrines. The name Miho Shrine was restored during the Meiji period.
Deities and the paired pilgrimage
Miho Shrine venerates Kotoshiro-nushi and Mihotsu-hime. Kotoshiro-nushi, the son of Okuninushi, became identified with Ebisu during the medieval period. Ebisu is associated with prosperity in commerce, fishing, seafaring, music, and the performing arts. Mihotsu-hime is regarded as Okuninushi’s consort. The Izumo fudoki also describes an earlier deity, Mihosusumi, as residing in the Miho area. The present pairing of Kotoshiro-nushi and Mihotsu-hime is understood to have developed under the influence of later imperial mythology.
Together with Izumo Grand Shrine, Miho Shrine forms the Ebisu-Daikoku pilgrimage. Tradition held that visiting only one of the two shrines left the pilgrimage incomplete. The association links Miho with the religious traditions of Izumo and with the Kuni-yuzuri, or land-transfer myth, in which earthly authority passed from Okuninushi and his descendants to the heavenly deities.
Medieval office and sixteenth-century destruction
During the medieval period, the Yokoyama family held the shrine’s priestly office hereditarily. The buildings and treasures were destroyed during the Battle of Mihonoseki in 1569, when Yamanaka Yukimori, Tachihara Hisatsuna, and others rested at the shrine during the fighting.
A building inscription dated May 1596 records that Kikkawa Hiroie commissioned a new complex after making a vow connected with the Korean campaign. It describes the rebuilt establishment as the hall and treasure-adorned precinct of the Two Shrines. A document from 1886 states that the shrine had originally possessed one main sanctuary before damage during the Genki era, approximately 1570 to 1573, and had been rebuilt as two sanctuaries by the Bunroku era, 1593 to 1596. Together with the 1596 inscription, this supports the change from one sanctuary in 1534 to two by 1583, although the earlier pair may not have been joined in the same manner as the present buildings.
Early-modern support and rebuilding
In 1601, the Horio clan, rulers of Izumo, presented Miho Shrine with 70 silver coins. Further silver contributions came from the Kyogoku and Matsudaira rulers, with payments recorded in 1638, 1674, 1714, 1745, 1770, 1807, and 1828. One historical account describes annual contributions beginning in 1639. The shrine held land assessed at 14 koku, a rice-based unit of land assessment and stipend, and later received a 20-koku rice stipend from the lord of the Matsue domain. This was raised to 30 koku in 1868.
A fire in 1752 was followed by rebuilding in 1768. Another fire in 1800 led to the reconstruction of the main sanctuary in 1813, followed by repairs in 1845. The shrine had historically stood beside the sea, but its precinct was expanded in 1928 and the buildings were moved about 100 metres west to their present position.
Modern status and continuing rites
Miho Shrine became a village shrine in 1872, a prefectural shrine in 1874, and a nationally endowed middle-ranking shrine in 1885. In 1948 it entered the postwar supplementary designation of the Association of Shinto Shrines, known as the Beppyo shrines. The main sanctuary became a Shimane Prefectural Cultural Property in 1968 and an Important Cultural Property in 1982. The worship hall was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2022. The shrine’s principal rites and related vessels and implements have also received national cultural-property recognition.
Festivals are administered jointly by the shrine and Yakumae, an ujiko organization. An ujiko is a community of shrine supporters responsible for local religious obligations. Yakumae operates through six ritual offices, including a headman, custodians, and resting custodians. The first and second custodians are selected by lot for one-year terms from 16 or 18 families regarded as descendants of the deity. Afterward, they become preparatory officials and continue to take part in ceremonies.
Other offices follow the same rotating structure. The guest custodian, who is responsible for the outlying Guest Shrine, is chosen by lot from preparatory officials aged 33 to 56. Junior and senior resting custodians undergo ritual training before progressing to the headman’s office. During their service, members traditionally purify themselves in the sea and visit the shrine, the headman’s shrine, and subsidiary shrines at midnight. They follow special rules concerning meals, household altars, sleeping arrangements, and contact with death-related pollution.
The spring Aofushigaki Rite prays for a good harvest and reenacts the tradition that Kotoshiro-nushi concealed himself behind green branches after agreeing to the transfer of the land to the heavenly deities. Preparations begin on March 31, boats are decorated from April 6, and the principal rite takes place on April 7. Related ceremonies continue until April 12, when the Yakumae personnel are replaced. The rite was selected as an intangible folk cultural property in 1973.
The autumn Morotabune Rite expresses gratitude for the blessings of rice. It reenacts the arrival of messengers by boat to ask Kotoshiro-nushi’s opinion about the land transfer. Its ceremonies begin on November 27, and on December 3 participants travel by boat to the Guest Shrine. In the Aofushigaki ceremony, two decorated boats symbolically enter the harbor while a third carries musicians playing flutes and drums. During Morotabune, two boats race through the harbor and the rowers splash one another as an act of purification. The boats used in the rite became Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties in 1955.
These ceremonies preserve different expressions of the land-transfer mythology. One tradition describes Kotoshiro-nushi enclosed by green leaves in the sea before returning as a deity. Another tells of his transformation into an eight-armed shark and his union with Mishima’s Mizokui-hime, whose daughter became the future wife of Emperor Jimmu. Such traditions contributed to his later understanding as an oracular deity who conveys the will of other kami.
Remains
Main sanctuary and subsidiary shrines
The main sanctuary occupies a precinct whose recorded area varies between approximately 14,939 and 69,888 square metres. One description divides it into 1,150 tsubo of level ground and 3,369 tsubo of woodland. The sanctuary follows Miho-zukuri, also called paired Taisha-zukuri. Two sanctuary halls stand on one foundation and are joined by a dressing room, with a Lion Room at the front. Each hall is approximately 13 shaku wide. The hall associated with Mihotsu-hime is paired with that of Kotoshiro-nushi, while the dressing room contains subsidiary shrines.
The present sanctuary dates from 1813, following the fire of 1800. Built from locally obtained pine, it originally had a wooden-shingle roof. During the 1928 relocation, the roof was changed to cypress bark, the building was moved about 100 metres west, and its central staircase was removed. The sanctuary covers approximately 74.38 square metres, or 103.6 square metres when its projecting worship porch is included. It is about 5.91 metres long, 12.42 metres wide, and 6.36 metres high from the foundation, with a worship porch approximately 4.97 metres deep. Dismantling and repairs took place in 1998, alongside a formal transfer of the deities.
The subsidiary shrines set between the two principal halls include the Great Consort Shrine, dedicated to Kamuyatate-hime and Nunakawa-hime; the Princess Child Shrine, dedicated to Hime-tatara-Isuzu-hime and Isuzu-yori-hime; and the Divine Messenger Shrine, also called Inasehagi Shrine, dedicated to Inasehagi.
Worship hall and entrance buildings
The worship hall was built in 1924 from Japanese cypress. Approximately 16 metres long and 12 metres wide, it was designed by Ito Chuta and Kimura Yonejiro of the Meiji Shrine Construction Bureau. Its form imitates a boat storehouse. The building has no enclosing walls or ceiling and is set against the surrounding hills, while its open construction gives it distinctive acoustic properties that have supported musical performances. Its original wooden-shingle roof was replaced with cypress bark in 1998.
The shrine gate and cloister were built in 1928 from Japanese cypress. Their roofs were originally shingled, using Japanese cedar in the roofing construction, and are now covered with cypress bark. Cypress-bark roofs now cover the main sanctuary, worship hall, gate, cloister, and covered boundary wall.
Boats, instruments, and the Guest Shrine
Miho Shrine preserves 846 musical instruments offered in dedication, a collection recognized as an Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property. The instruments reflect the shrine’s enduring association with music and the performing arts. The Morotabune boats are preserved within the precinct. Their current construction uses two hollowed logs joined together, whereas earlier boats consisted of a single dugout log.
Kugutani Shrine, an auxiliary shrine outside the main precinct, collapsed under heavy snow in 2010 and was rebuilt in December 2019. The outlying Guest Shrine also remains part of the ritual organization of Miho Shrine through the duties of the guest custodian and the ceremonies connected with the Morotabune Rite.
