Open the door to Japanese Mythology

Ise Grand Shrine which only selected people could have visit as “the shrine dedicated to the guardian goddess of imperial family” in ancient times had become the closer and closer to the ordinary people consequently, because the Emperor had lost the power and the shrine had faced funding difficulties.
The crisis of Ise Grand Shrine in Warring States periods had been saved by the ordinary people and samurai warriors.
ODA Nobunaga, TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi, and TOKUGAWA Ieyasu had also given a helping hand to Ise Grand Shrine.
Ise Grand Shrine could have performed Sengu thanks to the support from countless people and become to be considered as “the shrine dedicated to the guardian goddess of all Japanese people”.
In the Edo Period, ordinary people had had dreams of visiting to Ise Grand Shrine and created the visiting boom.

However, the Samurai Era had come to an end, and the Meiji Period when the absolute power had been exercised under the name of the Emperor had come.
In a sense, as well as ancient times, the power had been returned to the Emperor and Ise Grand Shrine had been detached from the anxiety of financial difficulty.
And ironically, the visiting fever of ordinary people had been going down rapidly.
The final straw had been said that Emperor Meiji had visited to Ise Grand Shrine, and also the grounds had been said that the nature of Ise Grand Shrine had changed.
Had the nature regressed to the ancient times when Ise Grand Shrine had been far away from ordinary people?
Unfortunately there had been no record about the details.
But still, there had been some obvious change in Japanese history.
Those who had performed a function as the connection between Ise Grand Shrine and ordinary people had been banned or forbidden from doing their work.
They had been called as “Ise ONSHI”, the very persons who had supported Ise Grand Shrine.

Usually, Japanese Kanji for the designation could have been read “OSHI”, but the same Kanji for the designation of those who had taken care of the visitors to Ise Grand Shrine could have been read “ONSHI”, representing their extra designation.
Originally, the designation, “OSHI” had meant those who had belonged to shrine or temple, shown their faith to people, and in some instances, collected the donation for renovation cost of shrine or temple buildings, and taken care of the ordinary people who had planned to visit to their shrine or temple.
Especially, the work by “Ise ONSHI” had made a considerable figure.
Of course they had supported the money problem for Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine, and there had been more.
The visiting boom to Ise Grand Shrine among the ordinary people in the Edo Period would have relied heavily on Ise ONSHI.
However, in fact, “OSHI” including Ise ONSHI had been banned or forbidden from doing their work in the Meiji Period.

It had been true that Ise Grand Shrine had got rid of their money problem.
And there had been no need to rely on the ordinary people for money.
Still, Ise ONSHI had collected not only money.
They had cultivated the mind of ordinary people, such as trust and respect for gods and goddesses and also collected the visitors to Ise Grand Shrine.
Possibly because of the efforts of Ise ONSHI, the ordinary people could have come to feel the deities enshrined in Ise Grand Shrine as “the guardian goddess for all Japanese people” and “the protective deity for all industries including food, clothing and housing”.
In effect, the very Ise ONSHI had been banned or forbidden from their work by the Meiji Government.
And consequently, it had been not too much to say that the ordinary people had been kept away from Ise Grand Shrine.
In the Meiji Period, Ise Grand Shrine had been about to lose the trust of the ordinary people.

In ancient times, only selected people could have visited to Ise Grand Shrine under the umbrella of the Emperor with absolute power.
It had been said that the ordinary people had never been allowed to visit to the shrine for their good wishes and they hadn’t even set the wooden box for receiving money offerings.
At that time, the cost for Sengu had been covered by the expense from the vast land owned by Ise Grand Shrine and the relevant land.
They had had no difficulty in securing of fund for Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine.
But gradually, it had seemed to be more and more difficult to collect since about 200 years after the first Sengu.

So, the nation-wide contingency tax had been adopted.
As far as in the record, it had been started from the 22nd Sengu since 400 around years after the first Sengu.
This had triggered a protest from each district.
It had been said that there had been the district where people had made resistance and tried to get out of paying tax by using every trick.

And then, the times when the Emperor could have seized power had come to an end, and the next time, the first warrior government called as the Kamakura Period (1185- ) had come.
Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine had been supported by the power other than the Emperor and the Emperor’s surroundings.
Concretely, warriors including Kamakura Bakufu (Bakufu means Japan’s feudal government) had started to get engaged in this tax collection.
And in Muromachi Period (1336- ) controlled by the next feudal government, warriors had not only collected the tax but also exercised their decision making authorities for tax remission.

And the Warring States period had come.
The system of the nation-wide contingency tax had already been collapsed, and even the land owned by Ise Grand Shrine had been about to be captured and lost.
In the chaos of the Warring States period, they had had no choice but to discontinue Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine.
Those who could have saved this crisis had been the three feudal warlords representing the Warring States period.
It had been ODA Nobunaga, TOYOTOMI Hideyasu, and TOKUGAWA Ieyasu.
However beside them, there had been those who had given the great power to the resurgence of Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine.
It had been the ordinary people.
The supporters of Ise Grand Shrine had gone all over the country, and asked the ordinary people for donation.
There had also the nun who had asked for the donation and appealed, “Let’s all achieve something special for Sengu instead of relying on only those in power”.
And finally Sengu could have been resumed and continued.
Of course in those days, the ordinary people could have also visited to Ise Grand Shrine for granted.
In other words, Ise Grand Shrine could have become the shrine which the ordinary people had wished to visit because the Emperor had lost the power, and the shrine had had the money shortage.

Soon after Emperor Meiji had visit to Ise Grand Shrine, the visiting boom to Ise Grand Shrine among the ordinary people had come to an end.
The reason had been said that the nature of Ise Grand Shrine had changed.
How had it changed concretely?
Unfortunately there hadn’t been any record in particular, and it had been left up to our imagination.

In this regard, however, it had not been too much to say that Ise Grand Shrine had developed by changing its nature completely with the times.

In the ancient times, Emperor Tenmu who had achieved victory in the Jinshin War in 672 and sit on the throne had positioned Ise Grand Shrine as “the shrine dedicated to the guardian goddess of imperial family”.
To be precise, the goddess “Amaterasu-Omikami” enshrined in Naiku has been “the guardian goddess of imperial family”.
And in Geku, they had enshrined “Toyouke-no-Omikami” as “the goddess who can prepare meals the guardian goddess of imperial family”.
And in 685, Emperor Tenmu had defined the system for Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine once in every 20 years.
The first Sengu of Naiku had performed in 690, and the Geku, in 692.
It had been the Empress Jito who had taken over her husband, Emperor Tenmu to perform.

For a while after that, the period that successive Emperors could have taken the reins had continued.
Actually at that time, it had been really unpardonable for the ordinary people to visit to Ise Grand Shrine.
In other word, people had been banned from visiting to the shrine.
Worse still, it hadn’t been easy even for those who had had the same position, the imperial family to visit to the shrine.
Only selected people had been allowed to visit to the shrine.
It had been the narrow gate beyond measure.
The act of praying for personal happiness had been absolutely unforgivable because Ise Grand Shrine had been the very shrine for the Emperor.

“Open their wallet, throw some coins into the wooden box, clap their hands, and make a wish.”

It isn’t uncommon sight in today’s Ise Grand Shrine.
But in those days, there had been no way people could have done above.
It had been said that they hadn’t set the wooden box for receiving money offerings.
People in those days could never even have imagined that the visiting boom to Ise Grand Shrine among the ordinary people would have come.
Indeed, there had been such times in Ise Grand Shrine.

It had been the Meiji Period, the times when everything could have moved along with a central focus on the Emperor, “the living god”.
Ise Grand shrine had been rated as the top position of all shrines in Japan because the shrine had dedicated to the guardian goddess of the Emperor.
And under the sufficient degree of protection by the government, Sengu of both Naiku and Geku had been performed at the exactly period of 20 years.
But cynically, the fever of visiting the shrine for ordinary people had started to go down rapidly.

Ise Grand Shrine had collected the aspiration of all people in the Edo period, the previous period of Meiji.
“Even just for once in my lifetime, I want to visit Ise Grand Shrine.”
The visitor from all over the country had walked through for many days to Ise Grand Shrine.
Nevertheless, the boom had come to an end completely in the Meiji Period.
The final straw had been said that Emperor Meiji had visited to Ise Grand Shrine.

Without question, the action of Emperor Meiji had made an extraordinary impact in Japanese history.
The reason had been that he had been the first Emperor who had paid his respect at Ise Grand Shrine.
Surprisingly enough, until the Meiji period, we could have never seen no record that that the successive Emperors had visited to Ise Grand Shrine in the period of their own reigns.
In spite of the shrine dedicated to the guardian goddess of imperial family, there had been really no record.
For example, there had been no record that Emperor Tenmu who had originated Sengu system had visited to Ise Grand shrine.
Only the following record had been left.
He had prayed to the goddess Amaterasu-Omikami at the place far removed from Ise Grand shrine during the Jinshin War.
Similarly, there had been no record that Emperor Jito who had taken over her husband, Emperor Tenmu had visited to Ise Grand Shrine.
Though Emperor Jito had performed the first Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine, it had been simply recorded that she had visited Ise region over her subordinate’s strong protests.
In other word, the two who had created the starting point of the development of Ise Grand Shrine hadn’t visit to the shrine according to the records.

And more than 1000 years after that, every Emperors hadn’t visited to Ise Grand Shrine during his or her own reign.
For this reason, it would have been crucially important that Emperor Meiji had visited to Ise Grand Shrine.
“Ise Grand Shrine is the special for the Emperor.”
It must have been a strong message for people from every walk of life.

And the nature of Ise Grand Shrine had changed, and consequently, the boom among the ordinary people had been said to come to an end.
Had the feelings of the ordinary people cooled down because of the change in Ise Grand Shrine?
Ise Grand Shrine had lost the aspiration in the mind of the ordinary people as if they had traded high position and financial stability.

Nearly 1000 years had passed since the Emperor Tenmu who had achieved victory in the Jinshin War had positioned Amaterasu-Omikami enshrined in Ise Grand Shrine as “the guardian goddess of imperial family”.
Ise Grand Shrine which had recovered from their crisis in the Warring States period had come to take root on the mind of ordinary people.
Ordinary people in Edo period had all become to have a dream of visiting Ise Grand Shrine a once in a lifetime.
Visiting Ise Grand Shrine had become the boom.
And even it had been said that there had been the year when more than one out of ten people in Japan had visited the shrine.
Eventually, Ise Grand Shrine which had collected ordinary people all over the country had been called not only as “the shrine dedicated to the guardian goddess of imperial family” but also as “a shrine dedicated to the guardian goddess of all Japanese people”.
Visiting Ise Grand Shrine had been the aspiration for the ordinary people.

After that, Edo period had been come to an end and the time had moved to the centralized system concentrating on the Emperor.
There would have been no problem for Ise Grand Shrine though they had lost the support from Edo Bakufu.
In the Meiji period, they had defined the Emperor in national constitution.
And the Emperor had been called as “the living god”.
Of course, there had been many called as the gods in Japanese history before that.
In this regard, however, it had been totally different from the concept of “the living god” because they all had been enshrined after death.
It could have been said that the Japanese mythology had been used to government’s advantage in those times.

Ise Grand shrine could have been given special treatment for the reason that a shrine had dedicated to the guardian goddess of the Emperor, “the living god”.
They had given the position by the Meiji Government that the shrine had come out on top of all shrines in Japan.
Under the enough support from the national government, Ise Grand Shrine had freed from their worries of cash flow problem.
Sengu of both Naiku and Geku had been performed within an exactly period of 20 years.
This trend had lasted until the 58th Sengu in 1929.
It had been exactly 10 years ago since the outbreak of the Second World War.

But cynically, the fever of visiting the shrine for ordinary people had become to go down rapidly.
Ise Grand Shrine dedicated to “the guardian goddess of all Japanese people” had come to lose the aspiration of ordinary people.

After the 42nd Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine in 1609, Sengu of both Naiku and Geku in Edo period (1603-1868) could have been performed every 20 years without trouble thanks to the supporting system created by TOKUGAWA Ieyasu.
Subsequently, Ise Grand Shrine supported by the Edo Bakufu (“Bakufu” means Japan’s feudal government) had collected many visitors from all over the country.
And many people had visited to the shrine in the next year of Sengu called as “OKAGE-Year”.

At least once in my lifetime, I want to visit to Ise Grand Shrine while living on this Earth.
It had been the times when everyone had dreamed like above.
And then, the following words have been said to be born.
“We wish to visit to Ise Grand Shrine just once in our lifetime.”

In Edo period, people had walked tirelessly to Ise Grand Shrine for many days from all over the country.
For example, people had had to keep on walking for half a month from the capital in those days, Edo (Tokyo).
And of course visitors had also come to a shrine from somewhere a long way from Edo, such as Tohoku.
It would have been an unthinkably long way.

In Edo period, however, there had been the tendency which they all had backed up the visitors to Ise Grand Shrine.
As long as they had planned to visit to Ise Grand Shrine, the tight restrictions related to traveling had been lifted.
And also they had been free to stop on the way somewhere such as Kyoto, Osaka for sightseeing.
Servants could have been forgiven if he or she had got out of their master’s house without prior consent.
Even there had been the chances that they had been given food or money along the way.

In this way, “Visit to Ise Grand Shrine” had started to become the boom among ordinary people in Edo period.
Nearly 1000 years had passed since the Emperor Tenmu had positioned Amaterasu-Omikami enshrined in Ise Grand Shrine as “the guardian goddess of imperial family”.
Concretely, it had been said that the boom had started from around the year 1638, about 30 years after the 42nd Sengu supported by Edo Bakufu firstly.
And after that, for 200 years, the boom had been recorded many times in Edo period.
It could be the times when Ise Grand Shrine dedicated to Amaterasu-Omikami had established their position as “the shrine dedicated to the guardian goddess of all Japanese people” in addition to the position, “the shrine dedicated to the guardian goddess of imperial family”.

Thanks to the support from ODA Nobunaga, TOYOTOMI Hideyoshi, and TOKUGAWA Ieyasu, Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine originated by the Emperor Tenmu could have got through the difficulty surviving in the Warring States period.
But they could never have recovered not only by virtue of the support from the limited rulers.
The existence of those who had walked through the wasteland, the whole of country to collect donations for Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine had been very importance.
There would have been many people who had been deeply impressed with their dedication to Ise Grand Shrine.
In fact, however, their living had never been easy in Warring States period.
They had cut something from their living, and donated money to Ise Grand Shrine.
There would have been good reasons.

Given this, would it have been in the Warring States period when those who had dreamed to visit Ise Grand Shrine had been born?
Still, in those days, people could never have been allowed to move freely in their troubled times.
It would have been the impossible dream for the ordinary people to visit Ise.
But after the Warring States period had come to an end, Edo period (1603-1868) had come.
People’s ordinary life had recovered their composure thanks to a stable regime established by TOKUGAWA Ieyasu.
In other words, they had come to be able to afford to fulfill their wish.
And Ise Grand Shrine had come to attract a number of groups of visitors from all over the country.

The activity as group of visitors to Ise Grand Shrine had been said to start from around 1605, and the story of 42th Sengu supported by TOKUGAWA Ieyasu in 1609 had been the next story.
The visit to Ise Grand Shrine had been called as “OKAGE-MAIRI”.
“OKAGE” have been considered the meaning as a gift from God such as good luck and benefit.
“MAIRI” simply means “visit to a shrine” in Japanese.
The following year of Sengu had been called as “OKAGE-Year”, and especially in OKAGE-Year, many people had visited to the shrine.

“If I can visit to Ise Grand Shrine in OKAGE-Year, I can get extra “OKAGE” than other years.

People had believed like that in Edo period.
In this way, the visit to Ise Grand Shrine had become the dreams of the ordinary people and started to be all the rage.