Many places in Japan have their own fantasy stories and folktales, with ghosts, gods and supernatural beings, passed from generation to generation by word of mouth… Usually, I learn such old Japanese stories in temples or shrines, but recently I was delighted to find one right in a famous castle…
Visiting the Matsumoto Castle, I was surprised to discover on the last floor’s ceiling a… shrine. Of course, I searched for an explanation and here’s what I learned:
In a cold winter night from January 1618, in front of a guard of the castle, suddenly appeared a beautiful woman, dressed like a miko (with red hakama and white haori), who gave him a bag of cotton.
She told him that she was Nijuroku-yashin, the Goddess of the 26th night of the month, and that if the owner of the castle will enshrine Nijuroku-yashin with a quantity of 500 kilograms of cooked rice, the castle will prosper and will be protected against fire and enemies. Then, she disappeared levitating towards the top of the castle’s tower…
The next day, hearing the strange story, the castle’s lord decided to build a small shrine on the main tower’s last floor ceiling, where he enshrined the bag and on the day of 26th, he brought offerings to the goddess…
We must admit that the castle was indeed protected over the time - today it is one of the very few perfectly preserved Japanese castles…
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Yesterday’s Japan Photo:Travel destinations for kids, Saitama Railway Museum Park Zone |
