Kanasana Shrine

It is located in Ninomiya, Kamikawa-machi, Kodama-gun, Saitama Prefecture. In addition to Amaterasu Omikami and Susanoo-no-mikoto, Yamato Takeru-no-mikoto is also enshrined here. According to the legend of the shrine, on his way back from an expedition to the east, Yamato Takeru-no-mikoto gave him a metal fireworks as a substitute for his spirit in Ise, where it was enshrined at Mimurogatake, and Amaterasu Omikami and Susanoo-no-mikoto were also enshrined here. In 862 (Jogan 4), the shrine was given the rank of Junior Fifth Rank, and during the Kamakura period, it was highly revered by the samurai groups throughout the county as the chief guardian of the Musashi-Kodama clan, and the Edo shogunate granted it a red seal territory of 30 koku. It is a shrine listed in the Shikinaisha (Engi-Shisha) and a former Kanpei-chu-sha (medium-ranked shrine). Since ancient times, the shrine has had no main hall, and only has a worship hall with Omurogatake behind it as the Kannabi (divine mountain), and is considered to be a prototype of foothill rituals, which is why it is praised alongside Omiwa Shrine in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture. At the Hikiri Festival on November 23rd, rice ears are donated from nine neighboring villages as a kakejikara ritual. The two-storied pagoda on the shrine grounds is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property.

[Minoru Sonoda]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

埼玉県児玉郡(こだまぐん)神川町(かみかわまち)二ノ宮に鎮座。天照大神(あまてらすおおみかみ)、素戔嗚尊(すさのおのみこと)のほかに日本武尊(やまとたけるのみこと)を配祀(はいし)する。社伝によれば、日本武尊が東征の帰途、先に伊勢(いせ)で倭姫命(やまとひめのみこと)から賜った火鑽金(ひきりがね)を御霊代(みたましろ)として当地の御室ヶ嶽(みむろがだけ)に鎮められ、あわせて天照大神、素戔嗚尊2柱を奉斎したという。862年（貞観4）神階従(じゅ)五位下に叙せられ、鎌倉時代には武蔵(むさし)児玉党の総鎮守として郡内一帯の武士団の厚い崇敬を受け、江戸幕府には朱印領30石を安堵(あんど)された。式内社。旧官幣中社。古来、本殿を構えず、背後の御室ヶ嶽を神奈備(かんなび)（神体山）とする拝殿だけを備え、山麓(さんろく)祭祀の原型を伝える点で、奈良県桜井の大神(おおみわ)神社と並び称される。11月23日の火鑽(ひきり)祭には懸税(かけぢから)神事として近隣9郷から稲穂(いなほ)の奉納がある。境内にある多宝塔は国指定重要文化財。

［薗田　稔］

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