宇佐神宮と1700年の祈りUsa Jingu and Seventeen Centuries of Prayer

Today, I am in Usa City, coming from the Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita Prefecture. This region was once known as Bungo Province, and within it, Usa Jingu has been venerated for 1,700 years as the shrine of the highest divine rank. Even today, countless visitors continue to come, but the enshrined deities of this shrine, as well as the deep layers of its faith, are entangled in a history so complex that it cannot be easily unraveled.

The first place I visited to trace the ancient history of Usa Jingu was Nata-no-Miya (奈多宮). Located on the southeastern coast of the Kunisaki Peninsula, Nata-no-Miya is said in the secret traditions of Usa Jingu to be the very spot where its deity first descended. Offshore, a small rocky islet with a torii gate stands, and this is called Ichikishima (市杵島). Ichikishima is connected to the worship of Ichikishimahime-no-Mikoto (市杵島姫命), one of the three Munakata goddesses enshrined at Munakata Taisha in Fukuoka, and since ancient times, it has been revered as the first place where Hime-Okami (比売大神, a collective deity of the three Munakata goddesses) descended.

This site directly faces the entrance of the Hayasui Strait (速吸瀬戸) I described yesterday, and from the sandy shore one can see all the way to Cape Sada on the western tip of Shikoku and to Saganoseki in Oita Prefecture, which I visited yesterday. In ancient times, any forces passing southward through the Hayasui Strait would have certainly stopped at Ichikishima to interact with local tribes before moving inland to Oita City or Saganoseki, and then onward to Miyazaki, Satsuma, and the Ryukyus. Likewise, those traveling northward from the south likely passed through this point as well. That is how crucial a point on the sea it was.

What is important is that Usa Jingu, which has a history of 1700 years in the western Kunisaki Peninsula, originally held significance as a guardian shrine connected to Okinoshima, the sacred restricted island of Munakata Taisha. In other words, the tradition of Usa Jingu that Hime-Okami first landed at Nata before moving to Usa indicates the possibility of this goddess having origins from the south. If she had come from the north, such as the Korean Peninsula, she would have passed through Okinoshima first. Here lies the trace of the maritime clans who crossed the sea and sustained Japan’s ancient sea routes. Multiple overlapping sea networks must have existed.

From this perspective, when we consider Usa Jingu, Okinoshima, and the Munakata goddesses together within Kyushu, the deeper meaning of what occurred in these lands becomes clearer. In fact, there are traditions that ascetics who once trained on Mount Futago in the Kunisaki Peninsula gained the right to land on Okinoshima and conduct rituals. Seen only in part, the whole picture stays hidden; because Japan is an island nation, one must always look to the sea.

The land of Nata overlooks Beppu Bay, Iyo-nada, and the Hayasui Strait, with Cape Sada in Shikoku dividing the Seto Inland Sea to the left and the southern sea route toward Amami and the Ryukyus to the right. The tradition that Hime-Okami first landed at Nata-no-Miya is therefore not mere mythology but an essential key to understanding the history of Japan’s maritime tribes.

Equally significant is Himeshima, an island off the northern tip of the Kunisaki Peninsula. Here, the sea currents of Beppu Bay and Suo-nada converge, making it a crucial hub for ancient seafaring peoples. The place name Kunimi (国見) remains in the region, meaning “land viewing,” where new forces stood atop hills to survey the surroundings before establishing control. According to Usa Jingu’s oracles, the traces suggest not a southward descent from the Korean Peninsula to Himeshima and then to Nata, but rather a northward movement from the south. The very name Himeshima (姫島) itself, tied to goddess worship, is noteworthy, and the island appears in the Kojiki as well. On the northern tip overlooking Himeshima stands Imi Shrine (伊美神社), which carries on this lineage. Imi Shrine also maintains strong ties with Iwai Island in Yamaguchi, and even today, during its grand festival, a sacred procession is carried out from Iwai to Imi. This geography reflects the cultural exchange spheres of ancient tribes, revealing how seasonal winds guided maritime activities across this region.

Continuing westward toward Usa, in the northwestern part of the peninsula lies Awashima Shrine, which suggests exchanges with Awa (present-day Tokushima). Thus, the Kunisaki Peninsula functioned as a crucible for maritime tribes since ancient times, and traces of these movements still remain everywhere.

At the western side of the peninsula stands Usa Jingu itself, the greatest shrine of the region. Usa Jingu has both Upper and Lower Shrines, each with three shrines side by side. In the first and third shrines are enshrined Hachiman-Okami (八幡大神, Emperor Ojin) and Empress Jingu, which reflects a later overlay of imperial authority upon earlier local beliefs. What deserves attention is the second shrine, where Hime-Okami is enshrined, suggesting she was the original focus of Usa faith. In fact, the layout places the second shrine at the center, flanked by Ojin and Jingu, which indicates that the highest divinity was Hime-Okami. Her inner shrine lies further into the mountains at Mount Omoto (御許山), once called Usa no Shima (宇佐嶋). That a mountain was called an “island” shows that the core of Usa faith was maritime in essence.

Thus, the very complex ancient history of Japan reveals that looking at movements across the sea is the essential key to understanding local worship and cultural transmission.