{{Short description|Shinto shrine in Sakurai, Japan}} {{About|the shrine in Sakurai city|similarly named shrines|Ōmiwa Shrine (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox religious building | name = Ōmiwa jinja<br>大神神社 | image = Ohmiwa Shrine Big Torii.jpg | caption = Large ''torii'' in front of Mount Miwa | map_type = Japan | map_alt = | coordinates = {{coord|34|31|44|N|135|51|10|E|region:JP_type:landmark|display=title,inline}} | map_relief = | map_size = | map_caption = | religious_affiliation = Shinto | type = | deity = Ōmononushi<br>Ōnamuchi<br>Sukunahikona-no-kami<br>Mount Miwa | founded_by = | established = | date_destroyed = | location = 1422 Miwa, Sakurai-shi, Nara-ken | website = {{URL|http://www.oomiwa.or.jp/}} | architecture_style = | festival = | leadership = }} 250px|thumb|Hall of worship
{{Nihongo|'''Ōmiwa Shrine'''|大神神社|Ōmiwa-jinja}}, also known as {{Nihongo|'''Miwa Shrine'''|三輪神社|Miwa-jinja|extra=alternately written as {{Nihongo||三輪明神|Miwa-myōjin}}}}, is a Shinto shrine located in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1964). '' Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan,'' pp. 252-286.</ref> The shrine is notable because it contains no sacred images or objects, since it is believed to serve Mount Miwa, the mountain on which it stands.<ref>{{in lang|en}} [http://www.oomiwa.or.jp/eng.html Ōmiwa Shrine site]</ref> For the same reason, it has a {{Nihongo|worship hall|拝殿|haiden}}, but no {{Nihongo|place for the deity to be housed|神殿|shinden}}. In this sense, it is a model of what the first Shinto shrines were like.<ref name="Tamura20">Tamura, page 21</ref> Ōmiwa Shrine is one of the oldest extant Shinto shrines in Japan and the site has been sacred ground for some of the earliest religious practices in Japan. Because of this, it has sometimes been named as Japan's first shrine. Ōmiwa Shrine is a tutelary shrine of the Japanese sake brewers.<ref name="bs"/>
==History== Ōmiwa Shrine's history is closely related to Mount Miwa and the religious practices surrounding the mountain. In the early Kofun period, Yamato kings and leaders had shifted their attention to ''kami'' worship on Mount Miwa, and Ōmiwa Shrine was the major institution for this branch of worship.<ref>Brown (1993), 116-117.</ref> The style of Shinto surrounding Miwa became later known as Miwa Shinto and is set apart from previous practices by a more structured theological philosophy.
The shrine became the object of Imperial patronage during the early Heian period.<ref>Breen, John ''et al.'' (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=MADlfH002mAC&q=oharano ''Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami,'' pp. 74-75.]</ref> In 965, Emperor Murakami ordered that Imperial messengers be sent to report important events to the guardian ''kami'' of Japan. These ''heihaku'' were initially presented to 16 shrines, including Ōmiwa.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1962). ''Studies in Shinto and Shrines,'' pp. 116-117.</ref>
Ōmiwa was designated as the chief Shinto shrine (''ichinomiya'') for the former Yamato Province.<ref>[http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/images/uploads/EOS070712Ab.pdf "Nationwide List of ''Ichinomiya''," p. 1.]; retrieved 2011-08-010</ref>
From 1871 through 1946, Ōmiwa was officially designated one of the {{nihongo|''Kanpei-taisha''|官幣大社}}, meaning that it stood in the first rank among government supported shrines.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan,'' pp. 124.</ref>
==Religious significance== {{Main|Mount Miwa}}
The Ōmiwa Shrine is directly linked to Mount Miwa in that the mountain is the shrine's ''shintai'', or "kami-body", instead of a building housing a "kami-body". This type of mountain worship (''shintai-zan'') is found in the earliest forms of Shinto and has also been employed at Suwa Shrine in Nagano, and formerly at Isonokami Shrine in Nara and Munakata Shrine in Fukuoka.
According to the chronicle ''Nihon Shoki'', Emperor Sujin appealed to Mount Miwa's ''kami'' when Japan was crippled by plague. In response, the ''kami'' Ōmononushi demanded rituals be performed for him at Mount Miwa. He then demanded that the rites be led by {{ill|Ōtataneko|ja|大田田根子命}}, his half-kami, half-human son born from the union with a woman of the Miwa clan. {{ill|Ōtataneko|ja|大田田根子命}} performed the rites to satisfaction, and the plague subsided. A building dedicated to {{ill|Ōtataneko|ja|大田田根子命}} was later erected in his honor.
A legendary white snake is said to live in around the shrine and is supposedly one of the kami worshiped there. Indeed, snakes and the snake cult figures importantly in the myths surrounding Mount Miwa as well as early Shinto in general.
==Auxiliary shrines== [[File:Hibara Jinja by Yastaka.jpg|thumb|Hibara Shrine, the most important sessha of Ōmiwa Shrine dedicated to young mitama (wakamitama) of Amaterasu, Izanagi and Izanami, considered the first origin of Ise Grand Shrine, called "{{ill|Motoise shrines|lt=Moto-Ise|ja|元伊勢}}".]]
The Ōmiwa shrine complex includes notable auxiliary shrines (''setsumatsusha''), including 12 {{Nihongo|''Sessha''|摂社|auxiliary shrine}} and 28 {{Nihongo|''massha''|末社|branch shrine}} which are marked by small structures falling under Ōmiwa's jurisdiction.<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, ''Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan,'' pp. 272–278.</ref> For example, the ''sessha'' ''Ikuhi jinja'' enshrines the ''kami'' who was appointed Ōmiwa's sake brewer in the 4th month of the 8th year of the reign of Emperor Sujin. A poem associated with Ikuhi is said to have been composed by Empress Jingū on the occasion of a banquet for her son, Emperor Ōjin:<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, ''Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan'', p. 277.</ref> ::This is sacred sake :::is not my sacred sake. ::This sacred sake brewed by Ōmononushi ::How long ago ::How long ago.
==Hibara Shrine==
'''Hibara Shrine''' is a subshrine of Omiwa Shrine at the foot of Mount Miwa in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture. The shrine is identified as the place where the Yata-no-Kagami and the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi were first enshrined after they were removed from the imperial palace. It is the first of many {{ill|Motoise shrines|lt=Moto-Ise|ja|元伊勢}} shrines.<ref name="greenshinto">{{Cite web |last=D |first=John |date=2011-08-10 |title=Hibara Jinja and Amaterasu |url=https://www.greenshinto.com/2011/08/11/hibara-jinja-and-amaterasu/ |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=Green Shinto |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hibara Jinja Shrine（Nara） |url=https://www.jldb.bunka.go.jp/en/location/290100006/?search=1&q=Hibara+Shrine |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Nationwide location database |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Amaterasu was originally enshrined there before eventually moving to other Moto-Ise shrines and then finally to Ise Jingu.<ref name=":0" /> It has an Iwakura rock and a Shinza made of Sakaki wood.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Omiwa Jinja Shrine/Sai Jinja Shrine/Kuehiko Jinja Shrine/Hibara Jinja Shrine│Destinations│Discover YAMATO│YAMATO UNKNOWN ORIGIN |url=http://www.city.sakurai.lg.jp/section/yamato-travel/destination/area01/spot02/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=YAMATO UNKNOWN ORIGIN |language=en}}</ref>
It has a prominent unique closable triple torii gate.<ref name="greenshinto" />
==Architecture== thumb|170px|left|Second ''torii'' leading to the inner sanctuary
Ōmiwa Shrine is situated in a quiet forest and built directly in front of Mount Miwa. An ancient Japanese cedar tree (''Cryptomeria'') can be found on shrine compound and is considered sacred. The shrine has Mount Miwa as its Shintai, as a Kannabi and does not have a honden.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Tamura |first=Yoshiro |title=Japanese Buddhism - A Cultural History |publisher=Kosei Publishing Company |year=2000 |isbn=4-333-01684-3 |location=Tokyo |pages=21 |chapter=The Birth of the Japanese Nation}}</ref> thumb|Miwa Torii demonstrating both their threefold nature and the closed gate thumb|100px|right|Borromean rings motif
Decorations in the form of Borromean rings are found throughout the shrine's buildings. This ornamentation symbolizes the three rings, as "Miwa" is written with the kanji for {{Nihongo|"three"|三}} and {{Nihongo|"ring"|輪}}.
Built in 1984, at 32 m the ''torii'' on its sandō is the second highest in Japan.<ref name="bs">{{cite web|url=http://www.univie.ac.at/rel_jap/an/Bauten:Bekannte_Schreine|title= Bekannte Schreine - Religion-in-Japan|last=Scheid|first=Bernhard|publisher=University of Vienna|language=German|accessdate=20 September 2010}}</ref> The shrine also has a great ''shime torii'', an ancient form of gate made only with two posts and a rope called ''shimenawa''. It is one of few shrines that has a "triple-''torii''" (''miwa torii'') on its grounds. This gate is also one of the few to actually have doors, which bar access to the mountain it enshrines (though Mount Miwa ''is'' publicly accessible by same-day arrangement with the Sai Jinja office).<ref name="bs"/>
The buildings at Ōmiwa Shrine are a mix of structures built from ancient times to the Edo period.
==National treasures==
===Important Cultural Assets=== *The entire shrine compound *The 17th century ''haiden'', or prayer hall, built with cypress bark roofing<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, '' Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan,'' pp. 269-271; note at p. 271, previous "''haiden'' built in Bumpo 1, and several times repaired by Takauji and his descendants, and finally in Bunroku era by Hideyoshi ... but no description of this building."</ref> *The "Triple-''torii''" (''miwa torii'')<ref>Ponsonby-Fane, '' Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan,'' p. 271; note that "threefold torii take the place of the ''shinden'' of other shrines"</ref> *The ''shinden'' dedicated to Ōtata Neko *Suit of bronze armor, lacquered red *A copy of the ''Book of Zhou'', scroll number 19
== See also == {{Portal|Japan|Architecture}} * Asteroid 24640 Omiwa * Koshintō * List of Shinto shrines * Miwa clan * Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines * Mount Miwa * Twenty-Two Shrines
==Notes== {{Reflist|2}}
==References== {{Refbegin}} * Aston, William George. (2005). ''Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697''. Boston: Tuttle Publishing. {{ISBN|0-8048-3674-4}}. * Breen, John and Mark Teeuwen. (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=MADlfH002mAC&q=nijunisha ''Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami.''] Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8248-2363-4}} * Brown, Delmer M. (1993). ''Cambridge History of Japan'', Volume 1. New York: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-22352-0}}. * Kidder, Jonathan Edward (2007). ''Himiko and Japan's elusive chiefdom of Yamatai: archaeology, history, and mythology''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. {{ISBN|0-8248-3035-0}}. * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). [https://books.google.com/books?id=tjEvAAAAYAAJ&q=Studies+in+Shinto+and+Shrines ''Studies in Shinto and Shrines.''] Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. [http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/3994492 OCLC 399449] * ____________. (1959). [https://books.google.com/books?id=SLAeAAAAMAAJ&q=The+Imperial+House+of+Japan ''The Imperial House of Japan.''] Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. [http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/oclc/194887 OCLC 194887] * ____________. (1964). [https://books.google.com/books?id=_6rXAAAAMAAJ&q=Visiting+famous+shrines+in+japan ''Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan.''] Kyoto: Ponsonby-Fane Memorial Society. {{OCLC|1030156}} * {{cite book |last=Tamura |first=Yoshiro |title=Japanese Buddhism - A Cultural History |publisher=Kosei Publishing Company |location=Tokyo |year=2000 |chapter=The Birth of the Japanese Nation |isbn=4-333-01684-3 }} {{Refend}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Ōmiwa-jinja|Ōmiwa jinja}} *[http://www.oomiwa.or.jp/ Official Site] (Japanese) *[http://www.oomiwa.or.jp/eng.html Official Site] (English)
{{Shinto shrine}} {{Shinmei shrines}} {{Miwa and Yamato Faith}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Omiwa Shrine}} Category:Shinto shrines in Nara Prefecture Category:Important Cultural Properties (Japan) Category:Historic Sites of Japan Category:Beppyo shrines Category:Kanpei Taisha Category:Myōjin Taisha Category:Twenty-Two Shrines Category:Moto-Ise shrines Category:Miwa shrines Category:Mount Miwa