Japan's shrine association rocked by exit of key member Kotohira-gu

Jul 23, 2020 | News On Japan

Jul 23, 2020 (Japan Times) - An organization encompassing some 79,000 Shinto shrines in Japan has been rocked by the recent declaration by a key member shrine that it intends to leave the body, after years of distrust.

The Kotohira-gu shrine in Kagawa Prefecture, popularly referred to as Kompira-san, said in a statement dated June 5 that it would withdraw from the Association of Shinto Shrines, which directly names chief priests at major shrines and has offices in each prefecture.

Dedicated to sailors and seafaring and situated on a mountain, the centuries-old shrine is a major tourist draw in western Japan. Every year, millions of visitors climb its 785 steps to reach the main shrine and another 583 steps to the upper shrine.

The rift apparently became irreparable after the association failed to provide the shrine with a heihaku cash offering in time for Emperor Naruhito’s conducting of the Daijosai, a Shinto-style ceremony held once in an emperor’s lifetime to pray for peace and abundant harvests, in November last year.

The special offering was supposed to be used for a rite that shrines across the country had been asked by the association to hold on the same day as the Daijosai. But the money, delivered through the association’s regional offices, didnâ€™t arrive at the Kagawa shrine until late January.

“We can only think that it was an act of harassment against our shrine,” said Yasutsugu Kotooka, 71, the chief priest.

Kotooka, who was prevented for a long period by the association from succeeding as chief priest when his father died in 1994, said a number of other incidents besides late receipt of the offering had fueled his distrust of the association.

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