Toyuke-daijinja Shrine (豊受大神社)
Toyuke-daijinja Shrine is located in Oe-cho, Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto Prefecture. This shrine was categorized as a Fusha (a prefectural shrine) in {Kindai shakaku seido} (modern shrine ranking system). This shrine is believed to be Moto Ise (shrines or places where the deities of Ise Jingu Shrine were once enshrined).
Shrine name
Because of the legend that this shrine is Motomiya (an origin of Miya) of the Toyouke Dai-jingu Shrine, it is also known as 'Motoisegeku Shrine' (the old outer shrine of Ise Shrine).
Enshrined deity
This shrine enshrines the Toyuke Goddess, and the other deities together in the sanctuary, such as Amatsuhikoho no ninigi no mikoto, Amenokoyane no mikoto and Ame no futotama no mikoto.
History
According to "Toyukegu Gishikicho" (Register of Ceremonies for Toyuke-gu Shrine) written in 804, Geku (the outer shrine of Ise) was built to enshrine Toyuke Omikami (Toyuke Great God) as Miketsukami (the God of Food) invited from Tanba Province, as Emperor Yuryaku had received an oracle from Amaterasu Omikami (the Sun Goddess). It is said (in "Tango no Kuni Fudoki" (The Records of the Culture and Geography in Tango Province)) that the location of this shrine is where the god was enshrined before it was transferred to Ise in 478, or according to another legend, it was originally enshrined at the location of the Hinumanai-jinja Shrine (present-day Mineyama-cho, Kyotango City), and then temporarily settled where this shrine is now built on the way to Ise ("The Records of Kasa-gun County") in 478. It is also believed that Imperial Prince Maroko, the third son of Emperor Yomei, transferred the divided deity to this region together with Naiku (inner shrine) (present-day Kotai-jinja (in Fukuchiyama City)) to drive off devils ("The Record of Miyatsu-fu in Tango" in 1761).
Its history before the early modern ages is unknown, but in 1656 during the Edo period, Takakuni KYOGOKU from the Miyazu Domain constructed the shrine to pray for curing Ietsuna TOKUGAWA, the fourth shogun, of smallpox (historical plaque on a shrine warehouse building). Naonaga NAGAI from the Miyazu Domain contributed the four-koku (unit), six-to (unit of volume, approx. 18 liters), four-sho (unit of volume, approx. 1.8 liters) and two-go (a unit of volume, approx. 0.18 liters) land to the shrine in 1677, since then the shrine has been visited and donated by the past lords of the domain.
This shrine was classified as Fusha in 1930, and has joined the Association of Shinto Shrines after World War II.
Shrine building
In ancient times, a transfer of a deity to a new shrine building was conducted once in 60 years, but it was in 1874 when the current main building was built. The building has Ketayuki-sanken (three-ken in length of beam), Harima-niken (two-ken in length of crossbeam), a thatched roof in Shinmei tsukuri (style of shrine architecture based on that of Ise-jingu Shrine) style, Chigi (ornamental crossbeams on the gable of a Shinto shrine) of Sotosogi (the ends of the former are terminated with a vertical cut) and Katsuogi (ornamental logs arranged orthogonal to the ridge of a Shinto shrine) on the ridge.
Other than this, there are Haiden, a hall of worship, 41 shrines in precincts and a Kagura-den hall in Yosemune-zukuri Kokerabuki (with a hipped roof with shingles) style.
Keidai-sha (sub-shrines in precincts)
On the left and right sides of Haiden are the Taga-jinja Shrine and Tsuchino-jinja Shrine, and Tsukiyomi no miya is on the left rear side of the main building and Kaze no miya (wind shrine) on the right rear side, and these four shrines are regarded as Betsugu (an associated shrine).
37 Masshas (branch shrines) are surrounding the main building in a U shape. It is believed that this shrine had 37 Shakes (families of Shinto priests serving a shrine on a hereditary basis) who played a role similar to Onshi (a low-ranking Shinto priest), and that each Shake enshrined one of the 37 Masshas.