Japanese Religions in the World

Author: (Japanese) Takehara Takeshi / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: There is a place called Manazato on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. Several years ago, a very meaningful relic was discovered there. This Jomon-period relic can also be called a "Wood Circle." It was a relic formed by ten columns with diameters ranging from 80 centimeters to 1 meter arranged in a circle. It doesn’t seem like a relic of habitation or daily life but rather clearly resembles a religious site. Many Jomon pottery pieces, acorns, and masks identical to Noh masks were also unearthed there, resembling totem poles. Additionally, a large number of dolphin bones were found, with many fish bones around them, as well as bones of animals like deer, and even human bones. What’s meaningful is that archaeology has revealed that this Wood Circle was replaced every few years. The pits of the columns in the Wood Circle are staggered. This clearly indicates a religious site. But what kind of religion was it? The presence of dolphin bones suggests that it was likely a place like the "Sento no Kuma" (Bear Offering), perhaps the "Dolphin Offering." Manazato has been a base for dolphin hunting since the Edo period. In fact, dolphin hunting dates back to the Jomon period. Why can the bear become a deity in Ainu culture? That’s because the bear provides us with a lot of delicious meat. Here, dolphins likely held the same significance. The people of Manazato call the sturgeon "kami no tsukasa" (divine official), and the Ainu also call the sturgeon "kamui." Why is the sturgeon called "kamui" or "kami no tsukasa"? Because the sturgeon drives dolphins and whales to the shore. Geographically, Manazato was probably a place where it was easy to catch dolphins or whales driven ashore by the sturgeon. The dolphins here were coming to "sacrifice" as "Maraput." "Maraput" sacrifices much meat and bones to humans, and of course, it must be sent to the afterlife afterward. What do the columns of the "Wood Circle" signify? Columns are originally meant to connect the heavens and the earth. The Nihon Shoki mentions that gods and humans once traveled between the heavens and the earth through these columns, but later, as the heavens and the earth became distant, it became difficult to do so. The "Ame-no-ukihashi" (Floating Bridge of Heaven) mentioned in the Kojiki is such a bridge that connects the heavens and the earth. Spirits passed through the columns. In Kyoto, there is a place called "Ame-no-basho" (Floating Bridge of Heaven). Legend has it that it once soared high into the sky. The Tanno Fudoki records a myth in which humans and gods used this "basho" to come and go. One day, when a god dozed off, the bridge "clacked" and collapsed, leaving it as it is today. Both columns and bridges are pathways for spirits to travel. Bridges stand horizontally or nearly horizontally, while columns stand vertically. The pronunciation of columns is similar to that of bridges, with just an extra "ra" at the end. In Ainu, "ra" means "down." Therefore, these columns in Manazato must be a way for gods to descend here, or for the souls of dolphins to ascend. The columns of the Manazato relic are split halves of chestnut wood, forming half-columns arranged in a circle. There is also something that looks like an entrance. I think that was a door, possibly the origin of the "torii." Before the discovery of the Manazato relic, the "Wood Circle" was also found at the Chikamori site in Kanazawa City. The place called "Chika-mori" attracted me. I believe "Chika" is "chikaapu" in Ainu, meaning "bird." So, "Chikamori" means "forest of birds," or the forest of gods. P33-35