Kato Shrine in Kumamoto

Kato shrine (加藤神社) is located in the territory of Kumamoto Castle (熊本城). The enshrined deities are, as name of shrine says, Kiyomasa Kato (加藤清正), as well as Kaneyoshi Ohki (大木兼能) and Kinkan (金官).

Kiyomasa, born in 1562 in current Nagoya city, Aichi prefecture, was distant relative of Hideyoshi Toyotomi (AD1537-1598). Kiyomasa served for Hideyoshi till Hideyoshi passed away, in return, Hideyoshi cherished Kiyomasa. In 1586 when  Kiyomasa was 24 years old, he was granted Higo Province (current Kumamoto prefecture) by Hideyoshi and settled in Kumamoto castle (隈本城). Later on he reconstructed the castle and changed the character of "Kuma" from "隈" to "熊" and the castle was described as current one, "熊本城". Kumamoto Castle is considered one of the three premier castles in Japan, along with Himeji Castle and Matsumoto Castle. Thirteen structures in the castle complex are designated Important Cultural Property.

Torii Gate

Owing to Kiyomasa's talents as politician, he ruled Higo province by irrigation, cultivation and trading. He was worshipped by locals and hence he was buried in the prestigious temple called "Honmyo-ji temple" (本妙寺)". In 1868 the shrine was separated from Honmyo-ji and was initially called "Nishikiyama shrine (錦山神社)". In 1909 the name of shrine is changed to "Kato shrine".

Main Hall

His spirit was transferred to 90 shrines located all over Japan. In the past there used to be Kato shrines even in Hawaii and in Korea!

Inside of Main Hall

Kiyomasa was said to be unusually tall guy that his height reached over 190 cm! Besides, he wore tall helmet called "Nagaeboshinari kabuto (長烏帽子形兜)" that made him to look even taller!

Statue of Kiyomasa. Image from Wiki

When he was little, his nickname was Toranosuke (虎之助). Tora means tiger in Japanese.

Statue of Tora

He had two emblems. One is Chinese bellflower/Platycodon (桔梗) and the second "Snake eye" that was frequently used in his body armor.

Chinese bellflower (left) and Snake Eye (right)

When I visited, Kumamoto castle Kiyomasa constructed was heavily damaged by earthquake in 2016 and many places in the castle were off-limits.

被災者に心からお悔やみ申し上げます。

Koinobori - Carp Streamers in Breeze

Koinobori (鯉のぼり) - a carp kites fit well in the blue spring sky in Japan!

A tradition of hanging carp-shaped windsocks up in Children's Day, May 5th, was originated from Chinese mythology. 

In an ancient China, the Dragon's gate (登龍門) is believed to be the swift stream of Yellow river located at Shanxi province.  The gate was made through excavating the legendary mountain, Mt. Dragon (龍門山). The construction was ordered by "Ye the Great", a founder of Xia dynasty (2070-1600 BC), according to Wiki in Japanese (Chinese Wiki says Mt. Dragon is located at Luoyang).   

Numerous fish tried to leap such devastating rapids of the Dragon's gate, however, none of them were successful.

Except carp! 

A carp that can accomplish the mission eventually turned into the Dragon, according to Chinese myth. Dragon is a symbol of power, strength, fortune and so on. It also represents imperial power. The image of a carp jumping over Dragon’s Gate is an old and enduring Chinese cultural symbol for courage, perseverance, and accomplishment. 

In Japan, May 5th (called Tango no sekku/端午の節句) is one the five annual ceremonies that were traditionally held at the Japanese imperial court. Interestingly, in ancient Japan, May 5th was the one for women but around Edo period, it became what it is in present time (for boy's ceremony).

When I visited Yodohime shrine (與止日女神社), the most prestigious shrine in Hizen Province (current Saga Prefecture), the spring festival (第40回川上峡春まつり) took place in Kase river (嘉瀬川) that runs by Yodohime shrine.

Rescued black carp

The weather was nice and the sky was blue. But not much wind... They don't look like a triumphal carps transforming into dragon... 

Rather they look gasping:(((

Gasping for breath...

Thanks to an occasional breeze, they looked alive... a bit.

"Boys be ambitious" by William S. Clark.

Jizo Statue

A jizo (地蔵菩薩) statue photographed at the cemetery of Jikoji temple (慈光寺) of the Jodo school of Buddhism (浄土宗) in Utsunomiya city. It was heartbreaking to see that many statues, especially the old ones, were either cracked or crushed there and they still remained as they are up until now...

The statue in this photo is taller than me and obviously one of several that survived the March 11th earthquake!

南無阿弥陀仏...

This is a Outdoor Wednesday #159 and Sky Watch Friday entry.

           

Debris In The Spider's Web

I was supposed to photograph the sky but my camera caught the spider's web and debris, instead.

This is for Skywatch Friday.

Have a nice weekend.

Sunflower in autumn

This is for Skywatch Friday.