Maroudo Shrine in Ohira-machi Part Two

This is a part two entry on Maroudo Shrine to introduce one of my thoughts on the enigmatic Maroudo shrine. For those who haven't read part one, check this out prior to reading this.

As I mentioned in the part one, several bloggers write this shrine based on the analogy of the Monkyakujin shrine (門客人神社) in Hikawa shrine (氷川神社). 

In the past,

Arahabaki shrine enshrined Arahabaki (荒脛巾) who does not appear in two Japanese chronicles and is thought to be an indigenous deity.

Monkyakujin Shrine in Hikawa Shrine as Sessha

When the Izumo tribe emigrate to the Musashi province, they enshrined their own deities there. It is likely that the Arahabaki shrine was subordinated to the Hikawa shrine by Izumo emigrants and became the Sessha of Hikawa shrine. The name was changed to Monkyakujin shrine. As a consequence, Arahabaki was kicked out by Tenazuchi and Ashinuchi who are the parents of Kushinada hime of Susanowo's wife. 

Similarly, was the previously enshrined deity of Maroudo shrine in Ohira town taken over by Takeminakata enshrined in Isoyama Suwa shrine? No archives exist to indicate the past enshrined deities in Maroudo shrine, which makes us ponder who the hell the enshrined deities used to be! 

Was Arahabaki the indigenous enshrined deity before Takehinakata took over the prime position???

This could be true, however, my gut keeps sending me a beeping noise. Hereafter I propose two possible case scenarios.

(1) This shrine is indeed overlooked Kadomaroudo shrine as Sessha of Ohira Shrine (太平神社). Just like the Kadomaroudo Shrine in Itsukushima Shrine (image below), this shrine acts as a gatekeeper of the Ohira Shrine. 

Two Kadomaroudo shrines in Itsukushima shrine

Here are pieces of evidence to account for this.

(a) The Mt. Ohira summit, Okumiya of Ohira shrine, Maroudo shrine, and Isoyama Suwa shrine roughly lie in a straight line!!! 

(b) The original name of Mt. Ohira (大平山) is Mt. Miwa (三輪山). The name was changed when the divinity of the three new deities, Amaterasu/天照皇大御神, Toyoukebime/豊受姫大神, and Ninigi/瓊瓊杵命 were transferred there. Originally the prime enshrined deity was Ohmononushi/大物主神, a deity of Mt. Miwa. His alternative name is "Mimoro no yama no ue ni omasu kami/御諸山上坐神 (= the deity residing in Mt. Mimoro) in Kojiki. Mt. Mimoro is an ancient name of Mt. Miwa in Yamato province/Nara.    

(c) Ohmononushi (大物主) was enshrined in Mt. Miwa by Ohkuni when Ohkuni reigned Ashihara Nakatsukuni.  Takeminakata (タケミナカタ), who is one of Ohkuni's sons. Collectively, they are all closely related!

(d) Arahabaki seems to have been worshipped in the northern part of Japan among Emishi (蝦夷) tribes as a deity of the snake because "haha" of habaki in Arahabaki meant snake in ancient Japanese. Back in the olden days, the direction was called according to the animal of the year. The direction is divided into twelve. The north corresponds to the first animal of the year, the mouse (子) and the remaining animals (丑-寅-卯-辰-巳-午-未-申-酉-戌-亥) follow clockwise. Because dragon (辰/tatsu) and snake (巳/mi) are similar, they are combined and called "Tatsumi (辰巳=巽)" which indicates "southeast".

If the Maroudo shrine was called Arahabaki shrine, it makes sense that Maroudo shrine locates southeast of Mt. Ohira's summit!!!

(e) BTW, Ohmononushi is a snake deity, too.

Am I fully in favor of this hypothesis???

Well, not really...

In the next entry, I will introduce the second possible scenario I am more into.

To be continued.

Alleged Atago Shrine Shimominakawa

Further trekking behind the Maroudo shrine Main Hall led to Atago shrine Shimominakawa (愛宕神社下皆川). Shimominakawa is the name of the district that is probably coined by the name of ruler, Minagawa clan (皆川氏). According to the available info on the web, the one to the right Shinmei torii (photo below) is supposed to be the Atago shrine. The left shinmei torii (神明鳥居) stands in the middle of the long hill trail. I have no clue to which shrine the left torii belongs as there is no shrine nearby (except the Agato shrine to the right) 

Google map says the right shrine in the photo above is the Atago shrine. All the available info calls this Atago shrine. However, no crystal clear sign to signify this as the Atago shrine can be found in my fieldwork (or I was careless). Let's take a closer look at what I have found there.

Alleged Atago Shrine

What I found was five stone monuments providing us with some info regarding the shrine or the history of the district, Shimominakawa (下皆川). Here we go!

(1)登山百八度

(2)陸前国青麻（Rikuzen Province, Aoso; current Miyagino ward, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture）　青麻大神

(3)御中八湖修行　御中道修行　登山三十三度報恩霊　

(4)庚申塔

(5)小御度(?)大神

Five stone monuments

(1) The 108th anniversary of the ascetic practice of trekking Mt. Ohira 

(2) 陸前国 (Rikuzen Province,)青麻 (Aoso=blue hemp) is the obsolete address used in the early Meiji Period (1869-1876?) that roughly corresponds to the current Aosozawa (青麻沢), Miyagino ward, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. or thereabouts. 青麻大神/Aoso Taijin means the great deity of hemp, whose name was coined by the fact that the distant relative of Shinto priest, Yasumasa Hozumi (穂積保昌), who came from Yamashiro Province (current Kyoto Prefecture), instructed hemp cultivation there. Besides, he brought his clan's worshipped deities there and enshrined them in the cave in the gorge in A.D. 852. The shrine was originally called Aoso Iwato Sankoh-gu (青麻岩戸三光宮), Aoso Gongensha (青麻権現社), or Saga Shrine (嵯峨神社). At present, it is called Aoso shrine (青麻神社). Sankoh-gu (三光宮) means the Palace of three lights (sun, moon, and stars) in which three deities, Amaterasu (deity of sunlight), Tsukuyomi (deity of the moon), and Amenominakanushi (天之御中主/deity of stars, with which I cannot fully agree) were enshrined.

(3) This is to commemorate the attainment of the 33rd Buddhist practice of trekking the mountain.

(4) This stone tablet is called "Kohshin tower (庚申塔)" for a folk faith (called Kohshin) in Japan with Taoist origins, influenced by Shinto, Buddhism, and other local beliefs. I will come back to this later.

(5) Honestly, it's hard to recognize the third letter. It must be the name of a deity but not sure if it's Shinto or Buddhism (or both). Besides, I have never heard of the name of this deity... Shame on me!

Around 900 Atago shrines are dispersed all over Japan. It is very likely that, due to the name of the shrine, the divine spirit of Atago Shrine Shimominakawa was transferred from the Atago Shrine (愛宕神社) located on the summit of Mt. Atago (愛宕山) in Kyoto, the headquarter of all Agato shrines. 

What is known about the Atago Shrine Shimominakawa is a lot less than that of the Maroudo Shrine. Nobody knows when it was founded and the exact enshrined deities. But what we do know is Atago Shrine is recognized as the shrine for fire extinguishing that is indispensable for preventing desiccated winter mountains from wildfire. It makes sense to me that Atago shrine Shimominakawa is located in the skirt of Mt. Ohira. In addition to this, Atago Shrine is well-renowned for its inception of Atago worship (愛宕信仰)- a Shinto practice of worshipping the deity of fire (i.e. Kagutsuchi/カグツチ). Furthermore, Atago Shrines served as the school for the Buddhist practice called Shugendoh (修験道). It is tempting to ponder that, back in the olden days, the Buddist monks having faith in Atago worship went through Shugendoh there and made stone tablets (1) and (3).

I am not sure if you are familiar with (4) Kohshin (庚申). For those who are interested in this faith, please visit Wiki page as it requires countless lines to explain this intriguing custom here. To make the long story short, it is said that the custom was introduced to Japan by the Buddhist monks in Heian Period. The idea is all about longevity based on the belief that three bugs (called Sanshi/三尸 in Japanese; three Corpses) parasitizing in our body are the tattletales/traitors that get out of　the host’s body every 60 days to keep the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝)/Ten tei (天帝) informed sins host committed. The more sins are reported and filed, the shorter the life span host gets. Three Corpses are believed to get out of the host's body at night when the host is asleep on the day called Kohshin. In order for the host to remain bugs within the body (so that bugs can't report sins to the Jade Emperor), hosts get together in a place and stay awake all night long by listening to the monk's lecture or just chatting over booze. It was introduced from China in the Heian period and became pretty popular in the Edo period in Japan. This is called Kohshin because Koh (庚) is one of the ten heavenly stems (a.k.a. Celestial Stems) and shin (申) is a monkey, which many of you readers know, is one of the twelve animals of the year. These two elements are comprised of a Sexagenary cycle that cycles sixty terms. Hence, every 60 days comes the day of Kohshin.

  

Three Corpses-image from Wiki

It appears that, in the past, the Kohshin practice was quite prevalent among indigenous people who built a Kohshin stone tablet there. This is not so surprising that the Kohshin stone tablet stands in the shrine because of Shinto-Buddhist syncretism but what is perplexing the most is (2). This stone archive (2) certainly indicates this alleged shrine is an Aoso shrine branch and divinity of the Aoso Taijin (青麻大神) was transferred from the headquarter of Aoso Shrine (青麻神社). 

In this entry, I did not mention anything about Maroudo Shrine but what was inscribed in these stone tablets gave me a big hint to "decode" the deity enshrined in the Maroudo Shrine.

To be continued to the final entry for Maroudo Shrine.

Maroudo Shrine in Ohira-machi Part One

When you visit shrines, especially prestigious or historical ones, you notice middle-to-small sized shrines within the shrine's precincts. They are collectively called "Setsumatsusha (摂末社)", a term that two names of shrines, Sessha/subordinate shrine (摂社) and Massha/peripheral shrine (末社) are combined. The definition to distinguish one from the other is vague, as a matter of fact. Yet, it is widely recognized that Sessha is inclined to enshrine deities closely related to the prime deity enshrined in the main hall. That said, those who are relatives, business partners, and indigenous deities whose position was taken over by the currently enshrined deities, whereas Massha enshrines deity not so related to the prime one (i.e. deities enshrined in the neighbor shrines that were merged into the existing shrine). 

In my previous entry, I introduced Maroudo Shrine in Itsukushima Shrine as one of the Sessha shrines. The enshrined deities in the Maroudo shrine are the five brothers of the prime female deity, Ichikishima-hime (イチキシマヒメ). Maroudo (客人) means "guest" or "invited". and, apart from Itsukushima shrine, there are several Maroudo shrines as Setsumatsusha. Due to its Chinese-style pronunciation of the same Kanji (訓読み), the Maroudo shrine is called "Kyakujin shrine" or "Kyaku Jinja (客神社)", in some cases. Here is the list;

• Kyakujingu (客人宮) in Jigozen Shrine (地御前神社)
• Monkyakujin shrine (門客人神社) in Hikawa shrine (氷川神社) - the most prestigious shrine in Mushashi Province (武蔵国一宮).
• Maroudosha (客人社) in Miho Shrine (美保神社)
• Kadomaroudo shrine (門客人神社) in Hinomisaki Shrine (日御碕神社)
• Kyakujin gu (客人宮) in Hieizan Enryakuji (比叡山延暦寺)
• Maroudo Shrine (客人神社) in Ouhi shrine (意富比神社)
• Kyaku Jinja (客神社) in Tomoika Hachimangu (富岡八幡宮)

I am sure there must be more Maroudo Shrines and the list goes on and on. Monkyakujin shrine in Hikawa shrine draws people's attention not only because Hikawa shrine is the Ichinomiya Shrine in the Musashi Province (that corresponds to the current Tokyo and Saitama) but it was initially called "Arahabaki Shrine (荒脛巾神社)", an enigmatic deity never appeared in both Japanese chronicles, Kojiki (古事記) and Nihon Shoki (日本書紀). Due to the lack of information, scholars ponder that Arahabaki deity has been worshipped in the northern part of Japan as an aboriginal deity among Emishi (蝦夷) tribe. Based on the hypothesis, it is speculated that Arahabaki used to be the prime deity enshrined in Hikawa shrine. Later on,  as Izumo tribes migrated there, they brought their own deities, Susanowo, his wife Kushinadahime and offspring Ohkuni, who are the current prime enshrined deities.  As the Yamato kingship expanded its territory up northeast by conquering the "rural" powers, their deities (Amatsukami) were enshrined in the new territory, hence domestic deities such as Arahabaki were forced to abdicate their position. For mercy, in some cases, domestic deities remained in Okumiya (奥宮), Sessha, or Maroudo shrine (as a guest who lost their host position). 

Yamato State (Image from Wiki)

I have nothing against this hypothesis as long as Maroudo shrine exists as Setsumatsusha. Nevertheless, at least five Maroudo Shrines exist as prime shrines! Four Maroudo shrines are listed on the Japanese Wiki and I found one more in Ehime. I repeat. That's not all. I am sure there must be more out there. 

• Kyaku Jinja (客神社) in Ehime - Kukurihime (喜玖理媛命/菊理媛神)
• Maroudo Shrine (客人神社) in Hiroshima- Ohnamuchi/Ohkuni (大穴牟遅命)
• Maroudo Shrine (客人神社) in Nagasaki -Ohyamatsumi (大山祇大神) and Shiogama (塩釜大神)
• Kyakujin Shrine (客人神社) in Kochi
• Maroudo Shrine (客人神社) in Chiba - Izanagi and Izanami
• Maroudo Shrine (客人神社) in Tochigi - Takeminakata (タケミナカタ)

The enshrined deity in these Maroudo shrines is not Arahabaki but the ordinary well-known Shinto deities. To be honest, I cannot find what is common among them! Well, the hypothesis goes on and on. It is likely that the indigenous original enshrined deity was not even allowed to stay in Setsumatsusha but was utterly kicked out by Yamato kingship and erased from the endorsed record...

"History is written by the victors". So said Winston Churchill. When history was unwritten or the archives were lost, there is room to ponder the past. 

In this and the following entries, I would like to review Maroudo Shrine in Tochigi city as this is close to my hometown and visited there years ago.

.

In fact, very little is known about this shrine. No Wiki page, no homepage, no priest is there, and only the Shinto geeks visit there and upload blog entries just like me. 

The shrine is located southeast skirt of Mt. Ohira (太平山), 341 meters tall (short?)  holy mountain previously called Mt. Miwa (三輪山) in the 3rd Century. Because Mt. Ohira isn't so tall, it is popular for hiking and visiting Ohira Shrine (太平神社) and other historical temples (but not this shrine). 

Shinmei Torii and Komainu dogs

Since it was pleasant Indian summer when I visited there, what I did was fieldwork.

Stone monument behind the shrine

It was damn painstaking to "decode" fading stone inscriptions written in ancient-style letters (see the image above).  ALL Kanji including those no longer seen in the present day. According to the Japanese blogger's entries I referred to, it appears that the stone monument sitting around the Main Hall is a copy of the oldest archive that is present to date (documented on the 20th of October, 1423), entitled "下野国磯山西御庄下皆川郷内客人大明神田畠事". The archive seems to be the letter mailed to the Shinto Priest in the Maroud shrine (from who???). It says the divinity was transferred on the 20th of October, 1423 A.D. from the Isoyama Suwa Shrine (磯山諏訪神社) located approx. 2 km southeast away from Maroudo Shrine. BTW, Maroudo shrine faces to the Isoyama Suwa Shrine. There are around 25,000 Suwa shrines and all of them enshrine Takeminakata (タケミナカタ). No exception. it appears that the current deity enshrined in Maroudo Shrine is Takeminakata, if his divinity was transferred from the Isoyama Suwa shrine.

Nevertheless, the stone monument crystal clearly inscribes Maroudo Daimyohjin (客人大明神) as the enshrined deity. "Maroudo Daimyohjin (客人大明神)" is, indeed. a term for Shinto deities related to Buddhism (due to the "syncretism of kami and buddhas" called Shinbutsu-shugo/神仏習合).  

Main Hall

Additional info can be obtained from the back of the stone monument standing in front of the Main hall (left side of the photo above). It is unknown when the shrine is founded. The previous main hall was built in 1897 and was renovated into the current one in 1990. Until recently, the annual ritual ceremony took place on the 20th of October. The names of Shinto priest and about 33 families of Ujiko (氏子; neighbors worshipping Maroud Shrine) members in 1982 were listed. Ujiko worshipped the enshrined deity by calling it “Daimyohjim-sama”. The area of the shrine's precincts is 1487.61 square meters.

Inside of Main Hall. Who the hell is enshrined there???

Which one on earth is the enshrined deity in Maroudo Shrine???

Takeminakata? or 

Maroudo Daimyohjin???

Very enigmatic, isn't it???

To be continued...

Daruma doll on bonfire

 Happy New Year.

It is an annual tradition among the Japanese to bring New Year's decorations and other stuff to the temple or shrine and say goodbye to them one or two weeks after the New Year's day. It is believed that Year God/Toshigami (年神) descends on houses where the entrance is decorated with pine trees and bamboo called Kadomatsu (門松). The Osechi cuisine (御節料理), a traditional food served in New Year's day, used to be the offering to Toshigami. After spending 7 to 10 days in the house, Year God returns to heaven. When the god is gone, New Year's decorations are stripped off but are not thrown in the trash bin. Instead, they are brought to the temple or shrine where purchased for ritual purification.   

Along with New Year's decorations, the daruma doll that represented the semi-legendary Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma, a founder of Zen Buddhism is one of the objects to be purified annually. The reddish round doll has blank white eyes in its original figure. When the owner sets a goal or makes a wish, the left eye is painted black just like Far East Asian eyes. If the dream or wish comes true, the right eye is filled. The doll is used for facilitating the owner to make the owner's dream come true. When it's achieved, the doll is purified on a bonfire...

Ametsuchi no Motohashira Part Two

Behind the story of the controversial tower goes on...

In 1935, Okada Cabinet (岡田啓介) launched the Committee for the 2600th Imperial Era Anniversary (紀元二千六百年記念行事). The original idea was to reform and expand the Kashihara Jingu (橿原神宮) in which Emperor Jimmu and his wife (Empress), Himetataraisuzu hime (媛蹈鞴五十鈴媛) are enshrined and the tomb of Emperor Jimmu and organize ceremonies in 1940. After the series of changes in the name and constitution of the Committee, the original plan kept swelling to the point of founding brand new shrines overseas such as Nanyoh shrine (南洋神社) in Palau and Kenkoku shrine/mausoleum (建国神廟) in the State of Manchuria. In addition, due to the enthusiastic promotion of the then Miyazaki Governer, Katsuroku Aikawa (相川勝六), the plan to build the monumental tower in Miyazaki was integrated into the initial plan, as well. You may wonder why in Miyazaki? 

The so-called Heiwadai highland was opted for the place to build the memorial tower because the Heiwadai is closely located north of the palace (called Kohguh-ya/皇宮屋) where Emperor Jimmu settled until his Eastern Expedition. After all, the start and the end of Jimmu's Eastern Expedition were refurnished by subsidies.

From left to right: Katsuroku Aikawa, Keisuke Okada, Jitsuzo Hinago. All images from Wiki

Jitsuzo Hinago (日名子実三), a sculptor famous for designing Yatagarasu, a mythical three-legged crow for the symbol of the Japan Football Association (JFA), designed the Ametsuchi no motohashira tower free of charge. When designing the tower, Hinago was inspired by Gohei (御幣) he saw in Miyazaki Jingu (宮崎神宮). Gohei is one of the offerings to the enshrined deities (Shinsen/神饌). Being Shinto as part of animism, ancient Japanese acknowledged mother nature (divine beings) that made their living on hunter-gathering. Harvested cereals, fruits, vegetables, sake (Japanese wine), and textiles, are offerings in many cases whereas Gohei is a non-edible offering. In many cases, Gohei is made up of wooden wands decorated with two shide (zigzagging paper streamers). Apart from offering purposes, Gohei was considered as "Yorishiro (依り代)", an object that the deity haunts.

 

Image from Wiki

At each corner of the tower, statues of four deities made of stoneware in Shigaraki style (信楽焼) are deposited. They are called Aramitama/荒御魂 as a worrier, Nigimitama/和御魂 as a merchant, Sachimitama/幸御魂 as a farmer, and Kushimitama/奇御魂 as a fisherman, respectively. 

Aramitama/荒御魂 as a worrier

Nigimitama/和御魂 as a merchant

Sachimitama/幸御魂 as a farmer

Kushimitama/奇御魂 as a fisherman

Governor Aikawa actively contacted newspapers for promoting the concept of a new tower. Aikawa’s ideas of building a new tower were (1) to symbolize Emperor Jimmu’s aspiration of establishing a new country and the prosperity of Imperial Japan in the future and (2) to record the accomplishments of Japan 2600 years after his Eastern Expedition. To come Aikawa's ambitions and concepts to fruition, especially for the purpose of objective (2), founding stones for the tower base were dispatched not only from domestic Japanese territories but also overseas such as Manchuria, South Pacific islands, and European and American continents. Altogether, 1789 stones (most of which were from Miyazaki Prefecture and closer prefectures) were piled-up for building the base of the tower. Of 1789 stones, 349 stones were delivered from overseas.

3 from Canada 

2 from the US 

1 from Peru 

1 from Nazis Germany 

4 from Southeast Asia and Pacific Oceania 

118 from Korea Peninsula

104 from China (58 of which were plundered by expeditionary forces from the hostile ground)

80 from Manchuria (6 of which were looted by expeditionary forces from the hostile ground)

36 from Taiwan

The largest territory of Imperial Japan (Image from Wiki with modification)

Among stones "donated" from Manchuria, China, and Korea, some were the plunders from historical buildings/monuments by Imperial Japan military forces. Obviously, the intention of the Government was to proudly declare the augmentation of the country that launched from the Kashihara district 2600 years ago and expect further prosperity in the following century, 2700. In fact, the numbers of population, territory size, and how far the reign of the Emperor has augmented overseas were inscribed on the back side of the tower. Stones dispatched from overseas were the smoking gun evidence to prove it. Now we all know that the everlasting expansion policy of Imperial Japan evaporated into a mirage after WWII yet in 1940, the Japanese, especially politicians, were obsessed with mythical and patriotic fairytales.

Due to the occupation by the Allies of WW II, Japanese mass media and politicians made a swift “left” turn. Commanded by Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) in 1946, the worrier statue, “Aramitama”, and the letter “八紘一宇” inscribed on the front were expropriated! The name of the tower changed to "Peace Tower" (平和の塔)" in 1957. The name of the tower remained the same by now. The worrier statue and the inscribed letter were restored in 1962 or 1965, respectively. Till the tower was restored to its original design, the tower has been ruined. It was used for practicing rock climbing. Affirmative, the tower is made of rocks... 

Rock climbing the tower (Image from Wiki)

What a terrible change the tower has been through!!!

. 

Ametsuchi no Motohashira

八紘之基柱 (Ametsuchi no motohashira), located in the Heiwadai Park (平和台公園), Miyazaki, is a monument to celebrate the enthronement of Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇).  Around 37-meter tall tower was founded in 1940 to proclaim the imperial edict "Hakkoh-ichiu (八紘一宇), inscribed in the facade of the tower in the 2600th anniversary (inscribed in the back of the tower, as well) of the triumph of Jimmu's Eastern Expedition (神武東征). 

The inscribed letters were calligraphed by Yasuhiro, Prince Chichibu,(秩父宮雍仁親王) a younger brother of then-Emperor Hirohito (昭和天皇).

2600 Anniversary in 1940

From the plaque in front of the tower, the tower is also called "Hakkoh-ichiu-no-toh (八紘一宇の塔)". The meaning of 八紘一宇 is translated into "the whole world to be a house" or "all the world under one roof (from English Wiki)", implying the whole nations and people are unified. The word was coined by former Buddhist Nichiren school monk and scholar, Chigaku Tanaka (田中 智學; 1861-1939) in 1903, according to the dictionary, ブリタニカ国際大百科事典-八紘一宇. 

From left to right; Prince Chichibu, Hirohito, Chigaku Tanaka, Fumimaro Konoe. All images from Wiki.

At age 10, he enrolled in Nichiren school as an apprentice to become a monk.  later on, he secularized and became a social and political activist for enlightening so-called "Nichirenism". Since I know very little about Buddhism, all I want to say here is former Buddhist monk coined the word from the article in Shinto Chronicles of Japan, Nihon shoki, complied in A.D. 720 in Nara period. Soon after Emperor Jimmu  subjected indigenous powers dominating Yamato province to Amatsukami's rules, he made a winning statement in the Kashihara. That said.

兼六合以開都，掩八紘而為宇

六合 is an ancient Chinese idiom, meaning a mass/sum (合) of six (六) directions (up and down in the vertical and north, south, east, and west in the horizontal). Collectively, it indicates the universe. Emperor Jimmu and his three older brothers made up their minds to go "East" (Eastern Expedition) from Miyazaki because Miyazaki is too outlying to reign the universe (entire ancient Japan) and Kashihara is the ideal place to be a capital due to geopolitical and agricultural points of view. When he was enthroned as the first Emperor in Kashihara, he proclaimed that Kashihara is the capital of the universe. That is the interpretation of the former part of the sentence, 兼六合以開都.

Inscription of 八紘一宇

In the Chronicle, 八紘而為宇 is the original. 八紘 means "towards the ends of eight (八) corners", indicating the entire world. Note that, as described above, the tower is called "ametsuchi no motohashira". 八紘 (hakkoh) is also pronounced Ametsuchi; Ame and tsuchi mean heaven and ground, respectively, again the combination of two signifies the universe. 為宇 means "regarded (為) as a house (宇)". Altogether, the latter part of the sentence denotes the whole world is regarded as a house. BTW, "而" means "therefore", I guess. Since Tanaka found 八紘為宇 too complicated to make out, he decided to coin the word, 八紘一宇, by changing "為" to "一". In 1903, he submitted an article to the newspaper (国柱新聞) issued by the political organization、Kokuchuhkai (国柱会) founded by Tanaka. In this article, he advocated the significance of the establishment of Japan (= Yamato dynasty) achieved by Emperor Jimmu as the ethical ruling of the universe but not by armed forces. All the existing races, nations, religions, cultures, and customs are to fulfill their own unique nature for harmony as a whole, Tanaka insisted. 

From left to right; Ten cent bill, 10 cent and 4 cent stamps

Unfortunately, owing to Imperial Japan's conflicting circumstances with the world, 八紘一宇 was highjacked as a slogan to agitate for scurrying impetus to the foundation of the Greater East Asia Prosperity Sphere (大東亜共栄圏). It was 1937 when the 八紘一宇 was officially documented for the first time. On the 10th of December 1937, the first Konoe Administration issued the booklet entitled "The spirit of 八紘一宇". Since then the 八紘一宇 as a slogan became so rife that it appeared in 10-cent bills and commemorative stamps. Besides, 八紘一宇 appeared in the lyrics of the Patriotic March. 

往け八紘を宇となし

Onward, east, west, north, and south. Overland and main. Let us make the world our home

四海の人を導きて

Call to fellow men. Everywhere on the four seas

正しき平和を打ち建てん

Let us build the tower of just peace

理想は花と咲き薫る

Let our ideal bloom forth like a flower

Lyrics from Wiki

It is such an irony that Tanaka as a former Buddhist monk has always been against war and insisted on banning the death penalty! Nevertheless, his prudent elucidation of Emperor Jimmu's assertion was exploited by the military and administration of Japan Empire (1867-1947), which culminated in a mournful catastrophe in the sizzling summer of 1945...

To be continued...