Hetsunomiya

At the end of the shopping mall a wooden torii and a steep flight of stairs leads up the sacred hill. On the first level overlooking the rooftops of the island you can view the yachts mooring beneath in the harbour built in 1964 for the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo. All along the path donated stone monuments indicate the prosperity of the pilgrims to the holy island or hint at the mystical character of this home of gods and other supernatural beings.

A dream in a dream: if I ever happen to be in Japan for Hatsumode, I would visit Enoshima Jinja which actually consists of three separate shrines, each dedicated to one of the goddesses of the sea.

At the top of the first terrace the main Shrine of the Jinja, Hetsunomiya (Shrine on the Edge) which enshrines Tagitsuhimenomikoto, goes back to the early 13th century and was only rebuilt in 1976:



There is a certain way you should pass through the huge ring of thick cogon grass and circumvent - a rite of purification before approaching the main hall. The octagonal Hoanden, next to it houses one of the three most famous statues of Benten in Japan:




The goddess, patron to music, fine arts and literature, who descended from the heavens to fight a dragon is also popular as the only women out of 七福神 , the Seven Gods of Good fortune.

Lafcadio Hearn on his visit to Enoshima in 1890 lamented that he was unable to see the image of Benten. When Buddhism and Shintoism were syncretized the originally Buddhist goddess was venerated on ground demarcated by torii. But when Shinto was purged of Buddhist elements in late 19th century the famous statue was gathering dust in storage.