Kayanarumi-no-mikoto Shrine

An ancient listed shrine at the far end of the valley

This shrine stands in the hamlet of Kayanomori, far up the Asuka River. It is an old shrine whose name appears in the register of deities in the Engishiki (a 10th-century compendium of court procedures) as a shrine of Takaichi District in Yamato Province, and it enshrines the deity Kayanarumi-no-mikoto.

At the top of the stone steps, beyond a stone torii gate, lies a long, narrow worship hall. Behind it is a grove of cedars, and the grounds are always wrapped in damp air.

Asuka's kannabi

The Izumo no Kuni no Miyatsuko Kan'yogoto, a congratulatory address recited at court by the governor of Izumo, contains a passage saying that the spirit of Kayanarumi-no-mikoto was installed in "the kannabi of Asuka."

A kannabi is a mountain or forest where a deity dwells. Where Asuka's kannabi was has been debated since early times, and Ikazuchi Hill, Mt Miha and Amakashi Hill have all been proposed. This shrine is regarded as another candidate.

Seen from the area where the capital stood, this is the far end of the valley, a long way up the Asuka River. If the idea was to worship a deity in the direction the water comes from, the location makes sense.

When it was called Kazura Shrine

In the Edo period (1603–1868) this shrine was called Kazura Shrine. For a long time it was not known which shrine corresponded to the Kayanarumi-no-mikoto Shrine of the Engishiki; in the Meiji era this shrine was identified as that one, and its present name was restored.

So the shrine's name was once lost and later recovered. The name marker standing in the grounds owes its existence to that history.

Together with Mezuna

At the entrance to the hamlet, Mezuna (Female Rope) is strung across the Asuka River. Kayanomori's rope-hanging ritual is Buddhist: an altar is set up on the Fukuishi stone and a monk chants sutras.

A shrine listed in the Engishiki, a sacred rope across the river, and beyond it the road over Imo-tōge Pass to Yoshino: in many ways, Kayanomori has the character of the last hamlet in the Asuka valley.

Visiting

A short walk from the "Kayanomori" stop on the Asuka loop bus from Kintetsu Kashiharajingu-mae Station. Visitors are free to come and pray.

You can combine it with Mezuna, the mountain streams of Oku-Asuka and Imo-tōge Pass. This is the guardian shrine of the hamlet, so please visit quietly.