Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha

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Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha is a Shinto shrine located on the southwestern base of Mount Fuji in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is also called Fujisan Hongu Asama Taisha, because sengen and asama are both alternative readings of the same character (浅間). It is the head of the Asama shrines and has been designated as a National Important Cultural Property.

There is some debate as to when the shrine was founded. Some argue that it was as early as the Suinin era (c. 6 AD), but most accounts consider the early ninth century a more accurate estimate, since the entire mountain was off-limits for religious reasons up to that point. Afterwards, the southern part of the mountain was populated by monks known for their asceticism.

What is known is that the shrine was built during a period of intense volcanic activity on Mount Fuji in order to appease the spirits of the mountain, especially that of the volcanic god, Asama no Okami (also called Asama Daimyojin, Asama Gongen, or Sengen Daibosatsu), which was the deity most closely associated with the mountain at the time. The female Shinto deity Konohanasakuya-hime (also called Koyasu-sama) had also developed strong ties to Fuji by the Edo period, and now the Asama shrines identify themselves more with her than with Asama no Okami.

Pilgrimages up the mountain became common in the ninth century, although women were forbidden from climbing. Sengen Taisha was the place at which pilgrims would purify themselves in water before beginning the ascent. Today, some 400,000 pilgrims climb Fuji every year, and many of them stop at the shrine in order to wish for a safe climb.

[edit] References

Motonaka, Makoto (2003). "Conservation of Cultural Landscapes in Asia and the Pacific Region: Terraced Rice Fields and Sacred Mountains". Cultural Landscapes: the Challenges of Conservation: 129-132.
Japan-Guide.com. Retrieved on October 9, 2006.
Shizuoka. Japan National Tourist Organization. Retrieved on October 9, 2006.
Clark, Timothy. 100 Views of Mount Fuji. Weatherhill Books. ISBN 0-8348-0492-1.
Yasunari, Wada (2005-12-15). Mount Fuji: A Trek to the Top. Nipponia. Web Japan. Retrieved on October 10, 2006.