Arahabaki Shrine - Tagajō

It's near Mutsu Soshanomiya, but I think it's hard to see the entrance. By the way, there is a vague TV footprint sticker.

This is Arahabaki's shrine.

A shrine with the name of the Arahabaki people, an old ethnic group in the Tohoku region. The company is very small, but the origin is likely to be something.

This shrine is known as the foot god and is worshiped by people who pray for the safety of their journey. Currently, it is said that it is effective not only for feet but also for diseases from the waist down, and shoes and sandals are dedicated for prayers.

Ara Bakijinja Arashinbakujin is a mysterious god. It is a god that is often enshrined in the Tohoku and Kanto regions, but its origin is unclear due to its position as a "guest god." Perhaps it is reasonable to speculate that the indigenous gods, who were worshiped in a different lineage from the gods of the imperial court, were taken in and survived. It is a god that is believed to have been worshiped so strongly, but its character is diverse. On the other hand, there is an image that is fixed by the description of "Tsugarusotosangun magazine", and it is a mysterious existence. Arahabaki Shrine in Tagajo City is the outer shrine of Shiogama Shrine. The date of its construction is unknown, but it is recorded in the record of Anei 3 (1774), and it is said that the territory was donated by the Sendai domain at that time. This shrine is generally said to benefit from "lower back illness". Since the "shin width" in the name of this god is a device used by wrapping it around the shin, it seems that benefits related to the legs and waist were sought. In addition, since the "shinbaku" is used for traveling, it is considered to be the "god of travel", and many waraji are dedicated to the shrine. In addition, it is thought to be a guardian deity that protects the boundary from the location of the shrine, probably because it is associated with a trip, and it also has the character of "God of the Fortress = Dosojin", and in fact, many male roots that are also symbols of Dosojin are dedicated. Or something. In addition, there is a silkworm shrine dedicated to scissors in the precincts (scissors are said to have the meaning of "cutting the roots of illness", but there is also a theory that this is the god of "steelmaking". For some reason, there is a Taikodo that enshrines Prince Shotoku, and there is a strong feeling that various miscellaneous beliefs are fused with the Arashin god. In addition, this shrine creates an atmosphere that is more like a folk religion because it enters through the premises of a private house. ◆ Guest God (Maro Dogami) Generally, it is said that "a god located on the same level as or lower than the main deity of the shrine, and is enshrined in a state where it comes from the outside and is not subordinate to the main deity." However, according to Shinobu Orikuchi and others, the guest god is the indigenous god before the shrine was built, and the main deity is the god who came later. In the case of Arashinbakujin, it should be regarded as an indigenous god because the area of ​​worship is limited, and since it became the territory of the Yamato court after the establishment of the Kiki myth, it was not incorporated into the mythological system. However, it may be considered that it was not excluded because it was close to the highest god (creator god / pioneer god) in indigenous mythology, and was left in the form of "fusion". However, even though their existence remains, their original personality is erased (especially when their roles overlap with the gods of Kiki mythology who later came in as "rulers") and changed to new ones. You can guess it. ◆ "Tsugarusotosangunshi" An ancient document that is said to have been discovered by Kihachiro Wada after the war. However, it is now called a "forged document" from various points of view. The name of Arahabaki is written as "Araha (feather) vomiting" and appears as the name of the clan that ruled the Tsugaru region. And a shading device clay figure is drawn as an image of the god Arahabaki, and this will be widely disseminated as an image. Although it is considered to be a complete forged document, I think it is very suggestive that Arashinbakujin was positioned as the main god of the people who govern the Tohoku region.

Currently, it is the outer shrine of Shiogama Shrine. Looking from Tagajo, which was the base of the northern defense of the Yamato kingdom, Mutsu Soshanomiya (Soshanomiya) and our company are located almost in the direction of the demon gate. As the company name suggests, the deity is Arahabaki. I couldn't enter by car, so I changed to a bicycle at the parking lot of the nearby Soja shrine, but it was just a short walk from the Soja shrine. There is a very simple torii gate between the fields, and in the back, there is a building like a private house on the left, and when you pass through the plants that are planted like a garden beyond that, there are three shrines. .. The middle of them is Arahabaki Shrine. There is a shrine under the roof of the galvanized iron, and a lot of shoes and other things that are not clear are dedicated. There is a well of Reisen in front of the shrine. Originally, this well may be the origin of our company. The date of its construction is unknown, but the "Knife Fudoki" (Honai Fudoki, 1772) compiled by the Sendai Domain already mentions our company, and it is probably a shrine that is deeply involved in the establishment of Tagajo in ancient times. Looking at the "Map of Tagajo Ancient Ruins" published in 1887, we are located in the northeast, relatively close to the Tsukiji surrounding Tagajo. This is apparently placed for the evacuation of Ezo. Tagajo was built around 724, and in addition to the Taga fence, names such as Oshika fence, Nitta fence, Shikama fence, and Tamatsukuri fence appear in the article of the 9th year of Tenpei (737) in the Shoku Nihongi period. Both were in preparation for the Ezo rebellion. Arahabaki is thought to have been the god of Ezo since ancient times, but as Kenichi Tanigawa stated in "Swan Story," our company is located northeast of Tagajo as if "controlling Ezo with Ezo." It is like. There are shrines (such as Hikawa Shrine in Omiya) that have Arahabaki as a guest god. If it is a god that only protects the gate, there is Kushiiwamado God (Sasayama City, Hyogo Prefecture, (No. 0314), but since the gate guest god is the guest god placed at the gate of the shrine, Zuijin It is clear that he is not a god of the genus Zuijin, but a god of the position of a guest. Regarding this, scholars such as Kunio Yanagita say that the landlord god was deprived of the land and overturned the position of the conventional god and the main guest and became a guest god.

#Arahabaki Shrine is located near the site of Tagajo. The company has a special structure and has two altars. In the foreground, many shoes were dedicated to fulfill the prayers for travel and travel. On the altar in the back is #Dosojin's biane. #Arahabaki is an old faith with many mysteries. #It seems to be related to the Kotodama faith (Search: Manufacturing and Kotodama no Kuni, reported on December 2, 2020)

I visited on August 24, 2021. Since it is located on the premises of a private house, I parked in a parking space for about one car at the corner of the narrow path in front of the torii gate and worshiped. Naturally, I visited the house after calling out to the person. In the Tohoku dialect, "habaki" means foot sneak. It seems that he was praying for a long journey and march to be safe, but in recent years, it is believed that he has been able to heal all his lower body illnesses. If you follow the shrine, it is said that it is the last shrine of Shiogama Shrine, but you can imagine that it enshrines the god of Arahabaki, which is a different system from the Yamato court (domestic myth) system.