Shimizu, Japan - Toshogu Shrine - 1 of 2

Shimizu is a beautiful port located in the north end of the Izu Peninusula and a quaint little town established in 1889 where two rivers flow. After merging with 11 small hamlets, this became an official town in 1963. We visited the two main sites here, the “famous” view of Mt Fuji and the Shrine of Tokugawa Ieyasu the founder of the shogunate.

The day began with an Official Ceremony with the town “mayor” (local official) and our ship’s Captain. Each time the Oceania Insignia arrives a a port that it has never visited, there is a welcoming ceremony along with speeches, gifts (of the town and of the ship) and flowers exchanged by both sides. It is a civil, peaceful and official way to be welcomed and to appreciate arrival to a new port (see photos).

Next, we took a tour that began with a bus ride to the Nihondaira Ropeway (or cable car). We went up this cable car .7 miles and 394 feet and had views of the Suruga Bay with Mt Fuji clouded in the background.

At the top we walked “many” stone stairways taking us to the Kunozan Toshogu Shinto Shrine dedicated to the feudal lord Tokugawa leyasu who unified Japan in the early 1600s. Of course, in earlier times, worshippers and priests walked all the way from the bottom (an additional 1000 steps).

Kunouzan is named after the founder Kuno Tadahito, who established a temple dedicated to Kannon-Bosatsu, during the time of Emperor Suiko (600 A.D.) Kuno-ji Temple was once a complex consisting of over 330 buildings attracting many famous Buddhist monks which ended due to a fire at the base of the mountain around 1225 and there are no remains of the original complex. In 1568 a castle was build atop Kunouzan and was named Kuno-jo Castle and in 1582 Kunouzan and all the surrounding lands within Suruga-no-kuni became possessions of the Tokugawa clan.

Tokugawa leyasu was the first Shogun and his son built this Shrine after his death for his tomb … talk about a tribute. The shrine has a history of over 400 years, and enshrines Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603 that brought peace to Japan for 265 years. He devoted his life to bringing peace to Japan, by unifying a country that had fragmented into many warring states controlled by warlords and generals into a unified state, bringing an end to a long period of civil war. The basis of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s nation building policy was to value the life of the individual, to develop and strengthen education throughout the country and to pursue peaceful relations with foreign powers through diplomacy and trade.

When you get to the Shrine, there are many buildings, shrines, purification areas, bells and other artifacts until you finally reach the tomb where he was buried in 1616. The Ishi-no-ma is the sunken space between the main hall and the worship hall that first started here at Kunozan Toshogu. It became a new architectural standard for shrines and temples. This style of shrine building with an Ishi-no-ma is called ‘Gongen-Zukuri” (the name also given to the Shogun). The Ishi-no-ma is an important space connecting the world of the gods and the world of mortals, where many religious rites are performed. The shrine has many beautiful sculptures and paintings and conveys an important message of peace from Tokugawa Ieyasu to us living in the modern era. Many annual events are also experienced in this sacred location.

Considering when the first Temple was built here around 592 and the subsequent Shrines, this is an amazing feat and quite beautiful and meaningful experience. Of course, when you come down the mountain and down all the steps and the cable car and finally reach the place you started, it is “traditional” to have an “orange” (the fruit of Japan is mandarin orange) ice cream!Read more