【4K】日本アルプスの総鎮守・長野県・穂高神社 (Hotaka Shrine | Shinto Shrine in Nagano, Japan)

どうも、管理人のヒロリンです。

今日は長野県安曇野市に鎮座する穂高神社（ほたかじんじゃ）を紹介したいと思います。

戦前の近代社格制度では国幣小社に列格された名社。
安曇野市穂高の本宮（里宮）のほか、上高地に奥宮、奥穂高岳山頂に嶺宮があることから「日本アルプスの総鎮守」の通称があります。

ちなみに奥穂高岳は富士山、北岳に次いで日本で三番目の標高を誇る山（標高3190ｍ）。北岳山頂には神社がないため、穂高神社の嶺宮は、富士山山頂にある浅間大社奥宮に次いで日本で二番目に高い場所にある神社ということになります。こんな高いところに神社を建てるって並大抵の努力ではできません。穂高神社の篤い崇敬を伺い知ることが出来ますね。

今回紹介するのは穂高神社の里宮（さすがに冬の時期に3190ｍの山に登ったら登山初心者の僕は死んでしまいます）。この里宮では鳥居を抜けて広い境内を進むと、2009年に式年遷宮の記念行事として127年ぶりに改築されたばかりの拝殿が見えてきます。

その拝殿の奥に3棟からなる本殿が鎮まっています。他の神社と比べると拝殿と比べて本殿の規模はかなり小さいのが特徴。

真ん中の本殿（中殿）には神武天皇の叔父で、奥穂高岳の山頂に降臨し、旧信濃国の安曇氏の祖となったともされる穂高見命（ほたかのみこと）を祀ってあり、両脇の左殿、右殿にはそれぞれ穂高見命の父親である綿津見命（わたつみのみこと）、瓊瓊杵尊（みみぎのみこと）を祀っています。

穂高神社の里宮では20年に一度、伊勢神宮と同じように本殿1棟を造り替える大遷宮を行います。大遷宮の7年後と13年後に小遷宮があり、本殿の痛んだ箇所の修理などが行われています。

Hotaka Shrine is a Shinto Shrine located in Azumino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

In 1940, the shrine was ranked as a Kokuhei Shōsha (National shrine of the 3rd rank) under the Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines of State Shinto.

While the exact date of its original construction is unknown, the shrine was already well known throughout Japan by the tenth century. It enshrines the nautical deity Wadatsumi no Mikoto and his son, Hotakami no Mikoto. The latter is the tutelary deity of the Azumi clan, originally a seafaring people that lived in Kyushu.

Sometime in the distant past, the clan migrated northward and eventually settled in the Azumino area. They built this shrine in the heart of the valley to honor the gods of their origins and thank them for their protection.

A massive wooden torii gate marks the entrance to the shrine compound. The first building visitors see is the kaguraden, a pavilion for sacred dances that is now used for festival ceremonies, weddings and other events. Beyond is the hall of worship, where people make their offerings and follow prayer rituals. Behind the hall are the three honden, smaller sanctuary buildings where the gods are enshrined, with the center one dedicated to the main deity, Hotakami no Mikoto.

Like similar buildings at Ise Jingu, Japan’s most sacred Shinto shrine, each honden is rebuilt every two decades to the same exact specifications. The reconstruction times are staggered, so visitors can tell which of the three has been most recently rebuilt by the weathering of their wooden surfaces.

This cycle of reconstruction ensures that ancient rituals and traditional shrine-related architectural details and techniques are passed down to each new generation. For instance, at both ends of the central honden’s roof, there are forked finials called chigi that extend up from the roof ridges. This design dates back several millennia, and while it is thought to have originally been a structural feature, now it is purely decorative. Such forks can be seen at Ise Jingu and certain other Shinto shrines.