Ogawatsuki-jinja Shrine (小川月神社)
Ogawatsuki-jinja Shrine is located in Umaji-cho, Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture. This shrine was classified as a Myojin-taisha (a shrine dedicated to a Myojin, a gracious deity), and then categorized as a Sonsha (a village shrine) in the {Kindai shakaku seido} (modern shrine ranking system).
Shrine name
This shrine is located on the left (east) side of the Oi-gawa River. A region on the west side of the river in Chiyokawa-cho is called Ogawa, and this is believed to be where 'Ogawa-go village, Kuwata-gun County' mentioned in the "Wamyo-sho" (a dictionary compiled in the Heian period) was located. It is believed that the shrine name includes the village name because the Oi-gawa River once ran to the east of the shrine, and the area around the shrine belonged to the Ogawa-go village. Before the Meiji period, it was called 'Tsukiyomi-jinja Shrine,' and the nickname of 'Tsukiyomi-san' is still popular today.
Enshrined deity
Tsukuyomi no mikoto
Another shrine called Matsuo-jinja, which is located along the Oi-gawa River, is believed to have had a relationship with the Tsukiyomi-jinja Shrine, a Sessha (auxiliary shrine (dedicated to a deity closely related to that of the main shrine)) of the Matsuo-taisha Shrine (in Kyoto City), which is located in the lower reach of the river.
History
Taking into consideration the relationship with the above-mentioned Matsuo-taisha Shrine, this shrine is believed to have been founded in the course of the area development in the upstream direction by the Hata clan.
According to 'Record of the Ogawatsuki-jinja Shrine in Kuwata County, Tanba Province,' which was written in an unknown year and stored by the representatives of shrine parishioners, this shrine is said to have been a Massha (small shrine belonging to the main shrine) when the Ise-jingu Shrine was transferred to Yosa County, Tango Province, or a Massha when it was enshrined in Tanba Province, and it is also described as 'remaining from the mythological age.'
Its foundation was earlier than that of the Izumo-jinja Shrine (present-day Izumo Daijingu Shrine in Chitose-cho, Kameoka City), and as this shrine was at the same level as the Izumo-jinja Shrine, it was also called 'the second Taisha' of Kuwata-gun Country. According to "Jinja Meisaicho" (Official records of Shinto shrines), the shrine was washed away by the Oi-gawa River flood during the Onin period (1467 to1469), and since then it has been worshiped as Shoshi (a small shrine). In the above-mentioned record, it is said that the flood occurred during the Onin period (1394 to 1428), and that "no religious services are held because the shrine site is too small" after the place was ruined during floods or battles. In either case, it seems that the shrine was damaged due to the flow path change of the Oi-gawa River, etc. and was moved to another place. In Ogawa of Chiyoda-cho on the opposite side of the Oi-gawa River, there is another shrine called Tsukiyomi-jinja Shrine, which also enshrines the Tsukiyomi no Mikoto. It is believed that this shrine was built for enshrining the divided deity as Ujigami (a guardian god or spirit of a particular place in the Shinto religion) by the people who were separated from the Ogawatsuki-jinja Shrine area due to the change of the Oi-gawa River's flow path.
In the Meiji period, this shrine was categorized as Sonsha, and then identified as Shikinai Myojin-taisha in 1877, as the confirmation written under the name of Kyoto Prefecture in June 1877 says that 'Tsukiyomi-sha is definitely the Engishikinaisha Ogawatsuki-jinja Shrine.'
Shinkai (ranks granted to Shinto gods)
If this shrine is certainly Shikinai-sha (a shrine listed in Engishiki laws), there is a record that this shrine was promoted from Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade) to Jugoinojo (Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade) on March 9, 859 ("Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku" (sixth of the six classical Japanese history texts)).
Religious service
In Reisai (regular festival) on October 16, the whole community prays for all the children who were born within the year so that they grow up well, although the origin is not certain.
Priesthood
It is described in the above-mentioned record stored by the representatives of parishioners that 'since Sadamura started serving, the ritual has been handed down for years.'
According to the record of the shrine, when Tokiyori HOJO visited this shrine on the way, he told one of his servants, named Jiro Sadamura HITOMI, to guard the shrine, thereafter the Hitomi family served for 30 generations and then the representatives of the shrine parishioners have succeeded the management and maintenance role (according to the signboard on the shrine's grounds).
Shrine building
This shrine consists of the main shrine in the Nagare-zukuri style (flow style), which is enclosed with Oiya (building covering), and the front shrine is made of one square room with the Tsumairi (entrance on the gable end) and thatched roof, which has reportedly been transferred from the Izumo Daijingu Shrine in an unknown year.