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From here, I visited the temples and shrine on the second day.
5. Shitennoji Temple (deifying Hotei/Budai)
Shitennoji Temple was built by Shotoku Taishi (Prince Shotoku) in 593. It has one of the oldest architectural styles called “Shitennoji Style Garan Arrangement” in which an inner gate stands in the southernmost area, and a five-storied pagoda, a main hall, and a lecture hall form a straight line in this order in a northern direction from the gate, and the buildings are surrounded by a cloister. (Specifically, please refer to the post “Shitennoji Temple” dated March 22, 2023.) The temple is very old, so it had much damage from wars and natural disasters, and almost all of the buildings in the precincts were reduced to ashes during the Great Osaka Air Raids. After the War, however, the restoration gradually progressed, and now we can see the same style as that seen when the temple was originally built (about 1400 years ago).
On the day when I visited, the monthly fair was held. Many street stalls, accordingly, were opened in the precincts and the temple was crowded with so many visitors.
Hotei brings us family happiness and family prosperity. Hotei in Shitennoji Temple is called “Chichi (breast or milk) Hotei”, who listens to women’s chest concerns (for example, her breasts produce no milk or too much milk). They say that it is caused by a tradition in which the wet nurse of Shotoku Taishi lived on the place where this Hotei hall is located.
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Red Seal
Stone Torii Gate
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Ema
Hoteido Hall
Flea Market
6. Imamiya Ebisu Shrine (deifying Ebisu)
The festival Toka Ebisu, famous for the call “The business is prospering, and bring bamboo grasses”, is a festival held on the 9th to the 11th of January for merchants, and is splendidly performed at this shrine, Imamiya Ebisu, in Osaka. The crowd during the three days are about 1,000,000 or more. The establishment of the shrine was 600 A.D. It is said that the shrine was built by Shotoku Taishi as the western guardian of Shitennoji Temple. Ebisu is strongly worshipped by many people, particularly merchants, as the god of thriving business. During the last war, the Toka Ebisu was held.
Ebisu brings us Thriving business.
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Red Seal
Main Hall
Daikokusha Hall
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Ema
Back of Main Hall
7. Okuninushi Shrine (deifying Daikokuten/Mahakala)
Daikokuten is deified in the subordinate shrine, Hinode Okuninushi Shrine (usually called Okuninushi Shrine), of Shikitsumatsunomiya Shrine. Please focus on Komanezumi (a pair of guardian mice) in front of the building. It is said that the shrine was built by an oracle in 1744 to pray for the coming of gods from Izumo Taisha Shrine.
Daikokuten brings us a huge harvest and prosperity for our descendants.
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Red Seal
Precincts
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Ema
Daikokkuten Statue
Daikoku Hall
What do you thing about the pilgrimage of seven gods of good fortune in Osaka? It started in the Muromachi Period (1336 – 1573) and was enthusiastically performed in the mid-Edo Period. It is the representation of religious faith among Japanese people and, at the same time, is an amusement for ordinary people. When entering the precincts of a temple or shrine, you are enveloped in a quiet and solemn atmosphere different from the surroundings, and may feel refreshing. Why don’t you go on the pilgrimage of seven gods of good fortune?
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