Hosshinmon-Oji
*Hosshin is short for hotsubodaishin, which means to "long for salvation".
After the deities were enshrined together at the end of the Meiji Period, only a monument stood on the site of this shrine; the current structures were built in more recent times. There are five shrines. The monument can be found on the right side of the sanctuary. The Hosshinmon Gate from which the shrine gets its name used to be on the mountain along the approach to the shrine. The remains of many foundations for Shinto arches and other structures of long ago, as well as stones that were used to make those foundations can be found there.

The path on the right leads up from Inohana-Oji. Many people have walked it in its time. It' s curious to think what might have happened at the end of this ancient road that inspired so many people to travel here to heal their woes with faith.


Landscape and Autumn Leaves at Hosshinmon-Oji, photographed on November 19,2002


[The Enigma of Hosshinmon-Oji]
A miniature Shinto arch, called a "torii", stands amongst the brush next to the arches of Hosshinmon-Oji. But, what is it doing there?
Local storytellers say it "stands there in the place of revered 'trees' that were burned down by mistake." Even so, it is rather small and quite modest.
If you visit Hosshinmon-Oji, try to find it. Most regretfully, no one knows where this tiny torii is.


*Site of the Home of Namubo
Off to the right of the Hosshinmon-Oji sanctuary stood the home of the Buddhist nun, Bikuni Kumano. The 12th century poet and scholar Sadaie Fujiwara is said to have slept here in 1201. Because of changes in the nearby terrain, traces of the site can no longer be seen today.


*Poem by Teika Fujiwara
"I' ve managed at last today to attain the fruitful land,trying never to return to the six realms of existence."
The poem tells of the resoluteness to never return to the mortal reincarnation of the six realms of existence once finally attaining Buddhahood. The six realms of existence are beings in hell, hungry ghosts, beasts, asura (demigods), humans, deva (heavenly beings).