Togakushi’s Historical Preservation Districts
As Togakushi developed into a pilgrimage site for Shugendo, small settlements appeared. Along the path to Okusha Shrine and in the areas facing Chusha and Hokosha shrines, monks established a number of shukubo, inns where pilgrims to Togakushi could eat and sleep. The villages that sprung up around temples came to be called monzen-machi, meaning “town in front of the (temple) gate.”
The inns of these villages were large, thatch-roofed buildings. Many of them even combined a temple and inn under one roof. The inns along the approach to Okusha no longer remain, but many of the ones built in the villages around Chusha and Hokosha are not only still standing but still in service. Some of them date to the Edo period (1603–1867). The Gokui inn has been in business for 400 years, and its traditional-style roof is a designated Japanese cultural asset.
The monzen-machi villages of Chusha and Hokosha are the largest of their kind, with more shukubo inns together in one place than anywhere else in Japan. These two historical areas have been designated by Japan’s Ministry of Culture as Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings.
It is worth noting that while shukubo opened around Okusha, Chusha, and Hokosha, no such village developed around Hinomikosha. This is because, unlike the others, Hinomikosha was always a Shinto shrine, and was thus not a part of a Buddhist pilgrimage.
Hokosha Shrine
Established in 1058, Hokosha retains the oldest extant main building among the shrines of Togakushi, with its present structure dating to 1861. This structure is decorated with intricate wood carvings, including animal representations of the twelve signs of the Chinese Zodiac high up on the walls of the main hall.
Front and center inside Hokosha’s main building is a stage for the kagura, a traditional dance depicting the legend of Ama no Iwato, “the stone door of heaven.” According to this legend, the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami, angered by the behavior of her brother, Susanoo no Mikoto, hid in a cave, plunging the world into darkness. An amusing dance performed by the goddess Ame no Uzume drew laughter from the other gods, and when Amaterasu, curious, peeked out of her cave the god Ame no Tajikarao moved the stone and threw it away, returning light to the world. That stone is said to have landed here, becoming the mountains of Togakushi.
The large wooden storehouse to the right of Hokosha houses two mikoshi (portable shrines). Every six years one of these mikoshi is carried to Chusha Shrine as part of a festival called the Shikinentaisai, a ritual meeting between Uwaharu no Mikoto, the god enshrined at Hokosha, and his father, enshrined at Chusha.
Chusha Shrine
Chusha Shrine, located centrally between Okusha and Hokosha shrines, is dedicated to Ame no Yagokoro Omoikane, the deity of wisdom and intelligence. According to Shinto legend, this deity came up with the idea for the kagura dance that lured the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami from her cave. Inside Chusha’s main building is a stage where, as at Hokosha, the legendary kagura dance is reenacted once a month. Above the stage is the “Dragon Ceiling” painted in the nineteenth century by Kawanabe Kyosai, son of a samurai from Koga Domain (present-day Ibaraki Prefecture) and Japan’s first political caricaturist. On display in the Treasure Hall, located on the grounds of Chusha, are a number of Important Cultural Properties from the Nara (710–794) and Heian (794–1185) periods.
Chusha is surrounded by numerous Japanese cedar trees (sugi; Cryptomeria japonica), some of them estimated to be over 700 years old. In addition to these are the Sanbonsugi, three Japanese cedars that are believed to be over 800 years old. These three trees stand in a perfect triangle with Chusha’s wooden torii gate in the center. It is said that some of the 300 Japanese cedars lining the path to Okusha Shrine were grown from the branches of one of the Sanbonsugi.
