Hishigata Pond of Usa Jingu Shrine

Oil on canvas

33.3 × 19.0cm | 13 × 7 1/2in

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The motif of this work is "Hishigata Pond" in the precincts of Usa Jingu Shrine in Usa City, Oita Prefecture.

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There are approximately 110,000 shrines in Japan, of which more than 40,600 are Hachiman shrines, and Usa Jingu Shrine is the head shrine of these Hachiman shrines.

 

Usa Jingu Shrine was founded in 725 A.D. and enshrines Hachiman Daijin (the divine spirit of the 15th Emperor Ojin), Hime Ookami, and Empress Jingu as the deities of the shrine.

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It is said to be the birthplace of Shintoism, a Japanese religion, and Buddhism, a foreign religion. The vast precincts of the shrine are surrounded by lush green ancient forests, and the air is pure and clean. In addition to the main shrine, which is a national treasure, there are numerous shrines scattered throughout the grounds.

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Usa Jingu Shrine is also one of the sixteen shrines to which imperial envoys are dispatched for the Emperor's festival. In all of Kyushu, there are only two such shrines: Usa Jingu Shrine and Kashii-gu Shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture.

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Hishigata Pond, the motif of this work, is a famous sacred pond that has been handed down from generation to generation, with the legend that the spirit of Hachiman Daijin appeared in 571 A.D.