To Nishijin, Kyoto,A small shrine dedicated to a large strange stoneThe location of the building is located on Kamidachiuri-dori, Jofukuji Higashi-iru. It is located on Kamidachiuri Dori, Jofukuji Higashiiru. There is a small torii gate and a covered house, and the name of the shrine isIwakami ShrineThat's what it means.

A large stone covered with a rope sits inside the covered house.The stone is about 1 meter in diameter and less than 2 meters high.I guess that's what it's called. As the name implies,More rock than stoneThe first is.

Iwakami Shrine where a large rock is enshrined

Known locally as "Mr. Iwakami.

And this strange rock had the following episode.

It is said that it was originally located near Horikawa Nijo, but was moved to the Rokkaku area when Nijo Castle was built. It was moved again in the Kan'ei era (1615-1644) to the beautiful pond in the garden of the palace of Nakawamonin (one of the ladies-in-waiting of Emperor Go-Yosei).

howeverNight after night, I hear sobbing from that area of the pond.If you listen more closely,Sounds like "I want to go home, I want to go back."The woman, suspicious, approached the shore of the pond and found a strange child crying and sobbing. The lady, suspicious, approached the shore of the pond and found a strange child crying and sobbing. Where did he come from? Where is this child from? but the child only cried. Then, the child disappeared into the darkness. The official who received the report from the woman became suspicious, and changed the day to investigate,Turns out the big rock by the pond is crying.That's what it means.

I want to send Oiwa back to where he belongs.Chūwa-monin wished to return it to the temple, but he did not know where to return it to. After consulting with a priest at Renjoin Temple of the Shingon sect, he received a large rock and moved it to its present location to be enshrined. Then, the rock was moved to its present location and enshrined,The strange phenomenon suddenly stopped, and the temple enshrining the large rock was named "Yurimiyama Iwajinji Temple" (Mt. Yurimizu).

From this, the temple came to be worshipped as a god of lactation, or because a large rock was transformed into the shape of a child.Kamuroishi.It can also be called,The shrine was respected as beneficial for lactation and child-rearing, and women worshipped there constantly.

One theory is that the reason she became a god of lactation is because the shape of the large rock resembles a male symbol. Some say that Oiwa is a "yangseki," one of the few sex deities in Kyoto, but this is not clear. The temple was later devastated by a series of major fires, including the Great Fire of Tenmei (1788) that burned Kyoto to the ground, and was abandoned at the time of the Meiji Restoration. During the Taisho era (1912-1926), the temple was enshrined as Iwakami Shrine, which it remains to this day.

There is another interesting story about this large rock.

At the end of the Edo period, in the area around Iwagamiji Temple, which enshrines this large rockA yokai (specter) disguised itself as a child and terrorized travelers and passersby. People prayed to the rock god for safety, and the specters stopped showing themselves.It is said that the temple was built by a child. Perhaps Oiwa-sama was playing a prank by disguising himself as a child in order to attract the attention of the townspeople to Iwajinji Temple, which was then in the midst of a period of devastation. If so, he is quite a mischievous god.

After leaving Iwakami Shrine, we stopped by "Ubouin," a shrine built just east of the shrine and also well known to the people of Nishijin, before heading home.

Amehoin, a famous cherry blossom viewing spot, is located near Iwakami-san

Even after the Heisei era ends and a new era begins, Oiwa-sama will continue to be known as "Iwakami-san" by the people of Nishijin, and will continue to watch over the town and its people.