Okamoto and Otaki Shrines

The Haiden (worship hall) of Okamoto/Ôtaki Shrine

• Established: 719
• Japanese: 岡太神社・大瀧神社 (Okamoto jinja / Ootaki jinja)

Okamoto and Ôtaki Shrines are, together, a Shinto shrine in Echizen, Fukui prefecture, dedicated to Kawakami gozen, a kami of papermaking. It is considered the only shrine in Japan dedicated to paper or papermaking.

History

The shrine traces its history back to Okamoto Shrine, which was established sometime in the 450s-470s in worship of the deity Kawakami gozen, who is said to have given the secrets of papermaking to the people, and Ôtaki Shrine, established sometime in the 590s-630s. The two were combined in 719 by the Buddhist monk Taichô daishi, who also established a Buddhist temple on the site called Ôtaki Temple. Together, the shrine-temple compound was dedicated to Mizuhanome no kami (aka Kawakami gozen) along with Kuni no tokotachi no mikoto, Izanagi no mikoto, and the bodhisattva Kannon.

At its peak in the medieval period, Okamoto/Ôtaki became one of the centers of Hakusan worship in Japan, and a large compound with seven main halls, 48 smaller secondary structures, and over 700 monks. The compound suffered crises during the wars of the Northern and Southern Courts period, and the wars of Oda Nobunaga and the Ikkô-ikki, but by the end of the 16th century had received the protection of local warlords such as Niwa Nagahide and Yûki Hideyasu and had been rebuilt and restored.

The combined temple-shrine complex survived through the Edo period, until the 1870s, when due to the Meiji government policy of shinbutsu bunri (dividing Shinto from Buddhism), Ôtaki temple was transformed into Ôtaki Shrine. Though changing its name and coming to function as a Shinto shrine in most ways, Ôtaki still houses images of the bodhisattva Kokuzô and Kannon, and conducts some Buddhist ceremonies.

In 1923, the Ministry of Finance declared Okamoto Shrine and Kawakami gozen as the shrine and deity of paper for all of Japan. In 1927, Okamoto/Ôtaki Shrine was named a chief shrine of Fukui prefecture (kensha).

Structures

The main worship hall (haiden) of the shrine was most recently rebuilt in 1843. Combining numerous types of roof shapes and eaves into a single structure, it is noted for its complexity. The national government officially designated the hall an Important Cultural Property in 1984.

A number of smaller shrines are located around the main hall. A path behind the shrine leads up to the oku no in (inner shrine), a collection of smaller shrine buildings near the top of the mountain, in the former grounds of Ôtaki castle.

References

• Pamphlets available on-site.