Kamado Shrine 竈門神社

Craftsmen used Japanese cypress wood for the sturdy pillars and sweeping roofs of the shrine, and the same material was used in the renovation of the main shrine building in 2013. In the grounds, cherry trees bloom in the spring and maples turn red and gold in the autumn.

Mt. Homan rises behind the shrine. The mountain stands northeast of Dazaifu and plays a vital role in protecting it from evil spirits traditionally believed to come from that direction. The mountain is an important site for practitioners of Shugendo—a folk-religion based on mountain worship that involves extreme feats of endurance and asceticism.

Kamado Jinja Shrine

Kamado Jinja Shrine is dedicated to Tamayori Hime, the Shinto deity of enmusubi, or matchmaking. It has a lower shrine (gegū) at the base of Mt. Hōman and an upper shrine (jōgū) on the peak—a site of prayer for safe travels abroad since ancient times.

Although usually associated with love and marriage, enmusubi encompasses all positive human connections in love, friendship, and even work. In the Edo period (1603–1867), young men and women climbed Mt. Hōman with their parents on their sixteenth birthdays to pray—boys for worldly success, and girls for a good match in marriage. Today, most visitors who come to Kamado Jinja seek favor with Tamayori Hime in her role as a matchmaker. In addition to praying to the deity at the main sanctuary, worshippers can stand before a sacred tree called the Saikachi no Ki (“reunion tree”) to pray for reunions with loved ones. There are also two Aikei no Iwa (“love rocks”) positioned a short distance apart. Supposedly those who can make their way from one rock to the other with their eyes closed will find love. The Mizu Kagami (“water mirror”) grants wishes to those who stare at their reflections with a clear mind.

Some of those who visit Kamado Jinja are fans of the hit manga and anime series Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no yaiba). From the late thirteenth to late nineteenth centuries, practitioners of Shugendō, or mountain asceticism, were active on Mt. Hōman, and the series protagonist, Tanjirō Kamado, shares a name with the shrine.