Hotaka Jinja Shrine 穂高神社

Official explanation

Hotaka Jinja Shrine is a quiet oasis, a secluded place of worship set in a grove of towering Japanese cedar and pine trees not far from Hotaka Station. Once a year, the shrine hosts an exuberant festival that celebrates the community’s deities and its ancient seafaring roots.

While the exact date of its original construction is unknown, the shrine was already well known throughout Japan by the tenth century. It enshrines the nautical deity Wadatsumi no Mikoto and his son, Hotakami no Mikoto. The latter is the tutelary deity of the Azumi clan, originally a seafaring people that lived in Kyushu.

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Sometime in the distant past, the clan migrated northward and eventually settled in the Azumino area. They built this shrine in the heart of the valley to honor the gods of their origins and thank them for their protection.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.