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“Hi-no-Miko” has a treasure storehouse and a worship shrine. 《17》 Generally the temples and shrines belonging to Hongu are concentrated on the three provinces, Echigo, Noto and Kaga. Almost all provinces along the Hokuriku-Do are the religious demesnes of Hakusan Hongu. Among them all, the province of Kaga is the demesne of demesnes. 《18》 Hakusan Hongu has been featured in “Chronicle of Deities compiled in the Engi Era.” According to the description of the chronicle, the shrine is to be rebuilt in every 33 years. Sometimes it was rebuilt in the recognition of a provincial governor's virtue for his prolonged tenure. Hakusan Hongu is such the shrine that a provincial governor was exclusively in charge of its reconstruction. Only Hakusan Hongu in the Hokuriku area was entitled to be worshiped by an Imperial envoy at the same time when a newly-appointed provincial governor visited to worship The reason why Hakusan Hongu was given the title of “Hongu” is that the shrine was built on the very top of Mt. Hakusan, which was believed to be the most sacred religious headquarter. The guardian of the shrine (a Shinto priest) has been from the Kamitsumichi family for generations since the Kanko era (1004 - 1012). The shrine officials have been from two families, the Moribe and the Muku since the foundation of the shrine . Both families are descendants of Mushimaru. The position of “Chori (the master priest of the shrine)” has been occupied by the descendants of Fujiwara family for generations. “Inju (the director of the shrine)” was appointed successively among those who had performed meritorious services. Originally the image of the god on “Zenjo (Gozen-ga-Mine)” was made of wood. It was Taicho who enshrined the image in the inner shrine. Later, by Nangenbo's (a priest's name) solicitation for contribution, Fujiwara-no-Hidehira, who was a predominant lord of Oshu (the Tohoku district), built the 150 cm-high gilt bronze image and enshrined it in the shrine on Zenjo. Meanwhile, the image of Koshirayama (Betsuzan), another 150 cm-high gilt bronze image, was contributed by Ryumeibo (a priest's name) of Choryuji in Mino province(Gifu). 《19》 Concerning the inner shrine dedicated to Sansho Gongen beimg the headquarters of Banbas ( ashrams ), Kaga Banba was traditionally in charge of rebuilding of the shrine. Concerning Koshirayama (Betsuzan), it is said that Kaga Banba rencently transferred the right of rebuilding to Echizen Banba. |
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