Earth:Meoto Iwa

From HandWiki
Short description: Type of sacred rocks in Shinto
Not to be confused with Meoto Rocks.
Meoto Iwa, the wedded rocks, daytime
Meoto Iwa, the wedded rocks, at dusk

Meoto Iwa (夫婦岩), or Married Couple Rocks, are a kind of rock formation seen as religiously significant in Shinto. They are a subtype of Iwakura rock.

According to Shinto, the rocks represent the union of the creator kami, Izanagi and Izanami. The rocks, therefore, celebrate the union in marriage of man and woman.

The most famous pair is the pair at Futami Okitama Shrine in Futami-ga-ura, two rocky stacks off the coast from Ise, Mie, Japan. They are joined by a shimenawa (a heavy rope of rice straw) and are considered sacred by worshippers of the shrine. The shimenawa, composed of five separate strands which each have a mass of 40 kilograms,[1] must be replaced several times a year in a special ceremony. The larger rock, said to be male, has a small torii at its peak.

No. 27 in the series Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1858.

At dawn during the summer, the sun appears to rise between the two rocks. Mount Fuji is visible in the distance. At low tide, the rocks are not separated by water.

Okitama Shrine is dedicated to Sarutahiko Ōkami and imperial food goddess Ukanomitama. There are numerous statues of frogs around the shrine. The shrine and the two rocks are near the Grand Shrine of Ise, the most important location of purification in Shinto.

Outline

The couple rocks at Futami Okitama Shrine in Mie Prefecture Ise City have been known for a long time, as depicted by Ukiyo-e artist (ja) in the Edo period, and are generally used as a symbol and prayer for marital bliss and domestic safety, maritime security and great catch, and is said to be a symbol of Iwakura Shinko in Kojindo, which means a symbolic place or object in nature, especially megaliths, rocks, and mountains, were considered shintais and believed to be places where kamis resided. For this reason, shimenawas and toriis were decorated as proof that a deity resided there (kanzumaru).


These ideas of rock-building belief, Omote-Taiwanai and matrimonial belief (also called matrimonial harmony, which is the basis of ancestral spirit belief) are combined to form the object of enshrinement at the couple's rock.

Oshimenawa

An example of an oshimenawa is Tateishi in Futami Town, Ise City, Mie Prefecture. The large shimenawa rope connecting Tateishi and Nejiriwa, known as "husband and wife rocks," is believed to be the torii (gateway) to the offshore Kohtama Shrine stone, and is reattached three times a year in December (before the New Year), May, and September.[2] During the shimenawa-renawa-renawa-renawa-renawa-renawa-renawa-renawa ceremony, a woodcarving song is sung, and some people take pieces of the old rope home as a good-luck charm for marital bliss.[3]

Influence

American composer Roger Reynolds took reference to the form of Meoto Iwa in Futami, where he visited in 1966, while composing the first movement "Futami ga Ura" of his second symphony, "Symphony [Myths]" (1990). Divided into 3 sections, the first and the last with "densely stratified texture" represent Izanagi and Izanami rocks respectively, and the middle section represents the space in-between.[4]

National Married Couple Rocks Summit

Married couple rocks around Japan

In Sado, Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture
Shimenawa wrapped around Dōsojin: a pair of stone mounds in Karuizawa, Kitasaku District, Nagano Prefecture.
A couple rocks on the coastline, Muroto, Kōchi Prefecture.
Futamigaura Couple Rocks, Itoshima, Fukuoka Prefecture.

Hokkaido Prefecture

  • Oyakoiwa (parent and child rocks) in Samani, Samani District.
  • Oyakoiwa, a couple rocks in Horokanai, Uryū District.
  • Meotoiwa, a couple rocks in Kamifurano, Sorachi District.
  • Meotoiwa (married couple rocks) in Wassamu, Kamikawa (Teshio) District.
  • Fuufu Iwa couple rocks in Shari, Shari District.
  • Meotoiwa couple rocks in Akkeshi, Akkeshi District.

Tohoku District

  • Couple rocks in Kazamaura, Shimokita District, Aomori Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Nakadomari, Kitatsugaru District, Aomori Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Senmaya Town, Ichinoseki, Iwate Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Ninohe City, Iwate Prefecture; see Basenkyo for details.*
  • Couple rocks in Kuji City, Iwate Prefecture, see Kosode Beach for more information.
  • Meotoiwa in Sumita, Kesen District, Iwate Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Marumori, Igu District, Miyagi Prefecture.
  • Couple rocks in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture.

Kanto Region

  • Meotoiwa in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture.
  • Couple rocks in Minakami, Tone District, Gunma Prefecture.

Chubu Region

  • Couple rocks in Jōetsu, Niigata Prefecture.
  • Hatagoiwa, also known as Noto Futami*, in Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Fukui, Fukui Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Wakasa, Mikatakaminaka District, Fukui Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Nakano, Nagano Prefecture.
  • Couple rocks in Minamimaki, Minamisaku District, Nagano Prefecture
  • Couple rocks in Ogawa, Kamiminouchi District, Nagano Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture
  • Couple rocks in Matsuzaki, Kamo District, Shizuoka Prefecture

Kinki Region

  • Meotoiwa in Shima, Mie Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Higashiōmi, Shiga Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture.

Chugoku Region

  • Couple rocks in Bizen, Okayama Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Takahashi, Okayama Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Etajima, Hiroshima Prefecture.
  • Couple rocks in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture.
  • Couple rocks in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Shūnan, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Shikoku Region

  • Meotoiwa in Naruto, Tokushima Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Matsuyama, Kashima Island, Ehime Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Yawatahama, Ehime Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Kihoku, Kitauwa District, Ehime Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Kōnan, Kōchi Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Muroto, Kōchi Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Ōtoyo, Nagaoka District, Kōchi Prefecture.

Kyushu Region

  • Meotoiwa in Yame, Fukuoka Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Itoshima, Fukuoka Prefecture.
  • Couple rocks in Minami Ward, Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture.
  • Couple rocks in Shingū, Kasuya District, Fukuoka Prefecture.
  • Couple rocks in Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa, in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Takeo, Saga Prefecture.
  • Couple rocks in Arita, Nishimatsuura District, Saga Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Asagiri, Kuma District, Kumamoto Prefecture.
  • Bungo Futami in Saiki, Ōita Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Kunisaki, Ōita Prefecture.
  • Couple rocks in Kobayashi, Miyazaki Prefecture.
  • Meotoiwa in Nakatane, Kumage District, Kagoshima Prefecture.

Okinawa Region

  • Meotoze in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture.
  • Mihugaru in Kumejima, Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture.

See also

  • Futami-ga-ura, Mie
  • Futami Okitama Shrine
  • Kashima Island
  • Bungo Futamigaura (ja)
  • Imoseyama (ja)

References

  1. ↑ "Meoto-iwa rocks (Mie Prefecture) - Let's travel around Japan!". http://www.travel-around-japan.com/k54-07-meoto-iwa.html. 
  2. ↑ Special Feature: Shimenawa at Ise Jingu Kaikan reverence association
  3. ↑ husband-and-wife-iwa-dai-shimenawa-renawa-renawa-renawa-renawa-shikiji Youtube 2010/12/19
  4. ↑ Summar, Sarah Page (December 2012). Fidget, Sway, and Swerve: Three Works Inspired by Movement from the Intricate Maneuvers Series (PDF) (PhD). University of North Texas.

[ ⚑ ] 34°30′34″N 136°47′18″E / 34.50944°N 136.78833°E / 34.50944; 136.78833



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