「浅草神社」
Do you know about Japanese shrines? Asakusa Shrine is located on the same grounds as Sensoji Temple. At 4T-AMKY, Teachers and Students write about Japanese culture, food, history, many spots to visit, and other stuff. Enjoy reading and knowing about deeper Japanese culture!
Asakusa Shrine
Origin
As mentioned in the previous “Komagatado Hall” article, the principal image of Sensoji Temple was raised in 628 by the brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Takenari, who were fishing around the mouth of the present-day Sumida River and caught in a net.
They asked a local expert, Haji no Manakachi, to look at it. They discovered that it was a statue of Kannon Bosatsu (the Bodhisattva Sho Kanzeon). Later, Mr. Haji changed his house into a temple, became a priest, and enshrined the statue of the Kannon Bosatsu that the brothers had found. That was the beginning of Sensoji Temple.
And on the east side of the main hall of Sensoji Temple, there is a shrine dedicated to the three main deities, brothers Hinokuma Hamanari and Takenari and Haji no Manakachi, who were involved in the birth of Sensoji Temple. This is the Asakusa Shrine. It is believed that the three were enshrined as deities by their descendants during the late Heian and Kamakura eras.
It was initially called Sanja Gongensha, but was separated from Sensoji Temple due to the separation of Shinto and Buddhism during the Meiji Restoration, and was renamed Sanja Myojinsha in the first year of the Meiji Era. It was further renamed Asakusa Shrine in 1873. Even today, the shrine is still familiarly known as Sanja sama.
I knew that the Sanja Festival was held in Asakusa every year in May, as it is always reported on TV news, but I learned for the first time that sansha refers to the three persons who became the three deities that led to the birth of Sensoji Temple.
Until now, when I went to visit Sensoji temple, I did not realize that there was an Asakusa shrine. This time, I was surprised to learn that there really is a shrine right next to the main building of Sensoji Temple.
The current shrine pavilion was built in 1649 with contributions from Iemitsu Tokugawa and is designated as an important cultural property. It is a valuable wooden structure that survived the Great Edo Fire, the Great Kanto Earthquake, and the Tokyo Air Raid, and represents the early Edo era.
Compared to Sensoji Temple, Asakusa Shrine had fewer worshippers, and there was a quiet and peaceful atmosphere in the precincts of the temple. I was very impressed by the large guardian dogs welcoming us.
The Sanja Festival is held every year on the third Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of May. It is said that the way the Ujiko (shrine parishioners), who have the temperament of Edo (Tokyo) children, carry the portable shrine is vigorous, wild, and spectacular. I thought that I would like to see a brave and spectacular portable shrine procession at least once.
「浅草神社」
由来
前回の「駒形堂」でもご紹介した通り、浅草寺のご本尊様は、628年に現在の隅田川河口あたりで漁をしていた檜前浜成・竹成（ひのくまはまなり・たけなり）兄弟の網にかかって引き上げられました。
それを地元の識者である土師真中知（はじのまなかち）に見てもらい、観音菩薩像であることがわかりました。その後、土師氏が自宅をお寺に改めて僧侶となり、兄弟が見つけた観音像を安置しました。それが浅草寺の始まりなのだそうです。
そして、浅草寺の本堂東側には、浅草寺の誕生に関わった檜前浜成・竹成（ひのくまはまなり・たけなり）兄弟と土師真中知（はじのまなかち）の三人を主祭神とする神社があります。それが浅草神社です。平安時代の末期から鎌倉時代にかけて、三人の子孫が祖先を神として祀ったものであると考えられているようです。
初めは三社権現社と呼ばれていましたが、明治維新の神仏分離によって浅草寺と別れ、明治元年には三社明神社と改められました。さらに明治６年に浅草神社と改められました。今でも三社様と呼ばれて親しまれているそうです。
毎年5月に浅草で三社祭という祭りが盛大に行われることは、必ずTVニュースでも取り上げられるので知っていましたが、三社というのは、浅草寺が誕生するきっかけとなった三人の神様となった人物のことを指しているのだということを初めて知りました。
今まで浅草寺へお参りに行っても、浅草神社があることに気がつきませんでした。今回、本当に浅草寺本堂のすぐ隣に神社があることを知って驚きました。
現在の社殿は、1649年（慶安２年）に徳川家光の寄進で建立されたもので重要文化財に指定されています。江戸の大火や関東大震災、東京大空襲などの被災を免れ、江戸初期を代表して現存する貴重な木造建築物です。
浅草神社は、浅草寺に比べると参拝者も少なく、境内には静かで穏やかな空気が流れていました。大きな狛犬が迎えてくれているのがとても印象的でした。
三社祭は毎年５月の第三金、土、日に行われます。江戸っ子気質の氏子たちの神輿の担ぎ方は威勢がよく、荒々しく見ごたえがあるそうです。勇壮で華やかな神輿渡御を一度は見てみたいものだと思いました。
Ikuyo.K.
