Emperor Naruhito Announces Dates of Sokuirei, Daijosai

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Ross Bender

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May 8, 2019, 4:38:11 PM5/8/19
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The Emperor has visited theThree Palace Sanctuaries to announce to the Sun Goddess, the souls of his ancestors, and various deities the dates for the Enthronement Ceremony (Sokuirei October 22) and the Great Thanksgiving Ceremony (Daijousai November 14-15).

Does anyone know who the "various deities" are?

The Three Palace Sanctuaries (宮中三殿 Kyūchū sanden) are a group of structures in the precincts of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan. They are used in imperial religious ceremonies, including weddings and enthronements.

The three sanctuaries are:



Ross Bender
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S. Tsumura

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May 8, 2019, 7:29:02 PM5/8/19
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The “various deities” (a poor translation) that the dates were announced to are the “eight million gods” 八百万の神 worshipped in the Shinden 神殿.

Susan Tsumura
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John D Swain

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May 8, 2019, 7:43:37 PM5/8/19
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I was under the impression that 八百万の神 was an expression of an innumerable number of deities. We don’t know how man or what they are, so “various” sounds rather more accurate than “eight million.” Much more in keeping with the mystery of it all.

John
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Matthew Stavros

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May 8, 2019, 7:44:56 PM5/8/19
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Myriad. 

Matthew Stavros, PhD 
Director of Asian Studies 
The University of Sydney 



Michael Wachutka

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May 9, 2019, 8:19:07 AM5/9/19
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To be a bit more precise, the Shinden is not simply the sanctuary for all the various kami of heaven and of earth (i.e., the "Ama-tsu-kami" and "Kuni-tsu-kami" that in combination make up the "Yaoyorozu no kami" or countless/myrade deities) in a broad and general way, but it also and more specifically houses the so-called "Hasshin 八神" or eight guardian deities of the emperor, which are:
Kami-musubi no kami 神産日神, Taka-mimusubi no kami 高御産日神, Tamatsume-musubi no kami 玉積産日神, Iku-musubi no kami 生産日神, Taru-musubi no kami 足産日神, Ômiya-no-me no kami 大宮売神, Miketsu no kami 御食津神, and Kotoshiro-nushi no kami 事代主神.
Traditionally, the deities of heaven and earth had been placed under the care of the Yoshida family while the emperor’s eight guardian deities were under the custody of the Shirakawa family (worshiped at Jingikan's Hasshin-den 八神殿). From 1872 onward, they were worshiped together at this new shrine within the imperial court. 
I suspect that the new emperor's announcement in the Shinden was more specifically made to these eight guardian deities.

Michael Wachutka
University of Tübingen

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Sent: Wednesday, May 8, 2019 23:29
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Subject: Re: [PMJS] Emperor Naruhito Announces Dates of Sokuirei, Daijosai
 
The “various deities” (a poor translation) that the dates were announced to are the “eight million gods” 八百万の神 worshipped in the Shinden 神殿.

Susan Tsumura

> On May 9, 2019, at 05:37, Ross Bender <rosslyn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The Emperor has visited the Three Palace Sanctuaries to announce to the Sun Goddess, the souls of his ancestors, and various deities the dates for the Enthronement Ceremony (Sokuirei October 22) and the Great Thanksgiving Ceremony (Daijousai November 14-15).

Shalmit Bejarano

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May 10, 2019, 9:46:41 AM5/10/19
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Dear List members,

Following this discussion, I wish to add a question which makes somewhat of a digression - 
I was recently asked by a student as for the imperial regalia. He asked, if these were drown in Dan-no-Ura (as we teach in the intro class), how come these were presented to Naruhito in the enthronement ceremony?
I consulted Mark Teeuwen, who kindly referred me to his and John Brin's "New History of Shinto". Simply put - there was one mirror in Ise and one in the court.
As for the sword - there are several myths that it didn't actally drown, or that it was retrieved (I think this is explained in wikipedia).
I'd appreciate any other comments on the topic.
With thanks,
Shalmit

Shalmit BEJARANO, PhD
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Asian Studies
Mt. Scopus
Jerusalem 91905
Israel

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Subject: [PMJS] Emperor Naruhito Announces Dates of Sokuirei, Daijosai
 
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A Schweizer

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May 10, 2019, 7:08:18 PM5/10/19
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Dear Shalmit,

The common (yet ultimately unconfirmed) assumption is that the lost sword was replaced by a (more or less accurate) copy. There are also apocryphal texts which claim that the original sword was miraculously returned or that the lost sword wasn't the original sword at all. See Vyjayanti Selinger, Authorizing the Shogunate: Ritual and Material Symbolism in the Literary Construction of Warrior Order (Leiden: Brill, 2013).
Best,

Anton




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Daniel F. P. Schley

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May 11, 2019, 1:07:44 AM5/11/19
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Dear Shalmit,

Just briefly. There are indeed many myths surrounding the miraculous rescue of the regalia in tale literature (rekishi monogatari, setsuwa, e.g. Kojidan) Later Kitabatake Chikafusa discussed the today well know set of three regalia in his Jinnôshôtôki. He famously argued that only copies had been lost in palace fires (like the mirror) or during the battle at Dan no ura (the sword), but many courtiers and contemporaries knew better, e.g. Jien wrote in his historical account Gukansho (1220) that the sword was lost (but replaced, as he wanted to convince Gotoba, by the warriors in Kamakura, who would protect the throne). Gotoba had in fact tried to retrieve the lost sword, but without success. Concerning the sword used for the rituals at the court, I have found so far in the literature that the Ise shrine priest Ōnakatomi no Chikatoshi (大中臣親俊) had sent a sword as replacement for the succession ceremony of Gotoba’s son Tsuchimikado in 1210. You may find these and other informations in Helen Hardacre's Shintō. A History (2017) and Daniel Holtom, Japanese Enthronement Ceremonies (1928). 

Best, 
 Daniel



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Jun. Prof. Dr. Daniel F. Schley

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Institut für Orient- und Asienwissenschaften
Abt. für Japanologie und Koreanistik
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