{Inter} Cultural Japan

The Mitake shrine sits on top of Mt. Mitake (929m) to the west of Tokyo, just inside the Chichibu and Tama National Park. It has always been regarded as a sacred mountain and was honored by both Japan’s indigenous faith and Buddhists. Mt. Mitake was especially popular among the syncretistic shugendo cult of the mountain ascetics. The shrine was also highly regarded by those in power as is attested to by the many gifts they donated. Part of these are on view in the Treasure Hall.

[Mitake Shrine. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]

As all Japanese shrines, the Mitake Shrine traces its origins to an unbelievable antiquity that never was, except in myths. The mythical hero Yamato Takeru visited here and buried a cache of arms. The country around it was therefore called Musashi (written with characters meaning “military storehouse”). The next visitor was not mythical, but highly legendary: the peripatetic priest Gyoki, who is credited with setting up a statue of Zao Gongen here in 736. What this shows is that the shrine was a syncretic establishment (both Shinto and Buddhist, with the latter element perhaps even stronger) of the shugendo priests, ascetic priests who practiced in the mountains. Later, the shrine came to be regarded as a patron deity of the Edo/Tokyo area. In Meiji, when gods and Buddhas were split by the new government, the syncretic establishment was turned into a Shinto shrine.

The Haiden (Prayer Hall) was donated in 1700 by the Tokugawa shogunate and is in the ornate Gongen-style of the Nikko shrines. The two-story Treasure Hall dates from 1976; in front of it stands a statue of Hatakeyama Shigetada on horseback.

[Treasure House, Mitake Shrine. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]

The shrine owns two national treasures: a piece of gorgeous armor (yoroi) with lacing of red thread (12th c.) and a saddle decorated in mother-of-pearl inlay with a design of circles (13th c.). The armor is counted among the three best pieces of armor in Japan and was donated to the shrine in 1191 by the military man sitting on horseback (and in bronze) in front of the museum, Hatakeyama Shigetada. The saddle is regarded as an exemplary item of a military saddle from the Kamakura period.

[Lion-dog (koma-inu) watching over the plain of Tokyo. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]

Other items in the museum include a portable shrine (mikoshi) from 1700; a metal plate with an effigy of Zao Gongen on it (these plates called kakebotoke were hung on the walls of temples); and a set of large cups to toast with before going into battle. In short, this is a cache of armor and Buddhist art worth to climb the mountain for.

Tel: 0428-78-8500
Hrs: 9:00-17:00; CL Thurs
Access: JR Chuo Line from Shinjuku Station to Tachikawa Station and transfer to the Ome Line to Mitake Station. Take a bus from the car park opposite Mitake Station to Takimoto at the foot of Mt. Mitake. Board the cable car for the top of the mountain and walk 25 min. to the Mitake Shrine.