Students Hiyoshi

Hachioji Jinjya
(HACHIOUJI SHRINE)

 

We could find no literature to refer to concerning its origin. But Hachioji Jinjya in Ookawa Sue was recorded in a literature about a function of 1625. All shrines in Japan have Komainus in the front of them. Komainu is a pair of stone-caved guardian dogs placed at the gate or in front of a Shinto shrine. But many of the komainus in this region aren't made by stones. They are made by earthenware. Some of famous komainus in this shrine were made in the 16 or 17th century. .

.  The most famous komainus are the biggest in the world, however they aren't so old. They are registered with the Guinness Book of Records. The models of these komainus are the famous komainu made by Hashiba Yozaemon Keido who lived in this region about 400 years ago. The left komainu is 3.30 meters high, 1.56 meters wide and 2.40 meters deep. It called "N-gyou" because the mouth is closed and it looks like to say "N". The right komainu is 3.29 meters high, 1.51 meters wide and 2.36 meters deep. It called "A-gyou" because the mouth is open and it looks like it is saying "A". They had been made from 1988 to 1989. The citizens decided to make these huge komainus. The china clay that made this komainus is 15 tons and they had been faired for 273 hours. .

We also found the biggest Chatsubo in the world. "Cha" means tea in English and "stubo" means pot. Then the "Chastubo" means the pot of tea. It was made by 32 tons of china clay. It is 5.4 meters high and it is 4.0 meters across. The model is the chatsubo made by Hashiba Yozaemon Keido too. We walked around the keidai (the precincts of shrine). We found Goshinboku(the sacred tree), Honden(the inner shrine), many komainus made by the citizens, the old stage, and so on.

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