Futarasan Shrine

Futarasan Shrine Futarasan Shrine

Hongu Shrine and Shihonryu-ji Temple were constructed at the time Mount Nikko was founded by Shodo Shonin in 766. Hongu Shrine was the forerunner of the current Futarasan Shrine. In 782, Shodo Shonin made his third successful climb of Mount Nantai, and built the inner shrine at the summit, and the middle shrine at the base on Lake Chuzenji. Mount Nikko was thereafter known as a mountain on which Shinto and Buddhist deities resided, and it is said that many monks traveled there for training. With the construction of Taki-no-o Shrine in 825, devotion to Mount Nyoho deepened, and Mount Nikko prospered as the most hallowed ground in the Kanto region. From the Kamakura Period (late twelfth century to 1333) on, the region has been the object of worship of the shogunate and the imperial family as a tutelary deity. In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu established the shogunate in Edo. As a guardian of Edo from the unlucky northeastern direction, Mount Nikko was carefully protected by the shogunate, which built a new main hall and shrine pavilions. Of these, 23 items have been designated as important cultural property, including the main hall and the sacred bridge.