Hoshida Myokengu

Shrine · Osaka

Komatsu Jinja

Researched and translated with AI assistance. Every claim is linked to its source, but errors get through, so check the official site for opening times, fees and closures.About

In short

The seven stars that fell from heaven in answer to Kobo Daishi’s rite came down in three places, and one of them is this shrine’s object of worship.

The rock at Hoshida Myokengu in Katano. — Immanuelle / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Quick facts

Address: 9-60-1 Hoshida, Katano, Osaka
Spiritual entities: Amenominakanushi (天之御中主神)

About this place

Hoshida Myokengu is in Katano, Osaka. Its deities are Ame-no-Minakanushi, Takamimusubi and Kamimusubi; in Buddhism the same is the Bodhisattva Myoken of the North Star, and in Daoism and onmyodo the deity of the talismans that quiet a dwelling. In the Heian period, when Kobo Daishi came to Katano and entered the lion cave at Shishikutsu-ji Kichijoin and chanted the secret rite of Butsugen Butsumo, the seven stars of the Big Dipper came down from heaven and fell to earth divided among three places. The places transmitted are the Grove of Stars, the precinct of Korin-ji on Furiboshi hill, and the object of worship of this shrine. It has been revered since antiquity as the deity of Tanabata and as an object of Big Dipper devotion.

Origin and history

The deities are Ame-no-Minakanushi, Takamimusubi and Kamimusubi. In Buddhism the same is the Bodhisattva Myoken of the North Star; in Daoism and onmyodo, the deity of the talismans that quiet a dwelling.

In the Heian period, when Kobo Daishi came to Katano and entered the lion cave at Shishikutsu-ji Kichijoin and chanted the secret rite of Butsugen Butsumo, the seven stars of the Big Dipper came down from heaven and fell to earth divided among three places.

In the tradition as it now stands, the three places where the stars fell are the Grove of Stars, the precinct of Korin-ji on Furiboshi hill, and the object of worship of this shrine. It has been revered since antiquity as the deity of Tanabata and as an object of Big Dipper devotion.

What it is locally associated with

Power spot
The object of worship is a fallen star
The places where the stars fell are transmitted as the Grove of Stars, the precinct of Korin-ji, and the object of worship of this shrine.
folk tradition
Origin
Kobo Daishi’s rite and the seven stars
When Kobo Daishi chanted the secret rite of Butsugen Butsumo in the lion cave, the seven stars came down from heaven and fell divided among three places.
folk tradition
What people do here
Named in three systems
Ame-no-Minakanushi and the others in Shinto; the Bodhisattva Myoken of the North Star in Buddhism; the deity of dwelling-quieting talismans in Daoism and onmyodo.
documented history

What is venerated here fell out of the sky. In the Heian period, when Kobo Daishi chanted the secret rite of Butsugen Butsumo in the lion cave, the seven stars came down from heaven and fell to earth divided among three places. And the landing sites are counted. The Grove of Stars; the precinct of Korin-ji; and the object of worship of this shrine. The third is the thing enshrined here.

It has three sets of names. In Shinto, Ame-no-Minakanushi, Takamimusubi and Kamimusubi. In Buddhism, the Bodhisattva Myoken of the North Star. In Daoism and onmyodo, the deity of the talismans that quiet a dwelling. Three systems each give the same one a name, and the shrine ranks none of them above the others.

As for how it has been revered: as the deity of Tanabata, and as an object of Big Dipper devotion. Its own account names nothing that is granted, so this page attaches no category of prayer.

Claims and evidence levels 3

When Kobo Daishi chanted the secret rite of Butsugen Butsumo in the lion cave at Shishikutsu-ji, the seven stars of the Big Dipper fell to earth divided among three places. folk tradition
The three landing places are transmitted as the Grove of Stars, the precinct of Korin-ji, and the object of worship of this shrine. folk tradition
Its deities are Ame-no-Minakanushi, Takamimusubi and Kamimusubi; the same is Myoken of the North Star in Buddhism and the dwelling-quieting talisman deity in Daoism and onmyodo. documented history

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