Visiting Kagami-jinja, a Shinto shrine in Karatsu

Before going to Mount Kagami, we went to a nearby spot, Kagami-jinja (鏡神社) Shinto shrine. The shrine is located at the foot of Kagamiyama, a 280 meter mountain.

Ichi-no-torii at the entrance of the shrine.

The second torii on sando (=road approaching a Shinto shrine) that leads to the main shrine.

A tiger-shaped Komainu statue. I wonder why they called Kosodate (子育て) which is meant to smooth child rearing, but there's nothing found for childbirth!

Kagami-jinja's Chozuya. I wash my hands before going to the main shrine.

The spring of water. It is a common water basin for purity, but having said that it is good for a pregnant woman to drink this water.

Now we're going down a narrow path to the shrine.

Finally we came here. There are two main halls in the shrine, the main one (一宮 Ichinomiya), enshrining Empress Jingu, the wife of Emperor Chuai, is on the right, and the secondary shrine (二宮 Ninomiya) dedicated to Fujiwara no Hirotsugu (藤原広嗣) is in the front end.

 

I found a monument of the Tale of Genji in front of the main shrine.

The sacred tree of the shrine. I was so surprised that camphor tree looks like a big pregnant belly!

A brand new Tategami hokora on the precincts. Tatagami-sama (立神さま) is a god who heals you. Ask him if you want.