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大将軍八神社 Daishogun Hachijinja Shrine
Origin
In 794 "Heiankyo"city was built by Emperor Kanmu command.
It is said that "Daishogundo"was built on the north-west corner of Imperial Palace to break evil of unlucky direction, which depend an onmyodo belief.
At first it was called "Daishogun-do",because it was built for an onmyodo-temple.
In Edo period, it was deified for a village-shrine in Daishogun village,and at the same time it was called Daishogunhachijinjya shrine.
The main deity was only "Daishogun" which was not for ancient japanese deities.
In Meiji periodo,the faith of Shinto was become the established religion by "Shinbustu bunrirei" It means "Law of Deity and Buddha must be separate faith " After this matter,this shrine is called"Daishogunhachijinjya"means Susanou no Mikoto( japanese myths), his five sons , three daughters deities,and together denified Emperor Kanmu.
The first data is in an old diary "Sankaiki"-AD1178 on 12.November, Kenreimonin(Empress of Takakura)was delivered,then messangers went on an errand to wish her easy labor to go many temples and shrines. Daishogunsha was written one of 41 temples and shrines. Another data " Meitokuki" showed the place of "Daishogunsha" like this "Ooashi Jirozaemon・・・over 500 samurai on their horses were running to east from Umezu through Ninnaji temple and came infront of the torii (shrine's gate) of Daishogun・・・”
In these distress time , example for The war of OninnoRan , it was highly revered and worshipped by many people. Also in Edo period, it was popular to go 12 shrines to break direction evil and unlucky.
Even now there is a monumental stone which was built in age of Tempo11(AD 1840)大将軍八神社は平安京造営の際、陰陽道に依り大内裏（御所）の北西角の天門に星神 「大将軍堂」を建て 方位の厄災を解除する社として創建されたという。
創建当初は陰陽道のお堂として建てられた為「大将軍堂」と称し江戸時代に入り 大将軍村の鎮守社として祀られる様になった。
又、その頃からそれまでの北斗妙見信仰から太白精の信仰に移り暦神と習合して 「大将軍八神宮」とも称した。
祭神は古来の日本の神ではなく大将軍一神を祀っていたが、明治時代に「神仏分離令」によって神道を国教とし現在の形「素盞鳴尊、その御子五男三女神、並びに 桓武天皇を合祀」となり、御子八神と暦神の八神が習合して以後社名は「大将軍八神社」という。
祭神を素盞鳴尊とした理由は 、 1433年伏見宮貞成親王の日記「看聞御記」より、大将軍堂は1340年から約100年の間祇園社 （現 八坂神社）の管理下にあった。 八坂神社の祭神が素盞鳴尊であり、 その神格が大将軍神と似通っている事から関連付けられたと思われる。
初見の資料としては『山槐記』に治承２年(1178) 11月12日高倉天皇の中宮建礼門院の安産祈願の際、 諸社寺に奉幣使が参向したが、 その41社の内の1社として記されている。
大将軍社の所在を示す文献としては『明徳記』「山名方の配備」に 「大葦次郎左衛門・・・五百餘騎上梅津より 仁和寺を経て並岡を 東へ一條の末を大将軍の鳥居の前へかけいでて・・」（岩波書店刊）とあり、 応仁の乱等数々の苦難の中でも諸人の厚い信仰を受けていたと思われる。
又、江戸時代には方除厄除12社参りが流行し 、その際に建立された天保11年の標石は現在も門前にある。
...
The eight islands of Japan sprang into existence through Divine Intervention.The first two gods who came into existence were Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto, the Exalted Male and Exalted Female. It was their job to make the land for people to live on.They went to the bridge between heaven and earth and, using a jewel-encrusted halberd, Izanagi and Izanami churned up the sea into a frothy foam. As salty drips of water fell from the tip of the halberd the first island was formed. Its name was Onogoro.So far, so good. But when Izanagi and Izanami first met on their island, Izanami spoke to Isanagi without being spoken to first. Since she was the female, and this was improper, their first union created badly-formed offspring who were sent off into the sea in boats.The next time they met, Izanagi was sure to speak first, ensuring the proper rules were followed, and this time they produced eight children, which became the islands of Japan.I'm sure you did not fail to miss the significance of this myth for the establishment of Japanese formal society.At present, Japan is the financial capital of Asia. It has the second largest economy in the world and the largest metropolitan area (Tokyo.)Technically there are three thousand islands making up the Japanese archipelago. Izanagi and Izanami must have been busy little devils with their jewelled halberd...Japan's culture is highly technical and organized. Everything sparkles and swooshes on silent, miniaturized mechanisms.They're a world leader in robotics, and the Japanese have the longest life-expectancy on earth.Text by Steve Smith.
