ABSTRACT
THE DEITY WORSHIPPED AND THE FOUNDAnON OF THE SHRINE
The Mishima Maru, one of 6 ships of 8,000 tons built in 1908 for the European run, has recently been broken up, though 3 of her sisters the Kamo, Atsuta and Kitano now maintain the Australian service. The other two, the Hirano and Miyazaki, fell victims to German torpedoes during the Great War. These six vessels comprised, what I called in my Nomenclature of the N.Y.K. fleet, the original Jinja kyu, or shrine class, and better built, and more comfortable ships it would be hard to find. I have been fortunate in per suabing Mr. Saida Moriuji the present Guji of Kamakura Hachiman oa, who, as it will be seen subsequently, has original ideas about the deity of Mishima, to write the title for me. The character Shima may be written in 3 ways with the mountain on the top as Mr. Saida has written it, or at the side Ill, or at the bottom th. As a matter of fact all 3 forms are to be found in connection with Mishima Jinja, but the claim has been set forth that in old days it was written i1i" the mountain being put on the top to show, veneration for Oyamatsumi-no-Kami, deity of mountains I
There can I think be little doubt that the Mishima Maru derived her name from Mishima Jinja, the Kwampeitaisha, in the town of Mishima in Takata gun in the province of Izu, Shizuoka prefecture, but there is another famous shrine known officially as Oyamatsumi Jinja, but popularly called O-Mishima. This shrine, which ranks as Kokuheitaisha, is in Ochigori of the province of Iyo, i.e. Ehime ken. For reasons which will be apparent later, mention must also be made here of another Mishirna shrine, Mishima Kamo Jinja, a Gosha in Shimashimo gun
in the province might be expected that the deity would be the same i.e. Oyamatsumi-no-kami, the God of Mountains, but a glance at the official fingii oyobi kwankokuheisha well show that such is not the decision of the Naimusho,
In that compilation, and in consequence, naturally in all pamphlets issued by the Kwampeitaisha Mishima Jinja, the Izu shrine is said to be the abode of Tamakushiirihiko Itsu no kotoshironushi no Kami, while Oyamatsumi-no-Kami <* III jl\;jJjl) is said to dwell at Oyamatsumi Jinja <* III lit ;jJ jf:) i.e. Omishima. The decision as to the former was reached in Meiji 6, and was, I believe, based on the opinion of the great Shinto savant, Hirata Atsutane, but I confess I cannot concur. It is no doubt presumptuous to differ from so high an authority, but I am not alone in my opinion, and there are many Shinto scholars who hold the same view, but there is considerable diversity of opinion as to who the Deity really is, though probably everyone, including the Naimusho, is agreed that for several hundred years Oyamatsumi no Mikoto was, rightly or wrongly, regarded as the deity. In this short paper I have, somewhat reluctantly I must admit, decided to confine myself to the story of the Izu shrine, though it will be necessary to make frequent reference to both the Iyo and Settsu shrines, for even if the official opinion be correct and Kotoshironushi no Kami be the rightful possessor of the Izu shrine, the 3 shrines were for long years considered as three separate residences of one and the same deity, and that deity Oyamatsumi-no-Kami.
