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I went to Nara Howo Shrine in March 2017.
The shrine is at silent place which is up on the mountain from Narada Bus Waiting Area. The place suits to shrine. Clean air.
Surrounding trees are really thick. They are meeting us over some hundred years.
Description
There is a bulletin board in this shrine and detailed description is on it.
Nara Howo Shrine
Enshrined deities of this shrine is Empress Kohken. Her alias is Nara Howo (tradition unknown). 人皇第46代孝謙天皇天平宝字2年(758年)5月より8年間この地にご遷住なされしと伝えられる奈良法王遺蹟並びに、奈良田七不思議などすべて天皇にまつわるものである延暦3年ここ宮殿の跡に神殿創立させるものなり現本殿は寛政元年再建せるものなり。
The sacred fir tree which was 857 years old was broken by typhoon in Showa 27 (1952).
Enshrined Deities
As written on the bulletin board, Enshrined Deities is Empress Kohken. Kohken is written in other way like Koken, Kouken in Japan.
Empress Kohken
She has an alias, Empress Shotoku. Before Enthronement, she was called Abe-nai-Shinno.
The period of reigns are from 749 to 758 for 9 years as Koken Empress and from 764 to 770 for 6 years as Shotoku Empress, totally for 15 years.
It is said her father is Emperor Shomu, her mother is Empress Komyo who is from Fujiwara family line.
Tomb of Koken Empress, Tenno Ryo, is circular‐shaped with rectangular frontage located at Ryo-cho Nara-shi Nara-ken.
御符水
There’s a bulletin board.
Go-fu-sui
これは「御符水」と云って、奈良田の七不思議の一つで源水は山の中にあり、それを導水して「お手洗い池」用にしたものである。 第46代孝謙天皇(天平宝示2年)この地にご遷居の折「ご膳水」とし、また「硯水」として、ご使用になられた水で、どんな干天にも、水の干ることなく、またどんな降雨続きでも、濁ることなく、そしてこの水を飲むと諸病に効能があると云う。 孝謙天皇御遷居縁起鈔によると、「斯地ニ七不思議ト唱フルアリ曰ク、第一御符水ト称シテ皇居ノ脇ニ御硯井アリ所病ニ功アリ呑者ハ病即消滅スル」と云われている。
昭和62年(1987年)11月 完成
奈良田区 三社氏子
Howo Den (Howo Residence)
Hpwo Den is inside.
Access
Get on the train at JR Kofu station and get off at JR Shimobe Hot Spring station, pronounced Shimobe On-sen eki. And move to Narada by bus. After getting off the bus, walk to Nara Howo Shrine. At the bus stop you get off the bus, Narada Bus Waiting Area (called “Narada no Bus Teiryu-jo”), there’s a map that describes how to got to Nara Howo Shrine from there.
The address of Nara Howo Shrine is 479 Hayakawa-cho Minami-koma-gun Ymanashi-ken.
There are many hot spring hotels between JR Shimobe On-sen (hot spring) station and Narada Bus Machiai-jo (Waiting Area), and you can drop in many of them whenever you want to go. It’s good to stay at such hot-spring hotels(下部温泉旅館組合の旅館一覧, JR下部温泉駅に書かれている旅館の一覧). I stayed cheap hotel near Kofu station, Yamanashi prefecture, Hotel Crown Hills Kofu, and go to the shrine next day.
