【Review of Hatsuyuki Shrine】

When you stand outside the courtyard and look at the Sakura Tree, you can feel an overwhelming shock.

From the huge canopy covered with cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms would fall from time to time. Some fell gently and slowly in the courtyard, while others flew into the distance with the wind.

Its height must be at least more than forty meters.

The trunk of the tree is so thick that about ten people can hug it.

This Sakura Goddess tree can be seen from a distance in Sakurajima Academy or even at the foot of the mountain, but that does not reflect its magnificence at all.

Only by seeing it up close and with your own eyes can you feel awe from the bottom of your heart.

Before entering the shrine, you must follow the rules and bow in the direction of the torii gate.

Also, when passing under the torii gate, avoid the center and walk on both sides - this is because the center is a passage reserved for gods.

Later, after leaving the shrine from under the torii gate, you have to bow again.

You don’t need to bow when passing the first torii gate, but you still have to make a detour when passing through it. This is the way to go on pilgrimage roads with multiple torii gates on one road.

There are also more elaborate ways, such as bowing at the torii gate at the bottom of the mountain. It all depends on personal habits.

After passing the torii gate and walking up the last set of steps, you can enter the gate.

Here, the structure of the courtyard can be clearly seen.

Not far after entering the door, you can see the hand water house.

It was a place for washing hands, gargling, and purifying the body and mind. It looked like a roofed but wallless building supported by four pillars.

In the center of the building, there is a wooden pool with the word "Pure Heart" engraved on it. On the wall of the pool, there is a large wooden long-handled spoon.

There are a few things you need to pay attention to when purifying your mind in the Hand Water House.

First: You can only scoop water once.

Second: Wash your hands separately before rinsing your mouth. And pour water into your palms and bring it to your mouth to rinse. Do not touch the ladle directly with your mouth.

Third: Finally, stand up the ladle, let the remaining water flow out, and wash the spoon.

Yoshiyuki often visited the Yoshida family's Huangquan Shrine and had long been used to it.

When it was his turn to purify his mind, Yi Xing felt that the water was very cool and sweet, almost like mountain spring water.

Yoshiyuki felt extremely impressed when he thought about how Chia Sakurayuki, who managed the shrine alone, carried water to fill the pond every day.

After purifying your mind at Tesumuisha, you can continue walking along the gravel path surrounded by stone lanterns every few steps according to the normal worship procedures.

Hatsuki Shrine is different from Yomi Shrine in that it is a small shrine with only one priest.

Therefore, there is no Kagura Hall specifically for playing Kagura and a Dance Hall for dancing.

There is no treasure hall to store treasures or a mikoshi hall to store mikoshi.

There is also no office for awarding sacred items such as lotuses, ema, amulets, etc. The office where priests handle shrine affairs is also used, and the area is very small. When there are many guests, Sakurayuki will probably sit there.

The reception is held at the window.

This resulted in only three buildings in the courtyard.

They are the worship hall directly in front of the gate and located in the center of the courtyard.

The social affairs office on the right.

And, the shrine maiden’s residence on the left.

The so-called worship hall is a building specially used for worship.

Larger shrines also have coin halls, which are specially used for throwing incense coins.

Normally, all shrines have a main hall. It is located directly behind the coin hall and the worship hall. It is also at the deepest part of the courtyard.

In the main hall, the gods are enshrined, such as tablets, tablets, tokens and other things that symbolize the gods. Unlike temples, shrines only rarely have statues of gods.

Only clergy are allowed to enter this temple, and tourists are strictly prohibited from entering or opening the door to peek. That is a very disrespectful behavior.

Small shrines usually combine the worship hall and the main shrine into one, and use the main shrine directly.

But Hatsuyuki Shrine is very special.

It does not have a main hall, but it has a worship hall.

The end of the courtyard opposite the gate was originally supposed to be the location of the main hall. But here, there is only the Sakura God tree.

Yoshiyuki guessed that this was because the Sakura God Hatsuyuki's true form was this giant tree, and Hatsuyuki Shrine did not enshrine other gods, so there was no need to set up a main shrine to accommodate the god's body.

The Sakura Goddess tree, like the worship hall and the shrine maiden's home, is surrounded by a mahogany fence called "Tamagaki".
Chapter completed!