Next to the Kongō-in (see previous post) stands a Shintō-shrine called Nagasaki-jinja 長崎神社. It enshrines Kushinadahime no Mikoto 櫛名田比売命 and since the Meiji-period also Susanoo no Mikoto 須佐之男命. The atmosphere around this shrine is very reminiscent of the atmosphere of the Kongō-in and it is not hard to imagine that the two sacred areas used to not as strictly separated as they are today before the Meiji-period. I visited the site quite early in the morning and even though it is a rather modest building, I saw a dozen of visitors who came to pray in front of the main shrine. Most of them were elderly people, but there were also several middle-aged people and even a young couple.
This shrine is famous for its Lion-dog dance (Shishi-mai 獅子舞) and therefore several statues of these creatures can be found on the shrine grounds.
To the left of the main shrine was a small hokora 祠 for Inari 稲荷 (it was called 小柳稲荷神社 Koyanagi? Inari-jinja) and to the right a shrine for spirits of war dead from the First Sino-Japanese War up until the Second World War (長崎招魂社 Nagasaki Shōkon-sha?).
Another monument also indicated that special attention was given to the victims of war (this one is for the dead of the Russo-Japanese War.
A tree (probably the sacred sakaki 榊 tree) with ema 絵馬 and senjafuda 千社札 from devotees.
The combination of straw dolls with habotan that I saw at the Kongō-in could be found around the shrine.
Located on the shrine grounds itself is the residence of the priest of this shrine and there is a modest shop selling o-fuda and the like.
Sources:
Shiinamachi Info. “長崎神社” (Nagasaki jinja). shiinamachi.info < http://www.shiinamachi.info/toshimaku-nagasakizinzya.html > (retrieved 2012-2-5).
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