The shrine of The 100 Poems



There is a shrine which people call “the village of The 100 Poems” in Ohtsu City, Shiga prefecture. And The World Karuta Competitions, which I wrote about in the previous blog, is held there. The official name of this shrine is “Ohmi Shrine”.


The shrine is located between Mt. Hiei on which Enryaku-ji Temple is and Biwa-ko Lake, and the shrine is built on the foot of the mountain. So you have to walk up on the long stone-stairs to visit it. When you arrive at the entrance gate from the foot of the mountain, you must be sweating. But yet an upward cool wind from the lake may stop you sweating and the air in the shrine will softly wrap you.


Secondly, you will walk to the inner sanctuary on the way across the small-white-stone yards. On entering the sanctuary you may feel the subtle change of the air, the air outside of the sanctuary is naturally clean but the air inside of the sanctuary is sacred. You may not believe that, but it’s true. And it is said that each good shrine has a characteristically individual air of each god.


The main god of the shrine is the spirit of the 38th Emperior Tenchi. Japanese people learn his name with the Revolution in the Taika Era in the teaching of Japanese history in junior- high school, so his name is surely famous as the top five of all emperors. The revolution was such a particularly significant incident that the Imperial family took back the political power from the Soga Family, which had destroyed the successors of Shotoku Taishi and had seized the political power. Tenchi, who was one of many then princes, stood on the division point of his destiny whether he would do battle with the Soga family or not, and he carried out to win the battle. So the god of the shrine is enshrined as the god of aiding people who want the power to open the door in front of their division points. Moreover, Tenchi had the wisdom of culture. He introduced many political and cultural systems.

Well, do you know the meaning of the difference of the air in the sanctuary? The air includes will, doing, achieving and wisdom of the characteristics of the god.


After worshipping the god you will visit the giving place of amulets. The place is adorned with The 100 Poems and the air around the place is joyful.

About the first poet of The 100 Poems

Why is Ohmi Shrine the village of The 100 Poems? Because the first poem of The 100 Poems is the poem of Tenchi. The reason isn’t specified. Further worthy, there is no reason of the logical thinking as Japanese history. The editor of The 100 Poems is Teika Fujiwara, who chose 100 poems under a private rule that he decided just one poem of a famous poet. Then it is a secret how he chose 100 poets and why he chose a poem from each poet. But yet he chose Tenchi as the first. We can understand it somehow. Tenchi is a great emperor for the then emperor and the Imperial Court members and Tenchi respected culture with the Japanese poem.

The poem reciting party in the Imperial Palace


Anybody can make a Japanese poem. And if a poem is wonderful, it must be selected as the poem at the poem reciting party in the Imperial Palace even if the writer is a child. The equality in front of the Japanese poem is the invisible Japanese system. A scholar says that the Japanese language is made to make a Japanese poem. Whether it is true or not, it is true that the Japanese language suits the Japanese poem.

The cultural custom of The Japanese poem is continuing. Every January the present emperor holds a reciting party of the Japanese poem. 10 poems are recited in front of the emperor and his family. All people can submit their poems to the party. A poem of a male junior-high school student was selected at the 2015 party.

“Jitsu wa boku
Ie de kaeru wo katteiru
Yuudachi kurumo
Nakasai kaeru”

Actually, I have a frog in my house,
An evening shower came,
But he doesn’t creak.

((●´ー｀)=3
In the world of the Japanese poem a frog has the heart of the Japanese poem as well. So the frog which he has could make sounds like reciting a poem on facing the evening shower. On his feeling, the poem has two consciousnesses, which contain the possibility for his lovely frog’s reciting and the broken heart of listening to no sounds. When I read this poem, I conjured up images that the frog probably creaked every time of evening shower but at this evening shower the frog made no sounds, so then the boy was disappointed and he was worried about the frog’s health.
However, the taste of this poem is out of such technical feeling. Is it with something dreary and love! In peace is happiness. And I hope all children in the world are in peace.

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