On April 13, '11 I went to Kashima City of Ibaraki Prefecture with a Britsh journalist. His name is Jon Mitchell. If you read my blog which was posted last July, you will come accross his name. Yes, he is the man who wrote an article about Kotobukicho of Yokohama in which I appeared as an interviewee. This time I went to Kashima-jingu Shrine as a tour guide and an interpreter. 
When we arrived at the shrine there were some local guides. Mr. Masayoshi Tsuda took care of us. He said, 'All of the trees in the precinct are naturally grown except this cedar. It was planted in 866.' 
Kashima-jingu Shrine's main hall which was donated by the second Shogun Hidetada Tokugawa. There was another hall which was donated by Iyeyasu Tokugawa in 1605 after he won the Sekigahara Battle. 
Heihachiro Togo, the Admiral of the Meiji Era who commaned the Russo-Japanese War wrote the title of the plaque ' Kashima Jingu' which is put on the higher part of the wall. As you may have noticed, Kashima-jingu Shrine enshrine a tutulary god of swords, archery,marshal arts and battles . 
The god is called 'Takemikazuchi no ookami' who puts a sword ' Futsunomitamano Tsurugi' on a stone so that a catfish can't move. From a picture of the mythology below a stone monument was built.
The stone stone is called Kaname-ishi',a key stone which is pivotal to curb earthquakes by holding catfish underneath. 
This ia a picture of Kaname-ishi, a key stone.
The explanation about Kanameishi, the key stone, written in Japanese. However deep people try to dig the ground, they couldn't find the bottom end of the stone. In 1634 Mitsukuni Tokugawa aka Mito Kohmon was curios about this stone and let his subordinate dig here for a week, but finally they abandoned because they sufferred from eczema. They washed their face with the water of Mitarashi Pond in the pricinct, then surprisingly their rashes were cured soon. 
We stood in front of a key stone 'Kaname-ishi' which is a guardian stone from earthquakes. 
This is Mitarashi Pond. On the coldest day 'Daikan',180 men and women bathe themselves here to purify their bodies. 
Mr. Tsuda said this is a power spot. Jon absorbed power from the tree so that he could get an idea for his article.
Mr. Tsuda who is a local guide is holding an oblong wooden plate on which his haiku-poem is written. He was a high school teacher of Japanese, so he is good at haiku and tanka. 
This is a picture of the main gate which was detroyed by the earthquake. It broke the gate of Kashima-jingu Shrine but otherwise there were little damage. 
A poster of a festival 'Saitosai' which was held on March 9, '11. 
No wonder the Kashima Antlers is a strong football steam. They have a dependable tutulary god. 
At a restaurant which serves dishes of eels & catfish 
The mistress of the restaurant said,'These catfish were swimming comfortably without knowing that there was a big earthquake happenning.
RE
1. In Japan it was believed that catfish live in the ground and cause earthquakes when they struggle
2.In Yokosuka City of Kanagawa Prefecture there is Mikasa Park where Admiral Togo's statue is standing.
P.S.
The Japan Times Article about 'Kanameishi' was published on May 8, 2011.http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110508x2.html
When we arrived at the shrine there were some local guides. Mr. Masayoshi Tsuda took care of us. He said, 'All of the trees in the precinct are naturally grown except this cedar. It was planted in 866.' Kashima-jingu Shrine's main hall which was donated by the second Shogun Hidetada Tokugawa. There was another hall which was donated by Iyeyasu Tokugawa in 1605 after he won the Sekigahara Battle. Heihachiro Togo, the Admiral of the Meiji Era who commaned the Russo-Japanese War wrote the title of the plaque ' Kashima Jingu' which is put on the higher part of the wall. As you may have noticed, Kashima-jingu Shrine enshrine a tutulary god of swords, archery,marshal arts and battles . The god is called 'Takemikazuchi no ookami' who puts a sword ' Futsunomitamano Tsurugi' on a stone so that a catfish can't move. From a picture of the mythology below a stone monument was built.The stone stone is called Kaname-ishi',a key stone which is pivotal to curb earthquakes by holding catfish underneath. This ia a picture of Kaname-ishi, a key stone.The explanation about Kanameishi, the key stone, written in Japanese. However deep people try to dig the ground, they couldn't find the bottom end of the stone. In 1634 Mitsukuni Tokugawa aka Mito Kohmon was curios about this stone and let his subordinate dig here for a week, but finally they abandoned because they sufferred from eczema. They washed their face with the water of Mitarashi Pond in the pricinct, then surprisingly their rashes were cured soon. We stood in front of a key stone 'Kaname-ishi' which is a guardian stone from earthquakes. This is Mitarashi Pond. On the coldest day 'Daikan',180 men and women bathe themselves here to purify their bodies. Mr. Tsuda said this is a power spot. Jon absorbed power from the tree so that he could get an idea for his article. Mr. Tsuda who is a local guide is holding an oblong wooden plate on which his haiku-poem is written. He was a high school teacher of Japanese, so he is good at haiku and tanka. This is a picture of the main gate which was detroyed by the earthquake. It broke the gate of Kashima-jingu Shrine but otherwise there were little damage. A poster of a festival 'Saitosai' which was held on March 9, '11. No wonder the Kashima Antlers is a strong football steam. They have a dependable tutulary god. At a restaurant which serves dishes of eels & catfish The mistress of the restaurant said,'These catfish were swimming comfortably without knowing that there was a big earthquake happenning.RE
1. In Japan it was believed that catfish live in the ground and cause earthquakes when they struggle
2.In Yokosuka City of Kanagawa Prefecture there is Mikasa Park where Admiral Togo's statue is standing.
P.S.
The Japan Times Article about 'Kanameishi' was published on May 8, 2011.http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20110508x2.html
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