Matsue Shrine – Shimane Prefecture

Early this summer I visited Shimane Prefecture on the north coast of Japan. Most of the time there I spent in the prefectural capital Matsue to see the sights and enjoy the historic buildings, many of which remains untouched by wars and disasters. One of the places I visited was the Matsue Shrine, just next to Matsue Castle. Originally founded in 1682 the present shrine is an amalgamation of several different shrines and was in 1899 renamed and established next to the castle as it is today. During it’s long history it has had the duty to enshrine several high ranking feudal lords, among them Naomasu Matsudaira, 松平直政 (obit. 1666, who was the first lord of the powerful clan of Matsudaira and grandson of the most powerful man in Japanese history, Ieyasu Tokugawa. The Matsudairas were to rule the province until the abolition of the feudal system in 1871 on direct orders of the newly powerful emperor Meiji, the great grandfather of the present emperor. Incidentally, for all you trivia fans, the very well known NHK (National Broadcasting company of Japan) news announcer Sadatomo Matsudaira (also famous for his excellent historical documentaries sonotoki rekishi ga ugoita one of the few television programs that I will try to watch) is a descendant of the Matsudaira clan, as are tens of thousands of other Japanese today.

Today the shrine is most famous for being a “love connection” spot. People who visit the shrine are encouraged to pray for success in their love life and the shrine priest prepares heart shaped, pink emas (votive plates) for people to write their prayers of love on and hang at the shrine. It’s one of my guilty pleasures to read these when I visit new shrines, to get an idea of what people pray for. I found this cute prayer from Miwako in Kobe, who very politely wishes for a good boyfriend who doesn’t chase other women around and doesn’t gamble, if possible with similar interests and values, who will give her a long and happy marriage. I hope she is successful, even if the prayer is over a year old by now.