Kota Jinja

Kota Jinja.

In the city of Joetsu in Niigata Prefecture, sits a shrine that holds two stories at once.

The first story is from the oldest myths. According to the ancient chronicles, a great deity from the western country of Izumo traveled all the way to this northern coast — a journey of remarkable distance for the era — to court a princess of this land. The two were married. The shrine remembers their meeting.

The second story is from the thirteenth century. A young Buddhist monk named Shinran, founder of one of the most important schools of Japanese Buddhism, was exiled here in 1207 after his teachings displeased the imperial court. He spent five years in this region, living simply, working among the local people. Tradition says he visited this shrine, prayed here, and left behind a small mark.

A reed near the shrine, locals say, has its leaves on only one side of the stem — an unusual mutation, said to have been caused by Shinran's prayer. The "single-sided reed" still grows here today.

So the shrine carries two memories: a god's marriage from before written history, and a monk's exile during the medieval era. Both have left subtle traces. Both are still here.

Stand near the reed. Look at the leaves. They really do grow on only one side.

Some places hold more than one story. The story is, sometimes, the layering itself.