Nankun-sha

• Enshrined deity: Uganomitama no Mikoto

Affectionately known as Hattatsu-san, this much-loved shrine is a central focus of the Hattatsu-mairi festival. Since ancient times, people engaged in commerce have come here to pray devoutly for success in their business. It is home to a camphor tree that is more than 1,000 years old. For centuries, people offered up prayers to the mysterious spiritual power of this giant tree. Over time, they started to pray to the deity enshrined in a small hokora shrine erected at the tree’s roots, and it evolved from a sacred tree to a shrine in its own right.

The first “day of the dragon” each month of the Japanese traditional calendar is known as hattatsu, which is a synonym of another Japanese word that means growth and prosperity. Many worshippers believe this to be auspicious and pray for growth and prosperity at the shrine on this day every month. They mark each visit by obtaining from the shrine a small figurine called Shofuku Neko, similar to the popular Maneki Neko, or fortune-beckoning cat. After 48 such monthly visits (in another play on words, the Japanese for 48 is “shiju,” which, combined with “hattatsu,” forms the expression “shiju-hattatsu,” or “perpetual growth”), they believe that they will be bestowed with good fortune and their prayers will be answered. Nankun-sha attracts this form of veneration from all over Japan.

Worshippers obtain a small Shofuku Neko figurine from the shrine at each monthly visit. These figurines come in two varieties. The cat with its left paw raised is beckoning in people, while the cat with its right paw raised is beckoning in money. It is customary to obtain the former on odd-numbered months and the latter on even-numbered months. Once 48 of these Shofuku Neko have been collected, they can be returned to the shrine and exchanged for a slightly larger, or medium-sized, version. The medium-sized cats also come in the same left-paw-raised and right-paw-raised varieties. As a pair, they can be exchanged for an even larger version, as the worshipper prays for further growth and prosperity.