Small Shinto shrine draws worshipers on increase of aging-related eye diseases in Japan

January 25, 2017

Small Shinto shrine draws worshipers on increase of aging-related eye diseases in Japan

Westerners who visited Japan toward the end of the self-isolation era under the Tokugawa shogunate regime in the middle of the 19th century found that lots of Japanese have eye trouble. A Dutch navy surgeon, J.C.L. Pompe van Meerdervoort, attributed the phenomenon to erroneous methods of treatment used on many patients. Pompe educated many Japanese medical students during his five years of stay in Japan in the 1850s.
Advanced modern skills of ophthalmology introduced from Western countries with the start of the Meiji era made it possible for Japanese eye doctors to cure difficult eye diseases.
The level of Japanese oculists continued to be enhanced further since then. But Japanese eye doctors have come to see an increase in aging-related eye diseases, such as cataract and glaucoma, following the aging of society in recent decades.
The small Shinto shrine, located in Tanushimaru Town in the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, is named after Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the mythical god of the moon who is believed to provide divine favors to those who have eye trouble.
Rites for the deity are held three times a year, on the 23rd day of January, May and September. "Tsukuyomi Shrine is so small that few worshipers are seen on ordinary days, and if you go in a car, you should be careful because there is no space for parking. This is a recommendation I got from a friend of mine, a resident of Tanushimaru, when I asked him how the shrine is," said a worshiper, who is in his 60s. He visited the shrine for the first time, because he had a cataract operation on the right eye last year, he said.
On the day of rite in January, the shrine compound was filled with dozens of worshipers, mostly elderly, in a festive mood. Ten or so stalls carrying fast foods and sweets were set up on approaches to the hall of worship.
The worshipers were seen receiving lucky charms and sacred sake after making money offerings to the deity.
Tsukuyomi, the moon god, is said to save those who have eye diseases, because he was born from the right eye of God Izanagi, said a leader of a local residents' group who was on hand to greet worshipers.
Izanagi is one of the most important deities in the Japanese myth along with his wife deity, Izanami. It is said that various deities were born from Izanagi's body when he purified himself in the river after returning from a dreadful trip to the land of the dead.

As the waves of the clouds grow in the heavenly sea, the moon ship is seen rowing to hide itself in the glittering starry forest. 
(A personal translation)

This is a waka poem made by Kakinomoto Hitomaro, the poet who made a great contribution to the Japanese waka poetry in the seventh century.
The timing of the rite day at Tsukuyomi Shrine is related to the Edo-period practice in which people gathered regularly at night to pray to the moon of the 23rd day, which rises around midnight.
The life span of Japanese is getting longer and longer, and the average life span of Japanese women has grown to 87 years old. But the life of the eyes should be about 70 years at best, an expert says.
Tsukuyomi Shrine in Tanushimaru, a largely rural community, is one of about 10 Shinto shrines named after the moon god. The mythical deity appears to be telling Japanese that they should be more careful about the health of the eyes in today's stressful daily life.