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Kamochi Shrine
Boost your luck with money by praying at Tottori’s Kamochi Shrine that might help you win the lottery
Kamochi Shrine, in Hino County, Tottori Prefecture, is said to offer blessings of improved luck with money. There is no shortage of people who come here to pray to win the lottery. Among the 80,000 shrines all over Japan, there is only one with such a fortuitous name, so it attracts people from all over the country.
The main enshrined deity is Amenotokotachi-no-Mikoto, is the deity who deified the heavens where the gods lived. There are only a handful of shrines throughout Japan that are dedicated to this deity. It is also a rare shrine in which one’s prayers are delivered directly to the heavens.
It is told that in 810, the second son of a Shinto priest in Izumo passed through this area on his way to a pilgrimage to Ise Jingu Shrine. As he passed through, the gemstone on his netsuke, a holy item from his father’s shrine that he had been wearing as a protective amulet, suddenly started to feel very heavy. He also had a dream in which the gods told him to build a shrine here, and that is what he did. Kamochi-go Village used to produce "Tamahagane", steel made from iron sand that was used to make sword blades, which was said to be superior to gold. Iron, which is usually called tetsu in Japanese, was also called kane (like the word kanegu for metal fixtures), and the region had many valleys from which the raw material, pure iron sand. It is said that the village name, "Kamochi", which means “has metal,” came about for those two reasons.
Kamochi Kagefuji, from an influential family of the region that spread the name of Kamochi throughout this region, participated in the army raised against the Shogunate at the orders of Emperor Go-Daigo, the abdicated emperor who had fled to Iki in 1333 and played an active role in the ensuing battle. At that time, he prayed for certain victory at Kamochi Shrine and is said to have used the curtain in front of the altar as the banner he carried into battle. When the Emperor departed for Kyoto, Nawa Nagatoshi was at the Emperor’s right hand and Kamochi Kagefuji was at his left as they processed under the "Nishiki banner". It is said that Emperor Go-Daigo later came to Kamochi Shrine to offer up prayers of thanksgiving. The Hokyo Into Japanese pagoda said to be the grave of Kamochi Yamato-no-kami Kagefuji, still remains in the Kamochi area.
Hasebe Nobutsura is depicted as a man of courage and noble character in many ancient documents, including the "Tale of Heike’s Revival of Hasebe", and the Genpei Seisuiki. In 1180, when a plot by the second son of retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa to attack the Taira clan was revealed before it could be put into action, Nobutsura helped the prince escape from the Imperial Place and continued to fight against the Imperial Guards alone. For his actions, he was exiled to Kamochi-go for seven years. During his time in exile, he built a number of temples and shrines, including Enryakuji Temple, Chorakuji Temple, and Gion Shrine, all of which remain important heritage in the town of Hino. After the downfall of the Taira, as one of the seven gokenin, or junior vassals, of Minamoto-no Yoritomo, he was dispatched to Miyajima in Aki Province as a kebiishi (police and judicial chief). As a land steward in Noto Province, he was involved in discovering Yamanaka Onsen and other projects. In later years, as the chief senior counselor to the Maeda clan, a 1,000,000-koku branch of the Kaga Domain, and lord of Anamizu Castle, he founded what became the Cho clan, which lasted through to the Meiji Period.
Many of the ema, wooden votive pictures on which supplicants write wishes, that are offered up at Kamochi Shrine, and the lottery winners’ ema strung up in the eastern building next to the shrine amulet stand, have messages of gratitude written by worshippers whose prayers to the shrine have been answered. “I became a millionaire at the age of sixty. Thank you.” “I won in Lotto 6, on the horse races, and on the Takarakuji lottery. Thank you. I am very grateful. I am finally rich. I have now been able to make my family and friends happy.” “I won 300 million yen in the Jumbo Takarakuji lottery!” “This is my third visit to this shrine. I won Numbers 4 twice. Thank you. I pray that I can keep winning.” There are many other stories from people who have called in at the amulet stand, such as that they have become better gamblers and that, thanks to their prayers to the shrine, their business is going better.
Location
| Name | Kamochi Shrine |
|---|---|
| Web Sites | (In Japanese) http://kanemochi-jinja.net/ |
| Address | 74 Kamochi, Hino-cho, Hino-gun, Tottori |
| Access | Approximately 20 minutes' drive from the Kofu IC on the Yonago Expressway Approximately 7 minutes by taxi from Neu Station on the JR Hakubi Line |
| Business Hours | 10:00 to 16:00 |
| Inquiries | TEL:0859-72-0481 (Amulet Stand, Kamochi Shrine, Hino Town Tourism Bureau) |
| Admission | Free admission |
