The origin of Toumyou-ji Temple, and navel of the thunder god.

A temple on a mountain called Toumyou-ji Temple is located in the mountain side of the Yata hill.

If a hiking course is followed from famous Yata-dera Temple to north as a hydrangea temple, a temple and three farmhouses are standing on the valley quietly soon.

It is a peaceful mountain village which the voice of a spring bush warbler is heard and the song of the cicada of summer sings in chorus to the voice even if a rainy season start finishing.

It is told that Prince Toneri founded this temple 1300 years ago (A.D. 673).

Prince Toneri is the Imperial prince and his father is Emperor Tenmu and his mother is Emperor Jito.

The Imperial prince prayed that Emperor Jito who is his mother gets well from an eye disease, and built this temple.

According to the origin of this temple, that time there was a well with sacred water.

This water contained boric acid and was the specific medicine of the eye disease.

She drew up water in the golden pan, then washed the eye.

The Emperor gets well from an eye disease splendidly, and she felt bright light in the direction of east sky.

The pan of the gold was stored carefully in a warehouse as a treasure.

From there, it came to call this temple "Ka-Zou-San Toumyou-ji Temple, (Pan Warehouse Mountain Toumyou-ji Temple)".

The well remains today also.

It is told that the golden pan is buried under the floor of a temple.

A long time ago, there was a tree of a particularly high pine in the precincts of Toumyou-ji Temple.

It was a certain afternoon of summer.

Since it was very hot on that day, the Thunder god got down to the origin of this pine from clouds.

And the God of thunder began the nap.

A Buddhist priest who came out to the yard by chance found this.

From before, he disliked thunder very much.

Whenever thunder begins to become, he hang a mosquito net and he covers himself with beddings, and so that his navel is not taken he was trembling with proneness.

He hid himself in the shade of tree, and was observing the sleeping posture of the Thunder God.

It seemed that the Thunder God is likely to snore and is not likely to wake up.

He became bolder and bolder and thought of prank at last, "Today, I will take his navel".

He approached the Thunder God carefully, and he have held the Thunder God’s navel thoroughly.

The Thunder God was very much surprised and was confused.

The Thunder God ran up to up to clouds, having the drums.

When the priest returned to self, there was Thunder God's big navel in the priest's hand.

After this, the valley of the temple is told that thunder will not fall by any means.

The navel that become small and looks like stone is kept in Toumyou-ji Temple.

Although it is said that it is a nut or a meteorite, the details are unknown.

You drop in in the middle of a hike, please ask the temple to show.

The location of this temple can prove that there are few thunderbolts meteorologically.

Although a tradition is a wandering tale apparently, the location of this temple (this temple is located near the foot of Mt. Matuo) changes the contents to a very important thing.

At the foot of Mount Matsuo, there is some legends which make us presume that the group (people with special skills called metal refinement) has emigrated from Izumo district.

These people often suffered from the eye disease as an occupational disease.

At such time, the miraculous fountain that contains boric acid must have been a savior.

Probably, they had gone to this miraculous fountain and had respected this ground.

And probably, it induced this temple's origin story that this temple was founded for Prince Toneri’s eye disease prayer

Although this temple’s SANGOU (honorific mountain name prefixed to a temple's name) is called Ka-Zou-San (Pan Warehouse Mountain), I also think this like the word relevant to refinement or a blacksmith.

And although especially this temple has no thunderbolts story, the place which has this and a similar tradition nationally often has refinement and a relation to a blacksmith.

It is pdten formula that thunder, a snake, and a blacksmith line up at the same position.

Although it is a pattern of which it is hard to be reminded from Modern people's feeling, it was just a serial things for the ancients.

Probably, the navel of the thunder god is ores or dregs of iron (when burning and training iron, it separates and falls).