218 ~ Kojinsatsu

 

Japanese Name:  古神札
Romanized Reading: Kojinsatsu
English Translation: Old Divine Tag
Size: Tiny Side Shrine of Mefu Jinja
Deity: Inari?/Tree?
Fox Count: 1
First Visit: 11-Sep-2018
Location: Matsue
Address: 81 Wadamicho, Matsue, Shimane 690-0005
Coordinates: 35.4666045,133.0590001

A Side Shrine of Mefu Jinja (賣布神社 "Sell Linen Shrine") located just south of Oohashigawa, this is a shrine of many open questions. For starters, the name of the shrine may not actually be a name, but a note that this is a place where you can return old Ofuda (お札), which are divine talismans that you can purchase at shrines. They are generally considered to last for a year before they need to be replaced. However, the box below looks more like a standard donation box.

Then, there's a single life-sized stone fox here, which is typical for Inari shrines, but at the same time, there's a divine tree as denoted by the Shimenawa tied around it. So which kind of shrine is this? I suppose I'll never know for sure...