RABBIT 1 ~ Utari Jinja

 

Japanese Name: 菟足神社 
Romanized Reading: Utari Jinja
English Translation: Dodder Foot Shrine
Size: Medium
Deity: ?
Rabbit Count: 1 (+Relief)
First Visit: 16-Jan-2019
Location: Toyokawa
Address: Miyawaki-2-1 Kozakaichō, Toyokawa-shi, Aichi-ken 441-0103
Coordinates: 34.79731,137.36587

With how many fox shrines are in this area, it might seem strange to have a rabbit shrine around, but here we are. I suppose the huge Omega Death Rabbit inside is enough to scare all the foxes away. It would take the Omega Death Fox to take it down, but fortunately for the rabbits, that one lives on Kyushu.

Anyway, I have a hypothesis as to why this shrine came to be associated with rabbits: The Kanji for the dodder plant (菟) is visually very close to the one for rabbit (兎), to the point where it is sometimes substituted for it, because why make Japanese any less confusing than it already is?