【日本三大祇園】八坂神社を守り継ぎ、また宍喰に活気を取り戻したい！

【Protecting Yasaka Shrine, one of Japan’s Three Gion Shrines】

 

The shrine is located in Shishikui, in Tokushima Prefecture, and a local organization is dedicated to the preservation of Shishikui’s Yasaka Shrine.

 

Shishikui’s Yasaka Shrine was built almost a thousand years ago in the Kamakura Period. It’s one of the Three Great Gion shrines, along with the Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto and the Nunakuma Shrine near Hiroshima. It has been designated by Japan’s Cultural Affairs Agency as a protected cultural site, with intangible folk value.

 

 

Now, since the Yasaka Shrine of Shishikui was last repaired in April 1980, it is in danger of collapsing due to its age.

 

 

Shishikui’s residents call the shrine “Gion-san.” In summer festivals, you can see the beautifully lit wooden shrines below. It’s the centerpiece of firework festivals and crowded with temporary shops for nighttime celebration.

 

 

However, due to heavy typhoons over the years, the roof is starting to collapse and leaks heavily when it rains. The flooring is also decaying due to the rain exposure. For safety reasons, immediate repairs are needed, but funds and manpower are lacking.

This crowdfunding effort is a call to action for both the community and anyone is willing to support Shishikui in saving the shrine.

 

 

◆Project Details:

In repairing the Yasaka Shrine, our goal is to create a place where Shishikui’s children can learn the history and traditions of their hometown and adults can relive the memories of their childhood. A restored Yasaka shrine will revitalize the area and remind the community of its roots.

The Yasaka Shrine’s annual Gion Festival has been cancelled for the last two years due to the COVID pandemic. Next summer, we’d like to invite the community back to the festival with a beautifully restored shrine.

 

As it stands now, there are a large number of leaks in the roof and a lot of water leaks through when it rains.

 

 

On top of that, the walls are cracking and unstable, and the ceiling inside is peeling off due to liquid exposure.

 

 

◆Repair Funds：

We need to start construction as soon as possible in order to finish in time for the Gion Festival scheduled for July 16th, 2022. The estimated construction cost is 9.31 million yen, certainly a substantial cost. Shrines are more elaborate and complex than other buildings, so they are more costly to repair.

Total Repair Cost: 9.31 million yen

 

Breakdown:

・ Roof: 3.44 million yen

・ Interior and exterior painting: 1.32 million yen

・ External scaffolding: 1.75 million yen

・ Internal scaffolding: 2.8 million yen

* Separately, crowdfunding service fee (17%) and tax

 

We started raising funds in October 2020, raising awareness in Shishikui and the surrounding area. We used donation boxes in supermarkets and restaurants, as well as going door-to-door to raise funds.As a result, as of August 2021, about 3 million yen was raised. Thank you to everyone who helped and donated money.

However, these funds were not sufficient to cover the total repair cost of 9.31 million yen.

 

Therefore, with the cooperation of both local residents, as well as those who have moved away and participate through social media, our goal is to raise the remaining funds necessary. Our goal is to raise 4 million yen through crowdfunding, and we will repair the shrine in accordance with the amount of money raised.

 

 

 

◆The Yasaka Shrine Connects the Community:

Growing up in Shishikui, we used to play hide-and-seek and kick-the-can around Gion-san. We have cherished memories of children’s Yaohao performances at the summer Gion festivals. The adults would pull large wooden Danjiri parade floats,you can see in the pictures. We remember watching the night shops in the light of the fireworks.

 

 

Gion-san has connected the people of Shishikui across centuries and generations, but recently the shrine has fallen into disrepair. It’s a lonely feeling to return home and see the shrine in this condition. Thirty years ago, the population of Shishikui was 3,800 people, but now it has decreased by 40% to 2,500 people.

 

We wanted to give back to Gion-san, which has given so much to us and our community, so we launched the crowdfunding project.

 

 

When Shishikui’s Yasaka Shrine was last repaired from the ground up in 1980, the population was much larger. Local companies made large donations to cover the costs to repair the shrine. However, with the population in decline, local companies have fallen in number as well. This makes it very difficult to raise funds as before.

 

Our sincere hope is to bring life back to Shishikui. We hope to bring back the big Danjiri floats, the taiko drums and the ringing of the festival bells. Will you join us and help with the restoration so that people can gather at the Yasaka shrine as in our childhood memories?

 

◆A Word from our Organization Members:

 

Our wish is to gather people at Gion-san as before, and to extend a hand of welcome to those from outside the prefecture to Shishikui’s Gion Festival! We want to thank supporters for joining us in bringing life back to Shishikui and aiding in the reconstruction of a traditional Japanese shrine.

 

(Any funds collected shall be used for the repair work on the shrine.)

Target goal: 4 million yen