Ishifune Shrine
石船神社
This shrine is worth visiting for its unique preserved head of Prince Morinaga and resident flying squirrels.
What it is
- Shrine known for an unusual object of worship.
- Dedicated to Prince Morinaga, beheaded in the 14th century.
- His preserved head is a city cultural artifact.
What to see
- Preserved head of Prince Morinaga, lacquered and with crystal eyes.
- Musasabi flying squirrels in the trees around the shrine.
When to go
- January 15th to see Prince Morinaga's head on display.
- Evenings to see musasabi flying squirrels.
In detail
This shrine is best known for possessing one of Japan’s most unusual objects of worship: the preserved head of the fourteenth-century Prince Morinaga. This prince ran afoul of the powerful warrior Ashikaga Tadayoshi. He was captured near present-day Tokyo and beheaded in Kamakura. A princess who was present at the execution wrapped his head in a cloth and fled, eventually arriving in Tsuru, where she passed away. In the early seventeenth century, the bare skull was covered in a layer of lacquer and sawdust in order to reconstruct Morinaga’s facial structure, and polished crystals were inserted to represent eyes. Due to the superb craftsmanship and the fact it has been revered for so long, it was designated a cultural artefact of the city. The head is put on display once per year, on January 15th.
Ishibune Shrine is also well known as a place where musasabi flying squirrels live. These nocturnal animals reside in the trees around the shrine, venturing out in the evenings to search for food. There are few areas where these animals live so close to people, and visitors to the shrine have a good chance to catch a glimpse of one.
Text: 観光庁 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース. Reproduced unchanged. The notes above were written from that text by Japan Gems.
Where it is
山梨県都留市朝日馬場442番地 Open in Google Maps
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