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The year of the mouse
Guardian Mouse in Otoyo Shrine, Kyoto

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2008 is the year of the mouse. Otyoto-jinja Shrine in Kyoto has a pair of stone-carved guardian mice.

My daughter heard this shrine is good for those want to be blessed with new born, since mouse has lots of babies. So we visited the shrine on Jan.4, 2008. There were many people visited there than I had expected. This shrine is also said to be good for those who seek health, long life, and assistance with matchmaking. It is along Pilosopher’s Walk in the Higashiyama range in east Kyoto .

(The background story from Kyoto University of Foreign Studies.)
Okuninushi-no-mikoto, the god of marriage based in Izumo Taisha (a major shrine in Shimane Prefecture), is worshiped as a deity. He was a descendant of Susanoo-no-mikoto, one of the gods in Japanese myths.

According to the Kojiki, which is the oldest historical book in Japan, Okuninushi went to another world. He arrived there and met Princess Suseri, daughter of Susanoo. They fell in love with each other at first sight. Then Susanoo commanded Okuninushi to sleep in a room filled with snakes, but Princess Suseri gave Okuninushi a snake scarf, said to be one of ten ancient treasures. The scarf helped him to sleep safely in the room. Susanoo imposed another ordeal on Okuninushi. Susanoo shot an arrow into a vast plain and made Okuninushi go to retrieve it. When he was searching for it, Susanoo set fire to the surrounding plain. The flames spread quickly and Okuninushi lost all means of escape. Suddenly a mouse appeared and told him that there was a hole in the ground. While he was hiding in the hole, the fire passed overhead. Then, the mouse gave him the arrow. Thanks to the mouse, Okuninushi escaped by a hair’s breadth. He finally married Princess Suseri.

Otoyo Shrine traces its origins back to this story. It is said that mice will bring the health, long life and happiness. The mouse statue on the left has a sake bowl, which means that if you worship here you will have a healthy baby.