History of Noda Ebisu Shrine
According to documents handed down at Noda Ebisu Shrine, the origin of Noda Ebisu Shrine dates back to November 20, the first year of Eternal Era (1113 A.D.), when a great deity came to the shrine and enshrined it as a guardian deity. However, the exact date of the shrine’s founding is not clear due to the lack of old documents.
If the first year of Eikyuu was indeed the year of the shrine’s foundation, it can be said that the shrine has been located in Noda since the Heian period.
Relationship with Nanba Yasojima
This Noda Ebisu Shrine is located in Noda, Fukushima-ku, Osaka City.
Long ago, in ancient times, this area of Osaka was dotted with islands, not land.
Today’s Fukushima Ward is one of those islands.
Fukushima, Mitejima, Dojima, Sakurajima, Dekijima, and many other islands dotted the area.
Today, as the topography changes, these islands are attached to each other and have become land.
Such islands were called “Namba Yasojima.”
It is thought that as the Namba Yasojima became land, the land development of Noda also progressed.
And it is thought that this shrine may have started to be built right around that time.
Deities
Noda Ebisu Shrine is a shrine dedicated to the “Ebisu no Kami” (God of Ebisu) and is worshipped by many people.
However, the deities of Noda Ebisu Shrine listed in the shrine inventory are Kotoshironushi no Ookami, Amaterasu no Ookami, and Yahata no Ookami.
There is another historical reason for this.
At the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912), when the government took control of shrines throughout Japan, it refused to recognize as official shrines those dedicated to deities other than those mentioned in such classics as Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) and Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan). The “Ebisu no Kami” that was originally worshipped at Noda Ebisu Shrine was not recognized as an official shrine.
Therefore, the shrine was somehow related to “Ebisu-no-kami,” and “Kotoshironushi no Ookami” was designated as the main deity of the shrine.
Konosuke Matsushita is the head of the Ujiko clan?
Noda Ebisu Shrine is also famous as the shrine where Konosuke Matsushita, known as the “God of Management,” served as the chief Ujiko (shrine attendant) from 1924 to 1926 and from 1928 to 1929.
Konosuke Matsushita seemed to feel the divine virtues of Noda Ebisu Shrine, and he made it a rule to hold important company events such as management policy presentations every year on Toka Ebisu Day.
The practice of holding the management policy meeting on Tokaebisu day is said to be carried on to this day.
Name of shrine: Noda Ebisu Shrine
Address: 4-1-1 Tamagawa, Fukushima-ku, Osaka 553-0004, Japan
tel:06-6441-7084, fax:06-6441-7231
↑5 minutes walk from Healing inn
