When the first Sagara Nagayori began renovating Hitoyoshi Castle, he discovered a stone with a crescent-shaped pattern in the southwest corner of the castle. This incident was in 1199.
The stone was revered as a sacred stone and, throughout the ages, was enshrined in the castle’s inauspicious direction and in the main bailey. For approximately 700 years, the Sagara clan offered prayers to it, and it came to preside over Mikazuki Castle. Thus, Hitoyoshi Castle came to be known as Crescent Castle.
As the only celestial body whose phases wax and wane, the moon evokes images of death and rebirth, making it a god of rejuvenation. The ebb and flow of the tides bring to mind the sound of water, and in daily life, the calendar came to be based on the moon’s phases, making the moon an indispensable part of people’s lives.
It is characteristic of Japanese deities that they are invisible. However, they have many representatives. Many of these representatives take the form of “beautiful nature.” It is said that there are countless deities in the natural world—the so-called “eight million gods”—and one of their most prominent representatives is stone.
The sacred stone, the Crescent Moon Stone, possesses the energy of the crescent moon and, as the incarnation of the Crescent Moon God, continues to protect people’s lives.
Incarnation of the Crescent Moon God
