Kotohira-cho (琴平町) is a town located in Nakatado County, Kagawa (香川県仲多度郡), Japan.  The town is best known as the site of Shikoku's largest shrine complex, the Kotohira Shrine (金刀比羅宮; popularly known as Kompira-san [こんぴらさん]).
  As of March 1, 2011, the town has an estimated population of 9,887 and a density of 1,170 persons per sq km. The total area is 8.46 sq km.  
  Kotohira also features Japan's oldest surviving Kabuki playhouse, Kanamaru-za (金丸座).  Its average temperature is 16.7 degrees Celsius with an average annual rainfall of 817.5 mm.  The town tree is the Rhodoleia, and the town flower is the blossom of the cherry tree.  (Main Reference: the Site of "Wikipedia")
  

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Koto-den Kotohira Station

Koto-den Kotohira Station (琴電琴平駅) is a station on Kotohira Line (琴平線) of the Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad Co., Ltd. (高松琴平電気鉄道株式会社). It is the nearest station to Kompira-gu Shrine. The address is 260-22 Kotohira-cho, County Nakatado, Kagawa (香川県仲多度郡琴平町360番地22).

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(Saturday 19 March) Koto-den Kotohira Station, 260-22 Kotohira-cho, County Nakatado, Kagawa

Kompira-gu Kita-Shin-en

Kompira-gu Kita-Shin-en (金刀比羅宮北神苑) is located next to Koto-den Kotohira Station in the northeast. The high stone lantern (高燈籠) was the highest one of Japan: 28 m high. It was made in 1860 (万延元年) as a landmark of Kompira-gu Shrine for ships.

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(Saturday 19 March) Signpost of Kompira-gu Kita-Shin-en

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(Saturday 19 March) Stone Gate to Kompira-gu Kita-Shin-en

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(Saturday 19 March) The high stone lantern (高燈籠), Kompira-gu Kita-Shin-en

Shohachi Udon

Shohachi Udon (将八うどん) is a chained Udon Noodles Restaurant. The Kotohira Branch is located a few minutes' walk from Koto-den Kotohira Station on the way to Kompira-gu Shrine. The address is 664-14 Kotohira-cho, Nakatado County, Kagawa (香川県仲多度郡琴平町664-14).

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(Saturday 19 March) Shohachi Udon (将八うどん) Kotohira

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(Saturday 19 March) Posters of "Shikoku Kompira Kabuki O-Shibai" (四国こんぴら歌舞伎大芝居), Shohachi Udon Kotohira

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(Saturday 19 March) My lunch at Shohachi Udon Kotohira

Kompira-gu Shrine

Kompira-gu Shrine (金刀比羅宮) (also known as Kompira-dai-gongen (金比羅大権現), Kompira-san (こんぴらさん), or Kompira Shrine in English) is a Shinto shrine at 892-1 Kotohira-cho, Nakatado County, Kagawa (香川県仲多度郡琴平町892番地1). It is supposed to have been founded during the first century. Located at 521m halfway to the top of Hill of Zozu (象頭山, 536 m), the shrine stands at the end of a long path, with 785 steps to the main shrine and a total of 1,368 steps to the inner shrine. Since the Muromachi Period (1392-1573) pilgrimages to the shrine became popular, and even today usually hundreds of visitors in a day climb the steps of Hill of Zozu. On the way to the shrine is located a sake museum, various stores selling a variety of goods, and there are lots of stones in which are the names of donators to the shrine carved in kanji [Chinese]-characters. Due to the Honji-suijaku theory (本地垂迹説) which claimed the local kami were incarnations of Buddhist gods, Kompira-gu shrine was in times prior to the Meiji Era equally a Buddhist and a Shintoist sanctuary. The principal kami of the shrine used to be O-mono-nushi-no-mikoto (大物主命), a spirit associated with seafaring (also referred to as the Buddhist deity Kompira), but O-mono-nushi-no-mikoto got replaced by the spirit of Sutoku-Tenno (崇徳天皇; 1119-1164; r.1123-1141) in 1165. Prior to the Meiji Period it was known as Kompira-Daigongen (金比羅大権現), and it stood at the head of the nationwide group of shrines bearing the names Kompira and Kotohira. The ema hall (絵馬殿) is the site of prayers for safe seafaring. (Main reference: The Site of "Wikipedia")

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(Saturday 19 March) Signpost for the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) The main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Ogata Kamaboko specializing Jyako-ten (じゃこ天) along the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Jyako-ten (じゃこ天), Ogata Kamaboko

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(Saturday 19 March) On the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) First Stone Gate to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Gonin-Byakusho" (五人百姓): Signpost indicating the 294th steps: 491 more steps to the main hall of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Dai-mon" (大門; the great gate) of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Dai-mon" (大門; the great gate) of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Dai-mon" (大門; the great gate) of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Dai-mon" (大門; the great gate) of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Dai-mon" (大門; the great gate) of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Second Stone Gate to the main hall of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Statue of Kompira-inu (こんぴら狗) on the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Statue of Kompira-inu (こんぴら狗) on the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Third Shrine Gate to the main hall of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) The Sacred Stable (神馬), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) The Sacred Stable (神馬), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) The Sacred Stable (神馬), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Fourth Shrine Gate to the main hall of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Sho-in" Hall (書院), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Haraido-sha" (祓戸殿; the prifying hall), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Asahi-sha" Hall (旭社), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Asahi-sha" Hall (旭社), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Fifth Shrine Gate to the main hall of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Sakaki-mon" Gate (賢木門), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the main approach to Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Hon-den" (本殿, reconstructed in 1878), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Hon-den" (本殿, reconstructed in 1878), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Hon-den" (本殿, reconstructed in 1878), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Kagura-den" (神楽殿), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Minami-Watari-den" (南渡殿), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) A view from the main hall of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) A view from the main hall of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) "Shinsen-den" (神饌殿) or "Kita-Watari-den (北渡殿), Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the approach to the inner shrine of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the approach to the inner shrine of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Tokiwa-jinjya Shrine (常磐神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the approach to the inner shrine of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Hakuho-jinjya Shrine (白峰神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Hakuho-jinjya Shrine (白峰神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the approach to the inner shrine of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Sugawara-jinjya Shrine (菅原神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Sugawara-jinjya Shrine (菅原神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the approach to the inner shrine of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) On the approach to the inner shrine of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) The inner shrine or Izutama-jinjya Shrine (厳魂神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) The inner shrine or Izutama-jinjya Shrine (厳魂神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) The inner shrine or Izutama-jinjya Shrine (厳魂神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) The inner shrine or Izutama-jinjya Shrine (厳魂神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) Stone faces of Tengu (天狗) (right) and Karasu-tengu (烏天狗) (left) on the cliff by the inner shrine or Izutama-jinjya Shrine (厳魂神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) A view from the inner shrine or Izutama-jinjya Shrine (厳魂神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) A view from the inner shrine or Izutama-jinjya Shrine (厳魂神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

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(Saturday 19 March) A view from the inner shrine or Izutama-jinjya Shrine (厳魂神社) in the precinct of Kompira-gu Shrine

        

Copyright (c) 2011 Eishiro Ito.  All rights reserved.