SaiÅ
A Saio (斎 王, also: Itsuki no Miko (いつき の みこ) ) was an unmarried woman and relatives of the Tennō that between the late 7th century and the 14th century as a temple servant and Priestess ( Miko ) to Ise Shrine was sent to Ise in Mie Prefecture. The SAIO resided in about 10 km north- westerly Saiku (斎 宫). The remains of the residence located in what is now Meiwa.
Survey
According to a 2000 year old legend broke the mythical Princess Yamato Hime no mikoto (倭 比 売 命, also倭 姫 命), daughter of Suinin Tennō, from Mount Miwa in Nara prefecture on to a suitable place for the worship of the sun goddess Amaterasu - ō -mi- kami to find. Your search lasted 20 years, until they finally came to Ise, where today is the Ise Shrine. Until then, Amaterasu was worshiped in the imperial palace to Yamato.
After the Man'yōshū the first SAIO was Princess Oku, daughter of Temmu Tennō ( Asuka period ). SAIO are also mentioned in the Genji Monogatari and Ise Monogatari.
The tasks of a SAIO
The main task of a SAIO was to serve as a priestess in the name of Tennō and in the succession of Yamatohime -no- mikoto at Ise Shrine. For most of the year, held his SAIO at her residence, the Saiku on and passed the time with gasket and all kinds of idleness, waiting to be called back to Kyoto. It was up to the SAIO to perform three important Zermonien at Ise Shrine in the course of a year. These included the Tsukinami Festival in June and the Kanname hard (神 尝 祭) in September. On the occasion of Kanname feast she brought the gods represent offerings to pray for a good harvest in the coming year.
The end of the Saio - rite
It is not known exactly when ended the SAIO custom. It is known that the end with the "Days of northern and Südhöfe " in which fought the dynasties in Kyoto and Yoshino to the throne succession coincided. Up to this time the custom fell into disrepair and the residence Saiku was simply moved to the disintegration of the custom in another farming village. Only in 1970 were discovered during construction work in Meiwa ceramic remains of Saiku, whereby the exact location could be determined. At the site of the first discoveries today is a museum where the excavations are exhibited. Large parts of the Saiku below the Ise - line of the railway company Kinki Nippon tetsudō and are therefore inaccessible.
List of SAIO
The following list gathers all SAIO who have served since the establishment of this custom by Tennō Temmu in Ise Shrine.