The Absolutely Incredible, Unbeatable Power of Izumo Taisha
A-I-U-E-O Essay: 'I'
'I'zumo
Have you ever experienced the presence of a god?
I have.
If there were a tournament for the strongest Japanese gods, the gods of Izumo would surely be in the top three—they are the real deal.
The gods here have immense strength and incredible tenacity.
I am one of four sisters, and all of them married off early except for me.
My father's motto is 'Every family member should be equally happy,' and his definition of happiness is 'having a stable home and being blessed with children'—he's a typical Showa-era guy.
My older and younger sisters all married off smoothly, just as my father hoped.
But I was nearing thirty and was well on my way to being an old maid.
I was reasonably popular, but I had the worst luck with men.
If you shoot enough arrows blindly, you'll eventually hit something; in a way, even incompetent people can be popular if they play their cards right.
This is the worst possible situation.
It's like swinging a hero's sword around in the starting village; my level was stupidly high, but I wasn't actually fighting any real battles.
At the time, I had a boyfriend I'd been with for a year, but looking back, it was a shallow relationship.
It was as black and dead as the nail on my father's pinky toe.
It was the kind of relationship where, if you gave it a little tug, it would peel right off, but I was too scared to pull it, and honestly, what was the point of it even being attached to the finger anyway?
I knew he didn't value me, but I clung to him because I thought if I broke up with him, I wouldn't have a future.
There was also the pressure of finally receiving a wedding invitation from my last single friend.
My father was serious about this, so he decided, 'This is the last big job of my life!' and set off for Izumo Taisha in Shimane Prefecture.
It was October, the month of the gods (Kannazuki), when all the gods in Japan leave their homes and gather in Izumo.
So, Izumo is packed with gods, making it the month when you can receive the most blessings.
He prayed fervently and triumphantly bought me a super-powerful marriage-luck charm.
'I will definitely get you married!'
The charm radiated a strong will, and my father wore a look of smug satisfaction.
I had mixed feelings.
I wanted to get married, but I had resistance to getting married via Izumo Taisha.
Ignoring the fact that I was the one who was seriously flawed, I thought, 'This is the kind of thing that people who are seriously flawed do.'
I guess when you take rudeness to the extreme, you become blind.
Besides, I think it's too much to ask to just pop in when you're in trouble, toss in five yen, and say, 'Please help me!'
It's like meeting someone for the first time and saying, 'This is fate, lend me a million yen! I'll give you a five-yen chocolate in return!'
If I were a god, I'd say, 'Get lost, you idiot!'
Well, my father spent even more money than that, but that just made it feel even less like my own doing.
I wanted to believe in the god of romance rather than the god of marriage, and even though it had nothing to do with it—just like how there's no definition of happiness—I was hung up on it.
That's why it didn't work out, I suppose.
While I complained about this and that, I still accepted the charm from my father.
So that no one would see it, I tucked it into the zippered pocket of a card case I hadn't opened since the day I bought it.
Whether it's romance or marriage, a god is a god; I'll rely on them in secret.
From then on, for a year, I faced a series of crises that threatened to end the relationship.
But a seriously flawed person is blind.
I clung to every crisis and every troublesome argument, thinking, 'If I can just overcome this, marriage awaits!'
I thought the gods were testing my spirit, laughing out loud, 'You think you can get married without overcoming something like this? Don't make me laugh!'
I won't let them beat me.
And besides, all the romance advice in the world says things like, 'Most people find happiness after overcoming obstacles! When you're in trouble, that's your chance!'
I understand now that in love, a crisis is just a crisis, and it's definitely the limit.
There are some games you should just accept you've lost.
Six months after I had struggled to hold on, he suddenly cut off contact, filed for a transfer to another prefecture without telling me, and sent me a LINE message from his new location saying, 'I'm breaking up with you forever.'
Even then, I couldn't accept it, so I talked to a single senior colleague at work.
Consulting a single person about this wasn't exactly the best idea.
But the senior said, 'You can still do it, the Izumo Taisha charm is the best for getting back together!'—the same advice I'd heard 10,000 times.
I said, 'I have that!' and when I took the charm out, it was in an impossible state.
It had a hole in it, as if it had burst from the inside.
I hadn't opened the zippered pocket since I received it from my father, so it couldn't have been worn out by friction.
Only about a year had passed, so it couldn't be age-related deterioration either.
The fabric of the sturdily sewn charm bag had popped open from the inside without a single fray, leaving a hole about the size of a pinky finger!
I was desperate to be with that man, but were the gods just as desperate to pull us apart?
My eyes were opened all at once.
The gods were holding me in a full nelson and pulling me away, telling me that nothing good would come from being with such a selfish man, and that we weren't even compatible in the first place.
But I had resisted, and the elbow I threw while struggling had hit the god right in the ribs, and now it was like they were coughing up blood because a broken rib had pierced their lung!
The true benefit of matchmaking is to preserve good connections and sever bad ones.
I've lived a long life as a late bloomer, but I've never felt such divine power before.
The real deal really has different arm strength.
I finally understood why everyone says Izumo Taisha is the real deal.
It really is about muscles; even the gods are about muscles.
I carefully wrapped the amulet in a handkerchief and went to return it to Izumo on my next day off (which happened to be in October).
On that very same day, Kyoko, the daughter of Animal Hamaguchi, happened to be visiting the shrine, and I spoke with her briefly.
When I told her the whole story, she patted me on the back with incredible strength and said, 'Be honest in love! After that, it's all about fighting spirit!'
Thank you very much.
Time has passed since then, and I have met a lifelong partner whom I love, and I am satisfied with that.
My father finally gave up, saying 'That's enough,' now that he has seven nieces and nephews.
Everyone, there are many gods in Japan.
If you are going to seriously rely on the gods, please choose a god with as much arm strength as possible.
If you're lost, go to Izumo.
That god's arm strength is the real deal.
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