Introduction

Commiserations are due if you have ever had the misfortune of experiencing piles or hemorrhoids. Strictly speaking, the term ‘hemorrhoids’ refers to vascular structures in the anal canal that help with stool control, but is also used when they become swollen and inflamed. (Squeamish folks should be aware that the Wikipedia entry has photos.) 

What did people do for hemorrhoids before modern medicine? If it was a mild case, they waited for them to heal. Some sought out herbal remedies, such as those developed during the Edo period by medical scholar Nanyo Hara. Others had them treated with silk ligation, where the hemorrhoids are tied up with thread and left to die through necrosis before naturally falling off. Most importantly, they prayed to the powers-that-be to take away these nasty, painful piles. 

At any rate, hemorrhoids were common enough to warrant some specialised Shinto shrines and temples. There are more than can reasonably be written about in a single article, so I’ve selected the ones with the most interesting stories. Worship at these places became more widespread from around the middle of the Edo period. Why? You’ll have to find out by reading on. 

Honshōji Temple, Tokyo

Belonging to the Nichiren sect of Buddhism, Honshō-ji is the ur-hemorrhoid temple, the one that begat the widespread worship of the hemorrhoid deity. 

Our story begins with a man named Okada Magōemon, who was a clerk at a sake store in Edo. History would have condemned him to obscurity were it not for the last seven years of his life, which he spent in debilitating agony from hemorrhoids. For years prior to his death in 1744, Okada often visited Honshō-ji, a temple near the Sumida River, to pray for relief from his symptoms. His piles never went away, and before he died, he solemnly vowed to become a guardian for those suffering from similar ailments. 

Posthumously deified as Shūzan Jiun Reijin, he was enshrined at the temple as the protector of ‘illnesses below the waist.’ Many Nichiren sect temples across the country such as Sōkenji Temple in Tokyo and Okikaku Temple in Osaka followed suit, erecting monuments and branch locations for his worship, which was said to cure such maladies in one’s next life.

(Conversely, is contracting hemorrhoids a sign of poor karma in one’s past life? One has to wonder.) 

Faith in his healing powers also spread across Japan from 1745 onwards, with the temple attracting pilgrims from far and wide. Worship of Shūzan Jiun Reijin seems to have been especially prevalent west of Nagoya around the Kansai region, and remained popular until the development of modern medicine. Still, if you’re suffering from prickly pain, a little help from the other world can’t hurt. 

Kunigami Shrine, Tochigi

Located in the town of Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Kunigami Shrine is a bit of a mystery. There isn’t much information on its history, origins, traditions, or rituals. We don’t know how old the shrine is; it fell into disrepair in the 1980s before being reopened some thirty years later. 

However, the most interesting aspect of this shrine is its curious festival (‘kisai’) – the Jikatamajinai Festival, which was revived in 2012 by a local preservation society after it had been discontinued in 1988. 

The festival is held every year in mid-July, and revolves around the sacred egg-shaped “butt-washing stone” on the shrine grounds. It begins with speeches, followed by an egg art award ceremony, but the real highlight of the Jikatamajinai is the butt-washing ritual. 

In this ritual — which the shrine priest will first demonstrate for all — worshippers pray for the prevention and healing of hemorrhoids by squatting and pointing their butt out towards the stone, chanting ‘ketsupitashi’ three times. ‘Jikata’ is a local term used to refer to people with hemorrhoids, while ‘ketsupitashi’ derives from ‘ketsu wo hitasu’ or to ‘soak the buttocks.’ 

Naturally, one must pay to pray. Participating costs ¥1,000 or ¥2,000, which also nets you a boiled egg, a raw egg, and a drink; the more expensive entry fee includes a lucky amulet. 

The original ritual consisted of getting naked and cleaning one’s rectum in the holy Naka river nearby before pointing their arse towards the egg while praying. Then, you ate boiled eggs. (Unclear why.) However, modern morality discourages the practice of mooning everyone from an open river, so the first bit of the ceremony was discontinued while keeping its essence. 

One source claims that the festival was originally held on 1 June, as many farmers suffered from hemorrhoids due to over-exertion and exposure to the cold during the rice planting season. This day was for them to take a break from the fields — and hope their piles wouldn’t get worse, probably. 

Jigami Shrine, Mie

‘Ji’ 痔 is the word for ‘hemorrhoid,’ so the name of this shrine is rather self-explanatory. Indeed, the enshrined kami is referred to as 痔神大明神 Jigami Daimyōjin or the Great Shining Hemorrhoid Deity, which is not a phrase one ever imagines writing or reading.  

Very little is known about its history and origins; what little remains comes from oral traditions. One theory suggests that it was originally called chigami or jigami 地神 ‘god of the land’ and later changed to the similar-sounding jigami 痔神 ‘hemorrhoid deity.’ Another posits that the object of worship is a white snake that came from the sea. Its annual festival is on 3 April. 

What we do know is that in 1907, the shrine consisted of a simple wooden hokora no taller than around 45cm. However, a woman from an area nearby (Isshindencho) had a larger shrine built in its place at the end of the Taisho era as thanks for the divine power that healed her hemorrhoids. It was later renovated several times; local residents now maintain the shrine. Hand towels seem to be the offering of choice here. 

Shiogama Shrine, Aichi

Did you think the sake clerk was the only deity of hemorrhoids around? Think again. Musando no Ōkami, another hemorrhoid kami, resides in Shiogama Shrine, located in one of the shopping streets in downtown Nagoya. According to the shrine officials, this deity was officially enshrined in 1992. Does that mean it’s a Millennial? Not quite.  

Whenceforth this kami? There was supposedly a kappa living in the Egawa River. Kappa are mischievous and sometimes terrifying yōkai. It was common folk knowledge that humans all have a “small anus ball” (shirikodama 尻子玉) which kappa desire for a variety of reasons (largely speculative) and would extract if given the chance, such as if a human showed their backside to a kappa. 

Not the Egawa kappa, though. This one cures hemorrhoids. If you stand on the northwest side of Sanno Bridge, hitch up your skirts (or pull your trousers down) and display your arse to the river, this deity will cure those afflicted with hemorrhoids. (This comes from an old folk story: A kind farmer takes care of a sick kappa. Grateful kappa wants to repay him. The farmer needs his hemorrhoids gone. Kappa tells him to follow the instructions above to get rid of the hemorrhoids.) For extra efficacy, you can make offerings of cucumbers or watermelons, which kappa love. People also used to cast rice cakes into the water for the same reason. 

All this suggests that the deity has been around for much longer than the 1990s. Indeed, that particular river confluence has been considered sacred for a long time. Over there is a large stone with an inscription detailing its sacred origins; 1992 was when it was added to the precincts of Shiogama. There even used to be a proctology clinic nearby, which attracted patients in droves. That the hemorrhoid shrine was featured on TV at some point didn’t hurt business there, either. 

Fun fact: One can also pray at Shiogama Shrine for protection against insects.

Hirota Shrine, Osaka

Still suffering from hemorrhoids? Try abstaining from red stingray. 

At Hirota Shrine in downtown Osaka, red stingrays are thought to be the messengers of the sea deity enshrined there. Sufferers will be cured if they abstain from eating red stingray and make an offering of one of the votive plaques while praying at the shrine. This practice also exists at Nagata Shrine in Kobe, Hyogo.

Red stingray is (apparently) revered for its efficacy in curing ailments such as hemorrhoids and other intractable diseases. Why, then, should abstaining from it by fasting and praying cure these illnesses? In a word, a pun. These sea creatures have sharp spines on their tails, and by metaphorically cutting the tail off — i.e. abstention — one could eradicate ailments that resembled the pain of being pricked by these spines. The area was historically a coastal fishing village, and fishermen often suffered from hemorrhoids during their work, which theoretically gave rise to this folk belief. People will try anything to cure piles.

How and when did Hirota Shrine come to be associated with hemorrhoids? Iwai Hiromi mentions a few folk theories in Cultural History of Humans and Things 12. One is that the ‘deity of the land’ was mistakenly identified as ‘hemorrhoid deity’ — an easy mistake, since they sound quite close in Japanese. Another odd story links it to its former location on the precincts of Shitennō-ji (also downtown Osaka), with the implication that the temple grounds were hemorrhoids and that the shrine was the cure.

Written by Florentyna Leow