is a

Shinto shrine A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion. Overview Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings. The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...

located in the city of

Fukui is a Japanese name meaning "fortunate" or sometimes "one who is from the Fukui prefecture". It may refer to: Places * Fukui Domain, a part of the Japanese han system during the Edo period * Fukui Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in ...

, Japan. In the former

Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines The was an organizational aspect of the establishment of Japanese State Shinto. This system classified Shinto shrines as either official government shrines or "other" shrines. The official shrines were divided into #Imperial shrines (''kampeisha ...

, it was a special shrine (別格官幣社, ''Bekkaku Kanpei-sha''). Its main festival is held annually on August 25. was the head of the

Nitta clan The was one of several major families descended from the Seiwa Genji, and numbered among the chief enemies of the Hōjō clan regents, and later the Ashikaga shogunate. The common ancestor of the Nitta, Minamoto no Yoshishige (1135 – 1202 ...

in the early fourteenth century, and supported the

Southern Court The were a set of four emperors (Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitively ...

Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order ...

in the

Nanboku-chō period The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, ''Nanboku-chō jidai'', "North and South court period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Mur ...

. He fought against the partisans of the Northern pretender led by

Ashikaga Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. His rule began in 1338, beginning the Muromac ...

brothers in a see-saw campaign which saw the capital change hands several times. However, during the Battle of Kuromaru in 1338 he was killed in combat. In 1660, a farmer tilling the land near the site of the battle uncovered a ''

kabuto ' (兜, 冑) is a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors which, in later periods, became an important part of the traditional Japanese armour worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan. Note that in the Jap ...

'' helmet and presented it to

Matsudaira Mitsumichi was an early to mid-Edo period Japanese samurai, and the 4th ''daimyō'' of Fukui Domain.Foulk, T. Griffin. "The Forgotten history of Daian-zenji, a Tokugawa-period Zen Monastery," ''The Japan Foundation Newsletter'' (''Kokusai Kōryū Kikin''), ...

, ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of Fukui Domain. The construction of the helmet indicated that it had belonged to a high-ranking warrior, and the domain's chief military strategist, Inoue Banzaemon declared that it must have belonged to Nitta Yoshisada. A mound, the "Nitta-zuka", was built on the site where the farmer found the helmet as a memorial. In 1870, the imperial governor of Fukui,

Matsudaira Mochiaki was a Bakumatsu period ''daimyō'' under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was the 7th ''daimyō'' of Itoigawa Domain in Echigo Province and later the 17th (and final) ''daimyō'' of Fukui Domain in Echizen Province.Burks, Ardath ...

, built a

on top of the Nitta-zuka. This shrine was named "Fujishima Jinja" in 1876 and was given a formal ranking in the

State Shinto was Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that emphasized the Emperor as ...

system. However, the shrine was relocated in 1881, and rebuilt again in 1905, so that its present location is some three kilometers from the original Nitta-zuka. It is one of the

Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration Minatogawa Shrine The Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration (建武中興十五社, ''Kenmu chūko jūgosha'') are a group of Shinto shrines dedicated to individuals and events of the Kenmu Restoration The was a three-year period of Impe ...

, built by the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

to commemorate the events of the

and to promote loyalty to the

Imperial family of Japan The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

. The ''kabuto'' is preserved at the shrine, and is an Important Cultural Property.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Beppyo shrines 1870 establishments in Japan Shinto shrines in Fukui Prefecture Fukui (city) Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration Bekkaku Kanpeisha Important Cultural Properties of Fukui Prefecture

See also

References

External links