Goō Shrine (護王神社ごおうじんじゃ ''Goō Jinja'') 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 Kamigyō-ku district of

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

History

The shrine began as a site to enshrine Wake no Kiyomaro, for its important contribution to the construction of the

Heian-kyō Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180. Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, mov ...

. Originally it was located inside the grounds of the Takaosan Jingoji temple, but in 1886 by order of the

Meiji Emperor , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figure ...

, it was relocated to its current location on the west side of the

Kyoto Imperial Palace The is the former palace of the Emperor of Japan. Since the Meiji Restoration in 1869, the Emperors have resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, while the preservation of the Kyoto Imperial Palace was ordered in 1877. Today, the grounds are open t ...

Present Day

Nowadays the Goō Shrine is a popular site frequented by people who come to pray for the recovery from lower-body injuries. This is due to a shrine legend that tells how during the travel on his way to exile to Usa, Wake no Kiyomaru was attacked and suffered a leg injury, but was saved by 300

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

s that saved him and protected him until the end of his journey. For this reason, the Shrine is also known as the ''Wild Boar Shrine" and has statues of boars instead of the traditional

komainu , often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures either guarding the entrance or the ''honden'', or inner shrine of many Japanese Shinto shrines or kept inside the inner shrine itself, where they are not visible to the ...

statues seen at

Shinto Shrines 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 ...

The shrine is also known as a place to pray for the well-being of children and child rearing, as Wake no Kiyomaru's sister, Wake no Hiromushi, is said to have taken care of 83 children who lost their families due to war. Wake no Hiromushi is also enshrined at the site as a child-rearing deity.

Around the Shrine

* Sugawarain Tenmangū Shrine

References

External links

Goō Shrine Official Website
(in Japanese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Goo Shrine Beppyo shrines Shinto shrines in Kyoto Places of Scenic Beauty Bekkaku Kanpeisha