is a

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

located in Soeda,

Fukuoka prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 Square kilometre, km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders S ...

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 ...

. Located on the boundary between Fukuoka and Oita Prefectures, Hiko-san has been venerated from ancient times as a sacred mountain. It was also a center of training for the

Shugendō is a highly syncretic religion, a body of ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn from local fol ...

sect of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. The shrine is located on the Fukuoka Prefecture side of the mountain. The Jō-gu is located in the innermost part of the shrine grounds on the top of Naka-dake, the center peak of the three Hiko-san peaks. The sanctuary is said to have been built in 546. The Hōhei-den, a large lecture hall built in 1616, and the Kane-no-Torii, a bronze Shinto gateway built in 1637, have both been designated Important Cultural Properties by the Japanese government.

History

The shrine was originally built in 546 as a center of training for the Shugendō Yamabushi sect of Buddhism. However, the Shugendō temple was abolished by the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. Reisen-ji ( 霊泉寺), the head temple of the

Tendai Buddhism , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese ...

, was converted into Hikosan Jinja (英彦山神社). In 1975, it was renamed and status elevated to its present name, Hikosan Jingū. It is the only Jingu in Fukuoka prefecture and is the oldest of three original sacred mountains of the Yamabushi. 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 an imperial shrine of the second rank or '' kanpei-chūsha'' (官幣中社).

Gallery

File:Hikosan Jingu Hoheiden 02.jpg, Hōhei-den ( Important Cultural Property) File:Hikosan Jingu Hoheiden 03.jpg, File:Hikosan Jingu Kane-no-Torii.jpg, Kane-no-Torii ( Important Cultural Property) File:Hikosan Jingu Omotesando 01.jpg, Omotesandō, very steep stone stairways approaching to the shrine. File:Hikosan Kaen Slope car.jpg, Hikosan Kaen

Slope car A is a small automated monorail, or a fusion between monorail, people mover, and rack railway. It is a brand name of . Since this mode of transportation is relatively unknown, it lacks widely accepted generic name, other than the simple "monorai ...

, a monorail system run from Kane-no-Torii to Hikosan Jingū, was open in 2005.

External links

Hikosan-jingu Shrine - Japan National Tourism Organization Official Website (in English)
Beppyo shrines Shinto shrines in Fukuoka Prefecture Shugendō Shinbutsu bunri Kanpei Chūsha Soeda, Fukuoka {{Shinto-stub

History

Gallery

See also

External links