The Himegamisha Shrine ( Japanese: 比売神社, ''Himegamisha'') 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 ...

in the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

, in

Nara Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Nara Prefecture has a population of 1,321,805 and has a geographic area of . Nara Prefecture borders Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Osaka Prefecture to the northwest, Wakayama P ...

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 ...

. It is built in 1981 by the people of this neighborhood on the tomb called ''Hime-zuka'' (princess' tomb) that is estimated to be a burial place of

Princess Tōchi was a Japanese Imperial House of Japan, Imperial princess during the Asuka period of Japanese history and the empress consort to her cousin Emperor Kōbun. Her name Tōchi is derived from the Tōchi district, a neighbourhood located a few miles ...

, an Empress-consort of

Emperor Kōbun was the 39th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 弘文天皇 (39)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. Kōbun's reign lasted on ...

. It is a ''

sessha and , also called Iwanami Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version. (collectively known as The term ''setsumatsusha'' is the combination of the two terms ''sessha'' and ''massha''.) are small or miniature shrines entrusted to the c ...

'' (subsidiary shrine) of the Kagami Shrine.

History

In 1930s, the ''Hime-zuka'' became nation's property and managed by Nara Bureau of Financial Affairs. Several decades later, this grave was disposed to the residents of this neighborhood. They tried to build a shrine and enshrine

to it, for the revival of this area. The land was donated to the

Shin-Yakushi-ji is a Buddhist temple of the Kegon sect in Nara, Japan. It was founded in 747 by Empress Kōmyō. Initially a large complete Shichidō garan temple, it suffered from fire damage and deteriorated during the Heian period. The temple was revived duri ...

temple, and the

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 ...

ceremonies to be held in the shrine were delegated to the chief priest of the Kagami Shrine. A ground-breaking ceremony was held in the summer of 1980, and a roof-laying ceremony in the end of that year, in cooperation with the Shin Yakushiji Temple and the Kagami Shrine. The shrine building was completed. The celebrating ceremony of enshrinement was held on May 10, 1981, which was the day converted to the solar calendar of the 7th Day of the 4th Month, when the princess died. That was how the shrine was founded.

Additional images

Image:Himegamisha2.jpg, People make wishes for good marriage, and '' Emas'' are suspended on the wall. Image:Kamukataishi.jpg, ''Kamukataishi'' (deity-imaged stones). In front of a big stone where happy-looking couple is carved, are four stones enshrining

down to the three-generations in his lineage.

References

* ''比売神社　由緒'', distributed at the Kagami Shrine. {{Shinto shrine Religious buildings and structures completed in 1981 Shinto shrines in Nara Prefecture