Ichinomiya Kenshin College

is a Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth. ''Encyclopedia of Shinto''
''Ichi no miya''
retrieved 2013-5-14.

The term gave rise to modern place names, such as the city of Ichinomiya, Aichi.

Overview

The term "Ichinomiya" literally means "first shrine" and is popularly regarded as the highest ranking shrine in each province, with the second ranking shrine referred to as the "Ninomiya" and third ranking shrine as "Sannomiya", and so on. However, there is no documentary material stipulating on how the shrines in each province are to be ranked, or even when this ranking system was created. As a general rule, all shrines designated "Ichinomiya" are of ancient origin and are listed in the '' Engishiki'' records completed in 927AD. However, the shrine selected is not necessarily the largest, or oldest, in that province, and is not necessarily one of the "Meishin Taisha", which are regarded as the most important shrines. Rather, per the '' Ritsuryō'' legal and administrative system established in the Nara period, ''kokushi'' were appointed as imperial governors of each province. When the ''kokushi'' travelled from Heian-kyo to his local seat at the provincial capital, the first shrine he called upon officially in his province was the "ichinomiya". As the purpose of this visit was to announce to the local '' kami'' of his appointment to office, it was important that this shrine be dedicated to important local deities and to be located close to the provincial capital. Even after the collapse of the ''Ritsuryō'' system by the Kamakura period, the ''ichinomiya'' continued to enjoy a certain prestige, and often after all vestiges of the provincial capital had fallen into ruins and its exact location lost, the term "Ichinomiya" was often preserved as a place name.　

Tachibana Mitsuyoshi, a noted Shinto scholar in the early Edo Period visited ''ichinomiya'' nationwide for 23 years starting 1675, and wrote the record of his travels in a 13 volume account. This began the popularization of pilgrimages by the common populace to these shrines. Under State Shinto, the ''ichinomiya'' were not accorded any special status, although many were accorded high ranks under the Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines.

While as a rule-of-thumb, there can be only one "first shrine" in each province, several provinces have various rival candidates for the title. This has arisen for various reasons: relocation of the provincial capital can result in a new ''ichinomiya'' being appointed, or in some cases the merger of two provinces can result in two ''ichinomiya'' for the new province. In other cases, due to the ambiguity in the criteria for ''ichinomiya'' designation and due to conflicting ancient records, rival claimants have arisen.

References

External links

National Association of Ichinomiya website

See also

* Fuchū
* Kokubunji
* List of Shinto shrines
* Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines
* Sannomiya
* Twenty-Two Shrines

{{Authority control

Shinto shrines in Japan
Shinto terminology