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 Kojo neighborhood of the city of Takaoka,

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 1,044,588 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

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 one of four shrines claiming the title of ''

ichinomiya 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 t ...

'' of former

Etchū Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today Toyama Prefecture in the Hokuriku region of Japan. Etchū bordered on Noto and Kaga Provinces to the west, Shinano and Hida Provinces to the south, Echigo Province to the east and the Sea ...

. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on April 23.

Enshrined ''kami''

The ''

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

'' enshrined at Imizu Jinja is: * , which is identified with

Ninigi-no-mikoto is a deity in Japanese mythology. Grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, Ninigi is regarded according to Japanese mythology as the great-grandfather of Japan’s first emperor, Emperor Jimmu. The three sacred treasures brought with Ninigi from ...

, and the ancestral spirit of the Imizu ''

kuni no miyatsuko , also read as "kokuzō" or "kunitsuko", were officials in ancient Japan at the time of the Yamato court. Yamato period Kuni no miyatsuko governed small territories (), although the location, names, and borders of the provinces remain unclear. Kun ...

History

The foundation of shrine is uncertain, but is believed to be from before the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

. According to shrine legend, Mount Futagami was worshipped as a

sacred mountain Sacred mountains are central to certain religions, and are usually the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms. Many rel ...

since ancient times. In 717 AD, the wandering monk

Gyōki was a Japanese Buddhist priest of the Nara period, born in Ōtori county, Kawachi Province (now Sakai, Osaka), the son of Koshi no Saichi. According to one theory, one of his ancestors was of Korean descent. Gyōki became a monk at Asuka-dera, ...

visited the area, and built the temple of Yōrō-ji at the base of the mountain to subsume the mountain cult into Buddhism under ''

shinbutsu-shūgō ''Shinbutsu-shūgō'' (, "syncretism of kami and buddhas"), also called Shinbutsu shū (, "god buddha school") Shinbutsu-konkō (, "jumbling up" or "contamination of kami and buddhas"), is the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism that was Japan's o ...

''. The shrine first appears in documentary records in the 780 AD ''

Shoku Nihongi The is an imperially-commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 797, it is the second of the ''Six National Histories'', coming directly after the '' Nihon Shoki'' and followed by ''Nihon Kōki''. Fujiwara no Tsugutada and Sugano no Mamichi ...

'', where it is recorded as having received the court rank equivalent of Lower 5th Rank, Junior grade. It was promoted to Lower 5th rank Senior grade per the 795 AD ''

Nihon Kōki is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 840, it is the third volume in the Six National Histories. It covers the years 792–833. Background Following the earlier national history ''Shoku Nihongi'' (797), in 819 Empero ...

'' and to Senior 4th Rank senior grade per the 840 AD ''

Shoku Nihon Kōki is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 869, it is the fourth volume in the Six National Histories. It covers the years 833–850. Background Following the earlier national history ''Nihon Kōki'' (840), in 855 Emperor ...

''. In 854 AD, it was granted Junior 3rd Rank ''

Nihon Montoku Tennō Jitsuroku , abbreviated as Montoku Jitsuroku, is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 879, it is the fifth text in the Six National Histories series. It covers the years 850-858, the years of reign of the 55th Japanese sovereign, E ...

'', and in 859 AD advanced to Senior 3rd Rank per the ''

Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku , abbreviated as Sandai Jitsuroku, is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 901, it is the sixth and final text in the Six National Histories series. It covers the years 858–887. Background Following the earlier nation ...

''.The name of the shrine appears in a poem by

Ōtomo no Yakamochi was a Japanese statesman and '' waka'' poet in the Nara period. He was one of the ''Man'yō no Go-taika,'' the five great poets of his time, and was part of Fujiwara no Kintō's . Ōtomo was a member of the prestigious Ōtomo clan. Like his g ...

in the ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

'' poetry anthology, which is another indication of its fame and status. Per the 927 AD ''

Engishiki The is a Japanese book about laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History In 905, Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ...

'', the shrine is listed as the largest shrine is Izumi County of

. The shrine was initially regarded as the ''Ni-no-miya'' of Etchū Province, and became the ''ichinomiya'' of the province when

Noto Province was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern part of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, including the Noto Peninsula (''Noto-hantō'') which is surrounded by the Sea of Japan. Noto bordered on Etchū and Kaga provinces to the so ...

was separated from Etchū, with the former ''ichinomiya'', Keta Taisha, falling within the borders of Noto Province. The shrine burned down during the

Jōhei , also romanized as Shōhei, was a after ''Enchō'' and before ''Tengyō.'' This period spanned the years from April 931 through May 938. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * January 22, 931 : The new era name was created to mark an event ...

era (931-937) AD, and never regained its former prominence. It was rebuilt in 1475 and destroyed again in the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

. After the establishment of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

, it was patronized by the

Maeda clan was a Japanese samurai clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central Honshū from the end of the Sengoku period through the Meiji restoration of 1868. The Maeda claimed descent from the Sugawara clan of Sugawara no Kiyotomo and Suga ...

and ancient ''

yamabushi are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. They are generally part of the syncretic religion, which includes Tantric Buddhist, Shinto, and Japanese Taoist elements. Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yama-bito and some (saints or ho ...

'' rituals were revived. Following 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 ...

, the shrine was deprived of its revenues under the ''

shinbutsu bunri The Japanese term indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto ''kami'' from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated. It is a ...

'' decrees and its Buddhist facilities quickly fell into ruin. With the establishment of

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 ...

, the shrine was designated as a . The shrine was relocated to its present location within the former second bailey of Takaoka Castle in 1875 – a move greatly opposed by the inhabitants of its former location, who were angered that the government was depriving them of their ancient place of worship. The new shrine was destroyed in June 1900 during the Great Takaoka Fire, and was rebuilt in 1902. The current ''

Shinmei-zukuri is an ancient Japanese architectural style typical of Ise Grand Shrine's ''honden'', the holiest of Shinto shrines.Encyclopedia of Shinto It is most common in Mie Prefecture.JAANUS History Ancient shrines were constructed according to the styl ...

''-style

Honden In Shinto shrine architecture, the , also called , or sometimes as in Ise Shrine's case, is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined ''kami'', usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a sta ...

dates from this time. The shrine is located a 15-minute walk from Takaoka Station.

Gallery

File:Imizu jinja Gate.JPG, Torii: File:国幣中社射水神社.jpg, Imizu Shrine in 1938 File:明治期の国幣中社射水神社.jpg, Imizu Shrine in 1909

References

External links

Official websiteToyama Tourist Information
Beppyo shrines Shinto shrines in Toyama Prefecture Etchū Province Takaoka, Toyama Ichinomiya Kokuhei Chūsha Myōjin Taisha Myojin Ronsha {{Shinto-stub

Enshrined ''kami''

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links