is a Shinto shrine in the Shinichicho neighborhood of the city of Fukuyama in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''

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 Bingo Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on November 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 Kibitsu Jinja are: * , son of

Emperor Kōrei , also known as was the seventh legendary emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Very little is known about this Emperor due to a lack of material available for further verification and study. Kōrei is known as a ...

, conqueror of the

Kingdom of Kibi was a kingdom of fourth century Western Japan. The Kingdom of Kibi covered most of what is today Okayama Prefecture. Today, the Kibi Road crosses the plain between Okayama and Soja, what was once the heartland of ''Kibi no kuni''. Etymology In mo ...

* ,

* , empress of Emperor Kōrei. * , younger brother of Kibitsuhiko

History

The origins of Kibitsu Jinja are uncertain. The shrine claims that when

Kibi Province was an ancient province or region of Japan, in the same area as Okayama Prefecture and eastern Hiroshima Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kibi''" in . It was sometimes called . It was divided into Bizen (備前), Bitchū (� ...

was divided into three provinces in 806, it was established as a ''

bunrei is a Shinto technical term that indicates both the process of dividing a Shinto '' kami'' to be re-enshrined somewhere else (such as a house's '' kamidana''), and the spirit itself produced by the division. For details, see the article about the ...

'' from the original

Kibitsu Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the Kibitsu neighborhood of Kita-ku, Okayama in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Bitchū Province. The main festivals of the shrine is held annually on the second Sunday of May and on October 1 ...

in Okayama. However, there is no documentary evidence to support this, and the shrine does not appear in the ''

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 th ...

'', which was complied between 905 and 967 AD. The first time the shrine is mentioned in a historical source is in 1148 in which the name is mentioned in the records of

Yasaka Shrine Kanpei-taisha , once called , is a Shinto shrine in the Gion District of Kyoto, Japan. Situated at the east end of Shijō-dōri (Fourth Avenue), the shrine includes several buildings, including gates, a main hall and a stage. The Yasaka shrine is ...

, and archaeological excavations on the grounds have found not artifacts earlier than the 12th century. However, from the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

, it was regarded as the ''

'' of the province, and had a large number of estates, with which it often clashed with secular authorities. During the Nanboku-cho period, the shrine is the location where Imperial loyalist Sakurayama Koretoshi (桜山茲俊) raised an army in 1331 in support of the Southern Court. However, as detailed in the ''

Taiheiki The (Chronicle of Great Peace) is a Japanese historical epic (see '' gunki monogatari'') written in the late 14th century and covers the period from 1319 to 1367. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Taiheiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 923� ...

'', after receiving a false report that

Kusunoki Masashige was a Japanese samurai of the Kamakura period remembered as the ideal of samurai loyalty. Kusunoki fought for Emperor Go-Daigo in the Genkō War to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate and restore power in Japan to the Imperial Court. Kusunoki ...

had been defeated at Akasaka Castle, he committed suicide with his wife and children and burned the shrine down.Fukushima City home page
/ref> This event led to the area around the shrine to be designated as a National Historic Site in 1934.

Kō no Moroyasu Iwanami Nihonshi Jiten was one of the leading generals of Shōgun Ashikaga Takauji during the Nanboku-chō period, along with his brother Moronao and his cousin Morofuyu. Life In 1335 he was sent west from Kamakura, the capital, at the head ...

issued a decree in 1346 ordering the Bingo ''

shugo , commonly translated as “(military) governor,” “protector,” or “constable,” was a title given to certain officials in feudal Japan. They were each appointed by the ''shōgun'' to oversee one or more of the provinces of Japan. The pos ...

'' to stop harassing the shrine. During 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 ...

, the shrine was supported by

Mōri Terumoto Mōri Terumoto (毛利輝元, January 22, 1553 – June 2, 1625) was a Japanese ''daimyō''. The son of Mōri Takamoto, and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mōri Motonari, he fought against Oda Nobunaga but was eventually overco ...

, and in the

Edo Period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

it was supported by the

Fukushima clan may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture **Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan *** Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

and the

Mizuno clan The was a Japanese kin group which claimed descent from Minamoto no Mitsumasa, son of Minamoto no Tsunemoto of the Seiwa Genji clan. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2 ...

who were ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...

'' of

Fukuyama Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Bingo Province and Bitchū Province in modern-day Hiroshima Prefecture.">DF_39-40_of_80">"Mizuno"_at_''Nobiliare_du_Japon'',_pp._35–36_ DF_39-40_of_80/nowiki>_retrieved_2013-4- ...

. After the Meiji Restoration, it was listed as a in 1871. The shrine is located a twenty-minute walk from Shin-ichi Station on the JR West Fukuen Line.

Cultural properties

National Important Cultural Properties

*Honden, constructed in 1648 as a donation by

Mizuno Katsushige (1564–1651) was a Japanese samurai ''daimyō'' of the late Sengoku and early Edo periods. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Mizuno" at ''Nobiliare du Japon'', pp. 3 ...

. It is a seven by four bay hall in the relatively large and has a flat "Yomazukuri" style which is common in the Bingo and Aki regions *

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 ...

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese ...

, group of three with height of 78, 80 and 82 centimeters. As Komainu come in sets of two, one is missing. The statues are now kept at the

Tokyo National Museum The or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage ( :ja:国立文化財機構), is considered the oldest national museum in Japan, ...

. *

Tachi A is a type of traditionally made Japanese sword (''nihonto'') worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. ''Tachi'' and ''katana'' generally differ in length, degree of curvature, and how they were worn when sheathed, the latter depending on t ...

. Set of four. In 1972, the sword fittings were stolen and their whereabouts are unknown. The blades are currently deposited at the Okayama Prefectural Museum.

Gallery

File:吉備津神社 (福山市) 拝殿.JPG, Haiden（Fukuyama city ICP） File:Kibitsu shurine02.JPG, Kagura stage（Hiroshima Prefecture ICP） File:吉備津神社 (福山市) 上随神門.JPG, Upper Gate File:吉備津神社 (福山市) 下随神門.JPG, Lower Gate（Fukuyama city ICP） File:Kibitsu shurine03.JPG, Great Toriii（Fukuyama city ICP） File:吉備津神社 (福山市) 公孫樹.JPG, Gingko Tree File:吉備津神社 (福山市) 御池.JPG, Pond

References

External links

Official home page
{{Shinto shrine Shinto shrines in Hiroshima Prefecture Bingo Province Fukuyama, Hiroshima Ichinomiya Historic Sites of Japan Beppyo shrines