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, meanin ...

in the Kibitsu neighborhood of

Kita-ku, Okayama is one of four wards of Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The ward has an area of 451.03 km² and a population of 295,312. The population density is 655 per square kilometer. The name means "North Ward." The wards of Okayama were establi ...

Okayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture borders Tottori 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 n ...

. 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 ...

'' of former

Bitchū Province was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, in what is today western Okayama Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bizen and Bingo Provinces; those three provinces were settled in the late 7th Century, dividing f ...

. The main festivals of the shrine is held annually on the second Sunday of May and on October 15.

Overview

The Kibitsu Jinja is located in the western part of Okayama city, facing north at the northwestern foot of Mount Kibi-Nakayama (elevation 175 meters) on the border between former

Bizen Province was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of Honshū, in what is today the southeastern part of Okayama Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bitchū and Bingo Provinces. Bizen borders Mimasaka, Harima, and Bitchū Provinces. Bi ...

and Bitchū Province. The mountain has been worshipped as a sacred mountain from ancient times, and both the Kibitsu Jinja and

Kibitsuhiko Jinja is a Shinto shrine in the Ichinomiya neighborhood of the city of Okayama in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Bizen Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on the third weekend of October. Thes ...

are located at its northeastern foot. Kibitsu Jinja was originally the general guardian of Kibi Province, but due to the division of Kibi Province into three provinces, it became the ''

'' of Bitchū, and ''

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 this shrine created the ''ichinomiya'' of Bizen Province (Kibitsuhiko Jinja) and

Bingo Province was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, comprising what is today the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture. It was sometimes grouped together with Bizen and Bitchu Provinces as . The 備 ''bi'' in the names of these p ...

(Kibitsu Shrine). The

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 s ...

- Haiden, which was re-built by

Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was the third '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate, ruling from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was Ashikaga Yoshiakira's third son but the oldest son to survive, his childhood name being Haruō (). Yoshimitsu ...

, is a National Treasure and the sole exemplar of the '' kibitsu-zukuri'' style of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

, although the Soshidō of Hokekyō-ji is now believed to have been modeled thereon. In addition, the three shrine buildings are designated as National Important Cultural Properties, and a special Shinto ritual "Narukama Shinto" is famous.

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: * , the 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 ...

and 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 ...

* , descendant of Kibitsuhiko * , descendant of Kibitsuhiko * , elder sister of Kibitsuhiko * , elder sister of Kibitsuhiko * , elder brother of Kibitsuhiko * , brother of Kibitsuhiko * , brother of Kibitsuhiko * , brother of Kibitsuhiko

History

The origins of Kibitsu Jinja are uncertain. According to the shrine's legend, it is located at the site of Kibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto's residence, where he died at the age of 281, and was buried on the summit of the mountain. Afterwards, the residence was turned into a shrine, possibly by his fifth generation descendent Narumi Kaya, or by

Emperor Nintoku , also known as was the 16th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Due to his reputation for goodness derived from depictions in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, he is sometimes referred to as the . While his existenc ...

, who visited Kibi Province where he built several shrines to commemorated Kibitsuhiko. However, the shrine does not appear in any historical documentation until the late

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 Japan ...

, until entry in the ''

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 ...

'' dated 847 and the '' Nihon Montoku Tennō Jitsuroku'' dated 852. 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 ...

'' it was given the rank of and the rank of ''

'' of the province. From the

Kamakura is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Kamakura has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 persons per km² over the total area of . Kamakura was designated as a city on 3 November 1939. Kamak ...

through 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 ...

, was revered by the samurai, and there were frequent restorations of the shrine and donations of territory. 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 ...

in 1871, it was listed as a , and is 1914 was promoted to a . The shrine is a ten-minute walk from Kibitsu Station on the

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and i ...

Kibi Line is a railway line in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). It is also referred to as the . Stations All stations are in Okayama Prefecture. Rolling stock * KiHa 40 series diesel multiple units F ...

Cultural Properties

National Treasures

*''

'' and '' Haiden'',

Muromachi Period The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by ...

, built in 1390 and relocated their present locations in 1425.The main shrine has a ''Kibitsu-zukuri'' style roof, which consists of two ''Irimoya-zukuri'' roof are lined up in front and behind. The influence of Buddhist architecture can be seen in many details of the structure.

Important Cultural Properties

, built in 1357. *,

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 ...

, built in 1543. *,

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 character ...

, built in 1612. *, one pair, late Kamakura to Nanboku-cho period, Located to the east and west of the Honden.

Gallery

File:吉備津神社御釜殿.JPG, Okamaden（ICP） File:Kibitsu Jinja Corridor 03.JPG, Cloister File:吉備津神社北随神門.JPG, North Zuijinmon（ICP） File:Kibitujinja5024.JPG, Approach and Ni-no-Torii File:吉備津神社一の鳥居.JPG, Ichi-no-Torii

References

External links

Official home pageOkayama prefecture Official Tourism Guide
{{Shinto shrine Shinto shrines in Okayama Prefecture Bitchū Province Okayama Ichinomiya National Treasures of Japan Beppyo shrines