is a

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 ...

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

located in the Misugi neighborhood of the city of Tsu,

Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area of . Mie Prefecture is bordered by Gifu Prefecture to the north, Shiga Prefecture and Kyoto Prefectur ...

, Japan. It is one of the

Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration Minatogawa Shrine The Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration (建武中興十五社, ''Kenmu chūko jūgosha'') are a group of Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its ...

. The main ''

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 is the deified spirit of the imperial loyalist Kitabatake Akiyoshi and other members of the

Kitabatake clan The Kitabatake clan was a clan that ruled south Ise Province in Japan and had strong ties to the eastern provinces through Pacific sea routes. Among its leaders included Kitabatake Tomonori. Clan heads # Kitabatake Masaie (1215–1274, founder) ...

. The shrine's main festival is held annually on October 13.

History

The shrine is located on the site of the Kitabatakeshi Yakata, a fortified residence of the Tage Kitabatake clan during the

Nanboku-chō period The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, ''Nanboku-chō jidai'', "North and South court period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Mur ...

. Kitabatake Tomofusa's 4th grandson Suzuki Sonbei Ieji built a small

Hachiman shrine A is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the ''kami'' Hachiman. It is the second most numerous type of Shinto shrine after those dedicated to Inari Ōkami (see Inari shrine). There are about 44,000 Hachiman shrines. Originally the name 八幡 was ...

on this site in 1643. 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 new

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

sought out sites connected with the earlier

Kenmu restoration The was a three-year period of Imperial rule in Japanese history between the Kamakura period and the Muromachi period from 1333 to 1336. The Kenmu Restoration was an effort made by Emperor Go-Daigo to overthrow the ruling Kamakura Shogunate ...

and established a number of Shinto shrines on these locations, both to emphasize the legitimacy of the new regime and to spread the doctrine of State Shinto. This small Hachiman shrine was rebuilt in November 1881 as the Kitabatake Shrine, and Hachiman was displaced by the deified spirits of Kitabatake Akiyoshi, together with

Kitabatake Chikafusa was a Japanese court noble and writer of the 14th century who supported the Southern Court in the Nanboku-cho period, serving as advisor to five Emperors. Some of his greatest and most famous work was performed during the reign of Emperor G ...

and

Kitabatake Akiie was a Japanese court noble, and an important supporter of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-chō Wars. He also held the posts of Commander-in-Chief of the Defense of the North, and Governor of Mutsu Province. His father was Imperial advi ...

. In 1907, 16 small shrines from various locations in Tage village were merged into the Kitabatake Shrine, and in 1928 the shrine buildings were reconstructed. The shrine was given then official rank of under the pre-World War II

Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines The was an organizational aspect of the establishment of Japanese State Shinto. This system classified Shinto shrines as either official government shrines or "other" shrines. The official shrines were divided into #Imperial shrines (''kampei ...

. The shrine Is located about ten minutes by car from the Hitsu Station on the JR Central

Meishō Line The is a rural, regional railway line of Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) in Mie Prefecture, Japan, connecting Matsusaka station in Matsusaka and Ise-Okitsu station in Tsu. The line takes its name from the kanji characters of the c ...

Tage Kitabatakeshi Yakata (Tage Kitabatake clan fortified residence)

The Kitabatake clan was a cadet branch of the

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during th ...

and served closely with the Southern Court during the wars of the Nanboku-chō period, later reaching an accord with the

Ashikaga shogunate The , also known as the , was the feudal military government of Japan during the Muromachi period from 1336 to 1573.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Muromachi-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 669. The Ashikaga shogunate was establi ...

. The clan ruled as ''kokushi'' of

Ise Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today includes most of modern Mie Prefecture. Ise bordered on Iga, Kii, Mino, Ōmi, Owari, Shima, and Yamato Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History The name of Ise appears ...

to the end of 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 ...

. They chose the mountainous Tage area which connected

Yamato Province was a province of Japan, located in Kinai, corresponding to present-day Nara Prefecture in Honshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2005). "Yamato" in . It was also called . Yamato consists of two characters, 大 "great", and 和 " Wa". At first, th ...

with the Ise Plain to be their stronghold and constructed a fortified residence (''yakata'') on a site that was protected by rivers to the east, south and north, with a steep slope to the west extending to their main redoubt in the mountains, Kiriyama Castle. The residence site is roughly trapezoidal, measuring 200 meters from north-to-south and 110 meters from east-to-west. The northern portion of the site is now occupied by the Kitabatake Shrine. The residence was used until Kitabatake Tomonori (1528–1576) relocated his seat to Okawachi Castle. However, the

gardens A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

which were made for the residence have survived. In 1936, the ruins of Kiriyama Castle were designated as a National Historic Site, together with the ruins of the Kitabatakeshi Yakata gardens, which were also designated as a National Scenic Site. The site of the residence was excavated in 1996, during which time the remains of many buildings from the first half of the 15th century were discovered, along with ceramic shards from China and from many parts of Japan, fragments of armor, and of Buddhist statues and ritual items. In 2006, the National Historic Site designation was expanded to cover the entire Kitabatakeshi Yakata site, including the gardens, Kiriyama Castle and the area connecting the two zones under the name of "Tage Kitabatakeshi Jōkan ato" (Tage Kitabatake clan fortified residences sites). The total area after the integration and addition was 268,906.91square meters. In 2017, the Kitabatakeshi Jōkan was listed as one of the

Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles The is a list of 100 castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it ...

in 2017.

References

External links

Tsu City tourist information Kitabatakeshi Jōkan Gardens Official website
* https://www.info.city.tsu.mie.jp/www/contents/1001000011242/index.html Tsu City tourist information Kitabatakeshi Jōkan Official website] {{Continued Top 100 Japanese Castles Shinto shrines in Mie Prefecture Castles in Mie Prefecture Historic Sites of Japan Places of Scenic Beauty Tsu, Mie Ruined castles in Japan Sengoku period Beppyo shrines Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration Bekkaku Kanpeisha

History

Tage Kitabatakeshi Yakata (Tage Kitabatake clan fortified residence)

See also

References

External links