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 sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...
in
Nishinomiya
270px, Nishinomiya City Hall
270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center
270px, Hirota Shrine
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density of 48 ...
,
Hyōgo,
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 is the head shrine of the
Ebisu sect of Shinto, and it is said that there are about 3,500 shrines under it. Locals call the shrine "Ebessan".
History
It is not clear when this shrine was established. However, it is recorded that it was already on this site, under the name Ebisu-sha, and attracting many worshipers during 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. ...
. For many centuries it was known as Nangu-sha, the "Southern Shrine", in reference to its status as a branch shrine of
Hirota Shrine
is a Shinto shrine in Nishinomiya City, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The town's name, "Nishinomiya", means ''"shrine of the west",'' and the town is named for Hirota Shrine.
Location
Hirota Shrine is near the bus stop for Hankyu Bus Co., Ltd. and H ...
, which is located to its north in Nishinomiya. Nishinomiya Shrine itself had a similar relationship with
Koshikiiwa Shrine, which was sometimes called Kita no Ebisu, meaning the Northern Ebisu.
Objects of worship
Nishinomiya Shrine has three small inner shrines and each shrine covers one or two
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 ...
. The first inner shrine covers Nishinomiya-Ōkami, or Ebisu-no-mikoto, namely Ebisu. The kami of the second shrine are
Amaterasu-Ōmikami and
Ōkuninushino-Mikoto. The kami of third shrine is
Susanoo-no-Mikoto
__FORCETOC__
Susanoo (; historical orthography: , ) is a in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory charac ...
.
It is famous for the Tōka-Ebisu festival, which is held on January 10 every year. Particular to this festival is the "Lucky Men" race. Begun during 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 characteriz ...
, participants gather in front of the shrine's main gate before 6am on the 10th of January. At 6am, the shrine's drum sounds, the gates are opened, and the assembled crowd sprints perilously 230 meters to the main hall. The top three finishers are given the title of "Lucky Men", and of those three the champion is known as the "Luckiest Man". The race has been known to attract more than 6,000 runners.
[.]
Access
*
Nishinomiya Station of
Hanshin Main Line
{{BS-map
, title=Route map
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, title-color=white
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{{BS, , , Lines are of Hanshin unless noted, }
{{BS5, , hBHF, , , tBHF, , , {{STN, Osaka/{{STN, Kitashinchi}
{{BS5, , hSTR, exKBHFa, tKACC ...
*
Nishinomiya Station of
JR Kobe Line
References
External links
Nishinomiya Shrine Homepage(in Japanese)
(in Japanese, one of lecturer of Kitakyushu College of Technology wrote)
Thesis of Historical transition of TOKA-EBISU "Open Gate" Ceremony in Nishinomiya Shinto shrine(in English, Hironori Arakawa, Associate Professor of National Institute of Technology, Akashi College wrote)
Shinto shrines in Hyōgo Prefecture
Important Cultural Properties of Japan
Buildings and structures in Japan destroyed during World War II
Beppyo shrines
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