is a Shinto shrine located in the Kita-ku

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. Established during 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 ...

, most likely around 1321-1324, the shrine gives the name of "Oji" to this area of the city. Most of the original buildings in the shrine precincts were destroyed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and were rebuilt from the late 50s to 1982. It is notable for its giant

ginkgo tree ''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of tree native to China. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossil ...

, suspected to be 600 years old and designated a

Natural Monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, na ...

in 1939, and for its annual festival (held in August), which includes a

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

parade and a performance of

dengaku were rustic Japanese celebrations that can be classified into two types: that developed as a musical accompaniment to rice planting observances, and the dances that developed in conjunction with . The celebrated for rice planting was perform ...

dance. It is one of the , of which it has been designated as the "northern protector shrine".

History

The exact date in which the Oji Shrine was founded is not known, but according to a stone with inscriptions (designated a Tangible Cultural Property of Tokyo) still standing beside the ginkgo tree, near the shrine precincts, Toyoshima contributed to found the shrine between 1321 and 1324. The giant ginkgo tree is suspected to have been planted at around this time.

Ōta Dōkan , also known as Ōta Sukenaga (太田資長) or Ōta Dōkan Sukenaga, was a Japanese ''samurai'' warrior-poet, military tactician and Buddhist monk. Ōta Sukenaga took the tonsure (bald scalp) as a Buddhist priest in 1478, and he also adopted t ...

(1432-1486), the

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

and Buddhist monk who designed and built the Edo Castle (now the Imperial Palace), is said to have taken shelter from a storm under a big

castanopsis ''Castanopsis'', commonly called chinquapin or chinkapin, is a genus of evergreen trees belonging to the beech family, Fagaceae. The genus contains about 140 species, which are today restricted to tropical and subtropical eastern Asia. A total o ...

tree in the shrine precincts which was destroyed, probably during

. The area of the Kita-ku

surrounding it receives the name of "Oji" from the shrine.

Architecture

Most of the original buildings of Oji Shrine were destroyed in 1945 during

, and were rebuilt in 1959-1964 and in 1982. Oji jinja - Torii

Torii and Chōzuya

The shrine entrance is marked by a big concrete in the ''myōjin'' style, very common in Shinto architecture, characterized by curved upper lintels. A short leads from the torii to the honden. On its right side stand a , the traditional water ablution pavilion used by worshippers to purify themselves before approaching the shrine. There is a back access to the shrine through a long stairway from the Otonashi Shinsui Park. This is where the giant ginkgo tree stands.

Honden

The main building of Oji shrine is a in the ''

Ishi-no-ma-zukuri , also called , and , is a complex Shinto shrine structure in which the ''haiden'', or worship hall, and the '' honden'', or main sanctuary, are interconnected under the same roof in the shape of an H.Encyclopedia of Shinto''Gongen-zukuri''acce ...

'' style, a complex Shinto shrine structure in which the ''

haiden Haiden may refer to: *A Gewürztraminer wine * Haiden (Shinto), the hall of worship of a Shinto shrine See also * Heiden (disambiguation) {{disambig ...

'', or worship hall, the '' heiden'', or offertory hall, and the ''honden'', are all interconnected under the same roof in the shape of an H.Encyclopedia of Shinto
''Gongen-zukuri''
accessed on December 21, 2017 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 ...

worshipped here are Izanami-no-Mikoto and Amaterasu-ōmikami, considered to be "especially benevolent regarding marriage ceremonies, marital harmony, and restoring luck".

Seki Shrine

At the left of the ''sandō'' stands a subsidiary shrine called ''Seki shrine''. This small shrine has been described as "rare even within Japan since it is dedicated to an ancestral deity in charge of hair."

Ginkgo tree

The ''ginkgo biloba'' or ginkgo tree stands on a hill of the left bank of the Otonashi river, just beside the shrine precincts, at the right side of the sandō. It has a height of 24.2 m and a trunk circumference of 5.2 m. It is suspected to have been planted during the construction of the shrine, which would make it more than 600 years old. Unlike most of the Oji shrine, the ginkgo tree survived the

bombing of Tokyo The was a series of firebombing air raids by the United States Army Air Force during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Operation Meetinghouse, which was conducted on the night of 9–10 March 1945, is the single most destructive bombin ...

during

, although the top part of the trunk was damaged. One of the main attractions of the shrine, it was designated a

in 1939. Another giant ginkgo tree of similar characteristics in Tokyo is located in the grounds of

Shiba Tōshō-gū is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in the Minato ward of Tokyo, Japan. Like every other '' Tōshō-gū'' shrine, it is characterized by enshrining the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu with the name Tōshō Daigon ...

Annual Events

The annual festival of Oji Shrine is held the first Sunday of August. It features a

parade, and the performance of the ''Oji Jinja Dengakumai'' dance, one of Japan's three great

dances.

Access

There is no admission fee for visitors to enter the shrine precincts, and there is parking space available. The entrances is at a 3-minute walk from the north exit of Oji Station on the Keihin-Tōhoku Line, or from exit 3 of the same station on the

Tokyo Metro Namboku Line The is a subway line owned and operated by Tokyo Metro in Tokyo, Japan. The line runs between Meguro in Shinagawa and Akabane-Iwabuchi in Kita. The Namboku Line was referred to as Line 7 during the planning stages, thus the seldom-used officia ...

, at a 5-minute walk from Ōji-ekimae Station and a 7-minute walk from Asukayama Station on the

Toden Arakawa Line The , branded as the , is a hybrid light rail/tram line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei). The Arakawa Line is the sole survivor of Tokyo's once-extensive Tokyo Toden streetcar system. It is one ...

References

External links

Official website
(in Japanese) {{Shinto shrine Shinto shrines in Tokyo Kumano faith