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, mean ...

in Wakasa,

Tottori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Tottori Prefecture is the least populous prefecture of Japan at 570,569 (2016) and has a geographic area of . Tottori Prefecture borders Shimane Prefecture to the west, Hir ...

, Japan. The main

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

is held in May.

History

Wakasa Jinja is said to have been built in the early

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 ...

by the Yabe clan, the builders of

Wakasa Oniga Castle was a Sengoku period mountain-top Japanese castle located in what is now the town of Wakasa, Tottori Prefecture, in the San'in region of Japan. The ruins of the castle were designated a National Historic Site in 2008. History Wakasa Oniga C ...

. It was originally called the "Matsugami Daimyojin". Even after Wakasa Oniga Castle was abandoned, the shrine was protected by the

Ikeda clan was a Japanese clan that claimed descent from Minamoto no Yorimitsu (948-1021) of the Seiwa Genji. Minamoto no Yasumasa, the fourth generation descending from Yorimitsu, and younger brother of Minamoto no Yorimasa (1104-1180), was the first t ...

, ''

daimyo 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 nominally t ...

'' of

Tottori Domain 270px, Ikeda Yoshinori 270px, Front gate of the Tottori Domain residence in Edo was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Tottori Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It controlled all of Inaba Pro ...

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 character ...

. The precincts of the shrine are covered with extensive virgin forests of

Japanese cypress ''Chamaecyparis obtusa'' (Japanese cypress, hinoki cypress or hinoki; ja, 檜 or , ) is a species of cypress native to central Japan in East Asia, and widely cultivated in the temperate northern hemisphere for its high-quality timber and ornam ...

and fir trees, and have been designated as 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 ...

by Tottori Prefecture as the "Wakasa Shrine Shrine Forest"

External links

Tottori Prefecture Tourism office

References

Shinto shrines in Tottori Prefecture Wakasa, Tottori {{Japan-religious-struct-stub

History

See also

External links

References