is a

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

located in the city of

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It was built as the shrine to protect Izumii Castle (predecessor to

Kanō Castle Kanō Tenman-gū was a ''hirajirō''-style Japanese castle located in the city of Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. It was one of the few castles built after the Battle of Sekigahara and establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate and was used as an adm ...

). As a Tenman-gū, it is dedicated to Tenjin, the deified form of

Sugawara no Michizane , or , was a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian period of Japan. He is regarded as an excellent poet, particularly in '' waka'' and '' kanshi'' poetry, and is today revered in Shinto as the god of learning, . In the famed poem anthology ' ...

. Additionally, Matsudaira Mitsushige, who first created

Gifu Umbrellas , or Gifu Japanese umbrellas, are a special product of the city of Gifu in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. They have been labeled as one of Gifu's traditional crafts. History In 1639, the Matsudaira clan became rulers of the Kanō Domain and brought wit ...

, is also canonized on the shrine grounds. The shrine's festival is held on the third Saturday and Sunday of October each year.

History

In 1445, Saitō Toshinaga constructed Izumii Castle (泉井城 ''Izumii-jō'') and, at the same time, commissioned the construction of the Tenman-gū for the god that would protect the castle. (Other records indicate that the shrine was first constructed in 1350.) Even after Izumii Castle was abandoned in 1538, people were still being enshrined in the Tenman-gū after their deaths.

Okudaira Nobumasa , also called Okudaira Sadamasa (奥平貞昌), was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku and early Edo periods. Nobumasa's family considered their origins to have been associated with Mikawa Province. The clan was descended through the Akam ...

built Kanō Castle in 1601 and moved the shrine to its current location and named it Kanō Tenman-gū.''Gifu City Walking Map''. Gifu Lively City Public Corporation, 2007. In 1810, nearly four centuries after its construction, the shrine's '' haiden'' (拝殿 ''prayer hall'') was rebuilt. This structure, however, was damaged on October 28, 1891 when the Mino–Owari earthquake struck the area. The shrine was again damaged in 1945, during the

firebombing Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs. In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary d ...

of Gifu during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Most of the shrines buildings were lost to fire, but the ''haiden'' remained. An early reconstruction of 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 sta ...

'', or main shine, took place in 1948, but it was again rebuilt in 2003. At the same time, the float carrying tradition that was stopped after World War II was brought back as part of the Kanō Tenman-gū Festival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kano Tenman-Gu Buildings and structures in Gifu Shinto shrines in Gifu Prefecture Tenjin (kami)