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 Kirishima,

Kagoshima Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of 1,527,019 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 9,187 Square kilometre, km2 (3,547 Square m ...

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 ...

Takachiho-gawara is a small plain located near Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. In Shinto, it is the theorized to be the exact place of the descent from Heaven ( Takamagahara), known as Tenson kōrin, of Ninigi-no-Mikoto, the grandson of Amaterasu. ...

the location of the descent from heaven is present on the shrine grounds. Historically, the entire of

Mount Kirishima The are a 1700 meter high active volcano group in Kagoshima Prefecture and Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. Numerous eruptions have been recorded since 742. Very strong eruptions happened in 788, 1716 and 1717. Augite-hypersthene andesite ...

is considered part of the shrine grounds. Today, parts of the mountains where festivals take place and the location of the

Tenson kōrin In Japanese mythology, the is the descent of Amaterasu's grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto from Heaven ( Takamagahara) to Ashihara no Nakatsukuni; according to legend, the direct place of descent is at Takachiho-gawara in Japan. Following the ''tens ...

is considered part of the shrine grounds. It is dedicated to

Konohanasakuya-hime Konohanasakuya-hime is the goddess of Mount Fuji and all volcanoes in Japanese mythology; she is also the blossom-princess and symbol of delicate earthly life. She is often considered an avatar of Japanese life, especially since her symbol is th ...

Hoori , also known as , is a figure in Japanese mythology, the third and youngest son of and the blossom princess . He is one of the ancestors of the Emperors of Japan as the grandfather of Emperor Jimmu. He is also known as . Mythology Hoori's legen ...

Toyotama-hime is a goddess in Japanese mythology who appears in ''Kojiki'' and ''Nihon Shoki''. She is the daughter of the sea deity, Watatsumi, and the wife of Hoori. She is known as the paternal grandmother of Emperor Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan. To ...

Ugayafukiaezu is a Shinto ''kami'', and is in Japanese mythology, the father of Japan's first Emperor, Emperor Jimmu. Nomenclature and story In the ''Kojiki'', his name appears as , and in the ''Nihon Shoki'' as . Basil Hall Chamberlain glossed the ''Kojiki ...

, Tamayori-bime and

Ninigi-no-Mikoto is a deity in Japanese mythology. (-no-Mikoto here is an honorific title applied to the names of Japanese gods; Ninigi is the specific god's name.) Grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, Ninigi is regarded according to Japanese mythology as the ...

. This shrine holds several Important Cultural Properties, such as 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 ...

'', '' heiden'', '' haiden'', , etc. It has been destroyed several times by

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

eruption A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior has ...

References

External links

Official Website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirishima-Jingu Shinto shrines in Kagoshima Prefecture Important Cultural Properties of Japan Beppyo shrines Kanpei Taisha Shōsha Ronsha Important Cultural Properties of Kagoshima Prefecture