is the memorial shrine of

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

in Mito,

Ibaraki Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...

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 ...

History

The Mito Tōshōgū was established by

Tokugawa Yorifusa , also known as Mito Yorifusa, was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the early Edo period. Biography Known in his childhood as Tsuruchiyomaru (鶴千代丸), he was the eleventh son of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa shogun with his concubine, Ka ...

, the 11th son of Tokugawa Ieyasu and ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of

Mito Domain was a Japanese domain of the Edo period. It was associated with Hitachi Province in modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture.Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

, Daishō-ji. A chapel to

Tokugawa Hidetada was the second ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa dynasty, who ruled from 1605 until his abdication in 1623. He was the third son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was born to Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Lady Saigō on May ...

was added in 1624 and since then the deified spirits of the successive shoguns have been enshrined at the shrine. The name of the shrine's location was changed to "Tokiwayama" by

Tokugawa Mitsukuni , also known as , was a Japanese daimyō, daimyo who was known for his influence in the politics of the early Edo period. He was the third son of Tokugawa Yorifusa (who in turn was the eleventh son of Tokugawa Ieyasu) and succeeded him, becoming ...

in 1699. The 9th daimyō of Mito Domain,

Tokugawa Nariaki Tokugawa Nariaki (徳川斉昭, April 4, 1800 – September 29, 1860) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' who ruled the Mito Domain (now Ibaraki Prefecture) and contributed to the rise of nationalism and the Meiji Restoration. Biography Clan leader ...

, in line with the nativist

Mito School refers to a school of Japanese historical and Shinto studies that arose in the Mito Domain (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture). Early history The school had its genesis in 1657 when Tokugawa Mitsukuni (1628–1700), second head of the Mito Domain ...

doctrines promoted by the domain, ordered that the temple be separated from the shrine, and that the Mito Tōshōgū be reformed along purely Shinto lines. This action was cited as one of the reasons for his dismissal from his posts within the shogunate administration and

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

at Mito. In 1875, under the

State Shinto was Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for Kannushi, priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that ...

system of shrine ranking, the Mito Tōshōgū was officially designated as a "prefectural shrine". The spirit of Tokugawa Nariaki was added in 1936. 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 ...

'' of the shrine, which had been designated as an Important Cultural Property since 1917 was destroyed by American bombing in

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 ...

. The ''Honden'' was rebuilt in 1962.

References

External links

*
Tourist website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mito Tosho-gu Beppyo shrines Tokugawa clan Shinto shrines in Ibaraki Prefecture 1621 establishments in Japan Mito, Ibaraki Buildings and structures in Japan destroyed during World War II Tōshō-gū Ken-sha Important Cultural Properties of Ibaraki Prefecture

History

See also

References

External links