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 ...

in Chūō-ku,

Hamamatsu is a Cities of Japan, city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the t ...

Shizuoka Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,555,818 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Pref ...

, Japan. It was established in 1886, and its main festival is held annually on October 10. It is also sometimes known as the

History

Motoshirochō Tōshō-gū is one of many shrines in all locations in Japan dedicated to the deified spirit 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 ...

, the founder of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, which ruled Japan during the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

from 1601 to 1868. The site of the shrine has especially strong connections to Tokugawa Ieyasu, as he lived at Hikuma Castle, where the shrine was built, for 17 years, from age 29 to 45.

Hamamatsu Castle is a ''hirayama''-style Japanese castle ruin, with some replica castle buildings. It was the seat of various '' fudai daimyō'' who ruled over Hamamatsu Domain, Tōtōmi Province, in what is now central Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan und ...

, which was ruled by a succession of ''

fudai daimyō was a class of ''daimyō'' (大名) in the Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府) of Japan who were hereditary vassals of the Tokugawa before the Battle of Sekigahara. ''Fudai daimyō'' and their descendants filled the ranks of the Tokugawa admin ...

'' under

Hamamatsu Domain was a Japanese Han (Japan), domain of the Edo period, located in Tōtōmi Province. It was centered on what is now Hamamatsu Castle in what is now the city of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Hamamatsu was the residence of Tokugawa Ieyasu for m ...

was built overlapping the ruins of Hikuma Castle. Following the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. the castle was pulled down, and much of its area was subsequently absorbed by the growing urbanization of the modern city of Hamamatsu. Ii Hachirō (1816-1897), the former castellan of Hamamatsu Castle, petitioned the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

for permission to build a shrine of the site of Tokugawa Ieyasu's residence in Hikoma Castle in 1877. Permission was granted, but no funding. As raising the funds to build the shrine took a long time, it was not until 1887 that a temporary shrine was built on the grounds of the adjacent

Dai Nippon Hotokusha Dai may refer to: Names * Dai (given name), a Welsh or Japanese masculine given name * Dai (surname) (戴), a Chinese surname * Bảo Đại (保大), Emperor of Vietnam from 1926 to 1945 Places and regimes * Dai Commandery, a commandery of the ...

, a public foundation dedicated to propagating the teachings of

Ninomiya Sontoku , also known as Ninomiya Kinjirō (二宮金次郎), was a Japanese agriculturalist. He lost his parents when he was a boy, but through hard work and diligence, he rebuilt his fallen family at the age of 20. Later, he rebuilt approximately 600 v ...

. The shrine at Motoshirochō was not completed until 1936. However, during the

Bombing of Hamamatsu in World War II The was part of the strategic bombing campaign waged by the United States of America against military and civilian targets and population centers of the Empire of Japan during the Japan home islands campaign in the closing stages of the Pacific ...

, the shrine burned down. The present structure dates from 1958.

External links

Hamamtsu city home page
Shinto shrines in Shizuoka Prefecture Buildings and structures in Hamamatsu 1886 establishments in Japan Tōshō-gū {{Tokugawa Faith

History

See also

External links