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 the Ichinomiya neighborhood of the city of

Takamatsu file:Takamatsu City Hall.jpg, 270px, Takamatsu City Hall file:Takamatsu city center area Aerial photograph.2007.jpg, 270px, Aerial view of Takamatsu city center file:Takamatsu200910cut.JPG, 270px, View from Yashima to Takashima port is a capital ...

Kagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kagawa Prefecture has a population of 949,358 (as of 2020) and is the List of Japanese prefectures by area, smallest prefecture by geographic area at . Kagawa Pr ...

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 is the ''

ichinomiya is a Japanese language, Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a Provinces of Japan, province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth.''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retr ...

'' of former

Sanuki Province was a province of Japan in the area of northeastern Shikoku. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sanuki''" in . Sanuki bordered on Awa to the south, and Iyo to the west. Its abbreviated form name was . In terms of the Gokishichidō system, ...

. The main festivals of the shrine are held annually on May 8 and October 8. It is located approximately 7 km south of downtown Takamatsu. The area has abundant spring water, and the shrine is based on the worship of the god of water and the shrine's inner shrine is built over a spring. The name 'Tamura' is based on locale, and has no relationship with

Sakanoue no Tamuramaro was a court noble, general and ''shōgun'' of the early Heian period of Japan. He served as Dainagon, Minister of War and ''Ukon'e no Taisho'' (Major Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards). He held the ''kabane'' of Ōsukune an ...

like other shrines of the same name in other parts of Japan.

Enshrined ''kami''

The ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'' enshrined at Tamura Jinja are: * , the daughter of the 7th

Emperor Kōrei , also known as was the seventh legendary emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Very little is known about this Emperor due to a lack of material available for further verification and study. Kōrei is known as a ...

, and a ''

miko A , or shrine maiden,Groemer, 28. is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. were once likely seen as Shamanism, shamans,Picken, 140. but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained ...

'' known for her divine marriage with Omononushi (the god of

Mount Miwa or is a mountain located in the city of Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It has been an important religious and historical mountain in Japan, especially during its early history, and serves as a holy site in Shinto. The entire mountain is co ...

) * , the son of Emperor Kōrei and conqueror of the

Kingdom of Kibi was a kingdom of fourth century Western Japan. The Kingdom of Kibi covered most of what is today Okayama Prefecture. Today, the Kibi Road crosses the plain between Okayama and Soja, what was once the heartland of ''Kibi no kuni''. Etymology In Ja ...

. * , leader of the earthly ''kami''. * *

History

The origins of Tamura Jinja are unknown. The monk Gyoki built a shrine over a sacred well in 709 AD; however, it is also recorded that a Buddhist temple was built at this site in that Taihō era (701-704). The temple and shrine were patronized by the Imperial family from an early date. The shrine is mentioned in the "

Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku , abbreviated as Sandai Jitsuroku, is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 901, it is the sixth and final text in the Six National Histories series. It covers the years 858–887. Background Following the earlier nati ...

" and ''

Engishiki The is a Japanese book of laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Engi-shiki''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178. History Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishi ...

'' records from 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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

, and was regarded as the ''

'' of the province from this time. It was promoted to Shoichii (Senior First Rank) in 1201, and a tablet with the inscription 'Shoichii Tamura Daimyojin' dated July 1284 survives at the shrine. The shrine was extended and reconstructed by

Hosokawa Katsumoto was one of the Kanrei, the deputies to the Ashikaga shogunate, Shōgun, during Japan's Muromachi period. He is famous for his involvement in the creation of Ryōan-ji, a temple famous for its rock garden, and for his involvement in the Ōnin War ...

in 1460. It was destroyed in the wars of the Tenshō era (1573-1592), but reconstructed again under the patronage of the

Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of the ...

, the

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 to ...

Takamatsu Domain 270px, Matsudaira Yoritoshi. pre-1903 270px, Takamatsu Castle Tsukimi Yagura was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. It was centered around Takamatsu C ...

under 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 ...

. In 1679, Ichinomiya-ji was separated from the Tamura Jinja, and the shrine lost its position as a stop on the

Shikoku pilgrimage The or is a multi-site pilgrimage of 88 temples associated with the Buddhist monk Kūkai (''Kōbō Daishi'') on the island of Shikoku, Japan. A popular and distinctive feature of the island's cultural landscape, and with a long history, ...

. During the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

era of

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 ...

, the shrine was rated as a under the

Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philos ...

Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan,'' pp. 125. The shrine is located a 10-minute walk from Ichinomiya Station on the Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad Kotoden Kotohira Line .

Gallery

File:Tamura-jinja (Takamatsu) ichinotorii.JPG, Ichi-no-Torii File:Tamura-jinja (Takamatsu) torii.JPG, Ni-no-Torii File:Tamura Jinja, Takamatsu 01.JPG, Zuishinmon Gate File:Tamura-jinja (Takamatsu) shoumen.JPG, San-no-Torii File:Tamura-jinja (Takamatsu) haiden.JPG, Haiden File:Tamurazinzyaɨ0.jpg, Honsha, Okudono File:Tamura-jinja (Takamatsu) keidai.JPG, Precincts

References

* Plutschow, Herbe. ''Matsuri: The Festivals of Japan''. RoutledgeCurzon (1996) * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887

External links

Official home page

Notes