is any Shinto shrine in which

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fello ...

(1543–1616) is enshrined. Ieyasu was the founder of the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

(1603-1868), which is the third and last of the shogunal governments in Japanese history. He was deified with the name , the "Great Gongen, Light of the East" (A ''Gongen'' is believed to be a

buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

who has appeared on Earth in the form of a ''

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

'' to save sentient beings), and this is what gives ''Tōshō-gū'' shrines their name. Tōshō-gū shrines are found throughout Japan. The most famous Tōshō-gū is located in

Nikkō is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 80,239 in 36,531 households, and a population density of 55 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a popular destination for Japanese and ...

Tochigi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,943,886 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,408 km2 (2,474 sq mi). Tochigi Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the ...

. It is one of Japan's most popular destinations for tourists and is part of '' Shrines and Temples of Nikkō''

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. Ieyasu's son, the second shōgun

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, the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate. Early life (1579–1593) Tokugawa Hidetada was bo ...

, ordered the construction of the Nikkō Tōshō-gū. Later, the third shōgun Iemitsu had the shrine greatly enlarged and lavishly decorated.

Ueno Tōshō-gū is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan. First established in 1627 by Tōdō Takatora and renovated in 1651 by Tokugawa Iemitsu, the shrine has remained mostly intact since that time, making it a great example ...

at Ueno Park in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

is also widely known. The Kunōzan Tōshō-gū is in Shizuoka Prefecture and rivals Nikkō's for decorative splendor. Another one is the Nagoya Tōshō-gū, constructed in 1619. A Tōshō-gū can also be found at Miyanochō, in Sendai. During the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

these shrines reached 500 in number, but after 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 practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

many were abandoned, and others united with shrines in the area. Presently, it is estimated that there are about 130 Tōshō-gū. The National Tōshō-gū association lists a total of 48 shrines.

Gallery of Tōshō-gū shrines

File:Karamon of Nikko Tosho Shrine.JPG,

Nikkō Tōshō-gū is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in t ...

Nikkō, Tochigi File:Haiden of Kunozan Toshogu.jpg, Kunōzan Tōshō-gū
Shizuoka, Shizuoka File:Wongwt 上野東照宮 (17098019409).jpg,

Tokyo, Tokyo File:Sendai Tōshō-gū haiden.jpg,

Sendai Tōshō-gū is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

Sendai, Miyagi File:NagasakiToshogu.jpg, Nagasaki Tōshō-gū
Nagasaki, Nagasaki File:Shiba Toshogu 07.JPG,

Shiba Tōshō-gū is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in the Minato ward of Tokyo, Japan. Like every other '' Tōshō-gū'' shrine, it is characterized by enshrining the first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu with the name Tōshō Daigon ...

Tokyo, Tokyo File:140321 Reikyu-jinja Shimabara Nagasaki pref Japan03s3.jpg, Reikyū Shrine
Shimabara, Nagasaki File:Houraisantoushouguu1.JPG,

Hōraisan Tōshō-gū is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Shinshiro, Aichi, Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It enshrines the deified first Shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu. History The Hōraisan Tōshō-gū was established by Shōgun Tokug ...

Shinshiro, Aichi

References

External links

Toshogu.net
(in Japanese) * National Archives of Japan

Shinto shrines in Japan {{Shinto-stub

Gallery of Tōshō-gū shrines

See also

References

External links