is a

shrine A shrine ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...: ''escri ...

of 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 ...

Hachiman In Japanese religion, ''Yahata'' (八幡神, ancient Shinto pronunciation) formerly in Shinto and later commonly known as Hachiman (八幡神, Japanese Buddhist pronunciation) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war, incorporating elements f ...

, located in Miyaki, Saga,

Saga Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyushu. Saga Prefecture has a population of roughly 780,000 and has a geographic area of . Saga Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northeast and Nagasaki Prefect ...

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 ...

Information

In July 1189, Ayabe Shirodayu Michitoshi, prayed for victory in the

Battle of Ōshū The Battle of Ōshū (奥州合戦, ''Ōshū-kassen'') was a major battle between the Kamakura government and the Northern Fujiwara that took place in the Tōhoku region of Japan from September 1 to October 14, 1189. It resulted in the downfall ...

. After the battle had ended, he was given land as a reward. He then donated some of the land to have a shrine built on it. Ayabe Shrine was then built in 1205, at the foot of what was once Ayabe Castle. The shrine is also known as the oldest meteorological observatory in Japan. On July 15 every year, flags are raised on trees at the shrine. After five days, the location of the flag is used to predict future weather events. A festival is held every year with various Shinto rituals and sumo wrestling to mark the event.

References

{{reflist Hachiman shrines Religious buildings and structures in Saga Prefecture Buildings and structures completed in 1205 Religious buildings and structures completed in the 1200s Miyaki, Saga