Chiba Shrine (千葉神社, ''Chiba-jinja'') is a

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

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 ...

located in Chūō-ku,

Chiba City is the capital city of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It sits about east of the centre of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay. The city became a government-designated city in 1992. In March 2025, its population was 983,045, with a population density of 3,617 people ...

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

. Originally a

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 ...

dedicated to the

deity A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

Myōken Myōken (, ; Chinese: 妙見菩薩 (Traditional) / 妙见菩萨 ( Simplified), ; Japanese: 妙見菩薩, ''Myōken Bosatsu''), also known as Sonjō-Ō (尊星王, "Venerable Star King", also ''Sonsei-Ō'' or ''Sonshō-Ō''), is a Buddhist deifi ...

, the patron of the

Chiba clan The Chiba Clan (千葉氏 ''Chiba-shi'') was a Japanese '' gōzoku'' and samurai family descending from the Taira clan. The clan was founded by Chiba Tsuneshige, originally Taira Tsuneshige. The Chiba governed in Shimōsa Province, and the cla ...

, it was converted into a Shinto shrine dedicated to

Ame-no-Minakanushi Ame-no-Minakanushi (天之御中主, lit. "Heavenly Ancestral God of the Originating Heart of the Universe") is a deity (''kami'') in Japanese mythology, portrayed in the ''Kojiki'' and the ''Nihon Shoki'' as the first or one of the first deitie ...

(a ''

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 ...

'' in

Japanese mythology Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...

conflated with Myōken) 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 ...

. Due to its historical status as one of the principal centers of Myōken worship in Chiba Prefecture associated with the Chiba clan, the shrine is also popularly known as Chiba Dai-Myōken (千葉大妙見, "Great Myōken hrineof Chiba"), Myōken Hongū (妙見本宮, the ″Main Shrine (''Hongū'') of Myōken″), or simply as Myōken- sama (妙見様).

Deities

The shrine's main deity is the

god In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

under the name 'Hokushin Myōken Sonjō-Ō' (北辰妙見尊星王, lit. "Venerable Star King Myōken of the

North Star Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude t ...

(''Hokushin'')"). The shrine's auxiliary deities are: *

Futsunushi , also known as , is a warrior god in Japanese mythology. Also known under the epithet Katori Daimyōjin () after his shrine in northern Chiba Prefecture (historical Shimōsa Province), Katori Jingū, he is often revered alongside Takemikazuc ...

:Futsunushi (the warrior god of

Katori Jingū The is a Shintō shrine in the city of Katori in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. It is the ''ichinomiya'' of former Shimōsa Province, and is the head shrine of the approximately 400 Katori shrines around the country (located primarily in the Kantō r ...

in Katori, Chiba) is jointly worshiped here as the site where Chiba Shrine stands was originally part of the precincts of a nearby Katori branch shrine known as Innai Katori Shrine (院内香取神社, ''Innai Katori-jinja''). As the 'landlord' of the Chiba Shrine grounds, certain deferential customs are observed during the shrine's week-long Myōken Taisai festival out of respect for Futsunushi. *

Yamato Takeru , originally , was a Japanese folk hero and semi-legendary prince of the imperial dynasty, son of Emperor Keikō, who is traditionally counted as the 12th Emperor of Japan. The kanji spelling of his name varies: it appears in the ''Nihon Shoki'' ...

Background

Chiba Shrine was originally a temple to the

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

divinity Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...

(

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

: Sudṛṣṭi, lit. "Wondrous Vision"), the deification of the

Big Dipper The Big Dipper (American English, US, Canadian English, Canada) or the Plough (British English, UK, Hiberno-English, Ireland) is an asterism (astronomy), asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major; six of them ar ...

and/or the northern pole star. The cult of Myōken is thought to have developed in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

during the

Tang period The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and T ...

, when

Taoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ...

Big Dipper and pole

star worship The worship of heavenly bodies is the veneration of stars (individually or together as the night sky), the planets, or other astronomical objects as deities, or the association of deities with heavenly bodies. In anthropological literature these ...

was adopted into Buddhism. It was then introduced into Japan somewhere during the 7th century by immigrants (''

toraijin Toraijin () refers to the people who came to Japan from mainland Asia in ancient times, as well as their descendants. Up until the 1960s, these people were commonly called the "Kikajin", meaning "naturalized people", but beginning in the 1970s, th ...

'') from

Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...

and

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

. Myōken worship flourished in the eastern half of the country (the modern Kantō and Tōhoku regions) - where the ''toraijin'' were resettled during the reign of

Emperor Tenji , known first as and later as until his accession, was the 38th emperor of Japan who reigned from 668 to 671. He was the son of Emperor Jomei and Empress Kōgyoku (Empress Saimei), and his children included Empress Jitō, Empress Genmei, an ...

(reigned 661–672 CE) - and was quite prevalent among many clans based in this area such as the Chiba and the Sōma clans. Temples and shrines to Myōken were especially numerous in former Chiba territories. The relationship between Myōken and the Chiba clan is traditionally traced back to the clan's ancestor,

Taira no Yoshifumi Taira no Yoshifumi (平良文) was a Japanese samurai lord of the Heian period. Dubbed the "father of Musashi Plain development," the eight Taira clans of East Japan are said to have descended from him. He was also known as Muraoka Gorō. Life ...

, the uncle of

Taira no Masakado was a Heian period provincial magnate (''gōzoku'') and samurai based in eastern Japan, notable for leading the first recorded uprising against the central government in Kyōto. Along with Sugawara no Michizane and Emperor Sutoku, he is of ...

. Legend states that when Yoshifumi and his nephew was about to lose a battle against Yoshifumi's elder brother

Kunika Kunika Sadanand, known mononymously as Kunika, is an Indian actress, advocate, producer and social activist. She is known for her various characters in many Indian films as a villain and in comic roles. Also a singer, she has released three ...

(father of

Taira no Sadamori Taira no Sadamori (平貞盛)(10th century) was a samurai of the Taira clan who was involved in suppressing the revolt of Taira no Masakado in the 930s-940. Family Taira no Sadamori was the son of Taira no Kunika and grandson of Taira no Takam ...

) at the Someya River (染谷川, ''Someyagawa'') in

Kōzuke Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Gunma Prefecture. Kōzuke bordered Echigo Province, Echigo, Shinano Province, Shinano, Musashi Province, Musashi and Shimotsuke Province, Shimotsuke Provinces. Its abb ...

(modern

Gunma Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of . Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fuk ...

), they were rescued by Myōken, the deity of nearby Sokusai-ji (息災寺, modern Myōken-ji in

Takasaki is a Cities of Japan, city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 372,369 in 167,345 households, and a population density of 810 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Takasaki is famous as th ...

, Gunma). After reaching safety, Yoshifumi went to this temple to express his gratitude and took one of the seven statues of Myōken enshrined there with him. This image was passed down to his descendants, who venerated Myōken as their patron deity. When 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 ...

enforced the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in the late 19th century, many shrines that venerated Buddhist figures or deities of mixed heritage either changed or associated their deities to ones found in classical

as written in texts such as the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and the ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

''. Many places of worship dedicated to Myōken thus began to identify their deity as

, a

primordial deity In Greek mythology, the primordial deities are the first generation of Deity, gods and goddesses. These deities represented the fundamental forces and physical foundations of the world and were generally not actively worshipped, as they, for the ...

who (like Myōken) came to be identified with the pole star and the Big Dipper.

History

According to tradition, the Buddhist temple Hokutosan Kongōju-ji (北斗山金剛授寺) was founded in the thirteenth day of the ninth month of the year 1000 ( Chōhō 2) by the monk Kakusan (覚算), a son of Taira no Tadatsune (the paternal grandson of Yoshifumi), who then became its first abbot (大僧正 ''daisōjō'' or 座主 ''zasu''). The temple was built at the command of

Emperor Ichijō was the 66th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 一条天皇 (66)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Ichijō's reign spanned the years from 986 to 1011. Biography Before he ascended to the Chrysanthe ...

(reigned 986-1011) in thanksgiving for his recovery from an eye disease. Chiba castle

In 1126 ( Daiji 1), Tadatsune's great-great-grandson Taira no Tsuneshige transferred his clan's power base from Ōjī Castle in

Kazusa Province was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture. The province was located in the middle of the Bōsō Peninsula, whose name takes its first ''kanji'' from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa province ...

(modern Ōji-chō, Midori-ku, Chiba City) to a new castle located about a kilometer south of Kongōju-ji, situated in a natural plateau known as Mount Inohana (modern Inohana, Chūō-ku). During the transfer, the clan shrine to Myōken which enshrined the image supposedly brought by Yoshifumi from Sokusai-ji situated within the castle precincts was merged into the temple complex. Myōken Taisai (the "Great Festival of Myōken"), the temple's (and later, the shrine's) annual festival, was first held in 1127, the year after the clan - now calling itself 'Chiba' - moved to Inohana Castle, and has continued uninterrupted for nearly nine centuries since. As the Chiba's seat of power, the area surrounding the castle and the temple, Chiba Manor ( 千葉荘, ''Chiba-no-shō''), began to prosper during this period. During the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

(1180–1185), the Chiba clan, headed by Tsuneshige's son Tsunetane, chose to side with

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, ruling from 1192 until 1199, also the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako ...

against

Taira no Kiyomori was a military leader and '' kugyō'' of the late Heian period of Japan. He established the first samurai-dominated administrative government in the history of Japan. Early life Kiyomori was born in Japan, in 1118 as the first son of Taira ...

. Yoritomo himself is said to have visited the temple on his way to

Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...

in 1180. After Kiyomori's defeat, the clan was rewarded large domains throughout Japan. Myōken's cult spread to these areas as a result. By the

Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...

, a series of external and internal conflicts had severely weakened the Chiba. In 1455, Makuwari (Chiba) Yasutane (son of 14th clan head Mitsutane and brother of 15th head Kanetane) overthrew the clan's main branch, then led by his nephew Tanenao, and assumed leadership, only to be defeated and killed under the orders of ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

Ashikaga Yoshimasa "Ashikaga Yoshimasa" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 625. was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate who reigned from 1449 to 1473 du ...

. Inohana Castle was abandoned in the aftermath of this conflict, with the Chiba (now under Yasutane's son Suketane) moving this time to another castle located in what is now the city of Sakura. The clan head's coming-of-age ceremony, however, was still held at Kongōju-ji, showing the continued esteem with which the temple was held. Chiba-jinja 007

In 1591 ( Tenshō 19), Kongōju-ji received donations of land from

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 ...

, who also conferred to it the special privilege of direct audience with the ''

'' (normally a prerogative of the ''shōgun'''s direct vassals, the '' fudai

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 ...

'' and the ''

hatamoto A was a high ranking samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the Shōgun, shogunates in History of Japan, Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred ...

''). The temple subsequently became known as 'Myōken-ji' (妙見寺) 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 ...

. In 1869 ( Meiji 2), as a result of the edicts that called for the separation of Buddhism and Shinto, the temple - which featured a combination of both - was turned into a purely Shinto institution and renamed "Chiba Shrine", with its deity Myōken reidentified as Ame-no-Minakanushi. In 1874 (Meiji 7), Chiba Shrine was raised to the rank of prefectural shrine or ''kensha'' (県社). In the same year, the shrine caught fire and burned to the ground. It was immediately rebuilt, but was again destroyed by fire in 1904 (Meiji 37). Reconstruction of the ruined edifices was finished ten years later, in 1914 ( Taishō 4). The shrine was destroyed a third time during the

bombing of Chiba The was part of the strategic bombing air raids on Japan campaign waged by the United States of America against military and civilian targets and population centers during the Japan home islands campaign in the closing stages of the Pacific War, a ...

in 6-7 July, 1945 (

Shōwa Shōwa most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

20) in the closing stages of

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 ...

. It was rebuilt after the war and was completed in 1954 (Shōwa 29). In 1990 (

Heisei The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, when hi ...

2), the entire Chiba Shrine complex was renovated on a grand scale. The ''Sonjōden'' (尊星殿), the shrine compound's main gate, was completed in 1998 (Heisei 10).

Structures

*Main shrine building :The two-story '' haiden'' - the first of its kind in Japan - was built in 1990, replacing the previous one dating from 1954. Both the ground floor, the ''Kongōden'' (金剛殿, "Hall of the

Vajra The Vajra (, , ), is a legendary and ritualistic tool, symbolizing the properties of a diamond (indestructibility) and a thunderbolt (irresistible force). It is also described as a "ritual weapon". The use of the bell and vajra together as s ...

"), and the upper floor, the ''Hokutoden'' (北斗殿, "Hall of the

"), are open for public worship. *Chiba Tenjin (千葉天神) :An auxiliary shrine dedicated to Tenjin, the deification of

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 ...

scholar and statesman

Sugawara no Michizane , or , was a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian period of Japan. He is regarded as an excellent poet, particularly in '' waka'' and '' kanshi'' poetry, and is today revered in Shinto as the god of learning, . In the famed poem anthology ' ...

revered as the patron of learning and scholarship, originally established within the Kongōju-ji complex in 1182 (

Juei was a after '' Yōwa'' and before '' Genryaku.'' This period spanned the years from May 1182 through March 1184. The reigning emperors were Antoku''-tennō'' (安徳天皇) and . Change of era * 1182 : The new era name was created to mark an ...

1). During the 1990 renovation, the 1954 ''haiden'' was relocated and reused as a shrine building for Tenjin. *''Sonjōden'' (尊星殿, "Hall of the Venerable Star (King)") :The shrine's main entrance, a two-story gate (''

nijūmon is one of two types of two-story mons presently used in Japan (the other one being the ''rōmon'') and can be found at most Japanese Buddhist temples. This gate is distinguishable from its relative by the roof above the first floor which skirt ...

'') doubling as a sub-shrine to Ame-no-Minakanushi (Myōken) in his role as the presiding deity of the sun, moon and stars. On the first floor is the ''Fukutokuden'' (福徳殿, "Hall of Merit"), an octagonal shrine representing the

Eight Trigrams The ''bagua'' ( zh, c=八卦, p=bāguà, l=eight trigrams) is a set of symbols from China intended to illustrate the nature of reality as being composed of mutually opposing forces reinforcing one another. ''Bagua'' is a group of trigrams—co ...

(Bagua) and the twelve signs of the

Chinese zodiac The Chinese zodiac is a traditional classification scheme based on the Chinese calendar that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating twelve-year (or duodenary) cycle. The zodiac is very important in traditional ...

. The upper floor, the ''Kaiunden'' (開運殿, "Hall of Luck Improvement") is held to be especially imbued with the power of the deity and is only open a few times a year to devotees who request for formal prayer rituals (''kitō'') to be conducted there. Flanking the gate on either side are the ''Gettenrō'' (月天楼, "Tower of the Moon") and the ''Nittenrō'' (日天楼, "Tower of the Sun"). *''

Chōzuya is a Shinto water ablution pavilion for a ceremonial purification rite known as ''temizu'' or . The pavilion contains a large water-filled basin called a . At shrines, these ''chōzubachi'' are used by a worshipper to wash their left hand, r ...

'' (手水舎)

:This pavilion, dating from the

, was the only structure that survived the bombing of Chiba in 1945. The stone basin (''

chōzubachi A , or water bowl, is a vessel used to rinse the hands in Japanese temples, shrines and gardens. Usually made of stone, it plays an important role in the Japanese tea ceremony, tea ceremony. Guests use it to wash their hands before entering the ...

'') inside it dates from 1755 (

Hōreki , also known as Horyaku, was a after '' Kan'en'' and before ''Meiwa''. The period spanned the years from October 1751 through June 1764. The reigning emperor and empress were and . Change of era * 1751 : The new era of ''Hōreki'' (meaning "V ...

5). The ''chōzuya'''s roof tiles were replaced in 2012 with exact replicas of the originals.

Auxiliary shrines

Chiba Shrine's auxiliary shrines (''massha'') are as follows: *Innai Katori Shrine (院内香取神社, ''Innai Katori-jinja'') :An auxiliary shrine to the warrior god

located southeast of the Chiba Shrine compound, established in 885 ( Ninna 1). The surrounding area, which includes the spot where Chiba Shrine stands, is traditionally considered to be the territory of this shrine. During the Myōken Taisai festival, Chiba Shrine's sacred palanquin (''

mikoshi A is a sacred religious palanquin (also translated as portable Shinto shrine). Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when ...

'') is brought to this auxiliary shrine before and after it is paraded across town, with the brass phoenix that adorns the ''mikoshis roof being attached or removed here - an act of deferential respect to Futsunushi. *Chiba Tenjin (see above) * Uba Shrine (姥神社, ''Uba-jinja'') :Dedicated to Myōken's

wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding, breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, if she is unable to nurse the child herself sufficiently or chooses not to do so. Wet-nursed children may be known a ...

(乳母, ''uba''). Reputed to date from the founding of Kongōju-ji, making it one of the oldest auxiliary shrines in the shrine complex. * Hoshi Shrine (星神社, ''Hoshi-jinja'') :Dedicated to the star god Ame-no-Kagaseo, established in 1182. Medieval and early modern documents refer to sanctuaries dedicated to the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions (二十八宿堂, ''Nijūhasshuku-dō'') and the Thirty-Six Animals (三十六禽堂, ''Sanjūrokkin-dō'') within the Kongōju-ji temple complex. Chiba-jinja 006

* Ishi Shrine (石神社, ''Ishi-jinja'') :Dedicated to Iwanagahime, the elder sister of Konohana-Sakuyahime, the goddess of

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

. Originally known as 'Ishigami' (石神) or 'Ishigami Daimyōjin' (石神大明神). *

Inari Shrine is a type of Japanese shrine used to worship the kami Inari. Inari is a popular deity associated with foxes, rice, household wellbeing, business prosperity, and general prosperity. Inari shrines are typically constructed of white stucco walls wit ...

(稲荷神社, ''Inari-jinja'') :Dedicated to the

Inari Inari may refer to: Shinto * Inari Ōkami, a Shinto spirit ** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari ** Inari shrine, dedicated to the Shinto god Inari * Inari-zushi, a type of sushi Places * Inari, ...

deities

Ukanomitama Ukanomitama (宇迦之御魂神 – Mighty Soul of Sustenance - ''Kojiki'') (倉稲魂命 - ''Nihongi'') is a ''kami'' in classical Japanese mythology, associated with food and agriculture, often identified with Inari, the deity of rice. Name an ...

Ukemochi , commonly known as , the daughter of the Shinto deities Izanagi and Izanami, is a goddess of food in the Shinto religion of Japan. In some differing interpretations, Ukemochi is referred to as both male and female. When shown in other forms, Ukemo ...

(

Ōgetsuhime , commonly known as , the daughter of the Shinto deities Izanagi and Izanami, is a goddess of food in the Shinto religion of Japan. In some differing interpretations, Ukemochi is referred to as both male and female. When shown in other forms, Ukemo ...

), and Wakumusubi, established in 1179. *

Kotohira Shrine is a town located in Nakatado District, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 8,105 in 3618 households and a population density of 960 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . The town is best known as t ...

(金刀比羅宮) :Dedicated to the gods Kanayamahiko and

Ōmononushi Ōmononushi (; Historical kana orthography, historical orthography: ''Ohomononushi'') is a ''kami'' in Japanese mythology associated with Mount Miwa (also known as Mount Mimoro) in Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai, Nara Prefecture. He is closely linked in ...

, established in 1840. * Nishinomiya Shrine (西之宮) :A branch shrine of

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, established in 1782. Enshrines

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( Ebisu). * Hachiman Shrine (八幡神社, ''Hachiman-jinja'') :Established in 1181 by Chiba Tsunetane, who enshrined a ''

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'' of

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(the patron deity of the

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) obtained from

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within the temple compound. *

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, and

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, is in the shape of a mountain topped with three statues representing its deities. *

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), established in 1182. * Mizu-no-Miya (美寿之宮, lit. "Shrine of Beautiful Longevity") :The most recent of the shrine's ''massha'', established in 2009. Dedicated to the water deity Mizu-no-Mioya-no-Ōkami (水御祖大神, identified with the dragon deity

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). The name ''Mizu'' (美寿 lit. "beauty ndlongevity" or "beautiful longevity") is a pun on the Japanese word for water, ''mizu''. In addition to the above, historical records also refer to shrines to Seiryū Daigongen (清瀧大権現, the patron goddess of

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in Fushimi-ku,

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) and Marīcī (摩利支天 ''Marishiten''), as well as a sanctuary dedicated to seven important personages related to the Chiba clan known as 'Sōdai-Shichisha Daimyōjin' (惣代七社大明神) within the temple complex.

Festivals

*Myōken Taisai (妙見大祭 "Great Festival of Myōken", 16-22 August) :The shrine's annual main festival ('' reisai'') held without interruption since 1127. During the festival, the shrine's ''

'', called the ''Hōren'' (鳳輦, "phoenix palanquin"), is carried through the neighboring streets and deposited in a temporary shrine (御仮屋 ''okariya'' or ''mikariya'') near the former site of Inohana Castle, where it will stay for a week before being brought back to the shrine. Also known as 'Hitokoto Myōken Taisai' (一言妙見大祭), after a belief that any 'single word' (''hitokoto'', i.e. succinct) wish will be granted during the festival season. Both the shrine and the festival have been designated as cultural assets by Chiba Prefecture.

Notes

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Official website of Chiba Shrine
(Japanese) 11th-century Shinto shrines 11th-century establishments in Japan Buildings and structures in Chiba (city) Rebuilt buildings and structures in Japan Shinto shrines in Chiba Prefecture Shinbutsu shūgō Shinbutsu bunri 1000 establishments in Asia