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 ...

located in the city of Fukui, Japan. In the former

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 ...

, it was a special shrine (別格官幣社, ''Bekkaku Kanpei-sha''). Its main festival is held annually on August 25. was the head of the

Nitta clan The was one of several major families descended from the Seiwa Genji, and numbered among the chief enemies of the Hōjō clan regents, and later the Ashikaga shogunate. The common ancestor of the Nitta, Minamoto no Yoshishige (1135–1202), wa ...

in the early fourteenth century, and supported the

Southern Court The were a set of four emperors ( Emperor Go-Daigo and his line) whose claims to sovereignty during the Nanboku-chō period spanning from 1336 through 1392 were usurped by the Northern Court. This period ended with the Southern Court definitivel ...

Emperor Go-Daigo Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 ''Go-Daigo-tennō'') (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')後醍醐天皇 (96) retrieved 2013-8-28. according to the traditional order o ...

in the

Nanboku-chō period The , also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period, was a period in Japanese history between 1336-1392 CE, during the formative years of the Ashikaga shogunate, Muromachi (Ashikaga) shogunate. Ideologically, the two courts fought for 50 ...

. He fought against the partisans of the Northern pretender led by

Ashikaga Takauji also known as Minamoto no Takauji was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate."Ashikaga Takauji" in ''Encyclopædia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. ...

brothers in a see-saw campaign which saw the capital change hands several times. However, during the Battle of Kuromaru in 1338 he was killed in combat. In 1660, a farmer tilling the land near the site of the battle uncovered a ''

kabuto ' (兜, 冑) is a type of helmet first used by ancient Japanese warriors that, in later periods, became an important part of the traditional Japanese armour worn by the samurai class and their retainers in History of Japan#Medieval Japan (118 ...

'' helmet and presented it to

Matsudaira Mitsumichi was an early to mid-Edo period Japanese people, Japanese samurai, and the 4th ''daimyō'' of Fukui Domain.Foulk, T. Griffin. "The Forgotten history of Daian-zenji, a Tokugawa-period Zen Monastery," ''The Japan Foundation Newsletter'' (''Kokusai ...

, ''

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 ...

'' of

Fukui Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003). The ...

. The construction of the helmet indicated that it had belonged to a high-ranking warrior, and the domain's chief military strategist, Inoue Banzaemon declared that it must have belonged to Nitta Yoshisada. A mound, the "Nitta-zuka", was built on the site where the farmer found the helmet as a memorial. In 1870, the imperial governor of Fukui, Matsudaira Mochiaki, built a

on top of the Nitta-zuka. This shrine was named "Fujishima Jinja" in 1876 and was given a formal ranking in the

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 ...

system. However, the shrine was relocated in 1881, and rebuilt again in 1905, so that its present location is some three kilometers from the original Nitta-zuka. It is one of the

Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration image:Minatogawa-jinja shinmon.jpg, Minatogawa Shrine The Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration (建武中興十五社, ''Kenmu chūko jūgosha'') are a group of Shinto shrines dedicated to individuals and events of the Kenmu Restoration. Re ...

, built by 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 ...

to commemorate the events of the

and to promote loyalty to the

Imperial family of Japan The is the reigning dynasty of Japan, consisting of those members of the extended family of the reigning emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present constitution of Japan, the emperor is "the symbol of the State ...

. The ''kabuto'' is preserved at the shrine, and is an Important Cultural Property.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Beppyo shrines 1870 establishments in Japan Shinto shrines in Fukui Prefecture Buildings and structures in Fukui (city) Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration Bekkaku Kanpeisha Important Cultural Properties of Fukui Prefecture

See also

References

External links