The 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 Sakyō-ku,

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

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 ...

. The Shrine is ranked as a (the top rank for shrines) by the

Association of Shinto Shrines The is a religious administrative organisation that oversees about 80,000 Shinto shrines in Japan. These shrines take the Ise Grand Shrine as the foundation of their belief. It is the largest Shrine Shinto organization in existence. Description ...

. It is listed as an important

cultural property Cultural property, also known as cultural patrimony, comprises the physical items that are part of the cultural heritage of a group or society, as opposed to less tangible cultural expressions. They include such items as cultural landscapes, histo ...

of Japan.

History

220px, Lake at Heian Shrine In 1895, a partial reproduction of the

Heian Palace The was the original imperial palace of (present-day Kyoto), then the capital of Japan. Both the palace and the city were constructed in the late 700s and were patterned on Ancient Chinese urban planning, Chinese models and designs. The palace ...

from

Heian-kyō Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180. Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, mo ...

(the former name of

) was planned for construction for the 1100th anniversary of the establishment of Heian-kyō. The Industrial exposition fair (an exhibition of development of Japanese and foreign cultures) was held in Kyoto that year, where the replica was to be the main monument. However, failure to buy enough land where the Heian Palace used to stand, the building was built in Okazaki at 5/8 scale of the original. The ''Heian-jingū'' was built according to designs by Itō Chūta. After the Exhibition ended, the building was kept as a shrine in memory of the 50th Emperor,

Emperor Kanmu , or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kammu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the scop ...

, who was the Emperor when Heian-kyō became the capital. In 1940,

Emperor Kōmei Osahito (22 July 1831 – 30 January 1867), posthumously honored as Emperor Kōmei, was the 121st emperor of Japan, according to the List of Emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession.Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')孝明天皇 ...

was added to the list of dedication. In 1976, part of the Shrine caught on fire,Nussbaum, "''Heian jingū''" in and nine of the buildings, including the

honden In Shinto shrine architecture, the , also called , or sometimes as in Ise Shrine's case, is the most sacred building at a Shinto shrine, intended purely for the use of the enshrined ''kami'', usually symbolized by a mirror or sometimes by a sta ...

, or main sanctuary, burned down. Three years later, the burned buildings were reconstructed with money collected from donations.

Architecture

The architecture design was a reproduction of the Chōdōin (Emperor's palace in the former eras) in 5/8th scale (in length). The large red entrance gate is a reproduction of the Outenmon of the Chōdōin. The architecture of the main palace mirrors the style and features of the Kyoto Imperial Palace,Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Heian jingū''" in the style from the 11th–12th century (late Heian Period). The Shrine's

torii A is a traditional culture of Japan, Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to ...

is one of the largest in Japan.

Garden

The Japanese-style garden takes up about half the land area (approximately ). Renowned gardener

Ogawa Jihei VII , also known under his titular name as the seventh Ueji (植治), was a Japanese garden architect of the Meiji era and Taishō era of modern Japan. Biography He was born Yamamoto Gennosuke and adopted into the Ogawa family at the age of 17 wit ...

, also known as Ueji, created the garden over a 20-year period. The water used in the ponds comes from the Lake Biwa Canal. Species otherwise rare in Japan such as ''

Acheilognathus cyanostigma The striped bitterling (''Acheilognathus cyanostigma'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish in the genus '' Acheilognathus''. It is endemic to Lake Biwa and Lake Yogo in Japan. It typically grows to a length of 6.0 cm. The reproduc ...

'', the

Yellow pond turtle The yellow pond turtle (''Mauremys mutica''), is a medium-sized (to 19.5 cm), semiaquatic turtle in the family Geoemydidae. This species has a characteristic broad yellow stripe extending behind the eye and down the neck; the carapace ranges ...

and the

Japanese pond turtle The Japanese pond turtle (''Mauremys japonica''), also called commonly the Japanese pond terrapin and the Japanese pond tortoise, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae endemic to Japan. Its Japanese name is ''nihon ishigame'', Japane ...

live around the ponds. Visitors may feed the fish and turtles with food sold around the ponds.

Festivals

Annual festivals celebrate the memory of Emperor Kōmei (late January) and Emperor Kanmu (early April). On October 22, ''Heian-jingū'' hosts the ''

Jidai Matsuri The is a traditional Japanese festival (also called matsuri) held annually on October 22 in Kyoto, Japan. It is one of Kyoto's three major festivals, with the other two being the '' Aoi Matsuri'', held annually on May 15, and the '' Gion Matsu ...

'', which is one of the most important

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

s of Kyoto. The procession of this festival begins at the old Imperial palace, and includes carrying the ''

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 ...

'' (portable shrines) of Emperors Kanmu and Kōmei to the Heian-jingū. The Shrine is also used for traditional Japanese weddings as well as concerts. It is rare for a modern concert to be held at a historic site like the shrine, but merging modern and old culture in Kyoto has become a trend.

Around the Shrine

Adjacent to the Shrine is Okazaki Park, where visitors can learn about culture. The Shrine is surrounded by the Kyoto Prefectural Library,

Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art The is located in Okazaki Park in Sakyō-ku Kyoto. Formerly , it is one of the oldest art museums in Japan. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Museums"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 671-673. it opened in 1928 as ''Shōwa Imperial Coronation Art ...

, the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Kyoto Kaikan, and the

Kyoto City Zoo Kyoto City Zoo (京都市動物園) is a zoo located in Sakyō ward, Kyoto and was established in 1903, making it the second oldest zoo in the country after Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. The Kyoto City Zoo is a member of the world Association of Zoos an ...

In media

Parts of the 2003 film '' Lost in Translation'' were filmed there.

Notes

References

* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

.
OCLC 58053128
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1964)
''Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby-Fane Memorial Society. * 平安神�

* 国指定文化財データベー�

External links

* * Kanpei Taisha Beppyo shrines Jingū Religious buildings and structures completed in 1895 Shinto shrines in Kyoto Places of Scenic Beauty Important Cultural Properties of Japan Emperor Kanmu Chokusaisha Nagare-zukuri {{Contemporary Jingu