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 Miyamae neighborhood of the city of

Itami is a cities of Japan, city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 197,215 in 83,580 households and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Geography Itami is located in south-east ...

, Hyogo Prefecture,

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 grounds are designated as a national historic site as part of the ruins of

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

Itami Castle 270px, Map of Itami Castle. was a Muromachi period Japanese castle located in Kawabe District of northern Settsu Province (what is now the city of Itami, Hyōgo Prefecture), Japan. It is also called .Its ruins have been protected as a Nation ...

History

According to legend, the shrine was built in Inadera (currently Inadera,

Amagasaki 270px, Amagasaki Castle 270px, Aerial view of Amagasaki city center 270px, Amagasaki Station is an industrial city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 455,555 in 223,812 households, and a population de ...

) during the time of

Emperor Kōtoku was the 36th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 孝徳天皇 (33)/ref> according to the traditional List of emperors of Japan, order of succession. The years of his reign lasted from Asuka period, 645 through 654. Tradi ...

(645–654, during the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

) and was relocated to the present location in 904. In ancient times, the shrine was called "Nonomiya", "Tennomiya", "Ushito Tennomiya", and other names. In 1574,

Araki Murashige was a retainer of Ikeda Katsumasa, head of the powerful "Setssu-Ikeda clan" of Settsu Province. Under Katsumasa, Murashige sided with Oda Nobunaga following Nobunaga's successful campaign to establish power in Kyoto. Military life Murashige b ...

rebuilt Itami Castle as a type of fortification in which the entire

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

forms part of the defenses by being completely encircled by moats and earthen ramparts, and with the arrangement of streets and townhouses planned as part of the defensive belt. Inano Shrine fell within the northernmost fortress of the outer defenses, and a bastion, the was constructed on the location of the shrine. It was destroyed by the forces of

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

Siege of Itami (1579) The second , also called the during the Sengoku period of Japanese history, occurred in 1579, five years after it was seized by Oda Nobunaga in Siege of Itami (1574) from Itami clan, and entrusted the Castle to Araki Murashige. Background I ...

. In 1661, the Itami area became the territory of the

Konoe family is a Japanese aristocratic family. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003)"Konoe," ''Nobiliare du Japon'', p. 24 retrieved 2013-8-13. The family is a branch of Hokke and ...

, and in 1685

Konoe Motohiro , Tajimaru (多治丸) in his childhood, was a ''kugyō'' or Japanese court noble of the Edo period (1603–1868). He held a regent position kampaku from 1690 to 1703. Motohiro was also a great-grandson of Emperor Go-Yozei through a junior line. ...

rebuilt the shrine.The current

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 ...

of the shrine was completed in 1686. Due to the ''

shinbutsu bunri The Japanese term indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto ''kami'' from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated. It is a ...

'' policy (separation of Shinto and

Buddhism 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 ...

) in 1869, Kannon-do, Jizo-do and Buddhist-related records were moved to Kōngo-in, and the name of the shrine was changed from Nonomiya to its present name, Inano Shrine. The shrine was ranked as a Prefectural Shrine in

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 ...

. As such it follows the tradition of the

Gion faith is a Shinto cult. Originally it revolved solely around Gozu Tenno, but during the Shinbutsu bunri, Separation of Shinto and Buddhism of the Meiji (era), Meiji era the government mandated it shift to revolving around Susanoo.川村『牛頭天王� ...

. There are 98 stone lanterns donated by

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

brewers and merchants on the shrine grounds. The oldest one was made in 1643, and the guardian dog pedestal was built in 1768.

External links

Itami City home page

Notes

{{Gion cult Shinto shrines in Hyōgo Prefecture Settsu Province Historic Sites of Japan Gion shrines

History

See also

External links

Notes