The is a Shintō shrine in the city of Katori in

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 ...

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 ...

. 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 region The is a geography, geographical region of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures of Japan, prefectures: Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefe ...

). The main festival of the shrine is held annually on April 14, with a three-day Grand Festival held every 12 years.

Enshrined ''kami''

The primary ''

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 ...

'' of Katori Jingū is * , the ''kami'' of swords and lightning, and a general of Amaterasu.

History

The foundation of Katori Jingū predates the historical period. Per the ''Hitachi-koku '', an ancient record and per shrine tradition, it was established in 643 BC, the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Jimmu. During this period, the migrated from Higo Province in

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

, conquering local '' emishi'' tribes, and forming an alliance with the nearby Nakatomi clan, the progenitors of the

Fujiwara clan The was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...

at what is now Kashima Jingū. As the ''Hitachi-koku Fudoki'' dates from the early 7th century, the shrine must certainly have been founded earlier than this. The shrine appears in all of the ''

Rikkokushi is a general term for Japan's Six National Histories chronicling the mythology and history of Japan from the earliest times to 887. The six histories were written at the imperial court during the 8th and 9th centuries, under order of the Emperors. ...

'' official national histories, which cover events to 887. The shrine was regarded as a tutelary shrine of the Fujiwara clan, and a '' bunrei'' of Futsunushi was brought from Katori to be enshrined in the second sanctuary of Kasuga Taisha when that shrine was founded in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

. In the Heian period per the '' Engishiki'' (written in 927), Katori was listed as a and was one of only three shrines (alongside Ise Jingū and Kashima Jingū) to be given the higher-level designation of ''Jingū''. In the Heian period, the shrine came to be regarded as the ''ichinomiya'' of the province. During the

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 ...

and Muromachi periods, Katori Jingū was revered as a shrine for the military class and received many donations from

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 ...

and Ashikaga Takauji. It also earned income from its control of fishing rights in the Katori Sea and highway barriers in both

Hitachi Province was an old provinces of Japan, old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Hitachi fudoki''" in . It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Shimōsa Province, S ...

and Shimōsa. Under 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 ...

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

, the shrine was rebuilt in 1607, and again in 1700. Many of the structures in the present shrine date from this 1700 rebuilding. 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 ...

era of

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 ...

, the shrine was rated as a under the

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 ...

Cultural Properties

National Treasures

* ,

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

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 ...

. This round cupronickel mirror has a diameter of 29.6 centimeters, and weight of 4.56 kilograms. It is decorated with bas-relief flowers, insects and a variety of real and mythological animals. It is almost identical to a mirror held by the Shōsōin Treasury in

. The mirror itself is preserved at the Nara National Museum. It was designated a National Treasure in 1953.

Important Cultural Properties

* '' Honden'', Edo period (1700). The ''Honden'' of Katori Shrine was traditionally reconstructed every 20 years, similar to the system used at Ise Shrine until the system fell apart during the Sengoku period. The current structure was built in 1700 and was designated as Important Cultural Property in 1977. * '' Rōmon'', Edo period (1700). The Rōmon gate of Katori Shrine was also constructed in 1700 and was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1983. It displays the shrine's name plaque written by Fleet Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō. * ,

to Muromachi period. The shrine has a ceramic Koseto pair of '' komainu,'' standing 17.6 and 17.9 centimeters high. One of these statues was featured on a 250 Yen definitive stamp of Japan. The set of statues was designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1953. * , Heian period. This mirror has a diameter 20.5 cm and is made of white copper. It is inscribed with the date of 1149, and is the oldest example of an inscribed Japanese mirror. The style is different from general Japanese mirrors, and was influenced by

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

China or

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...

. It was designated on November 14, 1953. * , Heian to

. This is a set of 381 documents that was in the possession of the Katori clan, the hereditary priesthood of the shrine. It was collectively designated on November 14, 1953.

Registered Tangible Cultural Properties

* ,

. This two-story, hipped-roof Japanese-style building is located on the southeast side of the Katori Jingu Shrine and has been used for meetings. It was designated in 2000. * , Showa period. This building was constructed during a major renovation from 1945 by the Shrine Bureau of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It was designated in 2001.

Gallery

Image:Ooharae-chinowa,katori-jingu,katori-city,japan.JPG, ''Ōharae'' Image:Katori-jinguu-shrine-honden,katori-city,japan.JPG, '' Honden'' (main hall) Image:Katori-jinguu-shrine-roumon,katori-city,japan.JPG, ''Rōmon'' Katori-jinngu-shrine-torii,katori-city,japan.JPG, Ni-no-Torii

Notes

References

* * Plutschow, Herbe. ''Matsuri: The Festivals of Japan''. RoutledgeCurzon (1996) * Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon. (1962).
''Studies in Shinto and Shrines.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 3994492
* ____________. (1959)
''The Imperial House of Japan.''
Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887

External links

Official site of the shrine
{{Shinmei shrines Beppyo shrines Jingū Important Cultural Properties of Japan National Treasures of Japan Shinto shrines in Chiba Prefecture Tourist attractions in Chiba Prefecture Shimōsa Province Ichinomiya Katori, Chiba Kanpei Taisha Myōjin Taisha Chokusaisha Chiba Prefecture designated tangible cultural property Nakatomi clan Nagare-zukuri