more properly known as Takeisao Shrine, 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 ...

in the Kita-Funaoka-cho, Murasakino neighborhood of

Kita-ku, Kyoto is one of the eleven Wards of Kyoto, wards in the Municipalities of Japan, city of Kyoto, Kyoto, Kyoto, in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. Its name means "North Ward." As of 2020, the ward has an estimated population of 117,165 people. Hiragino typefa ...

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 located on the middle slope of Mount Funaoka. The main

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 ...

worshipped at this shrine is the deified spirit of the

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 ...

warlord

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 ...

, with his son Oda Nobutada is enshrined as a secondary deity. t is one of many shrines that enshrined the ancestors of feudal domains, which were popular from the late Edo period to the early

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 ...

in Japanese history. Mount Funaoka, on which the shrine is located, was a National Historic Site in 1968.

History

On November 8, 1869,

Emperor Meiji , posthumously honored as , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the List of emperors of Japan, traditional order of succession, reigning from 1867 until his death in 1912. His reign is associated with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ...

ordered that a shrine be built to honor Oda Nobunaga, who unified Japan and restored court rites during the Sengoku period, stating that "Japan was not invaded by foreign countries because of Nobunaga's unification of the country", and drawing a parallel to the recent

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

. The following year, on October 17, 1870, a shrine was constructed at the

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

residence of Oda Nobutoshi, former ''

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

Tendō Domain was a Han (Japan), feudal domain in Edo period Japan, located in Dewa Province (modern-day Yamagata Prefecture), Japan. It was centered in what is now the city of Tendō, Yamagata. Tendō was ruled by the tozama daimyo, tozama Oda clan, direct ...

and Nobunaga's descendant, with another shrine constructed in the city of

Tendō, Yamagata is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 61,947 in 22392 households, and a population density of 550 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Tendō is located ...

. On April 24, 1875 it was granted the rank of a under 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 ...

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 ...

. The shrine was relocated from Tokyo to Mount Funaoka in September 1880, initially at the foot of the mountain, and from 1910 to its current location on the mountaintop.The shrine grounds, located on high ground, offer a particularly good view of Mount Daimonji and

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

. The large ''

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 ...

'' gate is the largest unpainted ''torii'' gate in Kyoto Prefecture.

Mount Funaoka

is a 111.7 meter hill located in northern Kyoto city, which has been developed into Funaokayama Park. The park is the firsts

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

in Kyoto, but the land is leased by the city from the temple of

Daitoku-ji is a Rinzai school Zen Buddhist temple in the Murasakino neighborhood of Kita-ku in the city of Kyoto Japan. Its ('' sangō'') is . The Daitoku-ji temple complex is one of the largest Zen temples in Kyoto, covering more than . In addition to ...

. There is a theory that Mount Funaoka was used as a surveying reference point for the north-south axis when

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 ...

was built, since it is located directly north of Suzaku-ōji, the central axis of the

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 ...

city layout. There is also a theory that it was worshiped as a

sacred mountain Sacred mountains are central to certain religions, and are usually the subjects of many legends. For many, the most symbolic aspect of a mountain is the peak because it is believed that it is closest to heaven or other religious realms. Many reli ...

even before the construction of the capital, because there is a rock outcrop near the summit, and that it corresponds to Genbu, one of the four cardinal gods which protect Kyoto per Chinese geomancy. However, both theories remain speculative, as no documentary or physical evidence has been found to support either theory. On the other hand, it was regarded as a burial site in the ancient capital, and is mentioned in this connect by

Yoshida Kenkō , also known as , or simply , was a Japanese author and Buddhist monk. His most famous work is '' Tsurezuregusa'' (''Essays in Idleness''), one of the most studied works of medieval Japanese literature. Kenko wrote during the early Muromachi and ...

in his ''

Tsurezuregusa is a collection of essays written by the Japanese monk Kenkō (兼好) between 1330 and 1332. The work is widely considered a gem of medieval Japanese literature and one of the three representative works of the zuihitsu genre, along with ''The ...

''. The name also appears in chapter 231 of Sei Shonagon's ''

The Pillow Book is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Fujiwara no Teishi, Empress Consort Teishi during the 990s and early 1000s in Heian-period Japan. The book was completed in the year 1002. The wor ...

'' as the first hill which comes to mind for a Kyoto aristocrat. Mount Funaoka was the site of the execution of the defeated

Minamoto no Tameyoshi was a Japanese samurai lord in the Heian period, who was the head of the Minamoto clan during his lifetime. He was the son of Minamoto no Yoshichika, son of Minamoto no Yoshiie. He led the Minamoto in the Hōgen Rebellion. He was also known as . ...

and his children after the

Hōgen Rebellion The was a short civil war fought in order to resolve a dispute about Japanese Imperial succession. The dispute was also about the degree of control exercised by the Fujiwara clan who had become hereditary Imperial regents during the Heian p ...

in 1156. In 1467, during the

Ōnin War The , also known as the Upheaval of Ōnin and Ōnin-Bunmei war, was a civil war that lasted from 1467 to 1477, during the Muromachi period in Japan. ''Ōnin'' refers to the Japanese era name, Japanese era during which the war started; the war ende ...

, Yamana Noriyuki, the governor of

Bizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is eastern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mimasaka no Kuni''" in . Bizen bordered Bitchū Province, ...

, and Isshiki Yoshinao, the governor of

Tango Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area of northern Kyoto Prefecture. Tango bordered on Tanba Province, Tanba to the south, Tajima Province, Tajima to the west, and Wakasa Province, Wakasa to the east. Its abbreviated form name ...

, built Funaokayama Castle and barricaded themselves inside (the area including Mount Funaoka, which became the Western Army's base, has since been called "

Nishijin is a district in Kyoto spanning from Kamigyō ward to Kita ward. Though it is well known as a district, there is no administrative area called "Nishijin".(jaWhat is Nishijin?/ref> Nishijin is notable for its textile production, and is the birt ...

"). After the death of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

received permission from Emperor Ogimachi to build a temple with a mausoleum for Nobunaga called Tenshō-ji on Mount Funaokayama, but the plan was thwarted by

Ishida Mitsunari was a Japanese samurai and military commander of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi–Momoyama period of the 16th century. He ...

and the mausoleum was never built. However, the area was regarded as a sacred place for Nobunaga throughout 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 ...

Funaoka Matsuri

The Funaoka Matsuri is a

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 ...

held every year on October 19 at Kenkun Shrine commemorating the day when Nobunaga first entered Kyoto in 1568. Young boys dressed in

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

armor portray Nobunaga's army as they marched into Kyoto to take control of the government. Mt.Funaoka (Kyoto, Japan).jpg, Mount Funaoka 船岡山城4.jpg, Kenkun Shrine Kyoto Mt.Funaoka Daitokuji Temple Imamiya Shrine Aerial Photograph.jpg, Aerial photo of MOunt Funaoka

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Shinto shrines in Kyoto Religious buildings and structures completed in 1869 Religious organizations established in 1869 1869 establishments in Japan Former Beppyo shrines Bekkaku Kanpeisha Historic Sites of Japan

History

Mount Funaoka

Funaoka Matsuri

See also

References

External links