in Sōja, Okayama, where 304 ''kami'' of Bitchu Province are collectively worshipped is a type of

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 ...

where the ''

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 a region are grouped together into a single sanctuary. This "region" may refer to a ''

shōen A was a field or Manorialism, manor in Japan. The Japanese language, Japanese term comes from the Tang dynasty Chinese language, Chinese term "莊園" (Mandarin: ''zhuāngyuán'', Cantonese: ''zong1 jyun4''). Shōen, from about the 8th to th ...

'', village or geographic area, but is more generally referred to as a whole

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. The term is also occasionally called "sōsha". The ''sōja'' are usually located near the

provincial capital A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encomp ...

established in the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

under then ''

ritsuryō is the historical Japanese legal system, legal system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Legalism (Chinese philosophy), Chinese Legalism in Feudal Japan. The political system in accord to Ritsuryō is called "Ritsuryō-sei" (). ''Kya ...

'' system, and can either be a newly created shrine, or a designation for an existing shrine. The "sōja" can also be the "

ichinomiya is a Japanese language, Japanese historical term referring to the Shinto shrines with the highest rank in a Provinces of Japan, province. Shrines of lower rank were designated , , , and so forth.''Encyclopedia of Shinto'' ''Ichi no miya'' retr ...

" of the province, which themselves are of great ritual importance. Whenever a new kokushi was appointed by the central government to govern a province, it was necessary for him to visit all of the sanctuaries of his province in order to complete the rites necessary for ceremonial inauguration. Grouping the ''kami'' into one location near the capital of the province greatly facilitated this duty, The first mention of "sōja" appeared in 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 ...

, in the diary of Taira no Tokinori, dated March 9, 1099 in reference to the province of Inaba. The name "Sōja" is also found in place names such as the city of

Sōja file:Bitchu Kokubunji, zenkei.jpg, 270px, Bitchū Kokubun-ji is a Cities of Japan, city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,428 and a population density of 330 persons per km2. The total area of the ...

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

. Rokusho shrine (six place) is a very common Soja shrine name.

Provincial Soja shrines

Regional Soja shrines

Regional Soja Shrines are Soja shrines dedicated to a specific region rather than a whole province. These include * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Nagao Shrine * (may have historically been a provincial one) * * * Hotaka Shrine * Washinomiya Shrine

Notes

References

{{Shinto shrine Shinto shrines by ranking Heian period Sōja shrines

Provincial Soja shrines

Regional Soja shrines

See also

Notes

References