Chichibu Shrine

The Chichibu Shrine (秩父神社, Chichibu-jinja) is a Japanese Shinto shrine at Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture.[1]

Chichibu Shrine
秩父神社
The haiden (prayer hall)
Religion
AffiliationShinto
Location
Location1-3 Banba-machi, Chichibu, Saitama 368-0041
Chichibu Shrine is located in Japan
Chichibu Shrine
Shown within Japan
Geographic coordinates35°59′51″N 139°5′3″E
Website
www.chichibu-jinja.or.jp
Glossary of Shinto
The Tenjin-chigisha is located on the grounds of the Chichibu Shrine.
The onbashira is the focus of the Suwa Shrine festival.

History

According to text in the Sendai Kuji Hongi (Kujiki), Chichibuhiko-no-mikoto, the tenth-generation descendant of the Kuni no miyatsuko of Chichibu Province, established the shrine in the tenth year of Emperor Sujin to worship Yagokoro-omoikane-no-mikoto. The shrine contains

During the Kamakura period, the shrine merged with a neighboring temple, and was known as Myōken-gū until the separation of Shinto and Buddhism (Shinbutsu bunri) in the late-19th century.[2]

In the Edo period, it was one of 34 sacred sites of the old Chichibu Province[3] or Chichibu District.[4]

In the Meiji period it took the name Chichbu Shrine, with the characters 知知夫神社 appearing on the tablet of the torii.

In the system of ranked Shinto shrines, Chichibu was listed among the 3rd class of nationally significant shrines or kokuhei-shōsha (国幣小社).[5]

The shrine's grounds include a number of subsidiary shrines. A Tenjin Shrine, Tōshō-gū, and a Suwa Shrine are among them.

Events
Chichibu's annual night festival

The shrine hosts a number of events. The rice-planting festival takes place annually on April 4. The mid-summer Kawase Festival is celebrated on July 19 and 20. The Banba-machi Suwa Shrine festival is not annual, but occasional. It resembles the Onbashira festival of the Suwa Taisha.

Chichibu's annual night festival draws the biggest crowds. Celebrated in December, it spans the first six days of the month. The parading of floats is listed as part of the national cultural heritage.[6][7]

The national government has also recognized the shrine's sacred dance (kagura) as an important cultural asset.[8] Similar honors have been awarded to its festival music, the floats, buildings and other possessions.

See also

References
  1. Kotodamaya.com, "Chichibu Jinja"; retrieved 2013-1-26.
  2. 社殿 ご由緒 at Chichibu-jinja.or.jp; retrieved 2013-1-26.
  3. Harold Bolitho. (2003). "Tokugawa Japan's Tourist Revolution," Treasures of the Yenching: Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Harvard-Yenching Library, p. 40.
  4. "Chichibu Shrine" at Sainokuni-kanko.jp Archived 2013-09-19 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2013-1-26.
  5. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1963). The vicissitudes of Shinto, p. 288.
  6. 国指定文化財　データベース:検索結果一覧 Archived 2012-03-19 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved August 23, 2008
  7. 国指定文化財 Archived 2008-07-30 at the Wayback Machine　データベース
    主情報詳細 秩父祭屋台 Retrieved August 23, 2008
  8. 国指定文化財　データベース:主情報詳細 Archived 2008-07-30 at the Wayback Machine 秩父神社神楽 Retrieved on August 23, 2008

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