八幡宮来宮神社, Hachiman-guu Kinomiya Jinja (Hachiman-guu Kinomiya Shrine)

An unusual Jinja where two Jinja are enshrined together.

History

“八幡宮来宮 (Hachimanguu-Kinomiya)” contains two characters for “宮” meaning Jinja. This indicates that the Jinja was formed by the joint enshrinement of two Jinja, “Hachimangu” and “Kinomiya”.

“八幡宮 (Hachimanguu)” Jinja was built in 769 during the Nara period (768-794).

It is not certain when the “来宮 (Kinomiya)” Jinja was built. It is said that a long time ago, the Kami of Kinomiya drifted ashore here on a bottle and was enshrined in a cave near the shore.　However, the Kami of Kinomiya was a great lover of sake, and would stop ships passing offshore and make them offer sake, so the boatmen became annoyed and moved the Jinja to a hill where they could not see the ships. Nevertheless, the sea could still be seen a little from that hill, so the Jinja was moved again, and in addition, it is said that the Jinja was moved to the precincts of Hachimanguu Jinja in order to have a powerful Kami watch over it.

Later, it is said that the Kinomiya Jinja within the precincts of Hachimangu Jinja was combined and moved to its present form when the main shrine was rebuilt around 800. This was the beginning of the arrival of “八幡宮来宮 (Hachimanguu-Kinomiya)” Jinja.

Highlight

The precincts are surrounded by beautiful cedar trees. Some of the cedars are 1,000 years old, and the Jinja is famous as a power spot where one can feel the great power of nature.