Hokkaido Jingu
Sapporo Shrine
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In short
A shrine that begins with three deities enshrined in Tokyo in 1869, shipped to Hakodate, and carried the rest of the way to Sapporo on the back of the colonisation magistrate Shima Yoshitake.
Quick facts
- Address
- 474 Miyagaoka, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido
- Spiritual entities
- Emperor Meiji (明治天皇) · Ōkuninushi (大国主命)
About this place
Hokkaido Jingu stands in Chuo-ku, Sapporo. Its deities are Okunitama, Onamuchi, Sukunahikona and Emperor Meiji. On the first day of the ninth month of 1869, by decree of Emperor Meiji, the Jingikan in Tokyo performed the rite enshrining the three colonisation deities — Okunitama, Onamuchi and Sukunahikona. On the twenty-first day of that month the spirit-tokens were borne by Higashikuze Michitomi, the second colonisation commissioner, aboard the British ship Thales to Hakodate, and from Hakodate the colonisation magistrate Shima Yoshitake carried them on his back into Sapporo. A temporary hall was raised at Kita 5-jo Higashi 1-chome in 1870; in 1871 the shrine was named Sapporo Jinja and ranked a national shrine, and in the ninth month of that year a hall was built at Maruyama. It was raised to the highest imperial rank in 1899, and in 1913 a main hall was completed using old timber from Ise. On 5 October 1964 Emperor Meiji was added and the shrine was renamed Hokkaido Jingu. The annual festival is 15 June. No benefit that may be prayed for is stated.
Origin and history
On the first day of the ninth month of 1869, by decree of Emperor Meiji, the Jingikan in Tokyo performed the rite enshrining the three colonisation deities — Okunitama, Onamuchi and Sukunahikona.
On the twenty-first day of that month the spirit-tokens were borne by Higashikuze Michitomi, the second colonisation commissioner, aboard the British ship Thales to Hakodate, and from Hakodate the colonisation magistrate Shima Yoshitake carried them on his back into Sapporo. A temporary hall was raised at Kita 5-jo Higashi 1-chome in 1870; in 1871 the shrine was named Sapporo Jinja and ranked a national shrine, and in the ninth month of that year a hall was built at Maruyama.
It was raised to the highest imperial rank in 1899, and in 1913 a main hall was completed using old timber from Ise. On 5 October 1964 Emperor Meiji was added and the shrine was renamed Hokkaido Jingu.
What it is locally associated with
Carried into Sapporo on a man’s back
The spirit-tokens crossed to Hakodate aboard the British ship Thales, and from Hakodate the colonisation magistrate Shima Yoshitake carried them into Sapporo on his back.
documented historyThree deities enshrined in Tokyo
By decree of Emperor Meiji, the Jingikan in Tokyo performed the rite enshrining Okunitama, Onamuchi and Sukunahikona in the ninth month of 1869.
documented historyA main hall of old Ise timber
Raised to the highest imperial rank in 1899, and in 1913 a main hall was completed using old timber from Ise.
documented history
This shrine begins with gods being carried. The spirit-tokens crossed to Hakodate aboard the British ship Thales, and from Hakodate the colonisation magistrate Shima Yoshitake carried them into Sapporo on his back — a ship, and then a man’s back. Nowhere else on this list records not just where a god came from but how it travelled.
The shrines on this list are usually gods of their own ground. Omiwa in Nara takes a mountain as the body of its deity, Fushimi Inari in Kyoto takes Inari-yama, and Munakata Taisha in Fukuoka stands on islands out at sea. Here it runs the other way: the deities were enshrined at the Jingikan in Tokyo and brought afterwards. Most of Sapporo’s shrines have the same shape — Kotoni Jinja’s farmer-soldiers brought the founder of the domain they had left, Miyoshi Jinja’s founder brought a divided spirit from Akita, and Nishino Jinja’s five households came holding the guardian deity of home.
The name has changed twice. It was fixed as Sapporo Jinja in 1871, and became Hokkaido Jingu in 1964 when Emperor Meiji was added. Hikosan Jingu in Fukuoka was renamed twice by imperial order and Fuuji Hachimangu at Tagawa a character at a time by its lords. This one was renamed because the company of its gods grew.
The 1913 main hall was built with old timber from Ise. The page names no benefit, so this page carries no tag for what may be prayed for.
Claims and evidence levels 2
- The spirit-tokens were shipped to Hakodate and carried from there into Sapporo on the back of the colonisation magistrate Shima Yoshitake. documented history
- Named Sapporo Jinja in 1871, it was renamed Hokkaido Jingu in 1964 when Emperor Meiji was added to its deities. documented history
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Sources
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