Ishiyama Jinja

Quick facts

Address

2-3-254 Ishiyama, Minami-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido

Spiritual entities

Amaterasu Ōmikami (天照大御神)

About this place

Ishiyama Jinja stands in Minami-ku, Sapporo. Its deity is Amaterasu. This district produced Sapporo soft stone, and workers in quarrying and stone-cutting migrated here from the main islands alongside those already living here; holding to the gods of their home places, they raised stone tablets quarter by quarter and worshipped at them. In 1885 it was established as Ishiyama Jinja, its deities being Amaterasu, Oyamatsumi, Toyoukehime, Hachiman, the Kasuga deities and others. A hall was built on the present site in 1910 and rites were held there; in 1969, on becoming a religious corporation, Amaterasu was made the principal deity and the others continued to be worshipped at the stone tablets. In 2001 the shrine received the first full-time chief priest in Minami-ku, and in February 2006, with the building of a shrine office and residence, a resident priest. In August 2015 a hall was built for the 130th year of enshrinement, raised with sixty-four pieces of old timber received from Ise. The annual festival is 8 September, with the eve festival on 7 September. No benefit that may be prayed for is stated.

Origin and history

This district produced Sapporo soft stone, and workers in quarrying and stone-cutting migrated here from the main islands alongside those already living here; holding to the gods of their home places, they raised stone tablets quarter by quarter and worshipped at them.

In 1885 it was established as Ishiyama Jinja, its deities being Amaterasu, Oyamatsumi, Toyoukehime, Hachiman, the Kasuga deities and others. A hall was built on the present site in 1910; in 1969, on becoming a religious corporation, Amaterasu was made the principal deity and the others continued to be worshipped at the stone tablets.

In 2001 the shrine received the first full-time chief priest in Minami-ku, and in February 2006 a resident priest. In August 2015 a hall was built for the 130th year of enshrinement, raised with sixty-four pieces of old timber received from Ise.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  Home gods worshipped at stone tablets

  Quarrymen and stone-cutters who migrated to this soft-stone district held to the gods of their home places and raised stone tablets quarter by quarter to worship at.

  documented history

• Origin

  The tablets were kept

  On becoming a religious corporation in 1969, Amaterasu was made the principal deity and the others continued to be worshipped at the stone tablets.

  documented history

• What people do here

  Sixty-four pieces of Ise timber

  In August 2015 a hall was built for the 130th year of enshrinement, raised with sixty-four pieces of old timber received from Ise.

  documented history

In this district the carried gods took the form of stone. The area produced Sapporo soft stone, and quarrymen and stone-cutters who migrated here held to the gods of their home places and raised stone tablets, quarter by quarter, to worship at — tablets, not halls. Elsewhere in Sapporo a home deity arrives as a divided spirit and ends up housed. Here, in a town that cut stone, the devotion took the shape of stone as well.

That form was not erased afterwards. On becoming a religious corporation in 1969, Amaterasu was made the principal deity and the others continued to be worshipped at the stone tablets. The arrangement was tidied, but the tablets were written into it rather than out of it.

The new hall is made of Ise. In August 2015 a hall was built for the 130th year of enshrinement, raised with sixty-four pieces of old timber received from the Grand Shrine of Ise. Hokkaido Jingu, in the same city, built its 1913 main hall from old Ise timber too; Shinoro Jinja is the inverse, recording a main hall of Hokkaido ash. Three pages in this region name where their wood came from.

Even the arrival of a priest is dated. In 2001 the shrine received the first full-time chief priest in Minami-ku, and in February 2006, once an office and residence had been built, a resident one.

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Sources

1. 石山神社 — 北海道神社庁札幌支部 (accessed 2026-08-16)