Mizuho Jinja

Quick facts

Address

16-3 Naebo-cho, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido

Spiritual entities

Ōkuninushi (大国主命)

About this place

Mizuho Jinja stands in Higashi-ku, Sapporo. Its deities are Onamuchi and Sukunahikona. A divided spirit of Sapporo Miyoshi Jinja — itself invited in 1878 from the Miyoshi Shrine on Mount Taihei in Akita — was enshrined here; though the shrine was then less than one tsubo in size, it served as a place for the settlers’ hearts to rest on, and rites were held asking for abundance in spring and giving thanks for the harvest in autumn. Afterwards, in May 1894, Yamazaki Tamekichi, who had settled here, saw the small shrine, consulted with others of the district, donated the land himself and had a shrine built; it was certified as Karikuru Jinja. Religious-corporation registration followed on 2 May 1953. Murakami Rokumatsu, who had served the shrine since about the age of fifteen, rebuilt the present worship hall in 1934, and on 19 February 1959 the shrine was re-registered under the name Mizuho Jinja. In 1970 it moved to its present site. The annual festival is 5 September. No benefit that may be prayed for is stated.

Origin and history

A divided spirit of Sapporo Miyoshi Jinja — itself invited in 1878 from the Miyoshi Shrine on Mount Taihei in Akita — was enshrined here; though the shrine was then less than one tsubo in size, it served as a place for the settlers’ hearts to rest on, and rites were held asking for abundance in spring and giving thanks for the harvest in autumn.

In May 1894 Yamazaki Tamekichi, who had settled here, saw the small shrine, consulted with others of the district, donated the land himself and had a shrine built; it was certified as Karikuru Jinja. Religious-corporation registration followed on 2 May 1953.

Murakami Rokumatsu, who had served the shrine since about the age of fifteen, rebuilt the present worship hall in 1934, and on 19 February 1959 it was re-registered as Mizuho Jinja. In 1970 it moved to its present site.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  A shrine smaller than one tsubo

  A divided spirit of Sapporo Miyoshi Jinja was enshrined here in a shrine then less than one tsubo in size, serving as a place for the settlers’ hearts to rest on.

  documented history

• What people do here

  Asking in spring, thanking in autumn

  Rites were held asking for abundance in spring and giving thanks for the harvest in autumn.

  documented history

• Origin

  From Karikuru Jinja to Mizuho Jinja

  Certified as Karikuru Jinja in 1894 after Yamazaki Tamekichi donated the land, and re-registered as Mizuho Jinja on 19 February 1959.

  documented history

The god here arrived in two stages. A divided spirit of Sapporo Miyoshi Jinja was enshrined, and that shrine had itself received one in 1878 from the Miyoshi Shrine on Mount Taihei in Akita — Akita, then Miyoshi Jinja, then here. Reppupu Jinja in the same city also received three divided deities from Miyoshi Jinja, so the spirit that Kimura Tōkichi carried north alone has now branched twice within this city.

The first shrine was smaller than one tsubo — about three and a third square metres, the smallest structure recorded on this list. Its use was fixed all the same: rites asking for abundance in spring, and giving thanks for the harvest in autumn. A request and a thank-you, six months apart.

The name changed three times: an unnamed small shrine, then Karikuru Jinja in 1894 after Yamazaki Tamekichi donated the land, then Mizuho Jinja in February 1959. The names of both the man who gave the ground and the man who rebuilt the hall survive — Murakami Rokumatsu, who had served there since about fifteen, raised the present worship hall in 1934.

The site moved last of all, in 1970. Elsewhere in this region, Kamiteine Jinja and Ashiribetsu Jinja carry names their geography has outgrown; this one moved without making its name follow.

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Sources

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