Omiwa Jinja

Quick facts

Address

1422 Miwa, Sakurai, Nara

Spiritual entities

Ōkuninushi (大国主命)

About this place

Omiwa Jinja is in Sakurai, Nara, and describes itself as the oldest shrine in the country, conveying the original form of worship. Its deity is Omononushi no Okami; the Nihon Shoki records that Omononushi is the "fortunate spirit and wondrous spirit" of Okuninushi. Omononushi appeared before Okuninushi of Izumo, wished to be enshrined on Mount Miwa, and settled there. Because the deity dwells in the mountain, the shrine has from ancient times built no main hall, offering prayer directly to Mount Miwa — the form of worship as it was before shrine buildings came into being. It was worshipped as the deity of the making of the land and as guardian of the state, and is worshipped today as the deity of the making of the land and guardian of life as a whole, drawing visitors from across the country.

Origin and history

The deity is Omononushi no Okami. The Nihon Shoki records that Omononushi is the "fortunate spirit and wondrous spirit" of Okuninushi.

Omononushi appeared before Okuninushi of Izumo, wished to be enshrined on Mount Miwa, and settled there.

Because the deity dwells in the mountain, the shrine has from ancient times built no main hall, offering prayer directly to Mount Miwa — conveying to this day the form worship took before shrine buildings came into being. It was worshipped as the deity of the making of the land and guardian of the state, and today as the deity of the making of the land and guardian of life as a whole.

What it is locally associated with

• Power spot

  No hall; the mountain is the object

  Because the deity dwells in the mountain, no main hall has been built since ancient times and prayer is offered to Mount Miwa directly — worship as it was before shrine buildings existed.

  documented history

• Origin

  A mountain the deity chose

  Omononushi appeared before Okuninushi of Izumo, wished to be enshrined on Mount Miwa, and settled there.

  folk tradition

• Power spotProtection & Safety

  From the state to daily life

  Worshipped as the deity of the making of the land and guardian of the state, and today as guardian of life as a whole.

  documented history

This shrine has no main hall. And the absence is explained. Because the deity dwells in the mountain, no main hall has been built here since ancient times, and prayer has been offered to Mount Miwa directly — this, the shrine says, is the form worship took before shrine buildings existed at all. Not that one was never built, but that none was needed.

What is venerated is the mountain itself. Omononushi appeared before Okuninushi of Izumo, wished to be enshrined on Mount Miwa, and settled there. The deity chose the place where it would be worshipped.

The Nihon Shoki calls Omononushi the fortunate spirit and wondrous spirit of Okuninushi — not a separate god, but a part of one.

The scope of what is asked has moved. It was worshipped as the deity of the making of the land and as guardian of the state; now it is guardian of life as a whole. The object came down from the country to the household.

Related guides

• How to visit a shrine or temple in JapanThe country-wide basics: purifying at the water basin, the two-bows-two-claps-one-bow form at shrines, and what temples do instead.
• What a "power spot" actually isA modern Japanese coinage, not a traditional religious category. Where the word came from, what it does and does not claim, and why this site uses it anyway.
• Shrine or temple?A shrine is Shinto and a temple is Buddhist, and you can usually tell at the gate. Why the line is cleaner on paper than on the ground, and what a government order in 1868 has to do with it.
• Omamori, ema, omikuji and goshuinThe four things you are most likely to receive, write, draw or be given at a shrine or temple, what each is actually for, and the one of them people most often get wrong.

Sources

1. ご由緒 — Omiwa Jinja (accessed 2026-08-15)
2. 大神神社 — Omiwa Jinja (accessed 2026-08-15)