Sapporo Gokoku Jinja

Quick facts

Address

15-5-1-1 Minami-jo-nishi, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido

About this place

Sapporo Gokoku Jinja stands in Chuo-ku, Sapporo. Its enshrined deities are given as the spirits of the defence of the country, 25,548 of them. It begins with rites for the spirits of the colonial militia who died in the fighting or of illness in the Satsuma campaign of 1877. Prince Arisugawa Taruhito gave the monument the title Colonial Militia Spirit-Summoning Monument, and rites were performed at the Colonial Militia Headquarters on 2 August 1879. In February 1907 it moved to Nakajima Park, where those who died in the fighting or of illness in the war with Qing China of 1894–95 were enshrined alongside; a loyal-spirit monument was raised for the enshrinement of those who died in the war with Russia of 1904–05, and General Nogi inscribed it. On 17 November 1933 Sapporo Shokonsha was built on the present site, and the spirits that had been enshrined at Sapporo Jinja, a shrine of imperial rank, were returned here. In 1936, on the occasion of the Showa Emperor’s progress through Hokkaido, an offering for the rites was granted. On 1 April 1939 it became a Gokoku shrine designated by the Home Ministry. With the end of the war it came under the Association of Shinto Shrines on 30 April 1946, and on 12 December of that year was renamed Sapporo Shotoku Jinja. On 23 October 1951 the enshrinement of Taga-den, a shrine within the precinct, was approved by the Association of Shinto Shrines. On 3 February 1972 the Showa Emperor and Empress worshipped here in person. The centenary rite was held on 6 July 1979, and special rites with imperial offerings were performed on 15 August in 1995, 2005 and 2015. The annual festival is 6 July from ten o’clock, the eve festival 5 July from six in the evening, and the following-day festival 7 July from ten. No benefit that may be prayed for is stated.

Origin and history

It begins with rites for the spirits of the colonial militia who died in the fighting or of illness in the Satsuma campaign of 1877. Prince Arisugawa Taruhito gave the monument the title Colonial Militia Spirit-Summoning Monument, and rites were performed at the Colonial Militia Headquarters on 2 August 1879.

In February 1907 it moved to Nakajima Park, where those who died in the fighting or of illness in the war with Qing China of 1894–95 were enshrined alongside; a loyal-spirit monument was raised for the enshrinement of those who died in the war with Russia of 1904–05, and General Nogi inscribed it.

On 17 November 1933 Sapporo Shokonsha was built on the present site, and the spirits that had been enshrined at Sapporo Jinja, a shrine of imperial rank, were returned here. In 1936, on the occasion of the Showa Emperor’s progress through Hokkaido, an offering for the rites was granted. On 1 April 1939 it became a Gokoku shrine designated by the Home Ministry.

With the end of the war it came under the Association of Shinto Shrines on 30 April 1946, and on 12 December of that year was renamed Sapporo Shotoku Jinja. On 23 October 1951 the enshrinement of Taga-den within the precinct was approved. On 3 February 1972 the Showa Emperor and Empress worshipped here in person. The centenary rite was held on 6 July 1979, and special rites with imperial offerings were performed on 15 August in 1995, 2005 and 2015.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  A rite at the militia headquarters

  Prince Arisugawa Taruhito titled the Colonial Militia Spirit-Summoning Monument, and rites were performed at the Colonial Militia Headquarters on 2 August 1879.

  documented history

• Origin

  Spirits returned from Sapporo Jinja

  On 17 November 1933 Sapporo Shokonsha was built on the present site, and the spirits enshrined at Sapporo Jinja were returned here.

  documented history

• What people do here

  25,548 spirits

  The enshrined deities are given as the spirits of the defence of the country, 25,548 of them. The annual festival is 6 July, with an eve festival on 5 July and a following-day festival on 7 July.

  documented history

Across this list, the colonial militia appear again and again as the people who build shrines. Kotoni Jinja and Shinkotoni Jinja are both shrines where militia settlers and their families set down a tutelary deity on arriving. Here the militia are on the other side of the rite. Rites for the spirits of the colonial militia who died in the fighting or of illness in the campaign of 1877: that is the first line of the record.

The first rite was not held at a shrine either. It was performed at the Colonial Militia Headquarters on 2 August 1879. The monument was titled by Prince Arisugawa Taruhito; the loyal-spirit monument later raised at Nakajima Park was inscribed, the record says, by General Nogi.

Its relation to Sapporo Jinja is the one link in this region that runs the other way. Every other shrine here received a divided spirit that left Sapporo Jinja for a new parish. On 17 November 1933 the record instead reads that the spirits enshrined at Sapporo Jinja were returned here. Not sent out — brought back.

What the shrine counts as its founding can be read off the dates. The centenary rite fell on 6 July 1979, which counts one hundred years from the rite of 1879, not from the deaths of 1877.

The record gives 12 December 1946 as the day the name became Sapporo Shotoku Jinja. The year it returned to its present name is not written anywhere in this account.

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Sources

1. 札幌護国神社 — 北海道神社庁札幌支部 (accessed 2026-08-16)