Shinoro Jinja

Shrine · Sapporo

Wakamiya Hachiman · Shinoro Hachimansha

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In short

Founded in 1855 as Wakamiya Hachiman under the Tokugawa shogunate’s resident-settler system, which makes it among the oldest shrines in Sapporo.

The annual festival at Shinoro Jinja in Kita-ku, Sapporo.
禁樹なずな / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick facts

Address
4-7-2 Shinoro, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido

About this place

Shinoro Jinja stands in Kita-ku, Sapporo. Its deities are Amaterasu, Homudawake, Ukemochi, Sugawara no Michizane, Omononushi, Emperor Sutoku and Ame-no-Kaguyama. In 1855 Wakamiya Hachiman was founded under the Tokugawa shogunate’s resident-settler system. In 1857 Arai Kinsuke Naomitsu, Ishikari inspector under the Hakodate magistrate, had a hall built for it as Shinoro Hachimansha. In 1882 a main hall in the nagare style was raised using ash timber from Hokkaido, and on 28 January 1901 two further deities, those of the two Ise shrines, were added. It was ranked on 22 September 1926; a centenary rite was performed on 18 September 1956 with repairs to the hall, and on 26 September 1980 a complete rebuilding of the hall and shrine office was completed. Several shrines have been merged into it. 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

In 1855 Wakamiya Hachiman was founded under the Tokugawa shogunate’s resident-settler system. In 1857 Arai Kinsuke Naomitsu, Ishikari inspector under the Hakodate magistrate, had a hall built for it as Shinoro Hachimansha.

In 1882 a main hall in the nagare style was raised using ash timber from Hokkaido, and on 28 January 1901 the deities of the two Ise shrines were added. It was ranked on 22 September 1926.

A centenary rite was performed on 18 September 1956 with repairs to the hall, and on 26 September 1980 a complete rebuilding of the hall and shrine office was completed. Several shrines have been merged into it.

What it is locally associated with

  • Origin

    Founded in 1855 under the shogunate

    In 1855 Wakamiya Hachiman was founded under the Tokugawa shogunate’s resident-settler system.

    documented history
  • Origin

    A hall built by a shogunate official

    In 1857 Arai Kinsuke Naomitsu, Ishikari inspector under the Hakodate magistrate, had a hall built for it as Shinoro Hachimansha.

    documented history
  • What people do here

    A main hall of Hokkaido ash

    In 1882 a main hall in the nagare style was raised using ash timber from Hokkaido.

    documented history

This shrine alone belongs to a different era. It was founded in 1855, under the Tokugawa shogunate’s resident-settler system. Sapporo’s shrines on this list almost all begin in the Meiji period — Hokkaido Jingu’s three deities were not even enshrined in Tokyo until 1869, fourteen years after this.

The hall of 1857 was built by Arai Kinsuke Naomitsu, Ishikari inspector under the Hakodate magistrate. Office and full name survive here as they do for Shiroishi Jinja’s Iwamura Michitoshi, Miyoshi Jinja’s Kimura Tōkichi and Suwa Jinja’s Ueshima Tadashi — but this is the only one who served the shogunate rather than the Meiji state.

The main hall is made of local wood: ash from Hokkaido, raised in the nagare style in 1882. In a city where so much was carried in, an explicit note of local material is rare — and it is the exact inverse of Hokkaido Jingu, whose main hall was built from old timber brought from Ise.

The deities have grown to seven: Amaterasu, Homudawake, Ukemochi, Sugawara no Michizane, Omononushi, Emperor Sutoku and Ame-no-Kaguyama. The two Ise deities joined in 1901, and several shrines have been merged in besides. The page names no benefit, so this page carries no tag for what may be prayed for.

Claims and evidence levels 2
  • The shrine was founded in 1855 under the Tokugawa shogunate’s resident-settler system, before the Meiji period. documented history
  • Its 1882 main hall was raised in the nagare style using ash timber from Hokkaido. documented history

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Sources

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

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