Toyohata Jinja

Shrine · Sapporo

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In short

Begins with a squared timber, the god’s name cut into it, set upright and worshipped at.

The precinct of Toyohata Jinja in Higashi-karikuru-cho, Higashi-ku, Sapporo. — 禁樹なずな / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick facts

Address: 361-1 Higashi-karikuru-cho, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido
Spiritual entities: Inari (稲荷大神)

About this place

Toyohata Jinja stands in Higashi-karikuru-cho, Higashi-ku, Sapporo. Its deity is Uganomitama. In the early years of Taisho, Momose and fifteen others who had settled here and taken up farming wished to enshrine Inari-okami, guardian of the five grains, as their tutelary deity; with rites performed by Nomura Shigeru, formerly a priest of Sapporo Jinja, they set up a squared timber with the god’s name carved into it and worshipped there, and that is the beginning. Afterwards, in 1927, the precinct ground was fixed and the hall too was raised by the residents working together in service. A divided spirit of the present Fushimi Inari shrine that sits in the village of Fushimi was enshrined and Toyohata Jinja was founded; it became a religious corporation in 1984. The annual festival is 17 September, performed from eleven o’clock. No benefit that may be prayed for is stated.

Origin and history

In the early years of Taisho, Momose and fifteen others who had settled here and taken up farming wished to enshrine Inari-okami, guardian of the five grains, as their tutelary deity; with rites performed by Nomura Shigeru, formerly a priest of Sapporo Jinja, they set up a squared timber with the god’s name carved into it and worshipped there, and that is the beginning.

Afterwards, in 1927, the precinct ground was fixed and the hall too was raised by the residents working together in service.

A divided spirit of the present Fushimi Inari shrine that sits in the village of Fushimi was enshrined and Toyohata Jinja was founded; it became a religious corporation in 1984.

What it is locally associated with

Origin
A squared timber carved with the god’s name
With rites performed by Nomura Shigeru, formerly a priest of Sapporo Jinja, the settlers set up a squared timber with the god’s name carved into it and worshipped there.
documented history
Origin
Sixteen settlers’ wish
In the early years of Taisho, Momose and fifteen others who had taken up farming wished to enshrine Inari-okami as their tutelary deity.
documented history
What people do here
A hall raised in service
In 1927 the precinct ground was fixed and the hall was raised by the residents working together in service.
documented history

The first form this shrine took was neither a hall nor a small shrine but a single piece of timber. They set up a squared timber with the god’s name carved into it and worshipped there — a name cut into wood, the wood stood upright, and people came to it. Sapporo Fujino Jinja in the same city also began from a marker post, so this shape now has more than one instance.

The rite at the setting-up was performed by Nomura Shigeru, formerly a priest of Sapporo Jinja. What usually travels from Hokkaido Jingu to the shrines of this city is a divided spirit; what came here was a person. Sapporo Sorei Jinja likewise took a priest before it took a god, which makes two.

The count survives. Momose and fifteen others — settlers who had taken up farming and wished to enshrine Inari-okami, guardian of the five grains, as their tutelary deity.

The divided spirit is credited to the present Fushimi Inari shrine that sits in the village of Fushimi. This site also carries Sapporo Fushimi Inari Jinja, which stands in a district called Fushimi. The record does not say which is meant, and neither does this page.

Claims and evidence levels 2

The shrine began in the early Taisho years with a squared timber carved with the god’s name, set up with rites by a former priest of Sapporo Jinja. documented history
The precinct was fixed and a hall raised in 1927; the shrine became a religious corporation in 1984. documented history

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