Kushihiki Hachimangū, Hachiman shrine in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, Japan
Kushihiki Hachimangū is a Hachiman shrine in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, not Yahata. Its main hall, south gate, former worship hall and two subsidiary shrines, built 1645–1648 under Nanbu Shigenao, are Important Cultural Properties. The hall has a copper roof and carved, polychrome details in Momoyama style.
The shrine traces its origin to 1166, when Kagemitsu Mitsumoto dedicated a Hachiman shrine in the southern part of Kai Province. In 1191 his son Mitsuyuki Nambu, granted five districts of Nukanobu, moved the shrine to Takinosawa, and in 1222 it was relocated to Kushihiki. The Nambu clan venerated it as their tutelary shrine, and the present main hall, south gate and former worship hall were built between 1645 and 1648 under Nambu Shigenao, lord of Morioka.
The shrine's name "Kushihiki" comes from Kushihiki village, where it was moved in 1222. Its autumn festival, held on the 14th-16th of the eighth lunar month, features yabusame horseback archery, revived on 7 November 1984 after lapsing in the Meiji era. Riders, called yakusha, came from the Nanbu families of Sannohe, Hachinohe and Shichinohe until the end of the Edo period.
The shrine stands in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, about ten minutes by car from Hachinohe Station; the Nanbu bus bound for the judicial centre via Yawata stops at Kushihiki Hachimangu-mae. The grounds, called Hachiyama, are entered through the vermilion torii and its stone steps, with the main hall, south gate and former worship hall arranged beyond. The armour and other treasures are shown in the shrine's own treasure hall.
The shrine's "Nanbu Ichinomiya" title is a late-20th-century coinage by a former priest, not a historical rank; the real Mutsu ichinomiya are four other shrines. The grounds also hold the former Hachinohe Elementary School hall, moved here in 1962, where Emperor Meiji stayed in 1881.
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