Isobe Shrine, Shinto shrine in Japan
Isobe Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the Shimotani area of Izushi, Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture. Its main hall (honden), built in 1935, is a two-bay nagare-zukuri structure with a copper-sheet roof, and the worship hall (haiden) from the same year has a hip-and-gable roof covered in tiles. A large keyaki tree, said to be 1,000 years old, stands on the grounds.
The shrine's founding date is unknown; tradition holds it first stood at Tsuboi, moved to a hill in Bishamoncho in 1595, and reached its present site in November 1705. It appears as Isobe Shrine in the 927 Engishiki register of shrines in Izushi District, Tajima Province. The Koide and Sengoku lords of Izushi Domain patronised it, and it was ranked a village shrine in 1873 and a district shrine in 1879.
The shrine's main deity is Amenohikakushihikata no Mikoto, ancestor of the Isobe clan, worshipped together with seven other kami as the "Eight Pillar Great Kami". The annual festival on the Sunday before 15 October was once a kenka matsuri in which about 20 danjiri floats clashed in front of Izushi Castle, together with Sugisugi and Ifukube shrines.
The shrine stands at 62 Shimotani, Izushi-cho, about a 12-minute walk east from Izushi's Tatsukoro bell tower in the town centre. The grounds hold the main hall and worship hall, both built in 1935, plus the subsidiary shrines Kōtaijin-gū and Tenman Jinja. The great keyaki tree, said to be 1,000 years old, is a Toyooka City natural monument.
The great zelkova (keyaki) on the grounds is said to be 1,000 years old, with a trunk circumference of 8 metres and a height of 30 metres; Toyooka City designated it a natural monument on 16 September 1993. The shrine's main hall and worship hall were both built in 1935, the main hall in the two-bay nagare-zukuri style with a copper-sheet roof.
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