Kinpu Shrine, Shinto shrine in Nagaoka, Niigata prefecture, Japan

Kinpu Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Nagaoka built with traditional wooden structures in a simple, well-maintained setting. The main hall features a gently sloping roof, modest carvings, a bell for calling the spirits, and is approached through a gate with stone lanterns lining the pathway.

Founded in 709 by imperial decree of Empress Genmei, the shrine was first established at Nirebara in Koshi District as a branch of Zaō Gongen of Mount Yoshino. It was later moved to its present site in Mukura village, where the Zaōdō castle and its temple town laid the foundation for Nagaoka. In 1649 Tokugawa Iemitsu granted it 300 koku, and the Makino lords of Nagaoka made it their family guardian shrine.

The shrine is dedicated to Kanayamahiko, a god believed to bring good fortune and strength to those who pray here. Visitors come especially before important events or during festivals to seek blessings and maintain traditions passed down through generations.

The shrine stands in the northern part of central Nagaoka. From the No. 13 bay at Nagaoka Station's Otemachi bus terminal, take an Echigo Kotsu bus bound for Takaramachi or Ecotopia Kotobuki for about 10 minutes and get off at Zao, then walk about 3 minutes. From JR Kita-Nagaoka Station it is about 15 minutes on foot to the west.

The shrine was known as Zao Gongen until the Meiji era and is still called "Zao-sama" locally. Its festival, the Zao-sama Matsuri, belongs to the subordinate Mukura Shrine, and the former betto-ji Anzen-ji was abolished when Buddhism and Shinto were separated.