Tsubaki Nakato Shrine, Shinto shrine in Suzuka, Mie prefecture, Japan

Tsubaki Nakato Shrine in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, combines the former Tsubaki Shrine and Nakato Shrine, both listed in the Engishiki as small shrines. Its single-storey hall has a white plastered facade, a dark brown gabled roof and four white cylindrical pillars with gold fittings; dark-framed doors open onto a wooden offering box. Two stone lion statues flank the steps, and a pale grey stone torii with a twisted straw rope marks the entrance.

According to shrine tradition, Emperor Yūryaku's 23rd year (479) saw the founding of two separate shrines by the Ise provincial governor Takao Tsuka no Mikoto. Both appear in the Engishiki as minor shrines. In 1079 they received the senior first rank and a brush-written plaque from Emperor Shirakawa. The buildings burned during Oda Nobunaga's Ise campaign in the Eiroku era, and were rebuilt in the Kan'ei era by Hitotsuyanagi Naomori. The two shrines were merged in the Meiji era.

The name Tsubaki does not refer to camellias: it is written with the characters for the deities Sarutahiko and Nakatsutsuo, and the shrine's identity rests on those kami, not on a flower. The Nakato lion dance, performed at the annual festival on 10 October, was designated a Suzuka City intangible folk cultural property on 10 March 2000. The grounds also hold two subordinate shrines, Ogawa Yakushi Oji on the left and Shinmei Kasuga on the right.

The shrine stands at the Ichinomiya-cho intersection, about one kilometre south of the Suzuka Ohashi bridge on National Route 23. From Kawarada Station on the JR Kansai Line or Suzuka-shi Station on the Kintetsu Suzuka Line, take a Mie Kotsu bus to the Takaoka stop and walk about ten minutes. The precinct is entered through the stone torii.

The name Tsubaki does not refer to camellias: it is written with the characters for the deities Sarutahiko and Nakatsutsuno, and the reading is shared with Tsubaki Grand Shrine, which disputes the Ise Province first-rank title. The shrine's lion dance, Nakato Shishimai, was designated a Suzuka City intangible folk cultural property on 10 March 2000.