Uji Shrine, Shinto shrine in Uji, Japan.
Uji Shrine is a Shinto sanctuary in Uji with a main hall featuring a three-peaked nagare-zukuri design. The building follows traditional Japanese construction methods and sits within peaceful shrine grounds.
The shrine's founding date is unknown. It formed a single entity with neighboring Ujigami Shrine until the Meiji era, when the two were separated; Uji Shrine was elevated to prefectural shrine status in 1911. Its main hall dates from the late Kamakura period, and in 2018 a typhoon toppled the large torii, which was rebuilt in 2019.
The shrine's messenger is the rabbit: legend says a hare guided Prince Uji no Wakiiratsuko when he lost his way from Kawachi to Uji, so it is called the "mikaeri usagi" (looking-back rabbit). Rabbit votive plaques and fortunes are sold, and on the first day of each month a bronze rabbit figure is put out. The shrine keeps a wooden seated image of the prince from the Heian period, a National Important Cultural Property, and a white-haired old man mask (yukikaki no men) from the Azuchi-Momoyama period, a Uji city cultural property.
Uji Shrine stands at Ujiyamada 1, a five-minute walk from Keihan Uji Station and ten minutes from JR Uji Station. The neighbouring shrine is Ujigami Shrine, not Ujigami; the two face each other across the same lane. The great torii at the entrance, toppled by Typhoon No. 21 in 2018, was rebuilt and a completion ceremony was held on 25 December 2019.
The shrine's messenger is a rabbit: legend says a hare guided Prince Uji no Wakiiratsuko when he lost his way from Kawachi to Uji, so it is called the "mikaeri usagi" (looking-back rabbit). Rabbit ema and omikuji are sold, and a bronze rabbit figure appears only on the first day of each month.
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