五百井神社, Shinto shrine in Rittō, Japan
Ioi Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Rittō, Shiga Prefecture, sitting at the foot of Mount Anjuji near the Kinshō River. It has a main hall and several smaller auxiliary shrines, with additional sacred structures at the top of the hill behind it.
The shrine was once known as Ai Jinja and appears in the Engishiki, a 10th-century official registry of shrines, pointing to its early recognition. It received an official divine rank in 851, and by the late medieval period its name began to be written with the characters for Ioi.
The shrine is closely tied to water use in the surrounding area. Visitors today can see the Kinshō River running just beside it, a waterway that was once called Ikawa in old documents and played a role in local irrigation.
The shrine is in a rural part of Rittō and is easiest to reach by car or bicycle. If you plan to visit the smaller shrines at the top of the hill behind the main building, wear sturdy shoes as the path can be steep.
A wooden tablet inside the main hall carries an inscription dated 1524, placing the building in the Sengoku period, a time of civil war in Japan. The structure has been maintained over the centuries largely through the efforts of local volunteers.
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