Hirano Shrine, Shinto shrine in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan.
Hirano-jinja is a Shinto shrine in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan, housing four main deity halls with cypress bark roofs. The buildings follow the Kasuga style and stand in pairs across the grounds.
The shrine grew from a small shrine in Heijo-kyo where Imaki-no-Ookami, ancestral deity of Emperor Kanmu's mother Takano no Niigasa, was worshipped; in 782 that deity held the fourth rank. Sources date the move near the new capital variously to 785, 794 or the Enryaku era, and the shrine's own tradition places it in 794. By 863-864 the four deities held top ranks, and the shrine became one of the Twenty-Two Shrines.
The shrine's crest is the double cherry blossom, and its grounds have been noted for sakura since Emperor Kazan planted a tree here in 985. The April 10 Cherry Blossom Festival reenacts the first imperial visit of that year, combining a procession with worship at the emperor's tomb.
The shrine opens daily at 6 in the morning and usually closes around 5 in the afternoon. During cherry blossom season between March and April, the gates stay open longer so visitors can come in the evening as well.
At the base of an old tree sits a large magnetite stone wrapped with sacred ropes and paper ornaments. This stone is said to be the largest of its kind in all of Japan.
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