Ōyamato Shrine, Shinto shrine in Nara Prefecture, Japan
Ōyamato Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Tenri built in the Kasuga-zukuri style. This distinctive architectural approach features traditional wooden construction and a gabled roof that defines the structure.
According to the Nihon Shoki, Emperor Sujin moved Yamato Okunitama out of the palace after plagues; in his 7th year the kami spoke in a dream to Princess Yamatototohi-momosohime, and Ichishi no Nagaochi, ancestor of the Yamato clan, was made its priest and founded the shrine. It received the senior first rank in 897 and became one of the Twenty-Two Shrines under Emperor Shirakawa. A 1583 fire destroyed its records and lands.
The shrine's name links the Yamato region to Okunitama, the land's tutelary deity. The April 1 Chachan Matsuri, a Nara Prefecture-designated folk custom, sets out from the shrine and rests at a stone seat in Kishida's market before reaching the otabisho near Nakayama Otsuka Kofun. The January 4 Yumi-hajime rite follows the Ogasawara school's Momote archery form.
The shrine is located in Tenri and is accessible on foot from local transit points. Visitors should wear appropriate clothing and be aware of traditional conduct expected at Shinto sites.
The shrine's grounds hold a 70-metre keyhole-shaped burial mound, Hoshizuka Kofun, and a hall displaying material on the battleship Yamato, whose crew shrine enshrined a divided spirit of Ōyamato's deity. In 1945 the 2,736 men lost with the ship, including Vice-Admiral Itō Seiichi, were collectively enshrined in the shrine's Soreisha.
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