Tejikarao Shrine, Shinto shrine in Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan

Tejikarao Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, entered through a tall stone torii with two cylindrical pillars and a straight lintel. A stone marker inscribed 手力雄神社 stands to its right, and a wooden shrine building with a curved dark roof and an offering box faces the paved approach. The present sanctuary buildings, rebuilt in 2008, follow the flowing nagare-zukuri style.

According to shrine tradition, Tejikarao Shrine was founded in 860, when a deity from the imperial court was divided and enshrined here; the original kami is said to be Amenotejikarao of Ise Shrine. In the Middle Ages its site at a ford of the Kiso River made it a repeated target of Oda Nobunaga's forces, and in 1600 the grounds burned during the Battle of Sekigahara, leaving only a torii several hundred metres away. The main hall was rebuilt in 1616 and again in 1885, when its style changed from nagare-zukuri to shinmei-zukuri.

The shrine's spring festival, the Tejikara Fire Festival, has a history of over 300 years and is a Gifu Prefecture Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Men carry a portable shrine packed with gunpowder and fireworks through the grounds, taking the sparks. Until 1959 the rite was part of the autumn festival; a summer version is held on the Nagara River riverbed on the second Sunday of August.

The shrine is easily accessible on foot and provides a quiet spot to spend time with minimal crowds outside festival days. Visitors should dress respectfully and observe simple gestures like bowing at the entrance.

The shrine is often confused with Naka Tejikarao Shrine in nearby Kakamigahara, and the two shrines ask visitors not to mix them up. The Gifu shrine's deity was originally divided from a kami of Ise Jingu in 860, while the Kakamigahara shrine's is strongly influenced by Togakushi Shrine.