Iwamizawa Jinja, Shinto shrine in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, Japan
Iwamizawa Jinja is a Shinto shrine in Iwamizawa, Hokkaido, built in the Shinmei-zukuri style. Its grounds contain the main hall, a torii gate, stone lanterns, and five subordinate shrines: Sōma, Horomui, Shibun, Kamihoromui, and Akagawa. The shrine is also called Ishikari Ichinomiya.
The shrine was founded in 1885, when villagers gathered for a kami festival in the Sorachi district of Ishikari, after 277 samurai households from 12 prefectures including Yamaguchi and Tottori had moved to the area in 1884. A small shrine building was erected in 1886. A major fire destroyed the shrine buildings in 1896, and in 1897 the shrine was moved to its present site with donated land and a second-generation hall was built. Because that hall's ridge-raising ceremony took place on September 14, the annual festival has been held on September 15 ever since. In 1932 the shrine was ranked as a prefectural shrine and a fourth-generation hall was built.
The shrine serves as a community gathering place, particularly during the annual festival on September 15 when local residents come together to perform traditional rituals and leave offerings. Visitors observe simple customs like bowing twice and clapping their hands twice before praying, practices that connect them to generations of local tradition.
The shrine stands in central Iwamizawa, in the Ishikari region of Hokkaido; the grounds are entered through a torii gate, with the prayer hall beyond and five auxiliary shrines (Sōma, Horomui, Shibun, Kamihoromui and Akagawa) on the site. The main festival is held on 15 September, the date fixed after the second hall was completed in 1897.
The shrine is dedicated to two deities: Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess, and Ookuninushi no Kami, the god of agriculture and good fortune. This pairing reflects how the shrine was meant to support the community with both spiritual power and practical blessings for farming and prosperity.
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