Kogane Shrine, Shinto shrine in Gifu, Japan
Kogane Shrine is a Shinto shrine in central Gifu whose worship hall was rebuilt in 1988. Its vermilion facade has green-framed lattice panels flanking a dark central passage, and a curved wooden plaque with gold characters and white zigzag paper streamers hangs above the entrance. Two stone guardian lion statues stand on pedestals by the steps, and a gold torii gate, repainted in 2015, marks the approach.
Tradition holds that the shrine was founded in 135 by Mononobe no Omi Kabura, who was sent to the region as kuni no miyatsuko and enshrined Kogane no Okami. It appears in the Heian-period Mino no Kuni Naishin-ki as "Shosanmi Kogane no Okami" of Atsumi District. The shrine was elevated from Shoroku-i to Jugoige in 869, and in 1617 Okudaira Nobumasa had the sanctuary rebuilt for the birth of his heir. The hall burned in the 1891 Mino-Owari earthquake and again in the 1945 Gifu air raid; the present building dates from 1988.
The shrine's name comes from Kogane Ōkami, the deity tied to wealth: Nunoshihime-no-mikoto is said to have spent her own fortune developing the town after her husband Inishiki-Irihiko-no-mikoto was killed in Mino. She is worshipped here alongside Ichihaya-no-mikoto, their son, whose shrines are Inaba and Kashimori. Since 2017 a gold-ink seal, the "gold goshuin", is issued on the last Friday of each month.
Access to the shrine is through well-kept paths leading through the surrounding area, allowing visitors to approach on foot at a leisurely pace. The walkways are generally level and clearly marked, making it easy to navigate during your visit.
Since 2017 the shrine has issued a "golden goshuin" seal stamped in gold mud on the last Friday of each month, a scheme tied to Premium Friday. The idea began with a 2016 city tour and proved so popular that other Gifu temples and shrines adopted it; by July 2019 eight sites together issued 5,000 of the seals in that month.
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