Usa Jingū

Usa-jingū (宇佐神宮), also known as Usa Hachiman-gū (宇佐八幡宮), is a Japanese Shinto shrine in the city of Usa in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu.^[1]

History[change | change source]

The shrine was founded in the Wadō era (708-714).^[2]

A Buddhist temple called Miroku-ji was built next to it in 779, making it what is believed to be the first shrine-temple (jingū-ji) ever.^[3] The shrine-temple complex, called Usa Hachimangu-ji (宇佐八幡宮寺), lasted until 1868.

Usa first appears in the chronicles of Imperial history during the reign of Empress Shōtoku.^[4]

Usa jingū was designated as the chief Shinto shrine (ichinomiya) for the old Buzen Province. It serves today as one of the ichinomiya of Oita and Fukuoka Prefectures. ^[5]

From 1871 through 1946, Usa was officially listed among the first rank of government supported shrines.^[6]

Branch shrines[change | change source]

Usa is today the center of over 40,000 branch Hachiman shrines.^[7] In Shinto belief, the many Hachiman shrines have extended the reach of the kami at Usa.^[8]

References[change | change source]

↑ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Usa Hachiman-gū" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 1017.
↑ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines, p. 195.
↑ Shively, Donald H. (1993). Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 2, pp. 524–530.
↑ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 78-81; Brown, Delmer M. (1993). The Cambridge History of Japan, p. 411 n144 citing Ross Bender, "The Hachiman Cult and the Dōkyō Incident" in Monumenta Nipponica. 24 (Summer 1979): 124.
↑ "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 3. Archived 2013-05-17 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2011-08-09
↑ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 124-126; other similarly honored Hachiman shrines were Iwashimizu Hachiman-gu of Yawata in Kyoto Prefecture and Hakozaki-gū of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture
↑ Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT), Usa Jinju Shrine^{[permanent dead link]}
↑ Hardacre, Helen. (1989). Shinto and the State, 1868-1988, p. 12.

Other websites[change | change source]

Media related to Usa Shrine at Wikimedia Commons

Shrine image, 180° panorama Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine

33°31′34″N 131°22′29″E / 33.52611°N 131.37472°E / 33.52611; 131.37472

[1] Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Usa Hachiman-gū" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 1017.

[pf195-2] Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines, p. 195.

[3] Shively, Donald H. (1993). Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 2, pp. 524–530.

[4] Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 78-81; Brown, Delmer M. (1993). The Cambridge History of Japan, p. 411 n144 citing Ross Bender, "The Hachiman Cult and the Dōkyō Incident" in Monumenta Nipponica. 24 (Summer 1979): 124.

[5] "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 3. Archived 2013-05-17 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2011-08-09

[6] Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 124-126; other similarly honored Hachiman shrines were Iwashimizu Hachiman-gu of Yawata in Kyoto Prefecture and Hakozaki-gū of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture

[mlit1-7] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT), Usa Jinju Shrine^{[permanent dead link]}

[8] Hardacre, Helen. (1989). Shinto and the State, 1868-1988, p. 12.

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