Kato Shrine

On the north side of the main enclosure of Kumamoto Castle, in a green corner, stands Kato Shrine, dedicated to Kato Kiyomasa, the master castle builder. Because Kato sounds like the Japanese for 'let us win', many young people come to pray for luck in studies and contests.

The principal deity is Kiyomasa, with Okino Kanenori, who died with him, and Kim Kwan, a Korean, enshrined alongside. The shrine began with the Joichi-byo, a mausoleum built on top of Mt. Nakao after Kiyomasa's death in 1611, as he had requested. In 1614, Honmyo-ji, which had burned down, was moved to that site. After the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in 1868 the rites became Shinto, and in 1871 the shrine split from the mausoleum and Honmyo-ji and was built in the Heizaemon-maru of Kumamoto Castle under the name Kinzan Shrine. Okino and Kim were enshrined together in the same year.

Its later history overlaps with modern Kumamoto. In 1874, with the establishment of the Kumamoto Garrison, it moved to Shinbori-machi outside the castle, and the following year it was ranked a prefectural shrine. The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 burned the shrine, but the sacred object had been taken to Kengun Shrine and was safe, and the shrine was rebuilt in 1884. In 1909, when Kiyomasa was posthumously awarded the Junior Third Rank, it was renamed Kato Shrine. In 1962 it moved to its present site because of road works.

Devotion to Kiyomasa spread beyond Kumamoto. Because Nogi Maresuke also revered him, branch shrines arose in many places, and one was founded in Hawaii in 1911. The number of shrines dedicated to Kiyomasa once reached 90, about half of them in Kumamoto Prefecture.

The annual festival is held on the fourth Sunday of July and is called the Seishoko Festival. A procession of the deity is held.

To get here, walk about eight minutes (about 630 m) from the Kumamoto-jo / Shiyakusho-mae tram stop. By bus, take a Kyushu Sanko Bus from Kumamoto Sakuramachi Bus Terminal and get off at Katei Saibansho-mae, right by the shrine. By car, there is parking in the grounds, and the paid Ninomaru lot of Kumamoto Castle can also be used. A visit does not take long, but it combines well with Kumamoto Castle and Sakura-no-baba Josaien for a stroll through the castle town. Suizenji Jojuen Garden is also a short trip away.