Tamasaki Shrine

Tamasaki Shrine stands in the town of Ichinomiya at the southern end of Kujukuri Beach, close to Tsurigasaki coast. It has long been revered as the ichinomiya (premier shrine) of old Kazusa Province, is a Myojin Taisha listed in the Engishiki, was ranked as a Kokuhei Chusha in 1871, and is now a Beppyo shrine of the Association of Shinto Shrines. The deity is Tamayori-hime-no-Mikoto, enshrined as a sea goddess, and many visitors come to pray for good ties, conception, safe childbirth and raising children.

Its founding date is unclear, because the shrine lost its buildings and old records in warfare during the Eiroku era (1558–1570). The firm clue is that its name appears in the Engishiki register compiled in 927. It is introduced as a shrine with more than 1,200 years of history.

The present buildings were built in 1687. The main hall, offering hall and worship hall are connected in the gongen-zukuri style and are designated cultural properties of Chiba Prefecture. They are described as mid-Edo architecture painted entirely in black lacquer, and under a blue sky the metal fittings on the dark buildings stand out brilliantly. Subsidiary shrines in the precincts include Shokonden, Junisha and Mitsumine Shrine. There is also the "Kosazuri Ginkgo," where a young tree grows between a male and a female tree, as well as the "Sazare-ishi" stone and the "Barefoot Path." The shrine holds a nationally designated Important Cultural Property, the "Baiju Sojaku Mirror," now on deposit at the Oitaki Castle branch of the Chiba Prefectural Central Museum.

The shrine's best-known event is the Kazusa Junisha Festival, held from September 8 to 14 each year, centered on the annual festival on September 13. Also called the "Kazusa Hadaka Matsuri" (naked festival), it was designated an intangible folk cultural property of Chiba Prefecture on March 28, 2003. It is said to have begun around 807, and its origin is that the deities of the goddess's family gather once a year at Cape Taito, where Tamayori-hime is said to have come ashore. On the day of the festival, a total of nine mikoshi from five shrines, including Tamasaki, Nangu and Tamazaki, gather at the Tsurigasaki festival ground. The highlight is "Shiofumi," in which bearers wearing little clothing run along the water's edge. Around it there are also a children's procession and performances of Kazusa Kagura, a grand kagura with a history of about 300 years.

The shrine can be visited outside festival time as well. Prayer reception is daily from 9:00 to 15:30. Allow 30 minutes to an hour to walk the grounds. Kujukuri Beach (about 19 km) and the Katsuura Morning Market (about 26 km) are nearby, so you can combine it with a trip along the outer Boso coast.

It is only a 7–8 minute walk from Kazusa-Ichinomiya Station on the JR Sotobo Line, an easy place to visit by train. By car, it is about 3 km (about 10 minutes) from Ichinomiya IC on the Kujukuri Road via Route 128, with free parking for about 50 cars.