Kitabatake Shrine

In a mountain valley linking Ise and Yamato, in Kamitaki, Misugi, Tsu, stands Kitabatake Shrine. This is Taki, where the Kitabatake clan, governors of Ise from the Nanboku-cho period into the Sengoku era, built their residence, and the shrine sits within the national historic site "Taki Kitabatake-shi Joukan Ato." As a place linked with the Taiheiki, it has long drawn visitors.

The chief deity is Kitabatake Akiyoshi, with his father Chikafusa and his brother Akiie enshrined alongside. In the auxiliary shrine Ryukonsha within the precincts, Tomoyuki, Mitsumasa and Tomonori of the Kitabatake family are enshrined together with retainers and farmers of the clan who died in battle. It is one of the Fifteen Shrines of the Kenmu Restoration, and the only one among them said to have a history continuing since the early modern period.

According to its own account, the shrine began in 1643, when Suzuki Magobei Ietsugu, a fourth-generation descendant of Kitabatake Tomofusa, built a small shrine called Kitabatake Hachimangu. Some argue that Akiyoshi was only enshrined after the Genroku era. It was renamed the village shrine Kitabatake Shrine in 1881, and in 1928 a new main building was built and the shrine was raised to Bekkaku Kanpei-sha rank.

The highlight of the precincts is the Kitabatake Family Residence Garden, designated a Place of Scenic Beauty in 1936. Located in the southeast corner of the grounds, it consists of a pond known as Komeji-ike (the "rice-character pond") and an artificial hill called Sobatsubo-yama. An island in the pond is called either Horai-jima or Benten-jima, and stones in the pond bear names such as "Nio-ishi" and "Daruma-ishi." It is surrounded by tall cedars, maples, cherry trees, nutmeg yews and cypresses, with azaleas and pieris as lower plantings. According to the Tsu Tourism Association, it is said to have been laid out by the shogunal deputy Hosokawa Takakuni. The Buddhist temple Shinzen-in is said to have stood on the garden site.

In 2006 the garden and the ruins of Kiriyama Castle were combined and designated as the national historic site "Taki Kitabatake-shi Joukan Ato." The Kitabatake residence was also chosen as No. 153 of the Continued 100 Fine Castles of Japan in 2017. A poem monument for Kitabatake Akiyoshi stands in the precincts.

The garden is best known for its autumn foliage. The shaded, cool scenery is also described as a good summer retreat. Annual events include New Year's Day, the National Foundation Day rite on February 11, the Ise Kokushi Kosha grand festival on May 5, the autumn grand festival on October 13, and the Niiname-sai on November 23.

Allow about an hour to see the garden and grounds. Public transport is limited: about 45 minutes by Tsu City community bus from Ieki Station on the JR Meisho Line (4 buses a day), or about 60 minutes by car from Hisai IC on the Ise Expressway. There are few other attractions nearby, so the trip is best spent quietly taking in this historic site in the mountains.