Hirasaki Shrine

Hirasaki Shrine (Hirakiki-jinja) sits in Kaimon, Ibusuki, at the northern foot of Mt. Kaimon. It is a shikinaisha, the ichinomiya (first-ranked shrine) of the former Satsuma Province, and a former national shrine of the lesser rank; today it is a Beppyo shrine of the Association of Shinto Shrines. Shrine tradition places its founding in the age of the gods, while its own chronicle gives 708. It probably began as a mountain cult that treated Mt. Kaimon itself as the object of worship, and is said to have moved to its present site after an eruption in the Jogan era (859-876).

Its earliest reliable mention is a 860 entry in the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, and it is listed in the Engishiki register of 927. The chief deity is Ohirumenomuchi-no-mikoto, accompanied by the five male and three female deities. In the Sengoku period the shrine was protected by the Ei clan, vassals of the Shimazu; it lost its buildings in a clan dispute in 1571 and was rebuilt under Shimazu patronage. Facing the open sea, it was long revered as a protector of sea travel, and envoys from the Ryukyu Kingdom paid homage here in the Edo period.

The present main hall was donated by Shimazu Yoshihiro in 1610 and rebuilt by Shimazu Shigehide in 1787. It is an irimoya-style building with a copper roof, chigi and katsuogi on the ridge, and a curved porch, and is a Kagoshima Prefecture tangible cultural property. Behind it lie the Seisho enclosure, said to be the tomb of Princess Toyotama, and the Tama-no-i well, said to be where she met Prince Hohodemi. The main festival, the Hoze Festival, runs from October 14 to 16. From Kaimon Station it is about a 10-minute walk, and Mt. Kaimon and Karafune-kyo are nearby.