Minase Jingu Shrine

Walking from Minase Station on the Hankyu line, you find a shrine precinct surrounded by a guardian forest in a residential area at the foot of Mt. Tennozan. It stands on the site of the detached palace loved by Retired Emperor Go-Toba and enshrines the Emperors Go-Toba, Tsuchimikado and Juntoku. It is the only shrine in Osaka Prefecture with the rank of "Jingu."

Here once stood the detached palace Minase-den, where the retired emperor liked to spend time. After losing the Jokyu War he was exiled to the Oki Islands and died there, and the palace grounds fell into ruin. In 1240, following the late emperor's last wishes, Minase Nobunari and his son Chikanari built a Mieido hall on the site and enshrined him, which was the beginning of the shrine. In 1494 Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado brought the spirit of the retired emperor back from Oki and bestowed the title "Minase-no-miya." Until the Edo period the worship was Buddhist in form; with the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in 1873 it became a shrine, and Emperors Tsuchimikado and Juntoku were enshrined together with Go-Toba. In 1939 it was granted the title Jingu and took its present name, Minase Jingu.

Among the buildings, the Kyakuden guest hall of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi with Fukushima Masanori as construction magistrate, and the Toshin-tei, a sukiya-style tea house and study of the early Edo period, are both Important Cultural Properties. The Toshin-tei is said to have been given by Emperor Go-Mizunoo and includes a three-and-three-quarter-mat tea room. The main hall was moved from the Naishidokoro of the Kyoto Imperial Palace during the Kan'ei era (1624-1645), and five structures on the grounds were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2016. Among its treasures are the national treasure portrait of Emperor Go-Toba, regarded as a leading Kamakura-period nise-e likeness, and the national treasure Go-Toba's handprinted testament, both of which are on deposit at the Kyoto National Museum.

The spring water "Rikyu no Mizu" at the hand-washing pavilion is one of Japan's 100 Famous Waters selected by the Environment Agency, and the only one in Osaka Prefecture. It is said to be groundwater of the Minase River flowing from Mt. Tennozan, and to have been favored by Sen no Rikyu for tea. Every year the three Sen tea schools, Omotesenke, Urasenke and Mushanokojisenke, hold a tea offering ceremony using this water. A handprint on the gate is traditionally attributed to the thief Ishikawa Goemon, who is said to have tried to steal a famed sword, a tale that adds to the pleasure of a visit.

Reception is open from 9:00 to 16:00, and the annual festival is held on December 7. The Toshin-tei can reportedly be visited by groups of five or more who book in advance, so it is safest to ask the shrine beforehand. A walk through the precinct takes roughly 30 minutes to an hour. Among nearby listed spots, Iwashimizu Hachimangu is a natural place to extend your trip.