Tokyo Shrines

Suwa Shrine is the head shrine of Suwa-taisha in Nagano Prefecture, and there are approximately 5,000 Suwa shrines throughout the country, with Kenmonakata no Kami as the main deity.

There are more than 2,000 single shrines that do not belong to the Honcho, including Nikko Toshogu Shrine, Meiji Shrine, Yasukuni Shrine, and Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine.

The most famous of these is the "three sacred objects" that Ninigi no Mikoto is said to have received from Amaterasu at the time of his descent from heaven in the "Chronicles of Japan.

The Honcho is the umbrella organization for all Shinto shrines in Japan, and each prefectural government has its own Shinto Shrine Agency as a local branch.

Atago Shrine in Minato Ward, Tokyo, is located on Mt. Atago, the highest mountain in the 23 wards as a natural terrain mountain.

Including annexes and outlying regent shrines, Ise Jingu is the largest shrine in Japan in terms of area.

The basic architectural style of shrine pavilions is the gabled gabled roof, which can be broadly divided into the "Shinmei-zukuri" style, which has its roots in the Ise Jingu Shrine, and the "Taisha-zukuri" style, which has its roots in the Izumo-Taisha Shrine.

The forests maintained in and around the grounds of shrines are called "chinju no mori (woods).

There are approximately 81,000 shrines throughout Japan (Agency for Cultural Affairs, 2016).

In principle, ichinomiya was granted to one shrine in one country, but there are cases where there are multiple ichinomiya in one country due to a battle for shrine status.

In 1946, GHQ abolished the system of shrine ranks, but the concept of shrine rank itself still exists today.

Shikinai-sha were divided into "kan'ei" and "kokun'ei," which were further classified into "osha" and "kosha," respectively.

In general, people refrain from visiting shrines during the period of mourning.

The ranking of shrines in terms of the number of Hatsumode worshippers is Fushimi Inari Taisha in second place, Sumiyoshi Taisha in third place, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in fourth place, and Atsuta Jingu in fifth place.

The 16 shrines that are designated as "imperial shrines" are Kamo Betsurai-jinja Shrine, Kamo Goso-jinja Shrine, Ishimizu Hachimangu Shrine, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, Atsuta Shrine, Izumo Taisha Shrine, Hikawa Shrine, Kashima Shrine, Katori Shrine, Kashihara Shrine, Omi-jingu Shrine, Heian Shrine, Meiji Shrine, Yasukuni Shrine, Usa Shrine, and Kashinomiya Shrine.

More than 1,500 rituals are held annually at Ise Jingu.

The custom of worship at Izumo-taisha is "Ni-hai (two worships, four claps, one bow, and one bow). In addition, during the annual festival in May, the worshippers bow with eight beats of the hand.

The Jinja Honcho was established in 1946 as a religious corporation independent of the national government under the Shinto Directive issued by GHQ.

The month of October on the lunar calendar is said to be the month when all the gods from all over Japan gather in Izumo for their divine assemblies, and is generally referred to as "Kanashizuki," while in Izumo it is called "Kanzai-zuki.

Meiji Jingu Shrine usually attracts the largest number of visitors for Hatsumode (New Year's visit) in Japan. The number of visitors is approximately 3.2 million on the first three days of the year.

Inari Shrine, Hachiman Shrine, and Tenmangu Shrine (Tenjin Shrine) are the three major Shinto shrines in Japan that have a particularly large number of affiliated shrines.