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Nearest station

Myōgadani

Marunouchi Line

Tōkyō-to, Bunkyō-ku, Sengoku 2-10-10

東京都文京区千石2-10-10

簸川神社 

Hikawa Jinja

Home page: None

May 6, 2017

The Name

This is the first Hikawa Jinja I have come across which uses the "" character in its name rather than ””: including this one my database includes just four, the other three are all in Fukui-ken. Sometime during the Edo Period the name was changed to Hikawa Daimyōjin. Coming into the Meiji Period the name was changed to or reverted to (?) Hikawa (氷川) Jinja, and it took the current version of its name, 簸川Jinja, in the succeeding Taisho Period on the reasoning that the name 氷川derived from the 簸川 in Izumo (Until 2011 Izumo Taiisha was located in 簸川-gun: in that year Hikawa was merged into Izumo-shi).

History

Said to have been founded during the reign of the fifth (legendary) Emperor, Kōshō (475 – 393 B.C.). One source, JinjaJin (Japanese) is more precise, saying the foundation date was 473 B.C. It is also said that Hachimantarō (Minamoto Yoshiie, 1041-1108) spent some time in the shrine in prayer: given that he visited the nearby Hakusan Jinja and the proximity of the two shrines to each other, this would seem eminently possible. Also nearby is a Pure Land sect (Jōdo-shū) temple, Denzuin (伝通院), the founder of which, High Priest Ryōyo (了誉上人), apparently took an interest in the Hikawa Shrine and partly through his help in rebuilding it it became the main shrine for the Koisihikawa/Sugamo district. It was originally located in what is now Koishikawa Botanical Gardens and was moved to its present site in 1699 as a result of the reconstruction of Hakusan Jinja. 

Enshrined Deities:  

Main

Susano-o-no mikoto              須佐之男命

Onamuchi-no-mikoto          大己貴命

Kushinada-hime-mikoto     奇稲田姫命

In-ground Shrines: 

Hakuhō (?) Inari Jinja              白宝稲荷神社

Sui Jinja                            水神社

Gosha Jinja                               社神社

Earliest mention of:   473 B.C.    

Annual Festival:    September 9/10

Gosha Jinja  五社神社
Hakuhō Inari Jinja  白宝稲荷神社
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