Hokkaidō-jingū
The Hokkaidō-jingū ( Japanese 北海道 神宮 ) is a Shintō shrine in the Chūō-ku district of the city of Sapporo on Hokkaidō in Japan .
It was inaugurated by the Meiji- tennō in 1869 under the name Sapporo-jinja , shortly after the Japanese central government took control of the island, which was known until then as Ezo. However, the construction work was not completed until 1871.
The Kami inscribed by Meiji-tennō to complain about Hokkaidō are Ōkunitama-no-kami (大 国 魂 神) as Kami Hokkaidōs, Ōnamuchi-no-kami (大 那 牟 遅 神, sometimes another name for Ōkuninushi) as Kami of creation and development of the country as well as Sukuna-hikona-no-kami (少 彦 名 神, a partner and helper of Ōkuninushi) as a kami of the healing arts. In 1964, Meiji-tennō also became one of the main kami of the shrine and the name was changed to Hokkaidō-jingū.
The Hokkaidō-jingū is the largest and most important shrine on Hokkaidō and is located in a hilly and heavily forested part of Maruyama Park in the west of the center of Sapporo. There are around 1,200 cherry blossom trees on the shrine grounds.
On New Year's visit several hundred thousand to one million people despite average low temperatures of -6 ° C to the shrine hatsumode .
The shrine's most famous event is its main festival ( jingū-rei-sai ), also known as Sapporo- Matsuri . It takes place from June 14th to 16th and is one of the ten largest festivals in Japan as well as the largest festival in Hokkaidō and has around 1 million visitors.
Web links
- Official website (Japanese and English)
- Photo gallery (Japanese)
Coordinates: 43 ° 3 '15.25 " N , 141 ° 18' 27.74" O