Nearest station
Higashi -nakano
Ōedo, Chūō Lines
Tōkyō-to, Nakano-ku, Higashi Nakano 1-11-1
東京都中野区東中野1-11-1
氷川神社
Hikawa Jinja
Home page: none
April 9, 2018
Enshrined Kami
(Note: numbers in parentheses after kami names
refer to position in How Many Kami table)
Main
Inada-hime-mikoto 稲田比売尊
Ōnamuchi-kami 大己貴神
From Merged Shrines
None
In-ground Shrines:
Kitano Jinja 北野神社
Mitake Jinja 御嶽神社
Suwa Jinja 稲荷神社
Shiogama Jinja 塩竃神社
Annual Festival: September 14,15
History
The shrine was probably founded in 1030 by Minamoto Yorinobu after his success in putting down the rebellion led by Taira-Tadatsune in Kazusa Province (present day Chiba-ken). Through the kanjō process the deity of the Musashi Ichinomiya, Ōmiya Hikawa Jinja, was enshrined in a small shrine (hokora). It quickly became the tutelary deity for the then village of Nakano, and its betto-ji was Hōsen-ji (宝仙寺), now located at Nakano-ku, Chūō 2-33-3. During the period from 1394 to 1427 Hōsen-ji underwent something of a resurgence under the leadership of a charismatic monk and a main hall was
added to theshrine at this time. In 1477 Ōta Dōkan won a battle with a minor samurai Toshima Yatsusune (豊島泰経) at what is now the Ekoda/Numabukuro area of Nakano-ku and to celebrate his victory visited the shrine and had the main hall rebuilt. Shortly after the Meiji Restoration, in November 1872, the rank of Village Shrine was given: this was followed by the rebuilding of the Prayer Hall in 1877 and of the Main Hall in 1882. In 1911 two other local shrines, Mihashira Jinja (三柱神社) and Arasawa Jinja (荒澤神社) were merged into it.
Description
About 600m from the west exit of Higashi-nakano Station.
There is a long, long list of the Big 3 things in many fields in Japan. One particularly relevant to this jinja is “Tōkyō’s Big Three Alleyways" (東京三大横丁). One of these is Nakano’s Nabeyaka (鍋屋横丁): in 1862 the proprietor of a teashop there, Nabeya Kanemon (鍋屋勘右衛門), financed the construction of the shrine’s three torii.
The object in the photo at bottom right is a naval mine of the type used by the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Along with other armaments such as armour-piercing bullets it was presented to an association of reservists in Nakano by the Yokosuka Naval District in September 1928.
The Kōshintō (stone monument) showing the Three wise monkeys shown in this photo is one of several items in the shrine grounds designated as tangible cultural assets by Nakano-ku. Technically speaking, it is of the Shōmenkongō type.
(Click on images to expand them)
The koma-inu were erected in April 1941
The koma-inu were erected in September 2007, replacing a pair which dated to June 1857
