Owari Okunitama Shrine (Konomiya)

Owari Okunitama Shrine at a Glance

Owari Okunitama Shrine (尾張大国霊神社), known as Konomiya, is the soja, the general shrine of Owari Province, in Konomiya, Inazawa City, Aichi Prefecture; its tower gate and worship hall were each designated an Important Cultural Property on June 22, 1955. The gate's lower storey dates from the late Muromachi period and its upper storey from 1646, and the worship hall from the early Edo period, according to the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

According to Aichi Prefecture's tourism site, the shrine stood next to the provincial government office in the Nara period and was made the soja of Owari, with the governor himself conducting its rites, which is why it came to be called Konomiya, the shrine of the provincial capital. It is worshipped as the guardian of the whole Owari region, of farming and commerce, and as a protector against misfortune.

The Shrine Precinct

The tourism site lists the main hall, the hall for ritual texts, the east and west corridors, the worship hall and the tower gate. Next to the main hall, five large natural stones called iwasaka are set in a circle, thought to be an early ritual site from before shrine buildings were erected.

The tower gate is the main entrance to the precinct from the approach, with the worship hall behind it. Three ridge tablets are designated with each building (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Hadaka Matsuri

The shrine holds its Naoi Shinji, popularly the Hadaka Matsuri or Naked Festival, on the 13th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. According to the tourism site, it began some 1,250 years ago when the governor of Owari held a purification here, and took its present form, merged with the custom of winter pilgrimages in loincloths, around the end of the Edo period. Thousands of men gather from across Owari and jostle to touch the shin-otoko, the man who bears everyone's misfortune. A giant rice cake of about 4 tonnes is offered the day before.

Visiting and Getting There

According to the tourism site, visiting is free, the shrine office is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every day, and there is free parking for 150 cars. The address is 1-1-1 Konomiya, Inazawa City (0587-23-2121).

Owari Okunitama Shrine is 3 minutes on foot from Konomiya Station on the Meitetsu line from Meitetsu Nagoya, or 15 minutes from JR Inazawa Station. By car, turn at the Nakanogo-minami intersection on Route 22.