Furogu Shrine

Furogu Shrine

Furogu (風浪宮) is a shrine in Sakami, Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, whose precinct keeps two Important Cultural Properties: a main sanctuary of 1560 and a stone five-storied pagoda of 1355 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency designates them under the name Furo Shrine.

According to the Fukuoka Prefecture Tourist Association, Furogu enshrines the sea god Watatsumi and is known locally as Ofuro-san. Its founding is traced back about 1800 years, and the same family of priests is said to have served it ever since.

The Two Properties

The main sanctuary is a three-bay nagare-style building roofed in cypress bark, designated on May 27, 1907 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Tourist Association says it was rebuilt in 1560 by the local lord Kamachi Akimori and was the only building left standing after the Battle of Hachiin in 1600.

The pagoda is of stone and dated to 1355, the tenth year of the Southern Court era Shohei; it was designated on August 29, 1910 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Each is now an Important Cultural Property. The Agency database gives no description of either, and each is covered on its own page.

Visiting

According to the Fukuoka Prefecture Tourist Association, the shrine office is open 8:00 to 17:00 and prayers are received 8:30 to 16:30, with different hours from January 1 to 3. The shrine is about 10 minutes on foot from the Nakabaru Takagi Byoin-mae stop of the Nishitetsu bus, or about 30 minutes by car from the Yame interchange of the Kyushu Expressway, with parking for 30 cars. The address is 726-1 Sakami, Okawa City.