Nishinomiya Shrine

The Head Shrine of Ebisu

The Nishinomiya Shrine (西宮神社, Nishinomiya Jinja) is the head shrine of the Ebisu shrines in Shakecho, Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, whose main gate and great earthen wall, designated in 1926 and 1938, are now Important Cultural Properties, while eight structures including the main hall, worship hall and Zuiho Bridge are Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.

According to the shrine, the first sanctuary enshrines Ebisu (Hiruko), the second Amaterasu and Okuninushi, and the third Susanoo.

Of the registered structures, Zuiho Bridge and Kaei Bridge were registered in 2013, and the main hall, worship hall, east and west wing halls, temizusha and bell house in 2025.

Origins

The shrine relates that a sacred image rose from the sea off Wadamisaki in Kobe, was drawn up by a fisherman of Naruo and worshipped in his home, and was then moved by divine instruction to a site to the west, Nishinomiya. The date of founding is unknown but thought to be the mid to late Heian period.

Ebisu was worshipped as a god of fishing, and as Nishinomiya grew as a post town on the Saigoku highway with its markets, as a god of markets and commerce. About a million people visit for the Toka Ebisu festival from 9 to 11 January.

The shrine notes that the main hall built by the fourth shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna in 1663, later a National Treasure, was destroyed in the air raids of 1945 and rebuilt as before in 1961, with copper replacing the cypress-bark roof.

Layout and the Great Earthen Wall

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the worship hall in front of the main hall, with galleries extending north from its sides to enclose the sacred courtyard. The east and west wing halls stand symmetrically either side of the main hall, and Zuiho Bridge crosses the sacred pond in front of the worship hall. Midway along the approach, the temizusha stands on the east and the bell house on the west.

The shrine says the Omote-daimon red gate is said to have been donated by Toyotomi Hideyori between 1604 and 1609. Kaei Bridge, the other stone bridge over the pond, was built in 1848 and is the oldest stone girder bridge in the grounds.

The Agency records the great earthen wall as a mid-Muromachi rammed-earth wall with a tiled roof, including the north gate, with a length of 68.5 metres around its corners. The shrine describes it as an earthen wall 247 metres long, dated to the Muromachi period after Song coins were found inside it during repairs in 1950, and counted with the Taiko wall of Sanjusangendo in Kyoto and the Nobunaga wall of Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya as one of Japan's three great earthen walls.

Getting There and Visiting

The shrine gives directions as 5 minutes on foot southwest from the Ebisu exit of Hanshin Nishinomiya Station, or 10 minutes southeast from JR Sakura-Shukugawa Station. Parking is in the southwest of the grounds but may be unavailable during festivals.

The gates open at 5:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. from April to August, 6:30 p.m. in September and March, and 6:00 p.m. from October to February. The amulet counter is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Enquiries: Nishinomiya Shrine, 0798-33-0321.