Tomari Shrine

An Old Shrine Restored by Miyamoto Iori

The Tomari Shrine (泊神社, Tomari Jinja) is a shrine in Kimura, Kakogawa-cho, Kakogawa City, Hyogo Prefecture, where eight buildings, the main hall, kagura hall, offering hall, noh stage, drum house and three subsidiary shrines, were registered in 2008 as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties.

The Kakogawa tourism association relates that the name comes from a legend that one of the sacred mirrors of Ise Shrine came to rest here in the age of the gods. The shrine honours three deities including Amaterasu and Sukunahikona, and belongs to the religious corporation Tomari Shrine.

Kakogawa City notes that in 1653 Miyamoto Iori, adopted son of Miyamoto Musashi, restored the decayed shrine, and that the present main hall and kagura hall date from that work.

Tomari Shrine and Miyamoto Iori

According to the city, Iori served as chief retainer of the Kokura domain in Buzen and came from the Tahara family of a village in the shrine's parish. In 1653 he rebuilt the main shrine and the dance hall, now the main hall and kagura hall, and two large ridge tags he dedicated survive.

The tags record that the earlier main shrine dated from 1594 and the dance hall from the time of Honda Tadamasa, lord of Himeji. On the back, a 527-character dedication by Iori tells how he became Musashi's adopted son and served the Ogasawara lords of Akashi, and that the shrine was the tutelary shrine of 17 villages. The tags were designated by the city in 2021.

The tourism association adds that Iori dedicated votive plaques of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, designated by the city, and a granite stone lantern 279 centimetres tall, which can be seen inside the fence behind the main hall.

Layout and the Eight Buildings

Kakogawa City describes the main hall as a one-bay shrine facing south, with a hip-and-gable copper roof entered at the gable and a porch with a cusped eave. In front of it stands the kagura hall of 1653, restored in 1988, and the offering hall links the kagura hall to the front of the main hall.

The noh stage stands south of the kagura hall, facing north, and the drum house lies southwest of the kagura hall, west of the guardian gate.

Many small shrines line the grounds from west to north of the main hall. Three are registered: the Sumiyoshi shrine (Meiji period) facing east southwest of the main hall, the Shushi shrine (Meiji period) south of it, and the Kumano shrine (late Edo period) facing south north of the main hall. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that these small shrines give the precinct its rich character.

Getting to Tomari Shrine

The Kakogawa tourism association says to take a Kako bus or Shinki bus from JR Kakogawa Station to the Inaya stop, right by the shrine. There is parking.

No official information on visiting conditions could be found. Enquiries: Tomari Shrine, 079-422-4813.