Oura Shrine, the Hachiman Shrine of Yorishima
Oura Shrine (大浦神社, Ōura Jinja) is a Hachiman shrine in Yorishima-cho, Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture, whose main hall, prayer, offering and worship halls, and stone torii, all shaped by building work between 1925 and 1927, were entered together in the national register as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on September 10, 2019.
Locals simply call it "Hachiman-sama." Oura Shrine enshrines three deities: Emperor Ōjin, Emperor Chūai and Empress Jingū. The Okayama Prefectural Association of Shinto Shrines lists it as a former district shrine (gōsha) and notes that it was known as a Hachimangū until 1869, when it took the name Oura Shrine. Its parishioners come from the neighborhoods of Yorishima-cho.
A fire on December 14, 1761 destroyed the buildings along with most of the shrine's old records, so its beginnings survive only as tradition. The shrine's own account says that Empress Jingū, returning from her campaign around the year 250, brought her boat in to the island now called Saburōjima and worshipped the gods of heaven and earth there. In 997, the story continues, the court diviner Abe no Seimei enshrined the three deities on the same holy ground as guardians of the district. The town's name, Yorishima, "the island where the boat came in," is said to come from the first of these tales.
How Oura Shrine Reached Its Present Form
The shrine moved from Saburōjima to its present site in Ōura, facing the Seto Inland Sea, under the warlord Hosokawa Michitada. The shrine dates the move to 1559, while the prefectural shrine association gives the Eiroku era (1558 to 1569). Okayama's official tourism site adds a tradition that Michitada placed Oura Shrine here to guard the unlucky northeast quarter of his castle on Mount Aosa. After the Hosokawa left in 1600, the Ikeda family took over as patrons.
The first recorded rebuilding came in 1617. In 1693 the shrine was rebuilt again and a torii was raised. After the fire of 1761 the buildings went up once more the following year, and repairs continued from there.
What a visitor sees at Oura Shrine today is the result of a campaign that ran from 1925 to 1927. The main hall was rebuilt, the offering and worship halls were heavily remodeled, and a large granite torii was put up on the approach. The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates all three registered structures to 1927 (the hall complex "around 1927"). The main hall was repaired in 2015 and the prayer, offering and worship halls in 2009.
The Grounds of Oura Shrine and Its Three Registered Structures
The precinct of Oura Shrine covers about 2,290 tsubo, roughly 7,600 square meters. The approach runs straight out to the east, and the registered torii stands at its entrance. Walk west along it and the worship hall faces you, turned toward the east; behind it the offering hall and the prayer hall continue in a single line. Last of all, raised on a tall stone platform and also facing east, stands the main hall. From the torii to the main hall everything sits on one axis, and that straight line is the backbone of the whole site.
The three structures were registered in the 93rd round of 2019 as entries 33-327 (main hall), 33-328 (prayer, offering and worship halls) and 33-329 (torii). The main hall was registered as a model of architectural form; the hall complex and the torii were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape. In the agency's figures, the main hall has a building area of 33 square meters, the hall complex 151 square meters, and the torii spans 4.5 meters between its pillars.
Horses turn up all over the grounds. A statue of a sacred horse stands beside the approach, and according to Okayama's tourism site the stone posts west of the main hall are where the festival horses are tethered while they wait their turn. A new votive-tablet hall (ema-den) was added in 1996.
The Autumn Festival and Horse Race at Oura Shrine
The autumn grand festival of Oura Shrine falls on the first Saturday of October and the Sunday after it. On Sunday morning the portable shrines travel to Aosa Hachiman Shrine, which serves as their resting place, and in the afternoon floats and processions arrive from the different parts of town: a boat-shaped float, costumed retainers (yakko) and the drum float called sendairoku. From about 4 p.m. the homecoming rite brings the portable shrines, the sacred horses and all the floats surging into the precinct, and at about 5 p.m. the race known as Keiba Jūnikake begins.
According to tradition, the race goes back to the move of 1559, when two groups of local landholders, the Jitō and the Ryōke, each sent 20 horses to join the procession. Today a ceremony on September 1 picks one horse from each group. On festival day the pair gallop 12 times along the course between the east and west torii of the precinct, and the rider on the winning side ends the rite by shooting at a target. The race is designated an intangible folk cultural property by Asakuchi City.
On festival day Oura Shrine is packed and the approach becomes a racecourse. If you want to study the buildings, a quieter day is the better choice.
Visiting Oura Shrine
The grounds of Oura Shrine are open to worshippers and there is no admission charge. All three registered structures are seen from outside; Okayama Prefecture's heritage listing gives their public access as "exterior only." Prayer ceremonies can be booked with the shrine, which can be reached at +81-865-54-2408.
By train, get off the JR San'yō Line at Kamogata or Satoshō Station and take a taxi south for about 10 minutes. The prefectural shrine association puts the distance at about 4 kilometers from Satoshō and about 5 kilometers from Kamogata. By car, Oura Shrine is about 15 minutes south of the Kamogata interchange on the San'yō Expressway, and the shrine's parking area holds about 10 cars.
There is also a bus: Ikasa Bus runs from JR Shin-Kurashiki Station toward Yorishima in about 40 minutes. Get off at the last stop, Yorishima Sōgō Shisho-mae, and walk about 15 minutes. Services are sparse, so check the timetable before setting out.
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Oura Shrine Main Hall
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012986
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Oura Shrine Prayer Hall, Offering Hall and Worship Hall
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012987
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Oura Shrine Torii
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00012988
- Asakuchi City: Registration of Oura Shrine as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Japanese)
- https://www.city.asakuchi.lg.jp/page/2046.html
- Okayama Prefecture: Oura Shrine Main Hall, Prayer Hall, Offering Hall and Worship Hall, and Torii (PDF, Japanese)
- https://www.pref.okayama.jp/uploaded/attachment/263880.pdf
- Okayama Prefectural Association of Shinto Shrines: Oura Shrine (Japanese)
- https://www.okayama-jinjacho.or.jp/search/17387/
- Oura Shrine official website (Japanese)
- https://www.oourajinja.com/
- Oura Shrine official website: Keiba Shinji (Japanese)
- https://www.oourajinja.com/%E7%AB%B6%E9%A6%AC%E7%A5%9E%E4%BA%8B
- Okayama Kanko Web: Oura Shrine (Japanese)
- https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/spot/11585
- Okayama Kanko Web (Okatabi): Oura Shrine in the Year of the Horse (Japanese)
- https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/okatabi/detail_1686.html
- Asakuchi Tourism Association: Oura Shrine (Japanese)
- https://www.asakuchi-kanko.org/sightseeing/oura/
Last verified: 2026.10.02
Basic Information
| Name | Oura Shrine |
|---|---|
| Location | 7756-1 Yorishimacho, Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Owner | Oura Shrine, a religious corporation |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (3) |
| Coordinates | 34.48153, 133.58158 |
