is a Shinto

Shinto

or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...

 shrine located in Gifu

Gifu, Gifu

is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku period, various warlords, including Oda Nobunaga, used...

, Gifu Prefecture

Gifu Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the Chūbu region of central Japan. Its capital is the city of Gifu.Located in the center of Japan, it has long played an important part as the crossroads of Japan, connecting the east to the west through such routes as the Nakasendō...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Alternative kanji

Kanji

Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...

for the shrine are 本庄神社 (Honjō Jinja). Honjō Shrine was built as a larger shrine, but it was split into three separate shrines, of which the current Honjō Shrine is one. The other two are Yakumo Shrine (八雲神社 Yakumo Jinja) and Rokujō Shrine (六条神社 Rokujō Jinja), both of which are located nearby.

History

The shrine was originally located 3 km (1.9 mi) to the northeast. In 1599, though, Oda Nobukatsu

Oda Nobukatsu

was a Japanese samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period. He was the second son of Oda Nobunaga. He survived the decline of the Oda clan from political prominence, becoming a daimyo in the early Edo period.-Kitabatake clan:...

 moved the shrine and divided it into the three mentioned above. His reasoning was that he feared a Battle of Gifu Castle

Battle of Gifu Castle

The was a battle in August 1600 that led to the destruction of Gifu Castle in Gifu, Mino Province , Japan. The battle served as a prelude to the Battle of Sekigahara the following month. It pitted Oda Hidenobu of the western forces against Ikeda Terumasa and Fukushima Masanori of the eastern forces...

 between Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu

 was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara  in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...

 and Ishida Mitsunari

Ishida Mitsunari

Ishida Mitsunari was a samurai who led the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi-Momoyama period of the 17th century. Also known by his court title, Jibunoshō...

. Nobukatsu's fears were confirmed the following year when the Battle of Castle took place as a precursor one month before the larger and more decisive Battle of Sekigahara

Battle of Sekigahara

The , popularly known as the , was a decisive battle on October 21, 1600 which cleared the path to the Shogunate for Tokugawa Ieyasu...

.

In 1931, the village of Honjō was amalgamated into the city of Gifu and the shrine changed its festival date to April 5, to coincide with Inaba Shrine

Inaba Shrine

is a Shinto shrine located at the base of Mount Kinka in Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Originally, its name was written 稲葉神社, which is pronounced the same way. It is the main shrine that is celebrated by the city of Gifu in its annual Gifu Festival on the first Saturday of each April...

's Gifu Festival.

External links

• Honjō Shrine official homepage