is a Shinto shrine in the city of Toyokawa

Toyokawa, Aichi

is a medium-sized city of about 180,000 people located in the eastern part of Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The city, founded on June 1, 1943, originally comprised the three formerly independent Hoi-gun towns of Toyokawa , Ko , Ushikubo , and the village of Yawata...

 in eastern Aichi Prefecture

Aichi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region. The region of Aichi is also known as the Tōkai region. The capital is Nagoya. It is the focus of the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area.- History :...

, 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...

. It is the ichinomiya of former Mikawa Province

Mikawa Province

is an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces....

. Located on the borderland of Aichi with Shizuoka Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...

, the summit of Mount Hongū

Mount Hongū

is a mountain located on the border of three cities in Aichi Prefecture, Toyokawa, Okazaki, and Shinshiro....

 782 metres (2,565.6 ft) is considered to be within the precincts of the shrine, and has a subsidiary chapel.

Enshrined kami

The main kami

Kami

is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...

of Toga Jinja is .

History

The origins of Toga Jinja are unknown. The shrine claims to have been founded in the Taihō period

Taiho (era)

was a after a late 7th century interruption in the sequence of nengō after Shuchō and before Keiun. This period spanned the years from March 701 through May 704. The reigning emperor was .-Change of era:...

 (701-704 AD) by Emperor Mommu

Emperor Mommu

was the 42nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Mommu's reign spanned the years from 697 through 707.-Traditional narrative:Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was Karu-shinnō....

. It is located in an area of eastern Mikawa with a favorable climate, which has been settled since at least the Jōmon period

Jomon period

The is the time in Japanese prehistory from about 14,000 BC to 300 BC.The term jōmon means "cord-patterned" in Japanese. This refers to the pottery style characteristic of the Jōmon culture, and which has markings made using sticks with cords wrapped around them...

. One of the treasures of the shrine is a Yayoi period

Yayoi period

The is an Iron Age era in the history of Japan traditionally dated 300 BC to 300 AD. It is named after the neighbourhood of Tokyo where archaeologists first uncovered artifacts and features from that era. Distinguishing characteristics of the Yayoi period include the appearance of new...

  dōtaku

Dotaku

are Japanese bells smelted from relatively thin bronze and richly decorated. The oldest dōtaku found date from the 2nd or 3rd century , and were nearly only used as decorations for rituals...

bronze bell, possibly recovered from a burial mound

Kofun

Kofun are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Japan, constructed between the early 3rd century and early 7th century. They gave their name to the Kofun period . Many of the Kofun have a distinctive keyhole-shaped mound , unique to ancient Japan...

 in the area. The shrine is mentioned as the ichinomiya of Mikawa Province in the Engishiki

Engishiki

-History:In 905 Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of a new set of laws. Fujiwara no Tokihira began the task, but work stalled when he died four years later in 909. His brother Fujiwara no Tadahira continued the work in 912 eventually completing it in 927...

records from the early Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

. However, repeated fires and other disasters over the centuries have destroyed all of the old shrine records and buildings. During the Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

 era of State Shinto

State Shinto

has been called the state religion of the Empire of Japan, although it did not exist as a single institution and no "Shintō" was ever declared a state religion...

, the shrine was rated as a , on the lowest rank of the nationally significant shrines.

See also

• List of Shinto shrines
• Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines
  Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines
  The The The (sometimes called simply , was an organizational aspect of the establishment of Japanese State Shinto. This system classified Shinto shrines as either official government shrines or "other" shrines...