Usa Jingu
Head shrine of Hachiman, honored at forty thousand shrines nationwide.
History and Divine Virtue
Usa Jingu is the head shrine of the roughly forty thousand Hachiman shrines across Japan. Hachiman Okami is held to be the divine spirit of Emperor Ojin, said to have first revealed himself at Usa in 571. In 725 a sanctuary was built on the present site: the first hall enshrines Hachiman Okami, the second Hime no Okami, and the third Empress Jingu. Hime no Okami is regarded as an ancient deity worshipped in this land even before Hachiman's appearance. The shrine appears again and again at the crossroads of the nation — issuing the oracle that supported the casting of the Great Buddha at Nara, and the oracle sought by Wake no Kiyomaro in the Dokyo affair over the imperial succession — and the court's reverence was so profound that it came to be honored as the ancestral shrine second only to Ise Jingu. The shrine comprises the Upper Shrine atop Mount Ogura and the Lower Shrine at its foot, and the Chokushi Kaido, the road once traveled by imperial envoys, still leads to its gates.
Visiting Notes
- The main sanctuary, a National Treasure, consists of two connected halls front and back in the hachiman-zukuri style, preserving the original form of Hachiman shrine architecture.
- As at Izumo Oyashiro, worship follows the rare form of two bows, four claps, one bow — one of the very few four-clap shrines in Japan.
- A local saying holds that "to skip the Lower Shrine is to make only half a pilgrimage": custom calls for visiting both the Upper and Lower Shrines.
- The Kurehashi on the western approach is a graceful roofed bridge, opened only for the imperial festival held once every ten years.
Deities and Location
- Enshrined Deities
- Hachiman Ōkami (Emperor Ōjin), Hime no Ōkami, Empress Jingū
- Location
- 大分県宇佐市南宇佐 (Oita)
- Access
- About 10 minutes by bus or car from Usa Station on the JR Nippo Main Line.
- Lineage
- Moto-Ise & Mythology, Career & Victory
Visiting hours, goshuin (shrine stamps), and festival dates change; please confirm the latest information through each shrine's official announcements. If you find an error in this entry, we would be grateful if you let us know.
