Kibitsu-jinja

photo by 次田和宏 · CC BY 3.0

photo by 663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0

A 360-metre covered corridor climbs between the shrines on the slope of Kibi-no-Nakayama.

From the gates you climb a 360-metre covered wooden corridor (廻廊), built in a time of war, which follows the slope of the sacred mountain Kibi-no-Nakayama and lines up minor shrines, prayer halls and the cauldron hall. The main shrine, in ‘kibitsu-zukuri’ style (a double hipped roof unique in Japan), was rebuilt in 1425 under the patronage of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and is a National Treasure. In the cauldron hall (御釜殿) a priest dissolves rice and beans in the boiling water every day except Friday, and the way the cauldron boils (the Narugama Shinji rite) is read as an oracle.

According to tradition, it was founded for Ōkibitsuhiko no Mikoto, the prince said to have pacified the Kibi region by defeating the demon Ura (the legend that gave rise to the folk tale of Momotarō, the boy born from a peach who defeats the oni). As the supreme shrine of all of ancient Kibi (吉備総鎮守), when the region was divided into three provinces Kibitsu-jinja remained the principal shrine of Bitchū. The grounds still hold the rock where Kibitsuhiko is said to have laid down his arrows and the place where the demon's head was buried.

ℹ️ Gates open 5:00–18:00, free entry to the paths. Amulet office 8:30–17:00. Prayers on request 9:00–15:00; the cauldron rite (鳴釜神事) is held 9:00–13:45, every day except Friday.

🚉 Kibitsu · 15 min walk

Sources: okayama-kanko.jp · ja.wikipedia.org

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