Kitakata Hachimangu

 

I don't think I have ever seen an arrangement of three torii like this before.

Kitakata Hachimangu is located in Ajisu, Yamaguchi,  on the old Imperial Highway, the  Sanyo-do.

It is said to have been founded in 751, which is around the time Usa Hachiman spread from Kyushu due to its part in the building of the great Todaiji Temple in Nara.

Later, in 1233 the shrine was split into two with a north and a south. In 1255 the two shrines were moved to their respective current locations.

In 1408 the buildings were destroyed and rebuilt except for the tower gate.

It was rebuilt in 1571 under the rule of the Mori Clan.

Once again the buildings were heavily damaged and were rebuilt between 1608 and 1637.

There are a fine pair of zuijin and komainu in the worship hall...

A large secondary shrine in the grounds is Akazaki Shrine.

I can find no information on it ecept that one source says three female kami are enshrined here.

Curiously, the Yamaguchi Jinja Honcho webpage says that the three Munakata Princesses are "companion kami" to the main Hachiman kami of Ojin et al. Maybe it is referring to Akizaki Shrine but the website would usually list a secondary shrine and its kami.

A small, Gokoku Shrine.... in essence, a branch of the infamous Yasukuni Shrine.

The previous post was on a Kumano Shrine and a Kochi Shrine I had visited earlier in the morning.

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