Musashi Ichinomiya Hikawa Shrine

Hikawa Shrine, one of the oldest shrines in Japan and the origin of the name of Omiya, is said to have a history of more than 2,000 years.

It is the headquarters of some 280 Hikawa Shrines in Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture. It is also called “Omiya Hikawa Shrine” to distinguish it from other Hikawa shrines.

As the first shrine in Musashi Province, it is worshipped throughout the Kanto region and attracts many worshippers on Hatsumode (New Year’s visit to the shrine).

In May each year, the annual Omiya Takigi Noh (Noh Play) is held on the shrine grounds, inviting the audience into a world of ethereal beauty.

Major events include the New Year’s Day Festival on January 1, the Setsubun Festival on February 3, the Chinka Festival (5th, 6th, and 7th) in April, the Grand Purification Ceremony on June 30, the Regular Festival on August 1, the Shinko Festival on August 2, and the Oyu Festival on December 10.

Many Hikawa shrines based on the Hikawa faith exist in the Arakawa River basin of Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo, especially in Adachi-gun, former Musashi Province. Hikawa worship refers to the Shinto belief in Susanoo.

The Company is the center of this belief. The name of the place, “Omiya,” is derived from the praise of the Company as a “great palace,” and is a corruption of a common noun.

A shiki-uchi-sha (Meishin-taisha), it once held the status of a government mintage shrine and now belongs to the Annexed Shinto Shrines of the Jinja Honcho (Agency for the Promotion of Shinto Religion). It is also one of the shrines that are subject to the four directions of worship at the palace.

It attracts many worshippers from around Saitama Prefecture and is one of the top ten shrines in Japan for Hatsumode on New Year’s three days.

The shrine grounds are located near a vast swamp once known as Minuma, and it is believed that the shrine was originally dedicated to the water god of Minuma.

The Shinpike, which stretches to the south of the shrine, was once part of the Minuma, a pool of underground water that welled up from the west side of the shrine.

The Saitama Prefectural Omiya Park adjacent to the shrine was developed in the Meiji era (1868-1912) by acquiring the forests around the shrine, and it retains the characteristics of the topography where the inlet of the Minuma used to surround the small hill where the shrine is located.

The Hikawa Shrine in Omiya, the Naka-Hikawa Shrine (today’s Nakayama Shrine) in Nakagawa, Minuma Ward, and the Hikawa Nyotai Shrine in Mimuro, Midori-ku are all located near Minuma and are aligned in a straight line. These “three Hikawa” shrines are often confused with the three shrines that once existed within the precincts of Hikawa Shrine in Omiya (Nantai Shrine, Nyotai Shrine, and Ikooshi-sha), but they are different shrines.

Hikawa Approach

A 2-kilometer-long approach to the shrine stretches from the Konosu-Okegawa-Saitama line (old Nakasendo) on Prefectural Route 164 in Yoshiki-cho near Saitama-shintoshin to the shrine in a straight line from north to south. This approach is known as the Hikawa approach.

It is a tree-lined avenue stretching from north to south from the old Nakasendo to Hikawa Shrine. More than 600 trees of more than 20 species, including zelkova, shii, enoki, and cedar, are planted along the path.

There are three large torii on the approach to the shrine: the first torii at the junction with the old Nakasendo Road, the second torii near the Municipal Museum at the intersection of Prefectural Road No. 2 Saitama-Kasukabe Line (old Route 16, Iwatsuki New Road), and the third torii at the entrance to the shrine grounds.

The Nino-torii was relocated from the Meiji Shrine and is known as the largest wooden torii in the Kanto region.

Heisei-hiroba is a park developed from part of the Hikawa approach, with zelkova and cherry trees planted along both sides of the path. The walkways are cobblestone paved so that visitors can stroll along them, and there is also a stream made of combined rocks. This park is a favorite place of relaxation for the citizens.

The approach to the shrine is straight north-south and is 2 km long, but the worship and main shrines are slightly offset to the west from the approach and are inclined at an angle of about 30 degrees to the north-south axis.

The approach to the shrine turns to the left and crosses the “sacred pond” by a bridge to reach the hall of worship.

The shrine pavilion

In 1180, Minamoto no Yoritomo ordered Dohi Jiro Sanpei to rebuild the shrine pavilion, and in 1595, Tokugawa Ieyasu had a new pavilion built with Ina Bizen-mori Tadatsugu as magistrate.

The current shrine was completed in 1940, and is in the Nagare-zukuri style of shrine architecture.

Head of the Shrine

The shrine is located adjacent to Omiya Park, and its vast grounds cover an area of about 30,000 tsubo (about 1.5 acres), with ancient cedars and old pine trees that tell the story of the shrine’s ancient history.

The length of the approach to the shrine is about 2 km from the “Ichinotorii” gate on Nakasendo, and the “Ninotorii” gate along Prefectural Route 2 is 13 m high, donated by Meiji Jingu Shrine and said to be the largest wooden gate in the Kanto region.

The precincts of the shrine also include a tower gate, a dance hall, a Shinto bridge, and a Shinto pond, where beautiful scenery can be enjoyed from season to season.