Kishiki Shrine

Kishiki Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Kishiwada City, Osaka Prefecture. It is said to have begun when local farmers built a Shinmei-sha shrine to pray for abundant harvests. About 650 years ago, after the deity Susanoo-no-Mikoto was invited (kanjō) from Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, it came to be called Gozu Tennō-sha and became the guardian shrine of the area. Today it enshrines three kami: Amaterasu Ōmikami, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, and Hondawake-no-Mikoto (Emperor Ōjin). In the Momoyama period, Koide Hidemasa—granted 30,000 koku of Kishiwada by Toyotomi Hideyoshi—built a shrine building within Kishiwada Castle. In the Edo period, Matsudaira Yasushige, lord of Kishiwada Castle, established a new shrine building. In the early Meiji era, Gozu Tennō-sha and a Hachiman shrine were merged and the name was changed to “Kishiki” Shrine. The current shrine buildings were completed in 2008, and, because Kishiwada Castle was once called Chigiri-jō, the shrine is said to bring blessings for matchmaking and good relationships. Since beginning its Tōka Ebisu Grand Festival in 1930, the number of worshippers has increased. It becomes especially lively during the Kishiwada Danjiri Festival’s “miyairi” (portable shrine/castle entry) held on the day before Respect for the Aged Day in September.