Shrine Spots in Wakayama Area

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Wakayama
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Category

Travel / Tourism

History / Culture / Tour

Shrine

Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine

4.5

652 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Higashimurogunnachikatsurachou Nachisan 1

One of the Three Head Kumano Shrines which serve as the headquarters of all Kumano shrines nationwide. Unlike the other two, however, the origin of this shrine lies in a primeval faith which sees the Nachi Falls deep in the mountains as sacred. At the affiliated Hiro-jinja Shrine, the falls themselves are worshipped, and since ancient times this shrine has been visited by numerous faithful and other visitors asking for a long life. Visitors can drink the water at the falls’ basin from a platform directly in front of the falls; the water is said to give longevity. The shrine’s grounds contain six vermillion lacquered buildings such as the main nave, hall of worship, and treasure house, as well as numerous other points of note such as the Stone of the Yatagarasu (a mythical three-legged crow), and a massive 850-year-old tree planted by the noble Taira no Shigemori.

One of the most pictorial spots in Japan. Beautiful view. It is far to get here, but it is worth it. When the waterfall flows full capacity, it is very impressive.
Kamikura-jinja Shrine

4.5

212 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Shingushi Kamikura 1-13-8

A Shinto shrine located in 1 Chome Kamikura, Shingu City. Situated on sacred ground where the god Kumano Omikami first descended to Earth. The Kodobiki Boulder, considered a sacred natural object and deity, is also located on the shrine grounds at the top of over 5000 natural stone steps. The Oto Matsuri, held each year on February 6, is an unusual festival in which white robed men carrying torches lit with a sacred flame run down a series of stone steps. The festival is designated an Important Intangible Folk-Cultural Property.

The rock stairs were steep and somewhat challenging. Still, the walk was definitely worth it! The stairs were very steep for about 150-200m (~70m elevation gain), then started levelling off. A great...
Hiro-jinja Shrine

4.0

151 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Higashimuro-gun Nachikatsuuracho Nachisan

A 20-minute drive from JR Kii-Katsuura Station. This Shinto shrine is a subordinate shrine to Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine, counted among the Three Main Kumano Shrines; Nachi Falls is the shrine's shintai, or object of worship. The shrine has no front shrine and instead visitors worship in an area around 200 meters in front of the waterfall. Accordingly, visitors may participate in a formal prayer service not only in the Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine's Honden but also here in front of the waterfall; and after the 30-minute service is over, participants can listen to a lecture on the history of the shrine. The shrine sells lucky charms depicting a dragon god based on an ancient legend that a dragon lives in the falls.

If you want to see the impressive waterfall, you must go to the shrine, which is next to it. The shrine itself, nothing out of the ordinary, but the waterfall is spectacular.
Kishu Toshogu Shrine

4.0

81 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Wakayamashi Wakauranishi 2-1-20

This Gongen-style shrine was built in 1621 by Tokugawa Yorinobu, the first lord of the Kishu domain, to provide protection for the Nankaido road. Tokugawa Ieyasu and Tokugawa Yorinobu are enshrined here as deities. The shrine is brilliantly decorated with lacquerware and sculptures featuring both the Kano and Tosa styles, and it is called the “Nikko of Kansai.” It has been designated an Important Cultural Property as a representative structure from the early Edo period.

Its a very pretty shrine with very nice view over the city but you need to walk and climb up hundreds of steps before reaching the top. So please ensure you have at least 40 minutes.
Nachi Waterfall (Hiro Jinja Shrine)

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Higashimurogunnachikatsurachou Nachisan

This betsugu (associated shrine) of Kumano Nachi Taisha honors the deity of the Nachi-no-Taki waterfall. Boasting Japan’s largest uninterrupted drop of 133 meters, the waterfall is 13 meters wide and has a plunge basin with a depth of 10 meters. It is lit up a night during New Year’s Eve and is one of Japan’s top three waterfalls. Close to the waterfall is a viewing area where visitors can drink water from the plunge basin which is said to be water for longevity.
Niutsuhime Shrine

4.5

65 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Itogunkatsuragichou Kamiamano 230

You’ll find this shrine along Prefectural Route 4 in Kamiamano, Katsuragi Town. Niutsuhime’s child is enshrined here, and it is said that Takanomiko, enshrined in the second hall, transformed into a hunter and led Kobo Daishi to Mt. Koya, who then borrowed Niutsuhime’s holy land to erect a shrine atop the mountain and teach the secrets of Shingon esoteric Buddhism. It is customary to worship here before ascending Mt. Koya.

This is the obligatory stop for the travels up the Mt Koya. You pray and appease the local mountain deity. There are old cedar trees, and of course the bridge. The temple design is regular shinto.
Itakiso-jinja Shrine

4.0

50 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Wakayamashi Idakiso 558

A Shinto shrine dedicated to Isotakeru-no-mikoto. This shrine is ancient and its name in an entry dated 702 in the “Shoku Nihongi” imperial history anthology. The shrine was moved to its current location a three-minute walk south of Idakiso Station on the Kishigawa Line in 713. In addition to the main shrine building, there is also a Miisha Shrine dedicated to gods of water and wells, and a boulder known as the “Monkey Rock” which is said to cure any diseases from the neck up when rubbed; both of these have gained popularity in recent years as mystical “power spots.” The Uzue Festival held here each year on the date of the Little New year attracts many visitors. During the festival, bowls of azuki-gayu rice gruel with azuki beans are handed out and eating this is said to guarantee sound health for an entire year.

和歌山市内から桃源郷あらかわ地区へ行く途中に立ち寄りましたが、とても立派な神社で見どころも多く楽しめました。
Asuka-jinja Shrine

4.0

49 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Shingushi Asuka 1-2-25

This is an old Shinto shrine said to have been built in the year 423 BC. Inside the grounds Yayoi period pit dwellings and earthenware have been found, and these are displayed in the Shingu City Museum of History & Folklore. It was registered additionally as a World Heritage Site in 2016.

It is not the most famous in the area, just found in a quiet backstreet. It has colour and use of wood. It is worth a look, but not a spectacular site.
Kumano Hayatama Taisha Shrine

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Shingushi Shingu 1

One of the Three Head Kumano Shrines which serve as the headquarters of all Kumano shrines nationwide, rare and unusual festivals are held here, such as the Torch Festival, which involves men dressed in white garb carrying lit torches and racing down the shrine’s steep stone steps. A central location in the Kumano faith, which seeks to achieve self-enlightenment through penance conducted along the Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage, the shrine is dedicated to the god Kumano Hayatama. The shrine also worships Ketsumiko no okami and Fusumi no okami, and houses and displays some 1,200 ancient treasures, including designated National Treasures. A great nagi tree over 1,000 years old spreads its branches over the grounds, and the shrine’s charms for providing luck with love and marriage are made with nagi seeds.
Niu Kanshobu-jinja Shrine

3.5

43 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Itogunkudoyamachou Jisonin 835

This shrine is located in Jison-in in Kudoyama Town and was built in 816 by Kobo-Daishi (Kukai). Legend has it that he was guided to Mt. Koya by Kariba Myojin’s white and black dogs, and these dogs are now worshiped as divine messengers who guide the living. The area was designated a World Heritage Site in 2004 called the “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range.”

ご祭神は、丹生都比売大神、高野御子大神、大食都比売大神、市杵島比売大神、天照大御神、誉田別大神、天児屋根大神で旧郷社とのことです。慈尊院の奥にあります。ユネスコの世界遺産『紀伊山地の霊場と参詣道』の構成資産の一部です。119段の石段の途中に町石・百八十町石があります。空海が創建したとのことです。
Tamatsushima Shrine

4.0

36 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Wakayama-shi Wakauranaka 3-4-26

"Located in Wakaura 3-Chome, Wakayama City. The shrine is counted among the ""Three Great Gurdian Dieties of Waka"" and enshrines the deity Sotootorihime-no-mikoto. It has been offered works of waka (classical Japanese poetry) by many poets since the Heian period. The shrine's grounds and the surrounding region have been designated as a National Site of Scenic Beauty known as Wakanonoura. Every September 16th, the shrine holds the Hamaori Shinji, a ceremony in which a portable shrine is brought down the Kinokawa River from the Niutsuhime Shrine in Amano, Katsuragi Town."

住吉大社、柿本神社と並び和歌三神の神社の一つで、聖武天皇の和歌山行幸の際の記録に記載がある程古い社とのことです。和歌浦の景色を目の前に山部赤人等昔の歌人が歌を詠んだのがわかるようなロケーションでした。
Kamayama-jinja Shrine

4.0

28 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Wakayamashi Wada 438

A Shinto shrine dedicated to Hikoitsuse-no-mikoto. Visiting this shrine, Hinokuma Jingu Shrine, and Itakiso Jinja is known locally as the “Saigoku Three Shrine Pilgrimage.” The shrine is located a 10-minute walk south from Kamayama Station on the Wakayama Electric Railway Kishigawa Line. The location of the shrine can easily be identified by its large torii gate. The place name “Kamayama” appears in the “Kojiki” and the “Nihon shoki,” two of Japan’s oldest historical records, and it is believed that this is the place where Hikoitsuse-no-mikoto, elder brother to the very first emperor of Japan, Emperor Jinmu, was buried. In fact, a tomb for Hikoitsuse-no-mikoto stands behind the main shrine building; the death of his elder brother is said to have encouraged Emperor Jinmu to journey eastward instead of westward in his expedition to unite the country under his rule. Accordingly, the shrine is said to protect the security of Japan and the peace of and development of the world.

神武天皇の兄、ヒコイツセを祀る神社です。日前宮、伊太祁曽神社と共にここをお参りすることを西国三社参りというそうです。平安時代には存在が確認できるものの元は小さな村社で、その後大正時代には官幣大社にまでなったというのは唯一の例とのこと、当時の宮家の権力の大きさを感じます。
Shiogama Shrine

3.5

22 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Wakayama-shi Wakauranaka 3-4-26

"This Shinto shrine is dedicated to Shiotsuchi-no-Oji, a god of safe childbirth and conception worshipped since ancient times because he helped Yamasachihiko and Toyotamahime to get married and they in turn had a safe childbirth. In Wakayama in the Edo period, people often said ""First is Kishu Toshogu, second is Tamatsushima Island, third is Sagarimatsu, fourth is Shiogama."" The shrine gets its name from the term for the pot used to boil salt in salt fields. The shrine is located in Wakanoura, whose scenic beauty has been well-known since the distant age of the ""Man'yoshu"" poetry anthology, and a monument engraved with a famous poem about the area by Yamabe no Akahito stands on a small hill near the shrine."

名勝和歌の浦に玉津島神社と並んであります。シオヅチノオジと聞きなれない神様を祀っておりますが、この神様は各地に製塩を広めたと伝わっており、シオガマという神社の名前にもつながっています。岩の窪みに小さな社がありこじんまりとしていますが、海への昔からの感謝の念を感じさせる神社でした。
Fujishiro-jinja Shrine

4.0

17 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Kainanshi Fujishiro 466

This shrine is located in Fujishiro, Kainan City. It is referred to as “the first torii gate of Kumano” since it serves as Kumano’s entrance. This shrine is one of the “Gotai Oji,” which are the most distinguished of the “Kyujukyu Oji” (99 Grand Shrines). The shrine grounds contain a camphor tree that’s over 1,000 years old said to protect children, as well as the remains of the estate said to belong to the first “Suzuki.”

楠の巨樹が立派でした。日本で最も多いと言われる鈴木姓の発祥地とされます。鈴木のルーツは神主にあると聞いていましたが、おおむね当たっているよう。藤白のみ坂の入口に鎮座していて、古代万葉の世界へ誘われます。
Kokawa Ubusuna Shrine

3.5

17 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Kinokawa Kokawa 2788

This shrine is located on the grounds of Kokawadera Temple about a 10-minute drive from the Kinokawa Interchange on the Keinawa Expressway. It is believed to have originated when the tutelary deities of each of the villages in the manor of Kamagaki were ceremonially relocated and enshrined here upon Kokawadera Temple's founding in the year 770. The gorgeous Kasuga-zukuristyle temple building was constructed during the Edo period. A sutra mound was excavated from Mt. Fumozan, the mountain located behind the shrine. The Kokawa Matsuri held on the last weekend of July is one of the three biggest festivals of Kishu, the old name of Wakayama Prefecture. The festival features a ceremony called Togyo-shiki, which is said to convey the scene of the victorious return of Otomo no Funanushi, the son of the Kokawadera Temple's founder Otomo no Kushiko, from the conquest of Oshu Province in northern Japan, is held according to the ancient ceremony..

粉河寺本堂を正面に見れば左側面から階段を登ります。ご祭神は、人々が主に狩猟にて生活していた時代に農耕を教え文化的な生活を教えたとのことです。多くの摂社も境内に在りました。
Kada Kasugajinja

3.5

18 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Wakayama-shi Kada 1343

加太駅から徒歩10分ほど。神武天皇時代(紀元前)に天照大御神を祀ったのが始まり。中世に住吉社を合祀。14世紀初頭に春日三社を合祀して春日神社となる。天正年間(1573-1592年)に現在地に遷座。祭神は天児屋根命、武甕槌大神、経津主大神。拝殿は木造瓦葺きで割拝殿。本殿(国重要文化財)は1596年築で豪華な彫刻が施されているとのことだが、檜皮葺の屋根以外は板塀に囲われていてその姿を見ることはできな...
Sasutahiko Shrine

3.5

12 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Wakayama-shi Kataokacho 2-9

"This is the guardian shrine of Wakayama Castle and is located the south of the castle's Okaguchi Gate in the Kataoka district. Known to locals as the ""Oka no Miya,"" the shrine's history extends back over 1,000 years. The shrine is dedicated to Michiomi-no-Mikoto, ancestor god of the Otomo clan, and his grandson Otomo-no-Sadehiko-no-Mikoto. The shrine is also believed to grant worshippers improved fortunes due to its association with Tokugawa Yoshimune, the fifth lord of Kishu Domain, who experienced much success in life, and people from across the country come here seeking better luck. The shrine enshrines the beloved horse of Yoshimune as a sacred horse, and the faithful worship it as a deity providing better fortunes and protection from evil. The Oka no Sato Kofun tomb, estimated to date to around the sixth century, is also located on the shrine's grounds and can be viewed by visitors for free."

ご祭神は、道臣命、大伴佐氐比古命の式内社で旧県社とのことです。和歌山城の近くなのですがちょっと奥まった場所にあるので、なかなかたどれつけづに、近くを車で何周もぐるぐるさまよってしまいました。よく場所を確認して訪れることをお勧めします。吉宗公拾い親神社として知られています。
Nokami Hachimangu Shrine

3.5

6 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Kaiso-gun Kiminocho Shobata 625

This associated shrine of the Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine is located on high ground looking down on the town of Nokami from the Takanonishi Highway that runs along the Makuni River. It is believed that long ago it was the site of a temporary palace used by Empress Jingu for three years during her triumphant return from the Conquest of Korea. Following the introduction of manorialism in the region starting sometime in the 11th century the shrine gained great prominence equaling that of the Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine. However, the shrine would undergo repeated ruin and revival due to factors including attacks by the Negoro-shu (an order of warrior monks) and the separation of Shinto from Buddhism following the Meiji Restoration. The vividly-colored vermillion lacquered main shrine, the hip-and-gable roofed front shrine, and other parts of the shrine have been designated as National Important Cultural Assets. An autumn festival featuring lion dance performances and other attractions is held in mid-October each year.

道路側から石段を上がって木製の鳥居を潜って行くと正面奥に大きな絵馬が目に入りました。干支に因んだ大きな絵馬には「開運招福」とあり高校生が描いたもの、横には「大願成就」と記された中学生が描いたものの2つが掲げられていました。又、境内の由緒によると本殿や拝殿等々は重要文化財に指定されているようでした。
Awashima Shrine

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Pref. Wakayamashi Kada

"This is the head shrine of the more than 1000 Awashima shrines in Japan. Known for offerings of dolls, it is characterized by the many Japanese dolls that fill the shrine. As the birthplace of doll offerings and the birthplace of the Hinamatsuri Festival, over 300,000 dolls are offered every year. The god of medicine, Sukunahikona no Mikoto, is the shrine deity. In particular, women come for divine help with women's diseases, having children and marriage. ""Hari-Kuyo"" (a service for broken needles) is held on February 8th, ""Nagashi-bina"" (Floating Ceremony of Paper Hina Dolls) on March 3rd, and the ""Amazake Matsuri"" (Sweet Sake Festival) on October 3rd."
Sumida Hachiman Shrine

3.5

5 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Wakayama Hashimoto-shi Sudacho Tarui 622

This shrine built on the order of Emperor Kinmei in the year 859 is located about a two-minute drive from Hashimoto-higashi Interchange on the Keinawa Expressway. The Jinbutsuga Zokyo mirror, a national treasure that is Japan's oldest inscribed metal object, was passed down from generation to generation by the shrine. Although the original is stored at the Tokyo National Museum, a massive stone monument to the mirror is installed on the shrine's grounds. The shrine also possesses the historical document called Suda-bunsho, designated as an Important Cultural Asset of the Prefecture. The autumn festival held at the shrine each October has been designated as a Prefectural Intangible Folk Cultural Asset. The highlight of the festival is the pulling of the prefecture's biggest festival float.

読み方は「すみた・すみだ」と云いたくなりますが「すだはちまんじんじゃ」と読みます。車で行くと本殿横まで行けて、ここでもっとも有名な「人物画象鏡」のレプリカや本殿・拝殿を参拝できてしまうのですが「本当のみどころ」である、石段途中の随神門の天井の龍の絵を忘れずに見てみて下さい。神社自体は859年の八幡神社を勧請して創立されたと云われており、「人物画象鏡」は443年製と503年製の2つの説があります...

Wakayama

Wakayama City Suburbs Mt. Koya / Ryujin Onsen / Kudoyama Kainan / Arita / Minabe / Tanabe Shirahama Kumano Kodo / Hongu Kushimoto / Koza / Susami Nachikatsuura / Taiji / Shingu

Travel / Tourism History / Culture / Tour Shrine

Wakayama Areas

Wakayama prefecture unites pilgrims, food lovers, and culture buffs in a tranquil corner of Japan at the base of the Kii Peninsula. The setting for many a Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trail, Wakayama invites those in search of spirituality from one side of the prefecture to the other, from the 100-plus Buddhist temples of the sacred Mount Koya in the west to the inspiring temples of the Kumano Sanzan set among breathtaking nature in the east. Once the grueling hike is complete, make a beeline for Wakayama city to savor some of the country’s most delicious ramen noodles.