Kehi Shrine

It is located in Akebono-cho, Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture. The main deity is Izasawake-no-Mikoto (Kehi-okami, Miketsu-no-Okami), and the other deities enshrined are Emperor Chuai, Empress Jingu, Emperor Ojin, Yamato Takeru-no-Mikoto, Tamahime-no-Mikoto, and Takeuchi-no-Sukune. Izasawake-no-Mikoto has been revered since ancient times as the deity of local development, and it is said that the others were enshrined together later. Emperor Chuai visited this shrine shortly after ascending to the throne and together with Empress Jingu prayed for the success of the so-called "conquest of the Three Kingdoms of Korea." After the "conquest," the Empress is said to have had her son (later Emperor Ojin) visit the shrine, and it has been highly revered throughout the ages. Under the Engi system, it was a Myojin Taisha. It became the Ichinomiya of Echizen Province, and from the Middle Ages onwards, military commanders donated their territories to the shrine one after another. In 1895 (Meiji 28), it was given the title of Miya and was named Kehi Jingu, and it rose from a National Medium Shrine to a Kanpei Taisha. There are a large number of auxiliary and subordinate shrines. The annual festival is held on September 4th. However, it is famous as the long Kehi festival, as it continues from the Yoimiya Festival on the 2nd of the same month to the Tsukinami Festival on the 15th. Other special rituals include the Michikai Festival on March 6th, the Minakae Festival on March 8th, the Rice Planting Festival on June 15th, the Gochosai Festival on June 16th, the Tora no Shinto Ritual on July 21st, and the Soumairi Festival on July 22nd, in which a portable shrine is carried to Tsunenomiya Shrine on the opposite bank. The main hall, donated by Yuki Hideyasu in 1614 (Keicho 19), was burned down during the war in 1945 (Showa 20), but was rebuilt five years later. The main hall is surrounded by Higashiden-gu, Sosha-gu, Hiraden-gu, and Nishiden-gu, and is known as the Shisha-no-miya. The current main hall, worship hall, and ceremony hall were rebuilt during the "Showa Great Construction Works" that began in 1985, and the only part that escaped war damage, the large torii gate built in 1645 (Shoho 2), is a designated Important Cultural Property of Japan.

[Takafusa Hiraizumi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

福井県敦賀(つるが)市曙(あけぼの)町に鎮座。伊奢沙別命(いざさわけのみこと)（気比大神(おおかみ)、御食津(みけつ)大神）を主神に、仲哀(ちゅうあい)天皇、神功(じんぐう)皇后、応神(おうじん)天皇、日本武命(やまとたけるのみこと)、玉妃命(たまひめのみこと)、武内宿禰(たけのうちのすくね)を配祀(はいし)する。伊奢沙別命は古くからこの地方開発の神として尊崇され、他はのちになって合祀されたと伝える。仲哀天皇は即位ののちまもなく当社に参詣(さんけい)、神功皇后とともにいわゆる「三韓(さんかん)征伐」の成功を祈り、「征伐」後、皇后は皇子（後の応神天皇）をして当社に参拝せしめたと伝え、歴朝の崇敬はきわめて厚かった。延喜(えんぎ)の制では名神(みょうじん)大社。越前(えちぜん)国一宮(いちのみや)となり、中世以降は武将の領地寄進も相次いだ。1895年（明治28）宮号宣下により気比神宮と称し、それまでの国幣中社から官幣大社となる。摂社、末社の数はきわめて多い。例祭は9月4日。ただし同月2日の宵宮(よいみや)祭から15日の月次(つきなみ)祭まで続くので気比の長祭として有名。ほかに3月6日の御誓祭(みちかいまつり)、3月8日の御名易祭(みなかえまつり)、6月15日の御田植祭、6月16日の牛腸祭(ごちょうさい)、7月21日の寅(とらの)神事、7月22日に神輿(みこし)を対岸の常宮(つねのみや)神社に神幸する総参祭(そうまいりのまつり)などの特殊神事がある。1614年（慶長19）結城秀康(ゆうきひでやす)寄進の本殿は1945年（昭和20）戦災で焼失、5年後復興。本殿の四周に東殿宮、総社宮、平殿宮、西殿宮があり、四社の宮と称する。現在の本殿、拝殿、儀式殿などは1985年から行われた「昭和の大造営」による再建で、唯一戦災をまぬかれた1645年（正保2）建立の大鳥居は国の重要文化財。

［平泉隆房］

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