Kashima Shrine

Kashima Shrine (鹿島神宮, Kashima Jingū) is a Shinto shrine located in Kashima, Ibaraki in the northern Kantō region of Japan. It is dedicated to Takemikazuchi-no-Ōkami (武甕槌大神), one of the patron deities of martial arts. Various dōjō of kenjutsu and kendō often display a hanging scroll emblazoned with the name "Takemikazuchi-no-Ōkami". Prior to World War II, the shrine was ranked as one of the three most important imperial shrines Jingū (神宮) in the Shinto hierarchy, along with Ise Grand Shrine (伊勢神宮 Ise Jingū) and Katori Shrine (香取神宮 Katori Jingū). During the New Year period, from the first to the third of January, Kashima Shrine is visited by over 600,000 people from all over Japan^{[citation needed]}. It is the second most visited shrine in Ibaraki prefecture for new year pilgrims.

Kashima Shrine is located at the top of the Kashima plateau in south-east Ibaraki Prefecture, intersecting Lake Kitaura and Kashima Bay and in close proximity to Katori Shrine, which also has a strong connection to the martial arts. The shrine is the home of the Kashima Shintō-ryū (鹿島新当流) school of Japanese swordsmanship. Tsukahara Bokuden (塚原 卜伝; 1489 - March 6, 1571), one of the most distinguished swordmasters in Japanese history, was a frequent visitor to the shrine and developed the school from a combination of his own experiences as a shugyōsha during Musha shugyō (武者修行) and the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū (天真正伝香取神道流).

A large blade designated as a National Treasure known as the Futsu-no-Mitama Sword (布都御魂剣) is housed in the treasure house of Kashima Shrine.

The Honden (main shrine building), Haiden (prayer hall) and Rōmon tower gate entrance are all Edo period structures, and are National Important Cultural Properties. The gate is one of the largest three shrine entrances in Japan. A deer enclosure is also located down the forest path. Both Kashima Shrine's deer and those of Nara are considered messengers of the gods and hence share a strong connection.

Kashima Ōkami (鹿島大神, Kashima-no-Ōkami) is the official title of the main enshrined deity and identified as Takemikazuchi (武甕槌大神). In some historical texts he is also known as the great god of thunder.

According to legend, Izanagi, beheaded his own son Kagutsuchi the fire deity, as punishment for burning his mother to death. As he performed the act the blood dripped from his sword splashing onto the rocks below him, giving birth to several kami, two of which were Takemikazuchi along with Futsunushi (経津主神, Futsunushi-no-kami) the deity of Katori Shrine. Per the Nihon Shoki, Takemikazuchi was the deity who provided Emperor Jimmu with a sword as he departed for the conquest of Yamato, which is one reason the shrine is regarded as a patron. However, there is no mention of the shrine in either the Nihon Shoki or the Kojiki and the earliest written records, the Hitachi Fudoki, does not identify the Kashima-no-Ōkami with Takemikazuchi.

According the shrine legend, Kashima Jingū was established in the first year of the legendary Emperor Jimmu, i.e. 660 BC. This is well into Japanese prehistory, and the oldest written records mentioning the shrine are in the Asuka period Fudoki (風土記) of Hitachi province, indicating that a kobe (神戸), or private house of ritual was rebuilt in 649 AD on a site where the great celestial god Kashima (香島の天の大神, Kashima-no-ten-no-Ōkami) descended from the heavens and where religious ceremonies and festivals had been held since the time of Emperor Sujin, Yamato Takeru and Emperor Tenji. This region was the ancestral stronghold of the Nakatomi clan, who were strongly allied to the imperial court, and the area around Kashima became a center for strengthening the imperial court's control of eastern Japan following the Taika Reform. As both a war deity and a water deity, the Kashima kami were connected with military campaigns against the Emishi tribes of northern Japan. The treasury of the shrine has a one bucket said to have been a war trophy once owned by the Emishi leader Aterui.

During the Nara period, the Nakatomi clan rose to prominence and changed their name to Fujiwara and played a central role in reorganizing the Shinto ritual system. By the Heian period, Kashima Jingū was given the highest rank and the Shinto hierarchy, along with Ise Grand Shrine and Katori Shrine. The Engishiki records list the shrine as the ichinomiya of Hitachi Province. Although the Fujiwara clan lost much of its power into the Kamakura period, the shrine continued to enjoy high status and prestige with the warrior class and was strongly supported by successive samurai governments and local daimyō. Minamoto no Yoritomo granted the shrine numerous estates, and many members of the samurai class entered the priesthood, sometimes advancing to very senior positions. The shrine buildings were extensively reconstructed during the early Edo period, with Tokugawa Ieyasu sponsoring the reconstruction of the main shrine in 1605 (currently the main building of the Oku-no-miya Shrine), Tokugawa Hidetada rebuilding the current main shrines in 1619 and with Tokugawa Yorifusa contributing the tower gate in 1634. In 1687, poet Matsuo Bashō traveled to the Kashima Shrine, writing of the journey in his haibun travel journal, Kashima Kikō.