The ichinomiya of Shimotsuke Province

What the Japanese sources say

Two shrines claim the title of ichinomiya of Shimotsuke Province: Utsunomiya Futaarayama Jinja (宇都宮二荒山神社) and Nikko Futarasan Jinja (日光二荒山神社). The two bear the same shrine name, 二荒山神社, and that is what marks this province out.

Utsunomiya City’s official tourism site says: “Its origins go back about 1,600 years, and because it was called the ’ichinomiya of Shimotsuke’, there is a theory that the name of Utsunomiya derives from it.” Nikko City’s official tourism site says: “It has long been revered as the ichinomiya of Shimotsuke Province and has drawn worship.”

Both only write that the shrine was called the ichinomiya; neither names a source document. As for which of the two is meant by the “Futaarayama Jinja (myōjin taisha)” of Kawachi District in Shimotsuke Province listed in the Engishiki Jinmyōchō (延喜式神名帳, the register of official shrines in the Engishiki, a law code completed in 927), we could find no statement either on the shrines’ own sites or on those of the municipalities.

Written from Japanese sources, each quoted. The Japanese page has the same discussion with the original wording.