The ichinomiya of Tsushima Province

What the Japanese sources say

Wadatsumi Jinja (海神神社) and Izuhara Hachimangu (厳原八幡宮) are both described as the ichinomiya, the first-ranked shrine, of Tsushima Province, but the statements by public bodies are weighted toward Wadatsumi Jinja.

For Wadatsumi Jinja, Nagasaki Prefecture’s official tourism site and the Tsushima Tourism and Products Association say that “in early times, as the place where the eight banners of Empress Jingū were enshrined, it was called Hachiman Hongū, and then Tsushima Hongū, and it was called the ichinomiya of Tsushima Province. In Meiji 4 (1871) it was renamed Wadatsumi Jinja and ranked as a kokuhei chūsha, a mid-ranking shrine in the state system”. It stands in Kamiagata District (Kisaka, Mine-machi).

For Izuhara Hachimangu, the Tsushima Tourism and Products Association says only that it is “an old shrine that has drawn the reverence of the islanders, the lords of the Tsushima domain among them, since early times”, and makes no mention of the ichinomiya title. It stands at the centre of Izuhara, in Shimoagata District, where the provincial capital (kokufu) of Tsushima was placed, and it drew the reverence of the Sō family, the lords of the Tsushima domain.

— There is a difference of location between an old shrine in Kamiagata District and a shrine in Shimoagata District, where the provincial capital and later the domain government stood. But no primary source says that this is what led to two shrines holding the title side by side (this site’s view).

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