Echigo Province Reference entry
Amatsu Jinja
天津神社
Amatsu Jinja is listed here for reference under the former Echigo Province, in present-day Niigata. It is not on the Ichinomiya Junpaikai’s list. It has no car park of its own. Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 1 route from a station (on foot); the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on April 10 every year. We found 1 entry for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Kota Jinja, 35 km to the north-east in a straight line.
This is a reference entry
This shrine is not on the map published by the Ichinomiya Pilgrimage Association (Zenkoku Ichinomiya Junpaikai). We include it for context. It is not presented as a current ichinomiya.
No primary source found.
Getting there
新潟県糸魚川市一の宮1-3-34
The address is given in Japanese on purpose. Show it to a taxi driver, or copy it into a car navigation system — an English transliteration will not be recognised.
Before you drive here
There is a notice about reaching this shrine by car — it may concern road closures at New Year, vehicle size limits, which way you can turn into the car park, or satellite navigation giving the wrong place. The Japanese text reads:
春大祭（糸魚川けんか祭り、4月10日・11日）の当日は、糸魚川市観光協会の公式サイトが「当日、会場周辺は大変混雑します。駐車場に限りがありますので、なるべく徒歩または公共交通機関をご利用のうえ、会場へお出かけください。」と案内しています。
For a car navigation system
- Phone
- Japanese car navigation searches by phone number. This is the fastest way to enter a destination.
- Coordinates
- Derived from the address down to the street number, via Japan's national mapping agency. Not a survey of the hall itself
- Address
How to rent and drive a car in Japan →
By train and bus
- From 糸魚川駅JR北陸新幹線、トキ鉄・日本海ひすいライン
- On foot.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
公共交通機関の場合：JR北陸新幹線、トキ鉄・日本海ひすいライン「糸魚川駅」より徒歩で10分
Taken from the shrine's own website (天津神社 公式サイト（交通案内）, checked 2026-10-08). Station and stop names stay in Japanese so you can match them to signs. Fares and timetables are not given — they change.
Parking
It has no car park of its own.
新潟県観光協会の公式サイト「にいがた観光ナビ」は天津神社・奴奈川神社の駐車場を「無し」と記載しています。神社の公式サイトの交通案内も「JR北陸新幹線、トキ鉄・日本海ひすいライン『糸魚川駅』より徒歩で10分」「北陸自動車道『糸魚川IC』より車で8分」と書くのみで、駐車場には触れていません。近くに市役所や体育館の駐車場がありますが、参拝者が使ってよいという公式の案内は確認できませんでした。
The note above is in Japanese; it usually records dates when the car park is closed, and the fee.
Visiting the 3 ichinomiya in Niigata in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- The shrine says it was founded in the reign of Emperor Keiko, the 12th emperor, and later became a prayer shrine of Emperor Kotoku.
- Moved
- According to tradition, the shrine first stood at Yamazaki (now Kyogamine) and was moved to its present site after a landslide.
- Buildings
- The worship hall was rebuilt in 1662 (Kanbun 2), as recorded on its ridge beam.
- Buildings
- The main hall was built in 1797 (Kansei 9) by a carpenter from Itoigawa.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (天津神社 由緒, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Amatsuhikohikohoninigi-no-Mikoto 天津彦々火瓊々杵尊
- Amenokoyane-no-Mikoto 天児屋根命 2 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Amenofutodama-no-Mikoto 天太玉命 3 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
Nunakawa Jinja, which stands in the same precinct, enshrines Nunakawahime-no-Mikoto and Yachihoko-no-Mikoto.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 天津神社舞楽
- Intangible Folk Cultural Property selected for recording (folk performing arts)
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
4月10日 春季例大祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 舞楽
- 4月10日・11日
- けんか神輿
- 4月10日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Kota Jinja, about 35 km to the north-east in a straight line, in the same province. After that come Oyama Jinja (56 km south-west) and Oyama Jinja Chugu Kiganden (66 km south-west).
Straight-line distances between the shrines, not road distances. Across mountains or water, the drive is much longer.
Why this shrine is called an ichinomiya
No primary source found
We could not find any primary source calling this shrine an ichinomiya — not the shrine’s own site, and not any public body. We say so rather than assume.
Not found on the map published by the Ichinomiya Pilgrimage Association.
Neither the Itoigawa tourism guide nor the description by the Niigata Prefecture Tourism Association uses the word ichinomiya. Beyond the fact that its address is “Ichinomiya, Itoigawa City” there is nothing to go on, and no primary source for treating it as the ichinomiya of Echigo Province could be found.
- https://www.itoigawa-kanko.net/trad/amatsu_shrine/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- 全国一の宮巡拝会『全国一の宮神社所在地』（平成30年5月・改訂版 第4版） (checked 2026-09-09)
More on how the shrines of this province relate to one another is on the Echigo Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Echigo Province (Hokurikudō)
- Prefecture
- Niigata
- Engishiki (927)
- Shōsha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kensha
Sources
- https://www.itoigawa-kanko.net/trad/amatsu_shrine/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://niigata-kankou.or.jp/spot/8672 (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://amatsujinja.com/ (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://www.itoigawa-kanko.net/trad/amatsu_springfestival/ (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://amatsujinja.com/story/ (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.