Hizen Province Ichinomiya
Chiriku Hachimangu
千栗八幡宮
Chiriku Hachimangu is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Hizen Province, in present-day Saga. It has a car park (about 30 spaces), free. Opening hours end at 17:00 (shrine office). Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 2 routes from a station (by bus, by taxi); the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on September 15 every year. The nearest other ichinomiya is Kora Taisha, 7.2 km to the south-east in a straight line.
Getting there
佐賀県三養基郡みやき町大字白壁千栗2403
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:
公式が注意を出している。「ナビで検索した際には、正面鳥居を過ぎた裏手の駐車場を案内される場合がありますが、柔道家古賀稔彦選手の『栄光の石段』を見たい場合は、石段下の駐車場をお勧めします」。石段を登れない場合は、郵便局を左手に通り過ぎ、道なりに右折を二回、神社横を道なりに左折する迂回ルートが案内されている
For a car navigation system
- Phone
- Japanese car navigation searches by phone number. This is the fastest way to enter a destination.
- Coordinates
- From OpenStreetMap, as 千栗八幡宮. Not checked on the ground
- Address
How to rent and drive a car in Japan →
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By train and bus
- From 久留米駅九州新幹線・JR鹿児島本線
- By bus.
- From 西鉄久留米駅西鉄天神大牟田線
- By taxi, 25 min.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
九州新幹線・JR鹿児島本線「久留米駅」下車 西鉄天神大牟田線「西鉄久留米駅」下車 ・西鉄バス「佐賀バスセンター（系統４０番）」行「千栗八幡宮前」バス停下車 目の前すぐ ・タクシー（西鉄久留米駅より25分、JR久留米駅より10分程度）
Taken from the shrine's own website (千栗八幡宮 公式サイト アクセス, 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 a car park (about 30 spaces), free.
The fee in the source’s own words: 「(駐車料金無料)」 (source, checked 2026-10-15).
複数あり（石段下の駐車場と裏手の駐車場）。30台・無料（佐賀県観光連盟）。正月など混雑する期間は、公式が公共交通機関（西鉄バス「千栗八幡宮前」）を勧めている
The note above is in Japanese; it usually records dates when the car park is closed, and the fee.
Shrine office hours
Opening hours end at 17:00 (shrine office).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
社務所 9:00-17:00（佐賀県公式観光サイト「あそぼーさが」。神社の公式サイトには記載なし）
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 2 ichinomiya in Saga in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- According to the shrine's tradition, it was founded in 724 by Mibu no Harunari, district governor of Yabu in Hizen Province, after receiving a divine oracle.
- Buildings
- The halls burned several times in the Sengoku wars, and in 1583 Ryūzōji Masaie restored the shrine.
- History
- Nabeshima Naoshige donated 200 koku of shrine land in 1598 and dedicated a stone Hizen-style torii in 1609.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (千栗八幡宮 公式サイト（トップページの由緒・歴史）, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Ojin-Tenno 應神天皇 10 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Chuai-Tenno 仲哀天皇 5 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Jingu-Kogo 神功皇后 10 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Naniwanomiko 難波皇子 also enshrined
- Ujinomiko 宇治皇子 also enshrined
- Sumiyoshimyojin 住吉明神 also enshrined
- Takenochinosukune-no-Mikoto 武内宿禰 also enshrined 4 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
９月15日 例大祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- お粥試
- ３月15日
- 御神幸・浮立
- 例大祭に近い日曜日
- 名越祭
- ８月１日
- 初午祭
- ２月初めの午の日
- 祈年祭
- ３月15日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Kora Taisha, about 7.2 km to the south-east in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Chikugo Province. After that come Yodohime Jinja (20 km west) and Sumiyoshi Jinja (Chikuzen) (29 km north).
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
Documented by a public source
A public body — the city, the prefecture, or the prefectural shrine office — describes this shrine as the ichinomiya of its province.
Listed on the map published by the Ichinomiya Pilgrimage Association.
The Miyaki Town Tourism Association, citing the Chinzei Yōryaku (鎮西要略), gives its founding as the first year of Jinki (724), and says that it “became a branch shrine of Usa Hachimangu in the Jōhei era (931–938), one of the five branch shrines” and “from medieval times, the ichinomiya of Hizen Province”.
- https://www.miyakikankou.jp/main/53.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://chirikuhachiman.sakura.ne.jp/ (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 Hizen Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Hizen Province (Saikaidō)
- Prefecture
- Saga
- Engishiki (927)
- Shōsha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kensha
Sources
- https://www.miyakikankou.jp/main/53.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://chirikuhachiman.sakura.ne.jp/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://chirikuhachiman.sakura.ne.jp/access/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://chirikuhachiman.sakura.ne.jp/kami/ (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://www.asobo-saga.jp/spots/detail/3c95dd5a-1f70-401e-87b5-39b31c4990f3 (checked 2026-09-24)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.