Tsugaru Province Ichinomiya
Iwakiyama Jinja
岩木山神社
Iwakiyama Jinja is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Tsugaru Province, in present-day Aomori. It has a car park; the sources we checked give neither its size nor a fee. Opening hours end at 16:00 (counter; 15:30 from November to February). Without a car, a local tourism body gives 1 route from a station (by bus); the station names are listed below. We found 4 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Chokaizan Omonoimi Jinja (Fukura Kuchinomiya), 177 km to the south in a straight line.
Getting there
青森県弘前市百沢字寺沢27
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.
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
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By train and bus
- From 弘前駅JR
- By bus, about 43 min.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
●バスの場合 ・JR弘前駅より弘南バス「弘前-岩木庁舎・岩木山線 岳温泉前（青森県）行き」で約43分、「岩木山神社前」下車、徒歩すぐ
Taken from a local tourism body (岩木山神社｜【公式】青森県観光情報サイト Amazing AOMORI, 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; the sources we checked give neither its size nor a fee.
正面にあり。祭事の日は混雑する。台数・料金は確認できず。冬季の除雪・閉鎖については一次ソースで確認できず
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 16:00 (counter; 15:30 from November to February).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
3〜10月 9:00-17:00（受付16:00まで）／11〜2月 9:00-16:00（受付15:30まで）※青森県観光公式は「夏 8:00-17:00／冬 8:30-16:00」と記載しており食い違いがある
History in brief
- Founding
- The shrine traces its origin to 780, when a hall was built on the summit of Mt. Iwaki.
- Buildings
- In 800, Sakanoue no Tamuramaro rebuilt the shrine and built a lower shrine, the Orii-no-miya, at Tokoshinai at the foot of the mountain.
- Moved
- In 1091, following a divine oracle, the lower shrine was moved to the present site.
- Buildings
- In the Edo period, successive lords of the Tsugaru domain carried out major construction.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (由緒｜岩木山神社, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Utsushikunitama-no-Kami 顕國魂神
- Tatsuhihime-no-Kami 多都比姫神
- Uganome-no-Kami 宇賀能賣神
- Oyamazumi-no-Kami 大山祇神 5 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Sakanoenokaritamaro-no-Mikoto 坂上刈田麿命
Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Goshuin (shrine seal)
- Available
- Yes
- Offering
- ¥500
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 岩木山神社
-
Important Cultural Property
三間社流造、正面千鳥破風及び軒唐破風付、銅瓦葺
designated 1971-06-22 · mid-Edo period - 岩木山神社拝殿
-
Important Cultural Property
桁行五間、梁間五間、一重、入母屋造、正面千鳥破風付、向拝一間、とち葺形銅板葺
designated 1908-04-23 · Momoyama period - 岩木山神社楼門
-
Important Cultural Property
五間三戸楼門、入母屋造、とち葺形銅板葺
designated 1908-04-23 · early Edo period - 岩木山の登拝行事
- Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property (manners and customs)
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
旧暦8月1日 例祭
This is an old-calendar date; the Gregorian day differs every year.
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 奥宮神賑祭
- 旧暦7月28日・29日
old-calendar date - 山開祭
- 旧暦7月25日
old-calendar date - 山納祭
- 旧暦8月15日
old-calendar date - 七日堂神賑祭
- 旧暦1月7日
old-calendar date - 白雲祭
- 5月11日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Chokaizan Omonoimi Jinja (Fukura Kuchinomiya), about 177 km to the south in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Dewa Province. After that come Komagata Jinja (179 km south-east) and Chokaizan Omonoimi Jinja (184 km south).
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
Listed by the pilgrimage association
It appears on the map published by the Ichinomiya Pilgrimage Association. We have not yet checked other primary sources.
- 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 Tsugaru Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Tsugaru Province (Shin-Ichinomiya)
- Prefecture
- Aomori
- Engishiki (927)
- Shōsha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kokuhei Shōsha
Sources
- http://iwakiyamajinja.or.jp/product.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://aomori-tourism.com/spot/detail_19.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://iwakiyamajinja.or.jp/history.html (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.