Osumi Province Ichinomiya
Kagoshima Jingu
鹿兒島神宮
Kagoshima Jingu is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Osumi Province, in present-day Kagoshima. It has a car park (about 200 spaces), free. Opening hours end at 16:30 (prayer-rite desk). Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 1 route from a station (on foot), one of them a walk of 15 min; the station names are listed below. We found 5 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Nitta Jinja, 43 km to the west in a straight line.
Getting there
鹿児島県霧島市隼人町内 2496
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
How to rent and drive a car in Japan →
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By train and bus
- From 隼人駅JR日豊本線
- On foot, 15 min.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
・ＪＲ日豊線隼人駅より徒歩15分 ・バス 鹿児島交通 鹿児島神宮前 停留所にて下車 徒歩5分 ※但し、バスは運行便数が少ないので予めご確認下さい。
Taken from the shrine's own website (鹿兒島神宮 公式サイト 交通アクセス, 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 200 spaces), free.
This routes you to the car park, not to the hall. The location is taken from OpenStreetMap and has not been checked on the ground.
参道駐車場・バス駐車場・大駐車場の合計200台がすべて無料
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 16:30 (prayer-rite desk).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
参拝 8:30-17:00／祈願受付 8:30-16:30
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 3 ichinomiya in Kagoshima in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- The shrine says it is rooted in the myth of Umisachi and Yamasachi, founded in the age of the gods or in the reign of Emperor Jimmu.
- Name
- It was also known as Shō Hachimangū, Kokubu Shō Hachiman and Ōsumi Shō Hachiman.
- Buildings
- The present halls were built in 1756 by the head of the Shimazu family.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (由緒｜鹿兒島神宮, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Hikohohodemi-no-Mikoto 彦火火出見尊 6 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Toyotamahime-no-Mikoto 豊玉比売命 4 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Chuai-Tenno 帯中津日子命 shares the hall 5 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Jingu-Kogo 息長帯比売命 shares the hall 10 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Ojin-Tenno 品陀和気命 shares the hall 10 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Nakatsuhime-no-Mikoto 仲姫命 shares the hall
The shrine's website says its deity, Hikohohodemi-no-Mikoto (Yamasachihiko), built his palace here and, living over 500 years, opened up farming, herding, fishing and hunting and laid the foundations of the nation.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 鹿児島神宮
-
Important Cultural Property
本殿 桁行七間、梁間四間、一重、入母屋造、向拝一間、檜皮葺、霧除付 拝殿 桁行五間、梁間三間、一重、切妻造、東西面千鳥破風付、銅板葺
designated 2022-02-09 · late Edo period - 刀〈銘相州住秋広／明徳三〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 紺絲威鎧〈兜、大袖付／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 色々威胴丸〈兜、大袖付／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 色々威胴丸〈兜、大袖付／〉
- Important Cultural Property
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
旧八月十五日 例祭（ホゼ）
This is an old-calendar date; the Gregorian day differs every year.
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 初午祭
- 旧暦1月18日を過ぎた最初の日曜日
old-calendar date - 浜下り神幸祭
- 10月17日(お下り)・18日(お上り)
- 御田植祭
- 旧五月五日に近い日曜
old-calendar date - 隼人舞
- 旧八月十五日
old-calendar date - 献灯祭
- 7月28日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Nitta Jinja, about 43 km to the west in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Satsuma Province. After that come Hirakiki Jinja (64 km south) and Tsuno Jinja (96 km north-east).
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 Osumi Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Osumi Province (Saikaidō)
- Prefecture
- Kagoshima
- Engishiki (927)
- Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kanpei Taisha
Sources
- https://kagoshima-jingu.jp/access.php (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://kagoshima-jingu.jp/gokigan.php (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://kagoshima-jingu.jp/yuisyo.php (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.