Shimosa Province Ichinomiya
Katori Jingu
香取神宮
Katori Jingu is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Shimosa Province, in present-day Chiba. It has a car park (about 230 spaces), free. Opening hours end at 17:00 (charm counter and goshuin). Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 2 routes from a station (by taxi, by bus); the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on April 14 every year. We found 5 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties, 1 of them National Treasure. The nearest other ichinomiya is Kashima Jingu, 13 km to the north-east in a straight line.
Getting there
千葉県香取市香取1697
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:
第１駐車場へは、小見川（佐原香取IC）方面から右折して入ることができません。また公式は、第３駐車場に停めたのに帰りに第１駐車場へ向かってしまう間違いが多いと注意喚起しており、現在地確認用の看板を設置している。
For a car navigation system
- Phone
- Japanese car navigation searches by phone number. This is the fastest way to enter a destination.
- Coordinates
- 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 佐原駅JR成田線
- By taxi, about 10 min.
- From 東京駅高速バス（関鉄グリーンバス）
- By bus.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
JR佐原駅下車、タクシーで約10分。JR佐原駅より、各種バスのご利用もできます。又は、JR香取駅（無人）下車、徒歩30分（約2km） 東京駅から関鉄グリーンバス「鉾田駅行き」。「香取神宮前」下車、徒歩5分。
Taken from the shrine's own website (アクセス | 香取神宮, 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 230 spaces), free.
無料。第1駐車場（商店会前）100台（うち身障者用2台）、第3駐車場（総門の南東・宮下地区）130台、大型バス5台。第2駐車場は佐原香取IC出口の信号のすぐ左・両側にあるが、総門まで約1kmと離れている。公式は「その他周辺に有料駐車場がありますのでそちらの利用もお勧め致します」とも案内している。※公式サイト上の台数表記は第1・第3とも「約100台」で、130台という数字は千葉県公式観光サイトの記載。
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 (charm counter and goshuin).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
8:30-17:00（授与所・御朱印受付）／祈祷受付 8:30-16:30／宝物館 8:30-16:00
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 4 ichinomiya in Chiba in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- Tradition dates the shrine's founding to the 18th year of Emperor Jimmu (678 BC).
- Buildings
- The present main hall was built by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1700, and the two-storey gate dates from the same project.
- History
- In 1684, Tokugawa Mitsukuni of Mito visited and had the Kanameishi stone dug out, but its base could not be found, it is said.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (香取神宮 宝物・文化財, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Futsunushi-no-Kami 経津主大神 4 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
The shrine's website gives Futsunushi-no-Ōkami's other name as Iwainushi-no-Mikoto, and says he descended to Izumo with Takemikazuchi on Amaterasu's orders to receive the land from Ōkuninushi.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Goshuin (shrine seal)
- Available
- Yes
- Hours
- 8:30-17:00
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 香取神宮
-
Important Cultural Property
三間社流造、檜皮葺
designated 1977-06-27 · mid-Edo period - 海獣葡萄鏡
- National Treasure
- 双竜鏡
- Important Cultural Property
- 古瀬戸黄釉狛犬
- Important Cultural Property
- 香取神宮拝殿・幣殿・神饌所
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
4月14日 例祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 神幸祭
- 4月15日
- 御田植祭（耕田式・田植式）
- 4月の第1土曜日と翌日曜日
- 大饗祭
- 11月30日
- 団碁祭
- 12月7日
- 健児祭
- 5月5日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Kashima Jingu, about 13 km to the north-east in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Hitachi Province. After that come Tamasaki Jinja (59 km south) and Hikawanyotai Jinja (75 km 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
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 Shimosa Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Shimosa Province (Tōkaidō)
- Prefecture
- Chiba
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kanpei Taisha
Sources
- https://maruchiba.jp/spot/detail_10175.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://katori-jingu.or.jp/2019/12/27/%E3%81%8A%E8%BB%8A%E3%81%A7%E3%81%8A%E8%B6%8A%E3%81%97%E3%81%AE%E6%96%B9%E3%81%B8/ (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://katori-jingu.or.jp/about/history/ (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.