Bingo Province Ichinomiya
Kibitsu Jinja (Bingo)
吉備津神社
Kibitsu Jinja (Bingo) is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Bingo Province, in present-day Hiroshima. 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 (by taxi); the station names are listed below. We found 6 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Susanoo Jinja, 2.1 km to the south-east in a straight line.
Getting there
広島県福山市新市町宮内 400
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:
初詣期間は規制があります。公式のお知らせによると「１２月３１日（水）２２：００～１月１日５：００の間は安全のため車両の乗り入れはできません。」この時間帯は境外の駐車場を利用してください。1月1日5:00以降は境内へ乗り入れできます。1月1日〜3日の8:30〜17:00も交通規制があり、警備員の誘導に従ってください。御池周辺への駐車は禁止されています。
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 →
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By train and bus
- From 新市駅JR福塩線
- By taxi, 5 min.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
電車でお越しの場合 JR福山駅より 福塩線「新市駅」下車（約40分） 新市駅前よりタクシー5分 （バスは便数があまりありません）
Taken from the shrine's own website (アクセス | 備後一宮吉備津神社, 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.
The fee in the source’s own words: 「普通車200台/無料/貸切バス駐車可能」 (source, checked 2026-10-15).
約200台、駐車場は境内。無料・貸切バス駐車可（福山観光コンベンション協会）。令和8年の初詣では12月31日22:00〜1月1日5:00に境内へ車で入れず、境外の駐車場を使う案内だった（公式のお知らせ）
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:
ご祈願受付 9:00-16:30（授与所の時間は確認できず）
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 2 ichinomiya in Hiroshima 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 806 with a spirit divided from Kibitsu Shrine in Bitchu.
- History
- Records say Ippen, founder of the Ji school of Buddhism, visited in 1287 and watched a bugaku dance performance here.
- Buildings
- The present buildings were built in 1648 by Mizuno Katsunari, the first lord of the Fukuyama domain.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (吉備津神社とは, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Okibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto 大吉備津彦命 3 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Oyamatonekohikofutoni-no-Mikoto 大日本根子彦太瓊命 shares the hall
- Kuwashihime-no-Mikoto 細比売命 shares the hall
- Wakatakekibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto 稚武吉備津彦命 shares the hall
The shrine's website describes its deity as the god of the opening up of Bingo, and of good fortune, protection from misfortune, safe travel and long life — affectionately called Ikkyū-san.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 吉備津神社本殿
-
Important Cultural Property
桁行七間、梁間四間、一重、入母屋造、正面千鳥破風付、向拝三間、軒唐破風付、檜皮葺
designated 1965-05-29 · early Edo period - 木造狛犬
- Important Cultural Property
- 毛抜形太刀〈銘備州尾道五阿弥長行天文廿四年六月吉日／吉備津宮奉寄進御太刀（二字不明）次郎左エ門尉忠吉／拵付〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 毛抜形太刀〈銘備州尾道五阿弥長行天文廿四年六月吉日／吉備津宮奉寄進御太刀（以下不明）／拵付〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 毛抜形太刀〈銘正光／拵付〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 毛抜形太刀〈銘正光／拵付〉
- Important Cultural Property
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
11月23日前後の日曜日を含む3～5日間 市立大祭
source
The shrine itself does not call this its 例祭. We placed its heaviest festival here; that is our judgement, not the shrine's wording.
Other festivals and rituals
- 節分祭（ほらふき神事）
- 2月3日
- 大祓祭（夏越祭）
- 6月30日
- 市立大祭
- 11月21日(金曜日)~24日(月曜日)
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Susanoo Jinja, about 2.1 km to the south-east in a straight line, in the same province. After that come Oyamazumi Jinja (43 km south-west) and Kibitsu Jinja (55 km 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
Claimed by the shrine
The shrine itself uses the title, but does not name the historical document it rests on.
Listed on the map published by the Ichinomiya Pilgrimage Association.
The shrine’s own website says it was founded in Daidō 1 (806), at the beginning of the Heian period, when “a branch spirit of the deity was received from Kibitsu Jinja in Bitchū”, and that “as the ichinomiya of Bingo Province it drew reverence from across the province”. There is no mention of the Engishiki or of a shrine rank.
- https://bingokibitujinja.com/concept/ (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 Bingo Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Bingo Province (San'yōdō)
- Prefecture
- Hiroshima
- Engishiki (927)
- Shōsha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kanpei Chūsha
Sources
- https://bingokibitujinja.com/concept/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://bingokibitujinja.com/access/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://bingokibitujinja.com/news/%E4%BB%A4%E5%92%8C8%E5%B9%B4%E5%88%9D%E8%A9%A3%E3%81%AB%E3%81%A4%E3%81%84%E3%81%A6/ (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://bingokibitujinja.com/ (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://www.fukuyama-kanko.com/travel/tourist/detail.php?id=44 (checked 2026-10-15)
- https://bingokibitujinja.com/prayer/ (checked 2026-10-29)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.