Bicchu Province Ichinomiya
Kibitsu Jinja
吉備津神社
Kibitsu Jinja is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Bicchu Province, in present-day Okayama. It has a car park (about 400 spaces), paid. Opening hours end at 14:45 (prayer-rite applications). Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 1 route from a station (on foot), one of them a walk of about 10 min; the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on October 19 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 Kibitsuhiko Jinja, 0.9 km to the north-east in a straight line.
Getting there
岡山県岡山市北区吉備津 931
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 吉備津駅
- On foot, about 10 min.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
JR岡山駅 ～ 吉備津駅（約17分）～徒歩約10分 JR倉敷駅 ～ 吉備津駅（約40分）～徒歩約10分
Taken from the shrine's own website (吉備津神社 公式サイト 交通案内, 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 400 spaces), paid.
This routes you to the car park, not to the hall. From this car park to the hall is about 350 m in a straight line (the walk is longer).
令和7年5月2日から駐車場の運営が委託され、「タイムズ吉備津神社駐車場」として有料になりました。第1・第2駐車場は普通車が最初の20分無料、以降60分ごと300円。バスは1回1,000円、自動車清祓所は60分ごと600円です。年末年始（12月31日〜1月5日）は1日1回500円。バス駐車場は第一駐車場に変更され、従来のバス駐車場は二輪車用になりました。支払いはクレジットカード・電子マネー・紙幣・硬貨に対応。台数は岡山県の公式観光サイトが「普通車400台、大型車4台」、岡山市の公式観光サイトが「有り（270台 バス4台）」と記載しています。
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 14:45 (prayer-rite applications).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
開門 5:00・閉門 18:00／祈祷申込 8:50-14:45／鳴釜神事受付 9:00-13:45
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 5 ichinomiya in Okayama in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- According to tradition, the shrine was established in the reign of Emperor Nintoku.
- Buildings
- The main hall, in the hiyoku-irimoya style, marked 600 years since its rebuilding in 2025.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (吉備津神社 日本遺産の中の吉備津神社, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Okibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto 大吉備津彦大神 3 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 吉備津神社本殿及び拝殿
-
National Treasure
本殿 桁行正面五間、背面七間、梁間八間、一重、比翼入母屋造、檜皮葺 拜殿 桁行三間、梁間一間、一重、正面切妻造、背面本殿屋根に接続、檜皮葺、三方もこし付、もこし本瓦葺
designated 1952-03-29 · mid-Muromachi period - 吉備津神社北随神門
-
Important Cultural Property
三間一戸八脚門、入母屋造、檜皮葺
designated 1913-04-14 · late Muromachi period - 吉備津神社南随神門
-
Important Cultural Property
三間一戸八脚門、入母屋造、本瓦葺
designated 1911-04-17 · early Muromachi period - 吉備津神社御釜殿
-
Important Cultural Property
桁行七間、梁間三間、一重、入母屋造、本瓦葺
designated 1980-01-26 · Momoyama period - 木造獅子狛犬
- Important Cultural Property
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
19日 例祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 秋季大祭（七十五膳据神事）
- 第二日曜日
- 春季大祭（七十五膳据神事）
- 第二日曜日
- 矢立の神事
- 1月3日
- 夏越祭
- 7月31日
- 卯の日祭
- 第二卯の日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Kibitsuhiko Jinja, about 0.9 km to the north-east in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Bizen Province. After that come Isonokamifutsumitama Jinja (23 km north-east) and Ani Jinja (23 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
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 Bicchu Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Bicchu Province (San'yōdō)
- Prefecture
- Okayama
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kanpei Chūsha
Sources
- https://www.okayama-kanko.jp/spot/detail_10047.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://kibitujinja.com/news/1169.html (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://okayama-kanko.net/sightseeing/spot/102/ (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://kibitujinja.com/ (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://www.okayama-jinjacho.or.jp/search/18477/ (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.