Jinja Navi 神社ナビ

Bizen Province Ichinomiya

Kibitsuhiko Jinja

吉備津彦神社

Kibitsuhiko Jinja is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Bizen Province, in present-day Okayama. It has a car park (about 100 spaces), free. Opening hours end at 17:00 (charm counter). Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 1 route from a station (on foot), one of them a walk of 3 min; the station names are listed below. We found 2 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Kibitsu Jinja, 0.9 km to the south-west in a straight line.

Getting there

岡山県岡山市北区一宮 1043

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.

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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 備前一宮駅JR桃太郎線
On foot, 3 min.

The source, word for word (bus stop names included):

JR岡山駅からJR桃太郎線 備前一宮駅下車 徒歩3分（正面鳥居まで）

Taken from the shrine's own website (吉備津彦神社 公式サイト 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 100 spaces), free.

The fee in the source’s own words: 「有り（100台）無料」 (source, checked 2026-10-15).

普通車100台（6:00-18:00）・大型車可、無料（おかやま観光コンベンション協会）。正月は臨時駐車場を含め300台。岡山県神社庁は200台としている

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).

The full note from the source, in Japanese:

授与所 8:30-17:00（お札・お守り・御朱印）／祈祷受付 9:00-16:00／開門 6:00-18:00

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 the shrine's tradition, after Okibitsuhiko died in the 60th year of Emperor Sujin, a shrine was built on the site of his residence.
Buildings
Emperor Ichijo built the shrine halls, and later emperors, including Shirakawa, ordered repairs.
Buildings
Ikeda Mitsumasa began building the shrine halls, and they were completed under his son Tsunamasa.
Buildings
A fire on December 14, Showa 5, destroyed all but the main hall and gate; the buildings were rebuilt in Showa 11.

Summarised from the prefectural shrine association (岡山県神社庁 吉備津彦神社, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.

Enshrined deities

  • Okibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto 大吉備津日子命 3 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
  • Kibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto 吉備津彦命 shares the hall
  • Korei-Tenno 孝霊天皇 shares the hall
  • Kogen-Tenno 孝元天皇 shares the hall
  • Kaika-Tenno 開化天皇 shares the hall
  • Sujin-Tenno 崇神天皇 shares the hall
  • Hikosashikatawake-no-Mikoto 彦刺肩別命 shares the hall
  • Amataruhikokunioshihito-no-Mikoto 天足彦國押人命 shares the hall
  • Oyamatototohimomosohime-no-Mikoto 大倭迹々日百襲比賣命 shares the hall
  • Oyamatototohiwakayahime-no-Mikoto 大倭迹々日稚屋比賣命 shares the hall
  • Kanayamahiko-no-Okami 金山彦大神 shares the hall 2 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
  • Oyamakui-no-Okami 大山咋大神 shares the hall

The shrine's website gives the principal deity as Ōkibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto (also Hiko-Isaserihiko-no-Mikoto), with eleven deities in the same hall.

Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.

Nationally designated cultural properties

太刀〈銘（菊紋）井上真改／延宝五年八月日〉
Important Cultural Property
吉備津彦神社の御田植祭
Intangible Folk Cultural Property selected for recording (folk performing arts)

Source: the national register. All of them together →

Festivals

Principal annual festival
第三土曜日の翌日曜日（宵宮は第三土曜日）　秋季例祭
source

Other festivals and rituals

御田植祭
８月２日・３日
流鏑馬
10月第3日曜日11:00
子安神社大祭
5月5日
磐座祭
第二日曜日
夏至の日 日の出祭
夏至の日

Ichinomiya festivals in October →

Nearest ichinomiya

The closest is Kibitsu Jinja, about 0.9 km to the south-west in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Bicchu Province. After that come Isonokamifutsumitama Jinja (22 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

Documented by a public source

A public body — the city, the prefecture, or the prefectural shrine office — describes this shrine as the ichinomiya of its province.

Listed on the map published by the Ichinomiya Pilgrimage Association.

The Okayama Prefecture Shrine Agency calls it “the ichinomiya of Honshu, the ichinomiya of the land of Kibi”, and the city of Okayama’s official tourism site says that “as the ippon ichinomiya directly under the imperial court, and as Kibi Daimyōjin, it was deeply revered by all from military commanders to common people”. The account of its origins on the shrine’s own website says nothing about documentary grounds for the title of ichinomiya.

More on how the shrines of this province relate to one another is on the Bizen Province page.

Historical rank

Province
Bizen Province (San'yōdō)
Prefecture
Okayama
Engishiki (927)
Myōjin Taisha
Former state rank (1871–1946)
Kokuhei Shōsha

Sources

Official website (Japanese)

How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.

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