Oki Province Ichinomiya
Mizuwakasu Jinja
水若酢神社
Mizuwakasu Jinja is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Oki Province, in present-day Shimane. It has a car park; the sources we checked give neither its size nor a fee. Without a car, a local tourism body gives 1 route from a station (by bus); the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on May 3 every year. We found 1 entry for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Yurahime Jinja, 31 km to the south-west in a straight line.
Getting there
島根県隠岐郡隠岐の島町郡723
This shrine is on an island
It is on Oki — Dōgo and can only be reached by boat or plane. Ports, operators and crossing times →
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
- From OpenStreetMap, as 水若酢神社. Not checked on the ground
- Address
How to rent and drive a car in Japan →
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By train and bus
- From 西郷港
- By bus.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
西郷港からバス40分、水若酢神社前下車
Taken from a local tourism body (しまね観光ナビ「水若酢神社」, 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; the sources we checked give neither its size nor a fee.
History in brief
- Buildings
- The main hall, in the local Oki style, had its framework raised in 1795 (Kansei 7).
Summarised from a local tourism body (水若酢神社｜しまね観光ナビ, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- 水若酢命 水若酢命
Spelling as given by the prefectural shrine office or local authority.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 水若酢神社本殿
-
Important Cultural Property
桁行二間、梁間三間、一重、切妻造、妻入、茅葺、向拝三間、片流れ、杉皮葺
designated 1992-01-21 · late Edo period
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
5／3 例祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 水若酢神社祭礼風流（山曳神事）
- 隔年（西暦年の偶数年）5月3日
- 水若酢神社祭礼風流
- 例年5月3日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Yurahime Jinja, about 31 km to the south-west in a straight line, in the same province. After that come Kumano Taisha (102 km south) and Shizuri Jinja (106 km south-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.
Shimane Kankō Navi (the official tourism site of Shimane Prefecture) calls it “the ichinomiya of Oki” and says that the Engishiki has the entry “Mizuwakasu Jinja, myōjin tai”. It stands on Dōgo.
- https://www.kankou-shimane.com/destination/20821 (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 Oki Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Oki Province (San'indō)
- Prefecture
- Shimane
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kokuhei Chūsha
Sources
- https://www.kankou-shimane.com/destination/20821 (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.oki-kisen.co.jp/kuuseki/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.shimane-jinjacho.or.jp/okinoshima/2e5efc781798835bbc1664d1fc16d5a36bc285c2.html (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.