Mino Province Ichinomiya
Nangu Taisha
南宮大社
Nangu Taisha is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Mino Province, in present-day Gifu. It has a car park (free). Opening hours end at 16:00 (shrine office). Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 2 routes from a station (on foot, by bus), one of them a walk of 20 min; the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on May 4–5 every year. We found 7 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Omiwa Jinja (Owari), 26 km to the east in a straight line.
Getting there
岐阜県不破郡垂井町宮代 1734-1
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:
年末年始は交通規制がある（令和8年初詣は12月31日午後11時〜1月3日）。規制中は右折禁止・左折禁止・進入禁止の区間が設けられ、メイン駐車場も時間帯によって利用できない。公式PDFは「降雪・凍結のおそれがあります。必ず冬対策をした上でお出かけください」と注意している。最新の規制図は公式サイトのPDFで確認が必要。
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 垂井駅東海道本線
- On foot, 20 min.
- From 大垣駅東海道本線
- By bus.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
東海道本線「垂井駅」から徒歩20分 東海道本線大垣駅前よりバスをご利用いただければ、直接南宮大社までお越しいただけます。名阪近鉄バス「大垣宮代線」に乗車 「南宮大社前」にて下車 ※正月三が日のみの運行となります。
Taken from the shrine's own website (交通案内 | 岐阜の参拝は鉄の神様・南宮大社へ, 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 (free).
The fee in the source’s own words: 「駐車場は無料です。」 (source, checked 2026-10-15).
通常時の駐車場は境内手前の南宮大社敷地内で、公式のよくある質問に「駐車場は無料です」。通常時の台数は公式に書かれていない。正月（初詣）期間は臨時駐車場が多数設けられ、公式PDFではメイン駐車場300台のほか第1駐車場250台、第2駐車場100台、第3駐車場100台などが案内される。ただしメイン駐車場は1月1日・2日の午前8時30分〜午後5時、1月3日は午後1時以降、一般の駐車に使えない時間帯がある。
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 16:00 (shrine office).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
9:00-16:00
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 2 ichinomiya in Gifu in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- According to the shrine's tradition, Kanayamahiko no Okami aided Yatagarasu during Emperor Jimmu's eastern expedition and was then enshrined at Fuchu in Fuwa district.
- Moved
- Later, in the reign of Emperor Sujin, the shrine settled at its present site.
- Buildings
- Burned in the fighting of the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, the buildings were rebuilt in 1642 by the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu at the request of Kasuga no Tsubone.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (南宮大社 由緒, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Kanayamahiko-no-Okami 金山彦大神 2 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Hikohohodemi-no-Mikoto 彦火火出見尊 shares the hall 6 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Mino-no-Mikoto 見野命 shares the hall
The shrine's website says Kanayamahiko-no-Ōkami was born when Izanami gave birth to the fire god, and that because his form at birth looked like molten iron he came to be revered as a god of iron and mines. It calls the shrine the head shrine of mining and metalworking in Japan.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 太刀〈銘三条／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 太刀〈銘康光／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 鉾〈無銘／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 南宮大社斎館北棟
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 南宮大社斎館南棟
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 南宮大社斎館回廊
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 南宮大社斎館御炊屋
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
毎年５月４日・５日 例大祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 蛇山神事
- 5月5日の午前一時
- 御田植祭
- 毎年例大祭前日の5月
- 金山大祭
- 11月8日
- 高山社祭
- 四月
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Omiwa Jinja (Owari), about 26 km to the east in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Owari Province. After that come Masumida Jinja (26 km east) and Tsubaki Okamiyashiro (44 km south).
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 Mino Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Mino Province (Tōsandō)
- Prefecture
- Gifu
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kokuhei Taisha
Sources
- https://www.nangu-san.com/access.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.nangu-san.com/faq.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.nangu-san.com/module/pdf/newyear_trafficregulation_2026.pdf (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://www.nangu-san.com/about/history.html (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://www.nangu-san.com/ (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.