Bungo Province Ichinomiya
Sasamuta Jinja
西寒多神社
Sasamuta Jinja is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Bungo Province, in present-day Oita. It has a car park (about 80 spaces); the sources we checked do not give a fee. Opening hours end at 16:30 (shrine office). Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 1 route from a station (by bus); the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on April 15 every year. The nearest other ichinomiya is Yusuhara Hachimangu, 8.9 km to the north-west in a straight line.
Getting there
大分県大分市大字寒田 1644
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:
公式サイトの注意書き：「ナビに電話番号を入力し、位置情報を取得した場合正確な位置を示さない場合があります。住所を入力して位置情報を取得しますと正確な情報でご来社いただけます。」
For a car navigation system
- Phone
- This shrine’s own site warns that searching by phone number does not give the right location here. Use the address below instead.
- 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 大分駅
- By bus.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
大分駅前3、4、5番のりばから、寒田（そうだ）・ふじが丘行き、または、光吉・ふじが丘行きで約30分。『ふじが丘南』バス停下車、徒歩約15分
Taken from the shrine's own website (西寒多神社 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 80 spaces); the sources we checked do not give a fee.
公式サイトの「概要」に「駐車場 80台」とあります。料金の記載はありません。位置の説明は公式にないため、現地の案内に従ってください。なお神社の北側には「神職専用駐車場」があり、参拝者は利用できません。
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 (shrine office).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
9:00-16:30
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 3 ichinomiya in Oita in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- According to the shrine's tradition, Empress Jingū planted a white banner on Mt. Sasamuta (today's Mt. Hongū) on her way back from the Korean peninsula.
- Founding
- The shrine says that in the ninth year of Emperor Ōjin, Takenouchi no Sukune came to Bungo Province by imperial order to build the shrine.
- History
- The shrine says that in the mid-7th century Fujiwara no Kamatari, guided by a dream, came to worship here.
- Moved
- In the third month of Ōei 15 (1408), the tenth head of the Ōtomo clan moved the shrine buildings to the present site at the foot of the mountain.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (由緒・歴史｜西寒多神社, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Amaterasu-Okami 天照大御神 10 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- 月読尊 月読尊
The shrine's website says it honours Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and Tsukuyomi, god of the calendar, and is said to be home to a dragon god; prayers for rain and for fine weather have been made here since ancient times.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
4月15日 例祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- ふじまつり
- 5月3日-5日
- 本宮春祭
- 3月20日
- 本宮秋祭
- 10月20日
- 夏越祭
- 7月最終日曜
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Yusuhara Hachimangu, about 8.9 km to the north-west in a straight line, in the same province. After that come Usa Jingu (45 km north-west) and Aso Jinja (51 km south-west).
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 carries the words “Bungo Ichinomiya Sasamuta Jinja” and cites a court rank granted to its deity in Jōgan 10 (869), its standing as a major Engishiki shrine in the Engishiki Jinmyōchō of Engi 5 (905), and its designation as a mid-ranking national shrine (kokuhei chūsha) in 1871. No mention of the ichinomiya could be confirmed on the official pages of the city of Ōita or of Ōita Prefecture, however.
- https://sasamuta.com/history (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 Bungo Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Bungo Province (Saikaidō)
- Prefecture
- Oita
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kokuhei Chūsha
Sources
- https://sasamuta.com/history (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.oishiimati-oita.jp/spot/3148 (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://sasamuta.com/about (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://sasamuta.com/access (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://sasamuta.com/suzu (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.