Settsu Province Ichinomiya
Sumiyoshi Taisha
住吉大社
Sumiyoshi Taisha is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Settsu Province, in present-day Osaka. It has a car park (about 200 spaces), paid. Opening hours end at 17:00 (charm counter). Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 2 routes from a station (on foot), one of them a walk of 3 min; the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on July 31 every year. We found 23 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties, 1 of them National Treasure. The nearest other ichinomiya is Ikasuri Jinja, 7.6 km to the north in a straight line.
Getting there
大阪府大阪市住吉区住吉 2-9-89
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
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By train and bus
- From 住吉大社駅南海本線
- On foot, 3 min.
- From 住吉鳥居前駅阪堺線
- On foot.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
南海本線「住吉大社駅」から東へ徒歩3分／南海高野線「住吉東駅」から西へ徒歩5分／阪堺線 「住吉鳥居前駅」から徒歩すぐ ※路面電車になります。
Taken from the shrine's own website (アクセス（住吉大社公式）, 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 200 spaces), paid.
バス5台。普通車30分200円。ご祈祷を受ける場合は2時間無料。12月31日〜1月3日は閉鎖
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:
9:00-17:00（御守授与所）／祈祷受付 9:00-15:50
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 5 ichinomiya in Osaka in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- The shrine's origin is said to derive from Empress Jingū's prayers for safety on her overseas voyage.
- Buildings
- The four present main sanctuaries were built in 1808 (Bunka 5).
- History
- The vermilion arched bridge (Sorihashi), a symbol of the shrine, was built in 1606 (Keichō 11).
Summarised from the local authority (住吉区の都市景観資源紹介（大阪市）, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Sokotsutsuno-no-Kami 底筒男命 2 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Nakatsutsuno-no-Kami 中筒男命 3 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Uwatsutsuno-no-Kami 表筒男命 2 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
- Jingu-Kogo 息長足姫命（神功皇后） 10 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
The shrine's website says the three Tsutsunoo deities appeared from the sea when Izanagi purified himself, and that Empress Jingū, who first enshrined them here, is the fourth deity. They are known as guardians of seafaring, and in court times also as gods of poetry and letters.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 住吉大社本殿
-
National Treasure
住吉造、檜皮葺
designated 1953-11-14 · late Edo period - 住吉大社
-
Important Cultural Property
四脚門、切妻造、本瓦葺
designated 1974-05-21 · Momoyama period - 住吉大社摂社大海神社本殿
-
Important Cultural Property
住吉造、檜皮葺
designated 1964-05-26 · mid-Edo period - 住吉神代記
- Important Cultural Property
- 刀〈銘小野繁慶／奉納接州住吉大明神御宝前〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 太刀〈銘守家／〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 木造舞楽面
- Important Cultural Property
- 住吉の御田植
- Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property (folk performing arts)
- 住吉の御田植神事の芸能
- Intangible Folk Cultural Property selected for recording (folk performing arts)
- 住吉大社五月殿
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社北大鳥居
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社北瑞籬門
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社北絵馬殿
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社北脇参道角鳥居
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社幸寿門
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社幸福門
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社摂社大海神社北小門
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社摂社大海神社南小門
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社斎館
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社神館
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社神館西門
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社神馬舎
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 住吉大社角鳥居
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
7月31日 例大祭（住吉祭の一部）
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 住吉祭神輿渡御
- 7月30日～8月1日
- 卯之葉神事
- 5月初卯日
- 御田植神事
- 6月14日
- 松苗神事
- 4月3日
- 観月祭
- 中秋日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Ikasuri Jinja, about 7.6 km to the north in a straight line, in the same province. After that come Otori Jinja (8.9 km south) and Hiraoka Jinja (16 km north-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
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 says that “under the Engi regulations it was ranked as a myojin taisha, one of the Twenty-Two Shrines, the ichinomiya of Settsu Province, and a kanpei taisha.” No historical source for the title is given.
- https://www.sumiyoshitaisha.net/about/origin.html (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 Settsu Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Settsu Province (Kinai)
- Prefecture
- Osaka
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kanpei Taisha
Sources
- https://www.sumiyoshitaisha.net/about/origin.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.sumiyoshitaisha.net/access/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.sumiyoshitaisha.net/faq/ (checked 2026-09-09)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.