Kazusa Province Ichinomiya
Tamasaki Jinja
玉前神社
Tamasaki Jinja is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Kazusa Province, in present-day Chiba. It has a car park (about 50 spaces), free. Opening hours end at 15:30 (prayer-rite desk). Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 1 route from a station (on foot), one of them a walk of 8 min; the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on September 13 every year. We found 1 entry for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Katori Jingu, 59 km to the north in a straight line.
Getting there
千葉県長生郡一宮町一宮3048
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
How to rent and drive a car in Japan →
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By train and bus
- From 上総一之宮駅ＪＲ外房線
- On foot, 8 min.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
ＪＲ外房線上総一之宮駅下車徒歩８分
Taken from the shrine's own website (上総国一之宮 玉前神社∥玉前神社の道案内∥, 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 50 spaces), free.
This routes you to the car park, not to the hall. The location is taken from OpenStreetMap and has not been checked on the ground.
乗用車50台。大型バスは要問合せで駐車可
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 15:30 (prayer-rite desk).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
祈祷受付 9:00-15:30（授与所の時間は確認できず）
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 4 ichinomiya in Chiba in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- History
- A major war fire in the Eiroku era destroyed most of the shrine's buildings, treasures and documents.
- Buildings
- The shrine building was erected in 1687.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (上総國一之宮 玉前神社 由緒・由来, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Tamayorihime-no-Mikoto 玉依姫命 4 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
The shrine's website describes Tamayorihime-no-Mikoto as a goddess who quietly protects and raises children like a wet nurse, and lists marriage, conception, childbirth and child-rearing among the prayers made here.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 梅樹双雀鏡
- Important Cultural Property
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
9月13日 例祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 上総十二社祭り －上総裸祭り－
- 9月8日～13日
- 神幸祭
- 9月13日
- 鵜羽神社お迎え祭
- 9月10日
- 宵宮祭
- 9月12日
- 玉前神社春季大祭
- 2026年4月13日(月)10:00~
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Katori Jingu, about 59 km to the north in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Shimosa Province. After that come Awa Jinja (69 km south-west) and Kashima Jingu (70 km north).
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 Kazusa Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Kazusa Province (Tōkaidō)
- Prefecture
- Chiba
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kokuhei Chūsha
Sources
- https://maruchiba.jp/spot/detail_10313.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.tamasaki.org/kitou/index.htm (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://tamasaki.org/yuisho/saisin.htm (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.