Tsushima Province Ichinomiya
Wadatsumi Jinja
海神神社
Wadatsumi Jinja is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Tsushima Province, in present-day Nagasaki. We could not confirm whether it has a car park. We found 3 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Izuhara Hachimangu, 29 km to the south in a straight line.
Getting there
長崎県対馬市峰町木坂 247
This shrine is on an island
It is on Tsushima 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.
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:
対馬市公式が島内の道路について注意を出している。「国道382号が対馬の幹線道路であり、国道382号以外の道路は、道幅がせまく、急カーブ・坂が多い状況です」。当社は国道382号から外れた西海岸側の峰町木坂にある
For a car navigation system
- Coordinates
- From OpenStreetMap, as 海神神社. Not checked on the ground
- Address
How to rent and drive a car in Japan →
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By train and bus
The primary sources we checked describe the way here only by car, not by public transport.
Parking
We could not confirm whether it has a car park.
History in brief
- Name
- Long ago, as the place where Empress Jingū's eight banners were laid, it was called Hachiman Hongū and also Tsushima Hongū.
- Name
- It was renamed Watatsumi Jinja in Meiji 4.
Summarised from a local tourism body (海神神社｜ながさき旅ネット, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Toyotamahime-no-Mikoto 豊玉姫命 4 ichinomiya enshrine this deity →
Spelling as given by the prefectural shrine office or local authority.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 銅造如来立像
- Important Cultural Property
- 命婦の舞
- Intangible Folk Cultural Property selected for recording (folk performing arts)
- 木坂・青海のヤクマ
- Intangible Folk Cultural Property selected for recording (manners and customs)
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
旧8月5日 例祭
This is an old-calendar date; the Gregorian day differs every year.
source
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Izuhara Hachimangu, about 29 km to the south in a straight line, in the same province. After that come Amenotanagao Jinja (87 km south-east) and Oki Jinja (88 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.
Nagasaki Prefecture’s official tourism site and the Tsushima Tourism and Products Association say that “in early times, as the place where the eight banners of Empress Jingū were enshrined, it was called Hachiman Hongū, and then Tsushima Hongū, and it was called the ichinomiya of Tsushima Province. In Meiji 4 (1871) it was renamed Wadatsumi Jinja and ranked as a kokuhei chūsha, a mid-ranking shrine in the state system”.
- https://www.nagasaki-tabinet.com/guide/1042 (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.tsushima-net.org/tourism-history/kaijin-shrine/ (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 Tsushima Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Tsushima Province (Saikaidō)
- Prefecture
- Nagasaki
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kokuhei Chūsha
Sources
- https://www.nagasaki-tabinet.com/guide/1042 (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.tsushima-net.org/tourism-history/kaijin-shrine/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.city.tsushima.nagasaki.jp/ijyu/koutsuu/tounai.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.nagasaki-jinjacho.or.jp/search-tsushima.html (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.