Wakasa Province Ichinomiya
Wakasahime Jinja (Lower Shrine)
若狭姫神社（下社）
Wakasahime Jinja (Lower Shrine) is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Wakasa Province, in present-day Fukui. It has no car park of its own. Opening hours end at 15:00 (shrine office). Without a car, a local tourism body gives 1 route from a station (on foot), one of them a walk of 10 min; the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on March 10 every year. The nearest other ichinomiya is Kehi Jingu, 33 km to the north-east in a straight line.
Getting there
福井県小浜市遠敷 65-41
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 →
By train and bus
- From 東小浜駅JR
- On foot, 10 min.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
JR東小浜駅から徒歩10分
Taken from a local tourism body (若狭姫神社（下社）｜ふくいドットコム, 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 no car park of its own.
福井県の公式観光サイト「ふくいドットコム」は若狭姫神社（下社）の駐車場を「なし」と記載しています。神社の公式サイトにも駐車場の案内はありません。なお同じ公式サイトによると、上社の若狭彦神社には「あり／5台／無料」の駐車場があります（別の社であり、下社の代替駐車場として案内されているものではありません）。下社の代替駐車場についての公式な案内は確認できませんでした。
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 15:00 (shrine office).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
10:00-15:00
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 3 ichinomiya in Fukui in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- According to the shrine's tradition, it was enshrined at Onyu on the 10th day of the 2nd month of Yoro 5, six years after Wakasahiko Shrine.
- Name
- Long called Wakasahime Jinja or Onyu Jinja (Onyu Myojin), it has officially been Wakasahiko Jinja Shimosha since 1871.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (若狭彦神社 下社（若狭姫神社）について | 若狭國一宮 若狭彦神社 公式サイト, 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 shrine's own website.
Goshuin (shrine seal)
- Available
- Yes
- Hours
- 10:00-15:00
- Offering
- ¥300
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
3月10日 若狭姫神社 例祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 皐月休み『田の神祭り』子供神輿奉納
- 5月
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Kehi Jingu, about 33 km to the north-east in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Echizen Province. After that come Kamowakeikazuchi Jinja (47 km south) and Kamomioya Jinja (49 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 Wakasa Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Wakasa Province (Hokurikudō)
- Prefecture
- Fukui
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kokuhei Chūsha
Sources
- https://wakasahiko-jinja.jp/gokito/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.fuku-e.com/spot/detail_1569.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.fuku-e.com/spot/detail_1570.html (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://wakasahiko-jinja.jp/about-wakasahimejinja/ (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://www1.city.obama.fukui.jp/kanko-bunka/jisha-shiseki/79.html (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.