Echigo Province Ichinomiya
Yahiko Jinja
彌彦神社
Yahiko Jinja is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Echigo Province, in present-day Niigata. It has a car park (about 395 spaces), free (some car parks charge during the chrysanthemum festival). Opening hours end at 16:00 (charm counter). Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 2 routes from a station (on foot, by taxi), one of them a walk of 15 min; the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on February 2 every year. We found 22 entries for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Watatsu Jinja, 46 km to the west in a straight line.
Here it is two bows, four claps, one bow
At most shrines you bow twice, clap twice and bow once. At this one the number of claps is different. In Japanese: 二礼四拍手一礼.
The shrine states plainly that while shrines generally use two claps, here it is four.
Getting there
新潟県西蒲原郡弥彦村弥彦2887-2
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 弥彦駅弥彦線
- On foot, 15 min.
- From 燕三条駅上越新幹線
- By taxi, about 30 min.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
燕三条駅で弥彦線に乗り換え、終点弥彦駅着／弥彦駅より神社まで約1km 徒歩15分程／燕三条駅よりタクシー利用は約13km 約30分
Taken from the shrine's own website (彌彦神社 公式サイト（交通アクセス）, 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 395 spaces), free (some car parks charge during the chrysanthemum festival).
The fee in the source’s own words: 「神社周辺には無料大駐車場があります。」 (source, checked 2026-10-15).
複数。神社脇駐車場（大型バス20台・普通車50台）／村営第一駐車場（普通車345台ほか）。無料（公式）。ただし菊まつりの期間中は一部有料の駐車場がある。参拝者用で、登山目的の駐車は不可（公式）
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 16:00 (charm counter).
The full note from the source, in Japanese:
8:30-16:00（授与所）
Closing times of every ichinomiya, earliest first →
Visiting the 3 ichinomiya in Niigata in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Name
- It was anciently written Iyahiko Jinja, with several other spellings.
- History
- The Uesugi family, rulers of Echigo, donated over 3,200 koku of land and repaired the halls and revived rites.
- Buildings
- On March 11, 1912, a fire in the town in front of the shrine destroyed the main hall and other buildings.
Summarised from the shrine's own website (御由緒｜歴史・由緒｜越後一宮 彌彦神社, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Iyahiko-no-Okami 伊夜日子大神
The shrine's website gives the deity as Iyahiko-no-Ōkami, by name Ame-no-Kagoyama-no-Mikoto (also Takakuraji), a great-grandson of Amaterasu, revered as the founding god of Echigo who gives people's spirits fresh vitality.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Goshuin (shrine seal)
- Available
- Yes
- Hours
- 8:30-16:00
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 大太刀〈銘南無正八幡大菩薩右恵門烝家盛／南無唵麾利支天源定重応永廿二年十二月日〉
- Important Cultural Property
- 鉄仏餉鉢
- Important Cultural Property
- 彌彦神社一之鳥居
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社二之鳥居
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社伺候所
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社制札台
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社参集殿（旧拝観所）
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社幣殿
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社手水舎
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社拝殿
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社摂社草薙神社
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社斎館（旧勅使館）
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社本殿
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社楽舎
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社狛犬
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社石廊下
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社石橋
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社祝詞舎
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社神木石柵
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社神饌所
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社絵馬殿
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
- 彌彦神社鼓楼
- Registered Tangible Cultural Property (religious building)
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
2月2日 例祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 弓始神事
- 1月7日
- 湯かけまつり
- 4月第2日曜日
- 春季大祭並びに産業振興大祭
- 5月14日
- 燈籠神事
- 7月25日
- 相撲節会
- 8月27日
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Watatsu Jinja, about 46 km to the west in a straight line, the ichinomiya of Sado Province. After that come Kota Jinja (80 km south-west) and Isasumi Jinja (94 km 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 “in volume 10 of the Engishiki, presented to the throne in 905 (Engi 5), it is recorded as the only myōjin taisha in Echigo Province, and it also received deep reverence from the imperial court as the ichinomiya of Echigo”. The source for the myōjin taisha rank is stated to be the Engishiki, but no source is given for the title of ichinomiya itself.
- https://www.yahiko-jinjya.or.jp/history/yuisyo/index.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 Echigo Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Echigo Province (Hokurikudō)
- Prefecture
- Niigata
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kokuhei Chūsha
Sources
- https://www.yahiko-jinjya.or.jp/history/yuisyo/index.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.yahiko-jinjya.or.jp/visit/gift/index.html (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.e-yahiko.com/spot/yahikojinnja/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.yahiko-jinjya.or.jp/history/gosaijin/index.html (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://www.yahiko-jinjya.or.jp/visit/gosanpai/index.html (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://www.yahiko-jinjya.or.jp/access/index.html (checked 2026-10-15)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.