Hizen Province Ichinomiya
Yodohime Jinja
與止日女神社
Yodohime Jinja is the ichinomiya — the leading shrine — of the former Hizen Province, in present-day Saga. It has a car park (about 30 spaces); the sources we checked do not give a fee. Without a car, the shrine's own website gives 1 route from a station (by bus); the station names are listed below. Its principal annual festival (reisai) falls on April 18 every year. We found 1 entry for the shrine in Japan’s national database of designated cultural properties. The nearest other ichinomiya is Chiriku Hachimangu, 20 km to the east in a straight line.
Getting there
佐賀県佐賀市大和町大字川上1ｰ1
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 →
Car hire Ad
Search rental cars on Tabirai (English)
Opens the English site of Tabirai, a Japanese car rental booking service. We have not compared its prices or cars. This is an affiliate link (A8.net): if you book, the site earns a commission at no extra cost to you.
By train and bus
- From 佐賀駅バスセンター
- By bus.
The source, word for word (bus stop names included):
●佐賀駅バスセンターより、昭和バス 「古湯」「北山」方面行き、「川上橋」バス停下車すぐ
Taken from the shrine's own website (與止日女神社 公式サイト（トップ）, 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 30 spaces); the sources we checked do not give a fee.
駐車場30台（佐賀市観光協会公式ポータル「サガバイドットコム」）。料金・位置の記載は公式に見当たりません。
The note above is in Japanese; it usually records dates when the car park is closed, and the fee.
Visiting the 2 ichinomiya in Saga in one day? Work out an order that reaches each office before it closes →
History in brief
- Founding
- The shrine is said to have been founded in 564, in the 25th year of Emperor Kinmei.
- Buildings
- The present shrine buildings were rebuilt in 1816 by the Nabeshima family, who ruled the area.
- History
- According to local tradition, catfish once protected people from a serpent monster, so catfish are revered as the deity's messengers here and are not eaten.
Summarised from the prefectural shrine association (與止日女神社｜佐賀県神社庁, checked 2026-10-08). Traditions are given as the shrine tells them, not as established history.
Enshrined deities
- Yodohime-no-Mikoto 與止日女命
The shrine's website says its goddess is held to be a younger sister of Empress Jingū, and by another account the same as Toyotamahime, grandmother of Emperor Jinmu.
Our English summary of the Japanese description. Spelling as given by the shrine's own website.
Nationally designated cultural properties
- 河上神社文書（二百四十七通）
- Important Cultural Property
Source: the national register. All of them together →
Festivals
- Principal annual festival
-
4月18日 春季例大祭
source
Other festivals and rituals
- 秋季例大祭・新嘗祭
- 11月18日
- 川開き／ひゃあらんさんまつり
- 3月中旬
- 茅の輪くぐり神事
- 7月18日
- 川上参り
- 8月下旬～9月上旬
- 川閉じ式
- 9月上旬
Nearest ichinomiya
The closest is Chiriku Hachimangu, about 20 km to the east in a straight line, in the same province. After that come Kora Taisha (26 km east) and Sumiyoshi Jinja (Chikuzen) (32 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
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.
The Saga Prefectural Shrine Office says it was “founded in the 25th year of Emperor Kinmei (564)”, that it is “entered in the Engishiki Jinmyōchō”, and that “having close ties with the provincial government office (kokuga), it was called the ichinomiya of Hizen by around the Ōhō era in the reign of Emperor Nijō (about 1161)”. It is one of the few cases in this survey where even the period at which a shrine came to be called ichinomiya was given.
- https://saga-jinjacho.jp/與止日女神社/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.saga-otakara.jp/search/detail.html?cultureId=2102 (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 Hizen Province page.
Historical rank
- Province
- Hizen Province (Saikaidō)
- Prefecture
- Saga
- Engishiki (927)
- Myōjin Taisha
- Former state rank (1871–1946)
- Kensha
Sources
- https://saga-jinjacho.jp/與止日女神社/ (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.saga-otakara.jp/search/detail.html?cultureId=2102 (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.sagabai.com/main/?cont=kanko&fid=57 (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://www.asobo-saga.jp/spots/detail/ab0fdf6a-81ba-433a-b65c-9af76a058634 (checked 2026-09-09)
- https://yodohime-jinja.jimdofree.com/ (checked 2026-09-10)
- https://www.city.saga.lg.jp/main/4769.html (checked 2026-09-10)
How we handle spellings, festival selection, former ranks and map accuracy is set out once on the About page.