Awa Shrine

Awa Shrine is situated at the northern foot of Adzuchi Mountain in Tateyama, Chiba Prefecture, commanding views of Tateyama Bay at the southern extremity of the Bōsō Peninsula. Listed in the *Engishiki* (Procedures of the Engi Era, 927 CE) *Jinmyocho* (Register of Shrines) as "Awa-Niimaす-Shrine, great-name deity," it stands as the principal shrine of ancient Awa Province and the tutelary deity of the southern Bōsō region. The shrine enshrines deities central to the founding traditions of the Inbe clan, ritual specialists of the ancient Japanese court.

The principal enshrined kami (shusaijin) of the Upper Shrine is Ame-no-Futodama-no-Mikoto, attended by Ame-no-Hiritome-no-Mikoto. The Lower Shrine enshrines Ame-no-Tomi-no-Mikoto. According to the *Kojiki* (Records of Ancient Matters, 712 CE), Ame-no-Futodama-no-Mikoto served as the ancestral deity of the Inbe and presided over ritual bone-reading, bearing the sacred *gohei* (ritual wands) at the mythological dawn. The *Kogoshui* (compiled by Inbe-no-Hironari, 807 CE) records that Ame-no-Tomi-no-Mikoto led a branch of the Awa Inbe to the Bōsō Peninsula, establishing agricultural cultivation and a shrine.

The shrine precincts contain the Awa Shrine Cave site, with deposits spanning the late Jōmon through Yayoi periods, yielding evidence of maritime trade and ritual practice. This archaeological record confirms the site as one of the ancient Pacific coast ritual domains.

Official recognition came gradually: the shrine received the rank of great-name deity in the *Engishiki*, advanced to Junior First Court Rank in the Heian period, was designated National Shrine, Middle Rank in 1871, and elevated to Official Great Shrine status in 1925. The present structures were rebuilt in 1977.

The annual great festival (*taisai*) on August 10 serves as the focal point of southern Bōsō maritime rites, held jointly with nearby Susaki Shrine and local shrines of the Tateyama area. The shrine also maintains the Praying-for-the-Year festival in February and the *Midoake Matsuri* (Door-Opening Festival), a ceremony preserving Inbe clan ritual practice.