Kibitsu Shrine

Kibitsu Shrine, located in Kita Ward, Okayama City, is the ichinomiya of the former Bitchu Province, with its honden and haiden designated National Treasures. The principal deity is Okibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto, who is recorded in the Kojiki chapter on Korei Tenno as a son of the seventh sovereign dispatched to the Sanyo region as one of the Shido Shogun under Sujin Tenno. According to the Bitchu no Kuni Fudoki fragment and the Kibitsu-no-miya Engi, he subdued the demon Ura at Kinojo and pacified the Kibi region. The honden and haiden of distinctive Kibitsu-zukuri style were rebuilt in 1425 by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and were designated National Treasures in 1952. The 360-meter corridor, an Important Cultural Property, dates from around 1573. The Narukama Shinji, performed in the Okamaden, is a rite continuing the Ura legend and is the source of the tale Kibitsu no Kama in Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari.