Kibitsuhiko Shrine

Kibitsuhiko Shrine, located in Ichinomiya, Kita Ward, Okayama City, is the ichinomiya of the former Bizen Province and a Bekkaku Hyo shrine of the Jinja Honcho. It also bears the appellation Asahi-no-miya. The shrine stands at the eastern foot of Mt. Kibi-no-Nakayama (175 m), with the Nakayama Chausuyama Kofun, attributed by the Imperial Household Agency to Okibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto, located near the summit. To the west of the mountain lies Kibitsu Shrine, the Bitchu ichinomiya; both shrines venerate Mt. Kibi-no-Nakayama as a sacred kannabi. The principal deity Okibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto appears in the Nihon Shoki entry for the tenth year of Sujin Tenno as Hikoisaseribiko-no-Mikoto, one of the Shido Shogun dispatched to the Sanyo road, and in the Kojiki chapter on Korei Tenno as Okibitsuhiko-no-Mikoto. After the division of the three Kibi provinces in 713, this shrine was recognized as the Bizen ichinomiya. Major festivals include the Mitoshiro Shinji on August 2-3 and the annual rite on October 18.