Sapporo Hachimangu

Sapporo Hachimangu, located in Toyohira Ward, Sapporo City, Hokkaido, is a Hachiman shrine of the relatively new shrine network established during and after the Hokkaido development era. It functions as the local tutelary for its residential parish, an example of modern Hachiman devotion in Hokkaido. The shrine stands amid the residential southeastern part of Sapporo near other principal shrines of the city such as Hokkaido Jingu in Chuo Ward and Tsukisamu Shrine. The precincts were established within the modern urban plan. The principal deity is Hondawake-no-Mikoto (Ojin Tenno), following the Hachiman configuration radiating from Usa Jingu in Buzen Province. The Hachiman deity, drawn from the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki accounts of Ojin Tenno, also gained the role of warrior tutelary through Heian-era Buddhist-Shinto syncretism. In some cases the three pioneer deities of Hokkaido (Okuninushi, Sukunabikona, and the Land-Spirit) are also enshrined. The founding date is given by tradition as the late Edo or early Meiji period. Annual rites follow the modern shrine calendar with the main festival in September.