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Noritoyama Hachiman Shrine (祝詞山八幡神社)

Noritoyama Hachiman Shrine is located about a 12-minute walk from Kazahaya Station on the JR Kure Line. The shrine is said to have been built about 1,200 years ago and enshrines a local deity who protects the town of Akitsu. Around the same time the shrine was built, an aristocrat who held great power at the time composed a waka poem at the site of the shrine. The content of the waka poem has been turned into a stone monument on the shrine grounds, conveying the long history of Noritoyama Hachiman Shrine to the present day.

Moment of Joy

Noritoyamahachiman Shrine has one of the longest histories of any shrine in Japan. As a result, there are many old and rare structures in the shrine grounds, such as stone statues of ball-riding komainu (guardian dogs) made in the mid-19th century, and sessha (shrines of auxiliary gods worshipped together with the main god) of major Japanese shrines such as Itsukushima Shrine and Gion Shrine. Noritoyamahachiman Shrine also holds a festival every October. A unique festival culture has developed here, with parades of portable shrines and dances by people wearing masks.