Sugo Isobe Shrine

Sugo Isobe Shrine is a shrine in Daishoji, in the city of Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture. It is also known as Sugosha, Sugo Tenjin and Shikichi Tenjin.

History

According to the shrine, its history begins in 585, the first year of Emperor Yomei's reign, when a kami worshipped in the imperial palace was moved here at the wish of Emperor Bidatsu. The shrine is listed in the Engishiki, the Heian-period register of shrines. In the Middle Ages it was the san-no-miya, third-ranked shrine, of Echizen Province, and later the ni-no-miya, second-ranked shrine, of Kaga Province, after Shirayama Hime Shrine. In the Meiji era it was made a Kokuhei Shosha, a national shrine of the lower grade.

The deities of the main shrine are Hikohohodemi no Mikoto, Toyotamahime no Mikoto and Ugayafukiaezu no Mikoto. In the Kojiki, Hikohohodemi marries Toyotamahime, daughter of the sea god, and Ugayafukiaezu is their son, the father of Emperor Jimmu. Smaller shrines on the grounds include Atago Shrine, for the fire god Hinokagutsuchi, and a shrine to Sugawara no Michizane.

Tenjin worship

In the Middle Ages the surrounding estate, Fukuda-no-sho, belonged to Kitano Tenmangu in Kyoto. Worship of Tenjin, the deified scholar Sugawara no Michizane, grew here, and the shrine came to be called Sugo Tenjin, with a following among the people of Kaga and Echizen.

The Saito clan, from whom Saito families across Japan descend, revered the shrine as their clan shrine. When a Saito went to Mino Province as deputy governor, he enshrined its Tenjin there as his protector, and all 17 Tenjin and Tenmangu shrines of Mino were founded from it.

Patronage and treasures

From the time of Emperor Fushimi (1287 to 1298) to that of Emperor Ogimachi (1557 to 1586), the court sent robes and sacred treasures for the Oriisai (居入祭), a festival held twice a year, in spring and autumn. Documents of the Oriisai and of the birth of an imperial prince survive at the shrine.

Kiso Yoshinaka, Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the Maeda family, starting with Maeda Toshiie, made many donations. Much of it survives as the shrine's treasures. Some pieces, among them the bridal furnishings of Tamahime, a granddaughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu, are Important Cultural Properties.

Festivals

The annual festival in February is the Gogan Shinji (御願神事), also called the Takewari Matsuri. The Tenjinko in July has been held, according to the shrine, for more than 1,400 years; in the Edo period its main day was a holiday for the whole Daishoji Domain.