Kibitsu Jinja

Kibitsu Jinja is the ichinomiya of Bingo Province, located in Shinichi-cho Miyauchi, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, now designated a beppyo jinja by the Association of Shinto Shrines. Tradition holds that it was founded in 806 (Daido 1) when a divided spirit of Ookibi-tsu-hiko no Mikoto was enshrined from the Kibitsu Jinja, the ichinomiya of Kibi Province. This deity, a prince of Emperor Koryo, was dispatched as one of the Shido Shogun (Four Circuit Generals) by Emperor Sujin in the 10th year of his reign to pacify the Kibi region. The main hall, rebuilt by Mizuno Katsunari in 1648, is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property. Known locally as 'Ikkyusan,' the shrine has drawn worshippers seeking bountiful harvests and protection from evil throughout the centuries as the general tutelary shrine of Bingo Province.