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Sengen Shrine is one of shrines people in Shizuoka love very much. It is located at Mt.Shizuhata in Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City. It’s close to Sumpu Castle. It

takes about 20 minutes on foot, or 5 minutes by car from Shizuoka JR Station. We call it Osengen-san (Mr. Sengen) in a friendly manner. 

Shizuoka Sengen Shrine consists of 7 shrines with three as the main ones. The first main shrine is Kanbe Shrine which enshrines Okuninushi no mikoto, a
mythical founding god of Shizuoka. It is thought to be built 2,100 years ago.

The second is Sengen Shrine which dedicated to Konohanasakuya hime, the goddess of Mt. Fuji who is worshiped as a guardian god of prevention of fire, safe delivery, and safe voyage. It was established in 901, as a subsidiary branch of Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha. The last is Ohtoshimioya Shrine whose god is Ohtoshimioya no mikoto, god of markets and commerce  It was built 1700 years ago.

It is said that new governors had to visit the main shrines when they were first dispatched as governors but it was not easy for them to travel so 3 important shrines and 4 ones were collected together in this precinct.

These shrines were worshiped by the governors through the Kamakura and Muromachi Periods and were patronized by the powerful warrior clans such as Imagawa clan, Takeda clan and the Tokugawa clan, in particular by the first Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. He came to Shizuoka as a hostage of the Imagawa family from his hometown Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture when he was a little boy. He celebrated his coming of age in this shrine. He sponsored the shrines after he retired from his shogunate job and stayed in the nearby Sumpu Castle. The third Shogun Iemitsu, Ieyasu’s grandson rebuilt them in 1634 following the will of Ieyasu. But in 1773 and 1788 the shrine complex was burned down. It took 60 years and 100,000 ryo currently 80 billion yen to rebuild them. 

At that time excellent architects, carpenters and artists were gathered in Shizuoka to restore them. The buildings you see now was completed in 1865. In the course of rebuilding the shrines, basic techniques of Shizuoka’s traditional arts and crafts such as Suruga hina dolls, Suruga makie, the lacquer painted ware, Suruga takezaiku, the bamboo wares, and Suruga nuri gata, wooden clogs were developed.

The characteristic of Sengen Shrine is its architectural style. The buildings were built in the colorful and beautiful Momoyama style with extensive use of lacquer, wood carvings and gold leaf. The worship hall and inner shrine are styled in Sengen-zukuri dedicated to two gods of Kanbe and Sengen shrines. The worship hall is a multi-storied building designed to express the grand view of Mt. Fuji. The inner shrine is the semi-detached building which is very rare in Japan. The tower gate is 25 meters high and guarded by two attendant statues.

On every February 20, Children’s Dancing on the special noh play stage is performed, which was constructed by Ieyasu. There are also other shrine buildings in the precinct which have unique origin and design.

Sengen Shrine has 26 Important Cultural Assets. If you visit its museum, you can see artifacts related to Tokugawa Ieyasu and the history of the shrine, Japanese swords in Muromachi period, armor suits, traditional Japanese musical instruments, and the votive picture tablet donated by Nagamasa Yamada who grew up near here and later became the minister of the Thai Kingdom.

Every April 5, Shizuoka Festival. is held at the shrine. You can enjoy a historical parade and dancing. We sometimes visit Sengen Shrine to receive blessings from the gods for marriages, the festival for children of 3,5,and 7 years of age, and first visit of the new year. We take new born babies here to pray for their healthy growth and happiness.

Please come and visit Sengen Shrine on your special days or just greet them.

They will be glad to be your guardian deities. 

(All photographs by Prudence)

( By Prudence )

＊Not only Prudence but also other FUSION members can guide you through the Shizuoka Sengen Shrine !
Contact us if you are interested in a trip to this shrine.