Kitami Hikawa Shrine

The details of the founding of our company are not clear because the shrine was wrecked by a natural disaster in the Enbun year (1356-1360), and the flooding of the Tama River caused the leakage of old auspicious events and ancient documents, but according to tradition, it was founded about 1,300 years ago in the twelfth year of Tenpei (740). In the thirteenth year of Eiroku (1570), the lord of this area, Edo Prison Department Yoritada (a descendant of Edo Shigenaga, the founder of Edo, who later changed his name to Kitami) repaired the company and prayed for national safety and good luck and longevity. In the second year of Keian (1649), the company was rebuilt by Kitami Kutao Shigekatsu, and in the fourth year of Sadaka (1687) by Kitami Wakasa Mori. As from that time, the stone torii gate donated by the brothers Kitami Shigetsune and Shigekatsu in 1654 remains on the approach, and you can see the inscription on it. Furthermore, in the second year of Tenwa (1687), Kitami Wakasa Mori Katsutada revered our company and donated the Shinto Five Stones and Two Stones. In the Edo period, the company was called Kazoin, and in the second year of Keian (1649), Prince Tokugawa Iemitsu gave us more than 10 stones and 2 dou. In the past, Yutachi Kagura was dedicated at the festival. In the 17th year of the Meiji era, it was promoted to a township, and in the 11th year of Taisho (1922), a plan was made to renovate the shrine hall, which was temporarily canceled due to the Great Kanto Earthquake in the 12th year of Taisho (1923), and then successfully completed in the 15th year of Taisho (1926). The shrine was destroyed by fire due to an unforeseen disaster in 1988, so the current shrine was rebuilt in 1990. Our company has been damaged by disasters many times, but each time it has been rebuilt by the people of Akasei, and we are still protecting people's lives in the land of Kitami.