Sōja shrine

Sōja (総社) is a type of Shinto shrine where the kami of a region are grouped together into a single sanctuary. This "region" may refer to a shōen, village or geographic area, but is more generally referred to as a whole province. The term is also occasionally called "sōsha". The sōja are usually located near the provincial capital established in the Nara period under then ritsuryō system, and can either be a newly created shrine, or a designation for an existing shrine. The "sōja" can also be the "ichinomiya" of the province, which themselves are of great ritual importance.^[1]

Whenever a new kokushi was appointed by the central government to govern a province, it was necessary for him to visit all of the sanctuaries of his province in order to complete the rites necessary for ceremonial inauguration. Grouping the kami into one location near the capital of the province greatly facilitated this duty,^[2]

The first mention of "sōja" appeared in the Heian period, in the diary of Taira no Tokinori, dated March 9, 1099 in reference to the province of Inaba. ^[3]

The name "Sōja" is also found in place names such as the city of Sōja in Okayama Prefecture.

Rokusho shrine (six place) is a very common Soja shrine name^[3].^: 601

Provincial Soja Shrines

Region	Province	Shrine	Location	Engishiki Jinmyocho	Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines	Beppyo?
Kinai	Yamashiro	unknown
	Yamato	unknown	Takatori, Nara
	Kawachi	Shikiagatanushi Shrine [ja]	Fujiidera, Osaka	Shikinai Taisha	Son-sha
	Izumi	Izumi Inoue Shrine [ja]	Izumi, Osaka		Fuken-sha
	Settsu	Nanba Shrine [ja; de; fr; simple]^[a]			Fuken-sha
Tōkaidō	Iga Province	unknown
	Ise	Inatomi Shrine [ja]	Suzuka, Mie	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Ise	Miyake Shrine [ja]	Suzuka, Mie	Shikinai Shosha	Son-sha
	Shima	Kokufu Shrine [ja]	Shima, Mie		Son-sha
	Owari	Owari Ōkunitama Shrine	Inazawa, Aichi	Shikinai Shosha	Kokuhei Shōsha	Yes
	Mikawa	Mikawa Sōja [ja]	Toyokawa, Aichi		Ken-sha
	Tōtōmi	Ōmikunitama Shrine [ja]	Iwata, Shizuoka	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Suruga	Shizuoka Sengen Shrine (Kambe Junja)	Shizuoka, Shizuoka	Shikinai Shosha	Kokuhei Shōsha	Yes
	Izu	Mishima Taisha^[b]	Mishima, Shizuoka		Kanpei Taisha
	Kai	Kaina Shrine 1st location [ja]	Fuefuki, Yamanashi	Shikinai Shosha	Son-sha
		Kaina Shrine 2nd location [ja]	Fuefuki, Yamanashi	Shikinai Shosha	Son-sha
		Miyamae-cho Hachimangu [ja] (3rd location)	Kōfu, Yamanashi		Ken-sha
	Sagami	Rokusho Shrine [ja]	Ōiso, Kanagawa		Gō-sha
	Musashi	Ōkunitama Shrine	Fuchū, Tokyo		kanpei-shōsha	Yes
	Awa	Rokusho Shrine [ja]	Tateyama, Chiba		Unknown
	Awa	Tsuruya Hachiman Shrine [ja] (2nd location)	Tateyama, Chiba		Ken-sha
	Kazusa	Togakushi Shrine	Ichihara, Chiba		Son-sha
	Kazusa	Iigaoka Hachimangu [ja] (2nd location)	Ichihara, Chiba		Ken-sha
	Shimōsa	Rokusho Shrine [ja]	Ichikawa, Chiba		Son-sha
	Hitachi	Hitachi-no-Kuni Sōshagū	Ishioka, Ibaraki		Ken-sha
Tōsandō	Ōmi	unknown
	Mino	Nangū Otabi Shrine	Tarui, Gifu		Setsumatsusha
	Hida	Hida Sōja [ja]	Takayama, Gifu		Ken-sha
	Shinano	Shinano Omiya Shrine [ja]	Ueda, Nagano		Ken-sha
	Shinano	Iwa Shrine [ja] (2nd location)	Matsumoto, Nagano		Son-sha
	Kōzuke	Sōja Shrine [ja]	Maebashi, Gunma		Ken-sha
	Shimotsuke	Ōmiwa Shrine (Shimotsuke) [ja]	Tochigi, Tochigi	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Mutsu	Mutsu Sōsha-no-miya [ja]	Tagajō, Miyagi		Son-sha
	Dewa	Rokusho Shrine [ja]	Tsuruoka, Yamagata		Gō-sha
Hokurikudō	Wakasa	Sō Shrine [ja]	Obama, Fukui		Son-sha
	Echizen	Sōja Daijingū [ja]	Echizen, Fukui		Ken-sha
	Kaga	Isobe Shrine [ja]	Komatsu, Ishikawa	Shikinai Shosha	Gō-sha
	Noto	Sōsha [ja]	Nanao, Ishikawa		Son-sha
	Etchū	Keta Shrine^[c]			Fuken-sha
	Echigo	Fuchū Hachiman-gū [ja]	Jōetsu, Niigata		Unknown
	Sado	Sōsha Shrine [ja]	Sado, Niigata		Unknown
San'indō	Tamba	Sō Shrine [ja]	Nantan, Kyoto		Unknown
	Tango	Kono Shrine^[d]			Kokuhei Chūsha
	Tajima	Keta Shrine [ja]	Toyooka, Hyōgo	Shikinai Shosha	Gō-sha
	Inaba	unknown
	Hōki	Kokuchōri Shrine [ja] (Sōja-daimyōjin)	Kurayoshi, Tottori	Shikigeisha [ja; simple]	Ken-sha
	Izumo	Rokusho Shrine [ja]	Matsue, Shimane		Ken-sha
	Iwami	Ikan Shrine [ja]	Hamada, Shimane	Shikinai Shosha	Son-sha
	Oki	Tamawakasumikoto Shrine [ja] (Sōja-daimyōjin)	Okinoshima, Shimane	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Oki	Araki Shrine	Okinoshima, Shimane		Son-sha
San'yōdō	Harima	Itatehyōzu Shrine	Himeji, Hyōgo	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha	Yes
	Mimasaka	Mimasaka Sōjagū [ja]	Tsuyama, Okayama		Ken-sha
	Bizen	Bizen-no-Kuni Sōjagū [sv; ja; simple]	Okayama, Okayama		Gō-sha
	Bitchū	Bitchū-no-kuni Sōjagū [ja]	Sōja, Okayama		Ken-sha
	Bingo	Ono Shrine [ja]	Fuchū, Hiroshima		Unknown
	Aki	unknown
	Aki	Take Shrine	Fuchū, Hiroshima	Myojin Taisha	Ken-sha
	Suō	Saba Shrine [ja]	Hōfu, Yamaguchi		Ken-sha
	Nagato	Sōsha-gū (subshrine of Iminomiya Shrine)	Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi		Setsumatsusha
	Nagato	Wakamiya Shrine [ja]	Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi		Unknown
Nankaidō	Kii	Fumori Shrine [ja]	Wakayama, Wakayama		Son-sha
	Awaji	Jūichimyōjin Shrine [ja]	Minamiawaji, Hyōgo		Son-sha
	Awa	Hachiman Sōsha Ryo Shrine [ja]	Tokushima, Tokushima		Son-sha
	Awa	Omiwa Shrine [ja]	Tokushima, Tokushima	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Sanuki	Sōja Shrine [ja]	Sakaide, Kagawa		Gō-sha
	Iyo	Ikanashi Shrine [ja]	Imabari, Ehime	Shikinai Shosha	Son-sha
	Tosa	Tosa Kokubun-ji	Nankoku, Kōchi		Gō-sha
Saikaidō	Chikuzen	unknown
	Chikugo	Kōra taisha	Kurume, Fukuoka		Kokuhei Taisha
	Buzen	Sōsha Hachiman-gū [ja]	Miyako, Fukuoka		Gō-sha
	Bungo	unknown
	Hizen	unknown
	Higo	Kitaoka Shrine [sv; ja; simple]	Kumamoto, Kumamoto		Fuken-sha
	Hyūga	Tsuma Shrine [fr; ja; simple]	Saito, Miyazaki	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Ōsumi	Haraido Shrine [ja]	Kirishima, Kagoshima		Son-sha
	Satsuma	Shukō Shrine [ja] subshrine of Nitta Shrine	Satsumasendai, Kagoshima		Setsumatsusha
	Iki	Kō Shrine [ja]	Iki, Nagasaki		Son-sha
	Tsushima	unknown
Hokkaido		Hakodate Hachimangū			Kokuhei Chūsha

Regional Soja Shrines

Regional Soja Shrines are Soja shrines dedicated to a specific region rather than a whole province. These include

Akasaka Uenoyama Shrine [ja]
Unakoro Waki Shrine [ja]
Ono Shrine (Ritto City) [ja]
Ogami Shrine (Tonami City) [ja]
Kainan Shrine [ja]
Katsushika Shrine [ja]
Katsube Shrine [ja]
Mukuhashi Shrine [ja]
Kotai Jingu (Fujisawa City) [ja]
Gosho Shrine (Sammu City) [ja]
Sakata Shinmei Shrine [ja]
Shinkai Sansha Shrine [ja]
Sazama Shrine (Daito City) [ja]
Kenda Suga Shrine [ja]
Tachibana Shrine (Kawasaki City) [ja]
Torakashi Shrine [ja]
Nagao Shrine
Nanba Shrine [ja; de; fr; simple] (may have historically been a provincial one)
Arayaza Amaterasu Mitama Shrine [ja]
Nogi Shrine
Hotaka Shrine
Washinomiya Shrine

Notes

^ Theorized identification. No confirmation
^ Theorized identification. No confirmation
^ Theorized identification. No confirmation
^ Theorized identification. No confirmation

References

^ Herbert, Jean (2011). Shinto:At the Fountain-head of Japan. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-415-59348-9.
^ Bocking, Brian (2016). A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138979079.
^ ^a ^b Hardacre, Helen (2016). Shinto: A History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190621711.

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[4] Theorized identification. No confirmation

[5] Theorized identification. No confirmation

[6] Theorized identification. No confirmation

[7] Theorized identification. No confirmation

[Herbert-1] Herbert, Jean (2011). Shinto:At the Fountain-head of Japan. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-415-59348-9.

[Bocking-2] Bocking, Brian (2016). A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138979079.

[Hardacre-3] Hardacre, Helen (2016). Shinto: A History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190621711.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

Provincial Soja Shrines

Regional Soja Shrines

See also

Notes

References