Shibukawa Hachimangu Shrine

A shrine enshrined in Shibukawa, known as “the center of Japan.” Geographically, Shibukawa City in Gunma Prefecture sits at the center of a circle connecting Cape Soya in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost point, and Cape Sata in Kagoshima Prefecture, its southernmost point—hence the nickname “the belly button of Japan.” Historically, another reason is that the Hesoiwa (Belly Button Stone) designated by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, famed for his Ezo subjugation, still exists today.

It is said to have been founded from 1249 to 1256, when Shibukawa Yoshiaki, the first head of the Shibukawa clan, enshrined a divided spirit of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura. It is also said that the various shrine buildings were constructed from 1256 to 1257 by Nagao Kageoki, a Kamakura warrior. For the current main hall of Shibukawa Hachimangu Shrine, a record of its construction in Keicho 7 (1602) survives as a stone monument, and it was designated as a Gunma Prefecture Important Cultural Property in 1961 as a valuable example displaying characteristics of early Edo-period Shinto shrine architecture.

The “Shibukawa Dashi Festival,” held from August 14–16, is the largest of its kind in northern Kanto and is also known as the “Rough Dashi” festival—well worth seeing. Also, in June and December, it conducts the Oharae purification rite, and it also holds year-round shashi-kai transcription gatherings and study sessions for the “Oharae no Kotoba,” one of Shinto’s most important norito prayers.