History of Miyazaki Shrine 宮崎神宮の歴史

Official explanation

According to legend, Miyazaki Shrine was established by the grandson of Jimmu, the mythical first emperor of Japan, to enshrine the nation’s founder and his parents. Not much is known about the sanctuary’s early history, however, and the first records of a religious site that can be tied to the present-day shrine with any certainty date to the Kamakura period (1185–1333). Miyazaki Shrine’s rise to prominence coincided with the Meiji Restoration of 1868, which ended almost seven centuries of warrior rule in Japan. The new government of Emperor Meiji (1852–1912) encouraged the worship and maintenance of sites associated with native mythology and legends associated with the origins of the imperial line. In 1907, the grounds of the shrine were significantly expanded and its structures were rebuilt in a style inspired by ancient shrine architecture.

The buildings and their configuration have changed little since then, though the grounds were enlarged further in 1940. Visitors pray to the deities at the open worship hall (haiden) at the end of the shrine’s main approach. Beyond the worship hall, on the other side of the fence, is the offering hall (heiden), and behind it the main sanctuary (honden). The 25-hectare shrine grounds also include several other Shinto shrines, a garden, and the Miyazaki Prefectural Museum of Nature and History.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.