Imayama Hachimangu Shrine

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Imayama is one of the three mountains in the downtown area of Nobeoka city. It was formerly known as Horaisan, and is said to be where the oldest Buddhist temple in the Nobeoka area was built in 717. Located on the side of Imayama, it is said that the God of Imayama Hachimangu was summoned from Usa-hachimangu in Buzen, in 750. The governor and the military official both worshipped the shrine, and when the shrine manor was increased in 758, the shrine was named “Ima-yama.” “Ima” means “present,” and “yama” means “mountain.” Thus it is believed the shrine was named “Ima-yama” and became “Imayama Hachimangu” because it was “the most prosperous mountain at the time.”

14 deities are venerated in the shrine, including Hondawake-no-mikoto, Okinagatarashihime-no-mikoto, Tamayorihime-no-mikoto, Izanami-no-mikoto, Kotosakao-no-mikoto, Hayatamao-no-mikoto, and Iwanagahime-no-mikoto.

The shrine hall was rebuilt in 1974. A small Konpira-jinja shrine stands to the left, and to the right, Akiba-jinja shrine. The shrine suffered many fires, including one caused by an attack on the Hyuga area by Otomo Sorin in 1578, which burnt down the shrine buildings. Therefore, most of the shrine’s treasures and manuscripts were lost from the fires. The carvings on the “ranma (openwork screen above the sliding partitions between rooms)” is said to be a precious artwork left from the Muromachi period (1336-1573). Karakusa (decorative vine patterns originating in China) style carving in the Shimo-haiden hall is said to be from around the end of Edo period (1603-1868).