Fukuyama · JP

Mamiya Shrine

Mamiya Shrine (眞宮神社) sits in the rural Tsune district of Shinichi, a quiet corner of Fukuyama City in Hiroshima Prefecture. Though little known beyond its immediate locality, this shrine once held extraordinary status: as the Ninomiya — the Second Grand Shrine — of the old province of Bingo, it stood alongside Kibitsu Shrine (the Ichinomiya, or First Grand Shrine) and the southern shrine at the provincial capital to form the three most revered sanctuaries in the region. Today Mamiya Shrine is a peaceful, atmospheric place set against a backdrop of forested hills, where a rich folk tradition — a Bon Odori dance festival stretching back to the Muromachi period — still animates the grounds each summer.