Oct 8, 2014 - 1 min read

Shirayama Shrine in a Rice Field

One of the million Shirayama Shrines in Japan

By Takako Sakamoto

Community writer

The main prayer hall, and tall trees reaching straight up to the blue sky

Shirayama Shrine viewed from a street in the rice fields

Late afternoon shadow casts over the shrine grounds

Front view of the prayer hall guarded by two guardian dogs

A holy deer is carved on this stone lantern...or is this a reindeer?

Looking up at the prayer hall from an angle

Sacred rope hanging from the prayer hall

Prayer hall in front and the small main prayer hall in the back

I love the deep brown woody color of the prayer hall!

Close-up look at the torii gate and yellow sacred rope

There is some playground equipment for kids on the shrine grounds

Shirayama Shrine in the rice fields on a sunny day

Fallen leaves floating in a water purification font

There are millions of Hakusan (Shirayama) Shrines in Japan. They all came from, or are related to, the sacred mountain Haku, which is located on the borders of Gifu, Ishikawa and Fukui prefectures. Since Fukui is close to this sacred mountain, there are many Hakusan Shrines here. Even in my small neighborhood, there are three of them, and actually, it's hard to tell which is what! According to the stone monument on the shrine grounds, the Shirayama Shrine (not Hakusan in this case) I found in the rice fields was founded in 1180 by Taira-no Yasuyori (one of the Heike Clan samurai) just after he was pardoned, and then returned to Kyoto from exile at Kikai-ga-shima Island (a faraway island in present-day Kagoshima). Although this shrine has a long history, all buildings appear to be new. They have probably been rebuilt many times since its foundation.