Sōja (Shinto)

Sōja (総社) is a type of Shinto shrine where the kami of a region are grouped together into a single sanctuary. This "region" may refer to a shōen, village or geographic area, but is more generally referred to a whole province. The term is also occasionally called "sōsha". The sōja are usually located near the provincial capital established in the Nara period under then ritsuryō system, and can either be a newly created shrine, or a designation for an existing shrine. The "sōja" can also be the "ichinomiya" of the province, which themselves are of great ritual importance.^[1]

Whenever a new kokushi was appointed by the central government to govern a province, it was necessary for him to visit all of the sanctuaries of his province in order to complete the rites necessary for ceremonial inauguration. Grouping the kami into one location near the capital of the province greatly facilitated this duty,^[2]

The first mention of "sōja" appeared in the Heian period, in the diary of Taira no Tokinori, dated March 9, 1099 in reference to the province of Inaba. ^[3]

The name "Sōja" is also found in place names such as the city of Sōja in Okayama Prefecture.

Rokusho shrine (six place) is a very common Soja shrine name^[3].^(p601)

Provincial Soja Shrines[edit]

Region	Province	Shrine	Location	Engishiki Jinmyocho	Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines	Beppyo?
Kinai	Yamashiro	unknown
	Yamato	unknown	Takatori, Nara
	Kawachi	Shikiagatanushi Shrine	Fujiidera, Osaka	Shikinai Taisha	Son-sha
	Izumi	Izumi Inoue Shrine	Izumi, Osaka		Fuken-sha
	Settsu	Nanba Shrine^{[lower-alpha 1]}			Fuken-sha
Tōkaidō	Iga Province	unknown
	Ise	Inatomi Shrine	Suzuka, Mie	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Ise	Miyake Shrine	Suzuka, Mie	Shikinai Shosha	Son-sha
	Shima	Kokufu Shrine	Shima, Mie		Son-sha
	Owari	Owari Ōkunitama Shrine [ja]	Inazawa, Aichi	Shikinai Shosha	Kokuhei Shōsha	Yes
	Mikawa	Mikawa Sōja	Toyokawa, Aichi		Ken-sha
	Tōtōmi	Ōmikunitama Shrine	Iwata, Shizuoka	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Suruga	Shizuoka Sengen Shrine [ja] (Kambe Junja)	Shizuoka, Shizuoka	Shikinai Shosha	Kokuhei Shōsha	Yes
	Izu	Mishima Taisha [ja]^{[lower-alpha 2]}	Mishima, Shizuoka		Kanpei Taisha
	Kai	Kaina Shrine 1st location	Fuefuki, Yamanashi	Shikinai Shosha	Son-sha
		Kaina Shrine 2nd location	Fuefuki, Yamanashi	Shikinai Shosha	Son-sha
		Miyamae-cho Hachimangu (3rd location)	Kōfu, Yamanashi		Ken-sha
	Sagami	Rokusho Shrine	Ōiso, Kanagawa		Gō-sha
	Musashi	Ōkunitama Shrine [ja]	Fuchū, Tokyo		kanpei-shōsha	Yes
	Awa	Rokusho Shrine	Tateyama, Chiba		Unknown
	Awa	Tsuruya Hachiman Shrine (2nd location)	Tateyama, Chiba		Ken-sha
	Kazusa	Togakushi Shrine [ja]	Ichihara, Chiba		Son-sha
	Kazusa	Iigaoka Hachimangu (2nd location)	Ichihara, Chiba		Ken-sha
	Shimōsa	Rokusho Shrine	Ichikawa, Chiba		Son-sha
	Hitachi	Hitachi-no-Kuni Sōshagū [ja]	Ishioka, Ibaraki		Ken-sha
Tōsandō	Ōmi	unknown
	Mino	Nangū Otabi Shrine	Tarui, Gifu		Setsumatsusha
	Hida	Hida Sōja	Takayama, Gifu		Ken-sha
	Shinano	Shinano Omiya Shrine	Ueda, Nagano		Ken-sha
	Shinano	Iwa Shrine (2nd location)	Matsumoto, Nagano		Son-sha
	Kōzuke	Sōja Shrine	Maebashi, Gunma		Ken-sha
	Shimotsuke	Ōmiwa Shrine (Shimotsuke)	Tochigi, Tochigi	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Mutsu	Mutsu Sōsha-no-miya	Tagajō, Miyagi		Son-sha
	Dewa	Rokusho Shrine	Tsuruoka, Yamagata		Gō-sha
Hokurikudō	Wakasa	Sō Shrine	Obama, Fukui		Son-sha
	Echizen	Sōja Daijingū	Echizen, Fukui		Ken-sha
	Kaga	Isobe Shrine	Komatsu, Ishikawa	Shikinai Shosha	Gō-sha
	Noto	Sōsha	Nanao, Ishikawa		Son-sha
	Etchū	Keta Shrine^{[lower-alpha 3]}			Fuken-sha
	Echigo	Fuchū Hachiman-gū	Jōetsu, Niigata		Unknown
	Sado	Sōsha Shrine	Sado, Niigata		Unknown
San'indō	Tamba	Sō Shrine	Nantan, Kyoto		Unknown
	Tango	Kono Shrine^{[lower-alpha 4]}			Kokuhei Chūsha
	Tajima	Keta Shrine	Toyooka, Hyōgo	Shikinai Shosha	Gō-sha
	Inaba	unknown
	Hōki	Kokuchōri Shrine (Sōja-daimyōjin)	Kurayoshi, Tottori	Shikigeisha	Ken-sha
	Izumo	Rokusho Shrine	Matsue, Shimane		Ken-sha
	Iwami	Ikan Shrine	Hamada, Shimane	Shikinai Shosha	Son-sha
	Oki	Tamawakasumikoto Shrine (Sōja-daimyōjin)	Okinoshima, Shimane	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Oki	Araki Shrine	Okinoshima, Shimane		Son-sha
San'yōdō	Harima	Itatehyōzu Shrine	Himeji, Hyōgo	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha	Yes
	Mimasaka	Mimasaka Sōjagū	Tsuyama, Okayama		Ken-sha
	Bizen	Bizen-no-Kuni Sōjagū	Okayama, Okayama		Gō-sha
	Bitchū	Bitchū-no-kuni Sōjagū	Sōja, Okayama		Ken-sha
	Bingo	Ono Shrine	Fuchū, Hiroshima		Unknown
	Aki	unknown
	Aki	Take Shrine	Fuchū, Hiroshima	Myojin Taisha	Ken-sha
	Suō	Saba Shrine	Hōfu, Yamaguchi		Ken-sha
	Nagato	Sōsha-gū (subshrine of Iminomiya Shrine)	Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi		Setsumatsusha
	Nagato	Wakamiya Shrine	Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi		Unknown
Nankaidō	Kii	Fumori Shrine	Wakayama, Wakayama		Son-sha
	Awaji	Jūichimyōjin Shrine	Minamiawaji, Hyōgo		Son-sha
	Awa	Hachiman Sōsha Ryo Shrine	Tokushima, Tokushima		Son-sha
	Awa	Omiwa Shrine	Tokushima, Tokushima	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Sanuki	Sōja Shrine	Sakaide, Kagawa		Gō-sha
	Iyo	Ikanashi Shrine	Imabari, Ehime	Shikinai Shosha	Son-sha
	Tosa	Tosa Kokubun-ji [ja]	Nankoku, Kōchi		Gō-sha
Saikaidō	Chikuzen	unknown
	Chikugo	Kōra taisha [ja]	Kurume, Fukuoka		Kokuhei Taisha
	Buzen	Sōsha Hachiman-gū [ja]	Miyako, Fukuoka		Gō-sha
	Bungo	unknown
	Hizen	unknown
	Higo	Kitaoka Shrine [sv; ja; simple]	Kumamoto, Kumamoto		Fuken-sha
	Hyūga	Tsuma Shrine [fr; ja; simple]	Saito, Miyazaki	Shikinai Shosha	Ken-sha
	Ōsumi	Haraido Shrine [ja]	Kirishima, Kagoshima		Son-sha
	Satsuma	Shukō Shrine [ja] subshrine of Nitta Shrine	Satsumasendai, Kagoshima		Setsumatsusha
	Iki	Kō Shrine [ja]	Iki, Nagasaki		Son-sha
	Tsushima	unknown
Hokkaido		Hakodate Hachimangū			Kokuhei Chūsha

Regional Soja Shrines[edit]

Regional Soja Shrines are Soja shrines dedicated to a specific region rather than a whole province. These include

Akasaka Uenoyama Shrine [ja]
Unakoro Waki Shrine [ja]
Ono Shrine (Ritto City) [ja]
Ogami Shrine (Tonami City) [ja]
Kainan Shrine [ja]
Katsushika Shrine [ja]
Katsube Shrine [ja]
Mukuhashi Shrine [ja]
Kotai Jingu (Fujisawa City) [ja]
Gosho Shrine (Sammu City) [ja]
Sakata Shinmei Shrine [ja]
Shinkai Sansha Shrine [ja]
Sazama Shrine (Daito City) [ja]
Kenda Suga Shrine [ja]
Tachibana Shrine (Kawasaki City) [ja]
Torakashi Shrine [ja]
Nagao Shrine
Nanba Shrine (may have historically been a provincial one)
Arayaza Amaterasu Mitama Shrine [ja]
Nogi Shrine [ja]
Hotaka Shrine
Washinomiya Shrine

Notes[edit]

↑ Theorized identification. No confirmation
↑ Theorized identification. No confirmation
↑ Theorized identification. No confirmation
↑ Theorized identification. No confirmation

References[edit]

↑ Herbert, Jean (2011). Shinto:At the Fountain-head of Japan. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-415-59348-9. Search this book on
↑ Bocking, Brian (2016). A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138979079. Search this book on
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Hardacre, Helen (2016). Shinto: A History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190621711. Search this book on

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[4] Theorized identification. No confirmation

[5] Theorized identification. No confirmation

[6] Theorized identification. No confirmation

[7] Theorized identification. No confirmation

[Herbert-1] Herbert, Jean (2011). Shinto:At the Fountain-head of Japan. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-415-59348-9. Search this book on

[Bocking-2] Bocking, Brian (2016). A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138979079. Search this book on

[Hardacre-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Hardacre, Helen (2016). Shinto: A History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190621711. Search this book on

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Sōja (Shinto)

Contents

Provincial Soja Shrines[edit]

Regional Soja Shrines[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]