Kehi Shrine


Kehi Shrine is a Shinto shrine in the city of Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. In the former Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines, it was a national shrine of the 1st rank, and the ichinomiya of Echizen Province. Its main festival is held annually on September 4. The shrine is considered the chief guardian shrine of the Hokuriku region.

History

The foundation of Kehi Jingū predates written history, and it is mentioned the Nara period Kojiki and Nihon Shoki chronicles. The shrine itself lists a date of 702 AD, and is dedicated to seven kami.
The shrine was mostly destroyed in 1945, during the Bombing of Tsuruga in World War II by American forces, and its National Treasure Honden built in the Edo period by Yūki Hideyasu burned down. One surviving structure is the shrine's 11-meter-tall tore gate, which was built in 1902 and which is registered as an Important Cultural Property. It is the third largest wooden torii gates, alongside Nara’s Kasuga Taisha Shrine and Hiroshima’s Itsukushima Shrine.
In September of 1689, Kehi Jingu Shrine was visited by the famous poet Matsuo Basho, and his visit is still commemorated with a statue and a stone monument inscribed with his haiku.

Enshrined ''kami''