Shinmei Jinja (神明神社)

Shimomachiya Shinmei Jinja

Shinmei Jinja (神明神社), also referred to as Shimomachiya Shinmei Jinja (下町屋神明神社), is a Shinto shrine located near the ruins of the Former Sagami Bridge along National Route 1 of the Shimomachiya district in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. It serves as a kenmu-sha (jointly administered shrine) of Tsurumine Hachimangu and enshrines the kami (deities) Amaterasu-Okami (天照大神) and Oyamakui-no-Kami (大山咋神).

Seimei Ido

According to a sign placed at the shrine, a spring once existed at the site where Abe no Seimei (921–1005), a well-known onmyoji (diviner) from the mid-Heian period, is said to have stopped to drink water while traveling eastward. Although the spring no longer remains, a stone monument inscribed with "清明井戸" (Seimei Ido), meaning “Seimei Well,” now stands at the site. However, an article published by TOWNNEWS on July 24, 2015, explains that there was once a well said to have been dug by Seimei on the shrine grounds, but it was absorbed into National Route 1 when the road was expanded in the mid-1930s and has since disappeared.

It is said that Daijingu (大神宮) was enshrined around 1455, when the area was under the jurisdiction of the Buddhist temple Kencho-ji. Local accounts also suggest Daijingu was founded during the Kansho era (1460–1466), but the exact details remain unclear.

On the east side of the shrine are stone monuments of Yakujin Daigongen (厄神大権現) and Dosojin.

References:

• TOWNNEWS. (2015, July 24). 茅ヶ崎の轍（わだち） 第38回 道編 「東海道沿いの伝説」. タウンニュース. https://www.townnews.co.jp/0603/2015/07/24/306584.html
• Tsurumine Hachimangu. (n.d.). 歴史. 鶴嶺八幡宮 Tsurumine Hachimangu. https://www.tsuruminehachimangu.com/history/
• 神奈川県神社庁. (n.d.). 茅ヶ崎市 神明神社. 神奈川県神社庁. https://www.kanagawa-jinja.or.jp/shrine/1206084-000/