Kurobegū (黒部宮)

Kurobegu

Kurobegu (黒部宮) is a Shinto shrine located in the Kurobeoka district of Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. It enshrines the kami (deity) Amenokoyane-no-Mikoto (天児屋根命) and is known as the motomiya — the original shrine or original location — of Kasuga Jinja (春日神社).

The shrine is believed to have been founded by Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147–1199), the founder and first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate. In August of Kenkyu 3 (1192), Kurobegu and its betto-ji (a Buddhist temple that managed a Shinto shrine until the Edo period), Hanryu-ji (範隆寺), were designated as prayer sites for the safe childbirth of Yoritomo's wife.

Inari shrine

Because the area was repeatedly damaged by high waves, the shrine was relocated north and eventually renamed Kasuga-sha or Kasuga Jinja. The Shinpen Sagami-no-kuni Fudokiko, a topographical record of Sagami Province completed in 1841, states that a small Inari shrine stands at the original site.

The current shrine building at the original site was rebuilt by local residents who opposed the relocation and restored its original name, Kurobegu. A small Inari shrine — possibly the one mentioned in the Shinpen Sagami-no-kuni Fudokiko — stands behind Kurobegu.

Reference:

• Hiratsuka City Museum. (n.d.). 平塚・石仏めぐり-旧市内編- (４・旧平塚宿) 黒部宮社号塔. 平塚市博物館 Hiratsuka City Museum. https://www.hirahaku.jp/hakubutsukan_archive/minzoku/00000063/37.html