Shrines Dedicated to Clans in Japan

Shrines are an integral part of Japanese culture and religion. There are numerable shrines in Japan found all over the country. There are certain shrines which had been constituted hundreds and hundreds of years ago by some of the clans of Japan. They had constituted these shrines in memory of their clan founder and had also dedicated those in the name of the founder of the clan. This fact also holds good for very popular historical personalities as well.

The mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu is an example of a shrine being dedicated to the founder of a particular clan in Japan. Tokugawa Ieyasu was the founder of a very powerful clan of Japan called the Tokugawa Shogunate clan. This particular shrine called the Toshogu Shrine has been dedicated in the name of three great people of Japan, namely, Tokugawa Ieyasu, Minamoto Yoritomo and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The later two being prominent historical figures of Japan. This shrine is extremely beautiful and highly decorated consisting of wood carvings and a lot of gold leaf. During the time of its inception, the shrine was not as striking in looks as it is today. It was only during the time of Iemitsu, the grandson of Ieyasu that the entire mausoleum was renovated and this magnificent structure was created. The Tokugawa Shogunate clan of Japan was extremely powerful during their time and had reigned over Japan for more than 250 years. The entire complex is located in the forest and apart from the shrine, one would find many Buddhist and Shinto buildings there as well.

Another famous example of a shrine being dedicated to a particular clan is that of the Oyama Shrine. This shrine was dedicated in the name of the first Lord of the Maeda clan. He was called Maeda Toshiie. There is a distinct feature or identity of this particular shrine. The entrance gate of this particular shrine was initially a part of the Kanazawa Castle. However, later it was removed from the castle and was brought to the shrine complex. And since then, it has been a part of the Oyama Shrine. This shrine was established by the successor of Toshiie. It was done in the year 1599.

There are other kinds of shrines present in Japan as well. For example, there are Tenjin Shrines, Inari Shrines, Hachiman Shrines, Imperial Shrines, Local Shrines and Sengen Shrines as well.

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