Qualla: Kashima Shrine

Kashima Shrine: Introduction

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Saigen Jiro, CC0. Beneath the grounds of Kashima Shrine, according to Japanese myth, a giant catfish called Onamazu writhes in the earth. When the creature stirs, earthquakes shake the islands of Japan. Only the god Takemikazuchi -- the thunder deity enshrined here -- keeps the catfish pinned in place, pressing a sacred keystone deep into the ground. This is the kind of place Kashima Jingu is: a shrine where the boundary between legend and landscape dissolves entirely. Located on a forested plateau in southeastern Ibaraki Prefecture, overlooking Lake Kitaura and Kashima Bay, it has stood at the spiritual crossroads of power, war, and devotion for over a thousand years.

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Image: Saigen Jiro | CC0

Kashima Shrine: Where Swords Were Sacred

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit そらみみ (Soramimi), CC BY-SA 4.0. Kashima Shrine is the birthplace and spiritual home of Japanese martial arts. The shrine houses the Futsu-no-Mitama Sword, a large blade designated a National Treasure, and its forest paths have been walked by some of history's greatest swordmasters. The shrine is home to the Kas...

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Image: そらみみ (Soramimi) | CC BY-SA 4.0

Kashima Shrine: Blood on the Rocks Below

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit そらみみ, CC BY-SA 3.0. The mythology of Kashima Shrine reaches back to the creation stories of Japan. According to legend, the god Izanagi beheaded his own son Kagutsuchi, the fire deity, as punishment for burning his mother to death during childbirth. As Izanagi struck, blood dripped from his sword an...

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Image: そらみみ | CC BY-SA 3.0

Kashima Shrine: Shoguns and Poets at the Gate

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nesnad, CC BY-SA 4.0. The shrine claims a legendary founding in 660 BC, during the reign of Emperor Jimmu, though the earliest written records appear in the Asuka-period Fudoki of Hitachi Province, noting a ritual house rebuilt in 649 AD. Through the centuries, Kashima's fortunes rose with the Nakatom...

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Image: Nesnad | CC BY-SA 4.0

Kashima Shrine: The Dragon Boats of the Ofuna Festival

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Katorisi, CC BY-SA 3.0. Once every twelve years, in the Year of the Horse, Kashima Shrine hosts the Grand Imperial Ofuna Festival, one of the largest traditional celebrations in Japan. The festival honors both Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi, the deity of nearby Katori Shrine. On the second morning, a miko...

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Image: Katorisi | CC BY-SA 3.0

Kashima Shrine: The Keystone Holds

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞; b. 1786, d. 1865), Public domain. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake tested the ancient myth quite literally. The massive tremor destroyed the shrine's main torii gate and toppled 64 stone lanterns along its forest pathways. Yet none of the main shrine buildings fell. Repairs cost 107 million yen, and the recovery effort...

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Image: Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞; b. 1786, d. 1865) | Public domain