“Really? I didn’t know that…” Munetada Shrine Procession (Mar. 2026)

 “Really? I didn’t know that…”　Munetada Shrine Procession 

Kurozumi Munemichi, the Seventh Chief Patriarch

March 2026  

Munetada Shrine 宗忠神社 was established at the sacred site of Ōmoto 大元, the birthplace of the Divine Founder Munetada and the founding place of Kurozumikyō. On March 25, 1886 (Meiji 19), the year after the shrine was built, the Munetada Shrine Goshinkō 宗忠神社御神幸(Divice Procession) was first solemnly conducted. This year marks its 140th anniversary.

On Sunday, April 5, the “140th Anniversary Munetada Shrine Procession” will be held. We earnestly hope that families—children and grandchildren who may not often visit the church, as well as relatives—will come to worship, whether as family units or individuals. Even more, we hope that as many as possible will register in advance and join the procession as attendants.

With this wish in mind, we have prepared “Various Notes on the Munetada Shrine Procession,” so that those already familiar may be reminded with gratitude, and those who do not yet know may read with surprise and inspiration.

1.  It is truly astonishing that, at the same time as the construction work of Munetada Shrine—celebrating its 140th anniversary last year—all of the ceremonial implements and costumes for the entire procession, from the leading palanquin to the very end of the line (stretching nearly one kilometer and carried out by close to one thousand attendants), were prepared and produced in advance.

2.  The Munetada Shrine Procession began as a way to bring together Munetada-sama, who is a god enshrined at Munetada Shrine, with Imamura Shrine, where he had served as a priest during his lifetime. In the Meiji era, the Ikeda family, former lords of the Bizen-Okayama domain, transferred the famous garden Kōraku-en 後楽園 to the prefecture, opening it to the public. From 1891 (Meiji 24), this garden was used as the resting place of the procession, and the event developed into a grand Goshinkō through the city—an occasion in which the enshrined deity leaves the shrine to visit another place, often in connection with festivals or shrine relocations.

3.  The reason the ancestors of the Kurozumi family came to serve at Imamura Shrine 今村宮 goes back to the Sengoku period. When the warlord Ukita Naoie expanded and rebuilt Okayama Castle, Sanshagū 三社宮 (Shrine of Three Gods) was forced to relocate and was merged with Imamura Hachiman Shrine 今村八幡宮, then later renamed into Imamura Shrine. The Kurozumi family, hereditary priests of Sansha-gū, accompanied the enshrined deities and moved to what is now the site of Munetada Shrine.

Because Sanshagū enshrined the “top three gods”—Amaterasu Ōmikami, Hachiman Ōkami, and Kasuga Daimyōjin—its merger elevated Imamura Hachiman Shrine, which was renamed Imamura Shrine. From then on, the Kurozumi family’s hereditary occupation was serving as negi (senior priests) of Imamura Shrine, together with the Imamura family, who remain shrine families to this day.

I still recall my surprise when I saw the business card of my great-grandfather, Kurozumi Muneyasu, the Fourth Chief Patriarch of Kurozumikyō. It bore the printed title: “Assistant Priest of Imamura Shrine, Fourth Successor of Kurozumikyō.”

4.  Even today, many parishioners of Imamura Shrine live both around the shrine and in the city of Okayama. It is said that the influential parishioners in the city—namely, those who had once been parishioners of Sanshagū—strongly desired that Kōraku-en, the famous garden, be used as the resting place of the procession. One cannot help but think, “That makes perfect sense…”

5.   Volume V of The History of Okayama City (compiled by Okayama City Hall, published in 1938) records in detail the route of the procession. It states that the procession departed Imamura Shrine (departure of the sacred palanquin), passed through Imamura Taketōri and Ōno Village Noda, and proceeded to Daiku Iwatowake Shrine, led by the drums of Imamura. There, it was welcomed by a committee of civic volunteers from Okayama City. From there, the procession continued through Niwase-guchi, Kawara-machi, Hamada-machi, Shin-Saidaiji-machi, Kamiya-machi, Sakae-machi, Shimono-chō, Nakano-machi, Kamino-machi, and Ishizeki-machi, arriving around noon at Kōraku-en (arrival of the sacred palanquin). Prefectural and municipal officials also attended and a solemn festival was conducted. After resting, the procession departed again around 4 p.m., passing through Furukyō, Chūnagon, Kobashi, Kyōbashi, and Saidaiji-machi, then turning left into Kami-machi, Amase, Kawara-machi, and Niwase-guchi, and finally returning via Daiku-hondōri around 6 p.m. (return of the sacred palanquin). The record even lists the names of the various roles and the number of attendants among the several hundred who served in the procession.

⑥ 岡山市の人々が市中を巡る御神幸を望んだ理由の一つに、徳川家康公（東照大権現）を御祭神として祀る東照宮（玉井宮）の神事として江戸時代に行われていた権現祭という神幸行事の存在があるようです。明治元年に権現祭が廃止されたため、賑やかな“お祭り”を待ち望んでいた多くの一般市民から御神幸は熱烈な歓迎を受けたようです。しかしながら、やがて諸般の事情により継続が困難になり、明治三十九年（一九〇六）を最後に中断されていました。

6.  One reason the people of Okayama desired a procession through the city was the precedent of the Gongen Festival, a divine procession held in the Edo period at Tōshōgū 東照宮 (Tamai Shrine 玉井宮), where Tokugawa Ieyasu (Tōshō Daigongen) was enshrined. When the Gongen Festival was abolished in 1868 (Meiji 1), many ordinary citizens, who longed for a lively “festival,” gave the Munetada Shrine Procession an enthusiastic welcome. However, due to various circumstances, it became difficult to continue, and after 1906 (Meiji 39) the procession was suspended.

7.  After a long interruption, the Munetada Shrine Procession was revived on April 18, 1952 (Shōwa 27), as a prayer for recovery from the devastation of World War II and for universal harmony and peace. Many of the damaged ceremonial implements and costumes were repaired or newly prepared, and the procession was organized using the Procession Picture Scroll from the Meiji era as a model. In recognition of the great efforts of those who restored this tradition after forty-five years of suspension, the procession was long referred to as “Revival, nth time.” This year’s procession marks not only the 140th anniversary of its first solemn conduct, but also the 74th year since its revival (with one year omitted due to complete cancellation during the COVID-19 pandemic). I keep this firmly in mind.

8.  For many years, alongside the sacred palanquin, the horse-drawn carriage was a symbol of the procession. This carriage was a precious one once used by Emperor Taishō, and it was bestowed by the Imperial Household Agency to Munetada Shrine. It was employed beginning with the second “Revival Procession” in 1953 (Shōwa 28).

Although the thought was, “Even if not every year, let us at least use it for milestone processions,” careful consideration was given to issues of safety due to age-related deterioration, the expense and public health concerns of borrowing specially trained horses from afar, and the challenges of proceeding along fully paved public roads. As a result, it has been decided that the horse-drawn carriage will no longer be used, now or in the future. We ask for your understanding.

9.  Finally, a word about the term “kinkō” (欽行), which I have used several times in this article. It carries the meaning “to carry out with reverence and respect,” and it seems to be a coined expression created by one of the pioneers who worked to revive the procession. Searching online confirms that it is a term used only for the Munetada Shrine Procession.

We eagerly look forward to your worship and service at this irreplaceable Munetada Shrine Procession!

Postscript  

Although this article itself is not numbered, last month’s piece—“The Year of Setting Forth in the Ten-Year Plan”—was in fact the 101st installment since the very first “Spirit of the Way” written in the month following the Chief Patriarch’s accession. Once again, may this mark the beginning of a new “setting forth” for the flourishing of the Way… (two claps).

The original Japanese version: へぇ！ そうだったんですね…宗忠神社御神幸