Miyagi · ShiogamaNo.1232★★Open in map →
Shiwahiko and Shiogama Shrines
Two shrines from different centuries share one walled precinct on a wooded ridge above the port of Shiogama, with a long stone stairway climbing straight up from the town. Worship is free, and the outer grounds stay walkable even when the gates are shut.
- FromSendai Station
- ~45 minJR Senseki Line, then a walk
- Get off atHon-Shiogama Station (JR Senseki Line)
- On foot
- Shiwahiko and Shiogama Shrines
The sweet spot
This is a first-rank shrine on every Miyagi itinerary, not a hidden one. It fills at New Year and during the July port festival. On an ordinary morning the stairway and the forecourts are calm, because the free car parks lie on the east and north sides of the grounds and most drivers reach the halls without using the front steps at all.
Where it is
23 more notes in Miyagi · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- The stone toriia granite gateway at the foot of the steps, one of the nationally listed structures
- The front stone stairwaya straight, steep climb between cedars and stone lanterns from the town to the gate
- Zuishinmon gatea vermilion two-storey gate standing at the head of the stairway
- The halls of Shiogama Shrinefourteen listed buildings, plain cypress-bark sanctuaries behind vermilion, copper-roofed worship halls
- Shiwahiko Shrinethe second shrine, north-west across the grounds, its halls finished in red and black lacquer
How to actually get there
- Sendai Station → Hon-Shiogama Station (JR Senseki Line, roughly 30 minutes, no change).
- Hon-Shiogama Station → the stone torii at the foot of the front approach (walk north-west through the shopping streets).
- Climb the stone stairway, pass through the tower gate, and cross the forecourt to the halls of Shiogama Shrine.
- Walk north-west to Shiwahiko Shrine and its garden, then come down by the east approach past the museum.
- JR Senseki Line, direct from Sendai
- Sendai Station →(JR Senseki Line, roughly 30 minutes)→ Hon-Shiogama Station, then about 15 minutes on foot through the shopping streets to the stone torii at the foot of the front approach. There is no change of train.
- Back from Hon-Shiogama
- Walk back down to Hon-Shiogama and take the Senseki Line to Sendai. Services thin out in the evening and the shrine gates close in the afternoon, so this works better in the first half of a day than the last.
About the place
Shiwahiko Shrine and Shiogama Shrine share one walled precinct on Ichimoriyama, a wooded ridge rising straight out of the port town of Shiogama. The front approach is a stone stairway of 202 steps, climbing between cedars and stone lanterns from the shopping streets at the foot of the hill. A second approach comes up from the east on a longer, gentler grade and passes the shrine's museum. At the top the ground opens into gravel forecourts and a garden. Shiogama's halls sit behind a vermilion tower gate, and Shiwahiko stands off to the north-west with its own gate and its own forecourt.
How to enjoy it
Shiogama's gates open at around 5am for most of the year, so an early start gets you the stairway and the forecourt before the car parks on the east and north sides fill. Go up by the front steps and come down by the east approach, which brings you past the shrine museum. From the garden on the Shiwahiko side the islands of Matsushima Bay are in view.
Background & history
Medieval records already name Shiogama as the first shrine of Mutsu, the old province covering much of northern Honshu. The Date lords of Sendai treated it as their own and rebuilt the halls from the ground up, finishing the work in 1704. Those Edo-period buildings and the stone torii are now nationally designated Important Cultural Properties. Shiwahiko Shrine came from inland Miyagi in 1874 and was placed inside the same precinct; its present lacquered halls were completed in 1938.
Before you go
- Cash
- Worship in the precinct is free. The shrine museum inside the grounds charges admission. Carry cash for the museum and for charms.
- Before you go
- Opening and closing times for the gates change month by month, and the two shrines do not keep the same hours, so check the shrine's own table before planning an early start. When the gates are shut the outer grounds can still be walked. The front steps are steep; in rain or snow the east approach is the easier way up and down.
- Another way
- From Sendai the JR Tohoku Main Line reaches Shiogama Station in less time on the train, but the shrine's own guide puts the walk from there at about 25 minutes. By car it is roughly 10 minutes from the Rifu-Shiogama interchange on the Sanriku Expressway, and free parking sits on the east and north sides of the grounds.
- After you get off
- From Hon-Shiogama Station head north-west through the shopping streets and the stone torii at the foot of the front approach comes up in front of you. The east approach branches off the same streets and climbs on a gentler, paved grade.