Hanao Shrine

• Established: 1218
• Japanese: 花尾神社 (Hanao jinja)

Hanao Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Kagoshima, dedicated to the spirits of Minamoto no Yoritomo and Tango no tsubone, the supposed parents of Shimazu Tadahisa, founder of the Shimazu clan. It contains the grave of Tango no tsubone within its grounds.

The shrine was established by Shimazu Tadahisa in 1218, to honor his supposed parents; the notion that Tadahisa was a biological son of Yoritomo is no longer widely accepted, however. In the Bakumatsu period, it was believed that the shrine enshrined the spirit of Prince Mochihito, son of Emperor Go-Shirakawa, as part of a belief that Mochihito was Tadahisa's true father.

From the late 13th century onward, the shrine gained closer ties with the Shimazu clan, and each subsequent head of the clan contributed to repairs or renovation of the shrine halls. As a shrine dedicated to the ancestors of the Shimazu clan, the Shimazu had Ryûkyûan embassies formally visit the shrine on a number of occasions in the Edo period.

References

• "Hanao jinja," Shimazu-ke ga hagukunda bunka, Shôkoshûseikan official website.