| Mishima Taisha 三嶋大社 | |
| Map Type: | Japan Shizuoka Prefecture#Japan |
| Coordinates: | 35.1219°N 138.9189°W |
| Map Relief: | 1 |
| Religious Affiliation: | Shinto |
| Deity: | Mishima Daimyōjin |
| Location: | 1-5 Omiya-chō 2-chōme, Mishima, Shizuoka, 411-0035 |
| Festival: | August 16 |
| Designation1: | National Treasure of Japan |
The is a Shinto shrine located in the city of Mishima in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is the ichinomiya of former Izu Province[1] as well as its Sōja shrine. The main festival of the shrine is held annually on August 16, and features yabusame performances.[2]
The date of Mishima Taisha's foundation is unknown. Per shrine tradition and Nara period records, the predecessor of the shrine may have originally located on Miyakejima but was transferred later from place to place. It first appeared in national chronicles in the Nihon Kōki in an entry date 832, with the location given as being in Kamo county, which is in the southern part of Izu Peninsula, near modern Shimoda. Subsequent mentions in the Nihon Montoku Tennō Jitsuroku (850, 852, 854), the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku (859, 864) and the Ruijū Kokushi (868) mention the shrine, but not its location. By the time of the Engishiki in 927 AD, the shrine's location is listed as being in Tagata county, or its present location.
Mishima Taisha was greatly revered by Minamoto no Yoritomo after he was exiled to Izu, and he made prayers at the shrine at the start of his struggle to overthrow the Heike clan in the Genpei War. After the successful establishment of the Kamakura shogunate, he rebuilt the shrine on a large scale, and worship of the Mishima Daimyōjin became popular with the samurai class. The shrine continued to be supported by Yoritomo's successors, especially the fourth Shogun Kujō Yoritsune. During the Sengoku period the kami of Mishima Taisha came to be associated with victory in battle, and the shrine was patronized by the Odawara Hōjō, the Imagawa clan and the Tokugawa clan.
It may have been used as the Izu Province Sōja shrine
During the Edo period, Mishima Taisha and its associated post town of Mishima-shuku prospered as a popular pilgrimage stop on the Tōkaidō highway between Edo and Kyoto. Its torii gate was depicted in an ukiyo-e print by Hiroshige. A calendar issued by the shrine was carried home by pilgrims from all over Japan, and was known as the "Mishima Calendar".
During the Meiji period era of State Shinto, the shrine was designated as an under the Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines in 1871, meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.[3] However, its name was not changed from "Mishima Jinja" to "Mishima Taisha" until after World War II.