The history of "Ichinomiya"
Although the rank of "Ichinomiya" became to be used between the Heian period and Kamakura period, in the 11th and 12th centuries, since there are no historical materials concerning the system of ichinomiya from the time, how the system of ichinomiya was formed is unclear.
A popular theory is as follows. Under the Ritsuryō law system, when a government official, Kokushi, was appointed to a province, the Kokushi had to make a pilgrimage to the major shrines of the province, and the first shrine to visit, with a high status, became to be called the "Ichinomiya". Also, in another theory, as shrines gathered worship of the people, the shrines gradually and spontaneously became ranked, and the shrine of the highest rank became to be calledthe "Ichinomiya".
Anyway, the word "Ichinomiya" became to mean the shrine that is in the highest rank of the province. Since it is unclear who chose the shrine that is the ichinomiya, and how they were chosen, and also, it is only the status in the Heian period, the word ichinomiya does not always portray the scale of the shrines in modern times. However, the shrines those are called ichinomiya are still historic shrines those were recognized as a shrine of a high status since the Heian period.
The term "Ichinomiya" continued to be used after the Ritsuryō law system fell away, but shrines considered to be "Ichinomiya" sometimes changed due to prosperities and declines of the shrines, and some shrines fought over the title of "Ichinomiya". Due to these reasons, and the lack of historical sources, multiple shrines those used to be in the same province may claim that it was a "Ichinomiya".
In areas those were not in the influence area of the the Imperial Court at the time when "Ichinomiya"s were formed, such as Okinawa, northern Tohoku and Hokkaido, do not have any shrines those are historically called "ichinomiya"s. However, major shrines of these areas became to be called Shin-ichinomiya ("新一宮", meaning "new 'ichinomiya'") in modern times.
May 20th, 2021
