Ehime · OmishimaNo.642★★Open in map →

Oyamazumi Shrine

— Omishima's armour hall on the Shimanami Kaido

historyOff the trail — and worth it

A shrine on Omishima, midway along the Shimanami Kaido, dedicated to the god of mountains and of the sea routes between them. Warriors dedicated their weapons here for centuries, and what they left is now the densest collection of its kind in Japan.

FromImabari Station
~1 hr 20 minSetouchi bus from Imabari
Get off atMiyaura, Omishima (island bus and ferry hub)
From there
Oyamazumi Shrine

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

The shrine is well documented, signposted and passed all season by cyclists riding the Shimanami Kaido. What keeps it from filling up is simply distance. The bus ride from Imabari is long enough that day trips out of Matsuyama or Onomichi rarely make it this far, so the grounds stay unhurried even in high season.

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

The tower gatethe roumon at the head of the approach, marking the entrance to the inner grounds
The great camphora broad multi-trunked camphor standing in the open centre of the grounds
The worship hallthe haiden facing the camphor across the gravel court
The treasure hallthe museum behind the grounds, holding armour, swords and dedicated weapons

How to actually get there

Imabari Station → Omishima by Setouchi bus across the Shimanami Kaido.
Get off at Miyaura, the port town, or stay on to the Oyamazumi-jinja-mae stop by the gate.
Walk inland from the harbour to the shrine's approach and tower gate.
Grounds and great camphor → the treasure hall behind them.

Setouchi bus from Imabari Station across the Shimanami Kaido: Imabari Station → Omishima by Setouchi bus, a ride of about 65 minutes over the island bridges. Check the timetable at the stop and fix your return departure before you commit to the trip. Buses set down at Miyaura, the shrine's port town, and some call at the Oyamazumi-jinja-mae stop directly outside the gate.
Return from Omishima to Imabari: Take the same Setouchi service back from Miyaura toward Imabari Station. Read the return departures on the board when you arrive rather than when you leave, and settle on the last bus before you start walking the grounds. An island route gives you fewer second chances than a city line.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Oyamazumi Shrine sits inland on Omishima, one of the islands the Shimanami Kaido crosses between Honshu and Shikoku. Its deity governs mountains, and by extension the sea lanes that thread between them, which made it the shrine that commanders of both land and naval forces turned to. They prayed before campaigns and gave thanks after them, and their offering was the equipment they fought in. The result is a treasure hall holding roughly 80 percent of the arms and armour designated nationally in Japan, a concentration with no rival anywhere.

How to enjoy it

Give the treasure hall as much time as the grounds — it is the reason the shrine matters, and it is easy to walk straight past it. Entry to the grounds is free and the hall is ticketed on its own, so you can decide once you are there. Counting the ride each way, treat Omishima as a half day rather than a stop between islands.

Background & history

Oyamazumi is the ichinomiya, the first-ranked shrine of the old province of Iyo, and has long been called the head guardian shrine of the country. The god enshrined here, Oyamazumi-no-kami, is the deity of mountains, which in the Seto Inland Sea means the deity of the channels that run between them as well. At the centre of the grounds stands a camphor said to have been planted 2,600 years ago by Ochi-no-Mikoto, the ancestral figure of the local clan, with older camphors grouped around it.

Before you go

Cash: The shrine grounds are free to enter. The treasure hall is ticketed separately and its rate changes, so check at the desk rather than budgeting from a figure. Bring cash — this is an island route served by small operators, and card acceptance is not something to count on.
Good to know: The grounds are outdoors and the approach in from the road is open to the weather. The treasure hall keeps its own hours, separate from the grounds, so check them on arrival and work the visit around them. On an island, the bus is the only dependable way back if conditions turn.
Another way: From the Honshu side, expressway buses along the Shimanami Kaido reach the Omishima bus stop, where a local Setouchi Kaiun service runs down to the shrine. That is the faster approach if you are coming from Fukuyama or Onomichi rather than from Shikoku.
After you get off: Buses from Imabari set down at Miyaura, the port town on Omishima's west coast. The shrine stands inland from the harbour: follow the road east and the approach opens out at the tower gate. Some services stop closer still, at Oyamazumi-jinja-mae, right outside the entrance.