is a Shinto shrine located at Sakyō-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture Japan.
History The shrine became the object of Imperial patronage during the early Heian period.Breen, John et al. (2000). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami, pp. 74-75. In 965, Emperor Murakami ordered that Imperial messengers were sent to report important events to the guardian kami of Japan. These heihaku were initially presented to 16 shrines including the Kifune Shrine.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines, pp. 116-117.
From 1871 through 1946, the Kifune Shrine was officially designated one of the , meaning that it stood in the second rank of government supported shrines.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan, pp. 126.
The shrine is also associated with the Ushi no toki mairi, the ritual of wearing candles on one's head and laying a curse at a shrine during the "hour of the Ox", since it is from the resident deity that Hashihime (Princess of the Uji Bridge) learns the prescribed ritual to turn herself into an oni demon to exact vengeance, the story of which is immortalized in the Noh play Kanawa ("The Iron Crown").
See also List of Shinto shrines Twenty-Two Shrines Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines
Notes
References Breen, John and Mark Teeuwen. (2000). Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1962). Studies in Shinto and Shrines. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 399449 ____________. (1959). The Imperial House of Japan. Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society. OCLC 194887
External links Official Site