Kamigamo Jinja｜上賀茂神社

Considered one of the oldest Shinto shrines, with spiritual practices in the area traceable back to the 6^th century, Kamigamo Shrine was first mentioned in a 678 historical text with the formal name of Kamo-Wakeikazuchi Jinja, proving that by that time the shrine and its festivals were established presences in the area. 

Kamo Wakeikazuchi no Kami, the deity enshrined, is said to have been born from the union of Tamayori-hime no Mikoto, daughter of Kamo clan founder Kamo Taketsunumi no Mikoto (both now enshrined at Shimogamo Shrine), and a deity she met while performing ablutions.  While in the river purifying herself, Tamayori-hime spotted an arrow floating downstream and plucked it from the water.  Depositing it on the bank, it transformed into its true form as a kami, whom she married and begat with him Wakeikazuchi, a deity governing natural forces. 

When Kyoto was established as the capital in 794, Kamigamo Shrine began to enjoy imperial patronage as the emperor acknowledged the importance of the Kamo Shrines in preventing malign influences from reaching the newly founded Heian-kyō.  Kamigamo Shrine flourished under this patronage, receiving imperial visits from Emperor Kanmu in 794, Emperor Suzaku in 942, and Emperor Enyū in 979.  Emperors not only visited Kamigamo Shrine, but they designated that the deities there would be notified of all imperial edicts, delegating the shrine as an ichinomiya, the rank belonging to twenty two chief Shinto shrines, and as a kanpei-taisha, a government supported shrine during the State Shinto period from 1871 to 1945.        

Kamigamo Shrine, as well as Shimogamo Shrine, carries out restorations of their facilities every twenty one years in a process called shikinen sengū.  Representing the spirit of renewal in the form of refurbishing the shrine buildings, very few shrines still keep this custom alive as it was traditionally only performed by very high-ranking shrines and involves high costs.  The last renewal cycle was completed just recently.