Shimomachiya Shinmei Jinja (下町屋神明神社)

Shimomachiya Shinmei Jinja (下町屋神明神社)

"Seimei Ido" Monument

Located near the ruins of the Former Sagami Bridge along National Route 1 in Chigasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture is the Shinto shrine of Shimomachiya Shinmei Jinja (下町屋神明神社).  It is a kenmusha of Tsurumine Hachimangu enshrining the kami Amaterasu-Okami (天照大神) and Oyamakui-no-Kami (大山咋神).

According to local elders, the site once had a spring where Abe no Seimei (921–1005), a prominent onmyoji of the Heian period, is said to have quenched his thirst while traveling eastwards.  The spring is now marked by a stone monument engraved "Seimei Ido (清明井戸)" which literally translates to Seimei well.

It is believed that the shrine was first established during the Kosho era, around 1455, when the land was under the jurisdiction of the Buddhist temple of Kenchoji.  While the shrine is said to have been founded later during the Kansho era, the exact details remain unclear.