Sapporo Hachimangu Shrine, Kitahiroshima

Address: 5-3-16, Wattsuchuo, Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido 061-1268

Open: 9am to 5pm / You can call them 10am to 5pm

Amount Spent Here: 1,000 yen on a lucky charm

For The Taxi Driver:
〒061-1268 北海道北広島市輪厚中央5丁目3番16号

GPS: 42.94169053785616, 141.5034815472462 (Google Maps)

Sapporo Hachimangu is a Shinto shrine located in Kitahiroshima, Sapporo, Hokkaido. It is a shrine dedicated to the kami Hachiman. It was estabished in 1977. Kami enshrined here include Tenjin, Sugawara no Michizane, Akibadai Gongen, Ume no Miya Okami and Kotohira no Okami.

Sapporo Hachiman Shrine was established in June 1977 by the late Senior Priest Shigemori Kikuchi.

The Kikuchi family has been a line of Shinto priests for generations, with a history spanning over 350 years since the first generation, Ichime Kikuchi. Kikuchi Ichime served at Hakodate Hachiman Shrine, later becoming its chief priest and the family line continued until the 11th generation, Kikuchi Izumo-no-kami Shigetaka.

In accordance with its policy of “Restoration of Imperial Rule and Unity of Religion and Government,” the new Meiji government issued the “Imperial Edict on the Proclamation of the Great Teaching” to unify Buddhism, Shinto shrines, and various Shinto sects.
Furthermore, the new government did not recognize hereditary succession within shrine families, and Shigeaki Kikuchi, the 11th Chief Priest of Hakodate Hachiman Shrine, became the second Chief Priest of Sapporo Shrine (now Hokkaido Jingu).

In 1882 (Meiji 15), Shigeaki Kikuchi resigned as chief priest of Sapporo Shrine and established the Kotohira Church at Minami 5 Nishi 4, Chuo-ku, Sapporo (near the current Susukino La Fila), making it a spiritual refuge for the faithful.

However, since the land on which the Kotohira Church stood was leased, the 13th-generation head, Shigeo, was forced to relocate and the 14th-generation head, Shigemasa, established Sapporo Hachiman Shrine in Wata, Kitahiroshima City.
Currently, Shigetoshi Kikuchi serves as the second-generation chief priest.