Shirajinja Reef (city-designated historic site and natural monument)

Shirakamisha Shrine is located right next to the intersection of Heiwa Boulevard and Koijyo Street. People and cars are bustling around here, but it is said that this place used to be the sea. In 1371, when the conflict between the Northern and Southern Courts was still going on, Imagawa Ryoshun was appointed as the Kyushu Tandai and traveled west. In his travelogue, Michiyukiburi, he wrote about the scenery around Hiroshima, "The further I went along Shihohi Beach, the more interesting it became." "Shihohi Beach" refers to a tidal flat. In other words, the Hiroshima area at that time was a shallow cove that people could walk across when the tide went out. The reef of Shirakamisha Shrine must have been peeking out from the sea at that time. Then, about 400 years ago, during the Tensho period, when Hiroshima Castle was built and the castle town was developed, the development of the Ota River Delta and land reclamation caused it to be located near the coastline. Regarding the origins of Shirakami Shrine, according to the Chishinshu, a piece of white paper was erected on a reef jutting out into the sea and used as a landmark for passing ships, and later a small shrine was built and named Shirakami Myojin. It is not clear when this occurred, but the rock, which served as an important landmark for navigation, became linked to a folk belief that the reef was the object of worship, and it came to be revered by the local people. Mori Terumoto, who built Hiroshima Castle, made this small shrine, located on the south front of the castle and which attracted the faith of the people, the tutelary deity of the castle lord and the soubusunagami (guardian deity of the land) of Hiroshima Castle town, and built a new shrine building on the reef. After that, Fukushima Masanori and successive lords of Hiroshima Castle, the Asano clan, also treasured this shrine. Date of designation: November 28, 1984