Oyamazumi Shrine

OyamazumiarmourNational TreasureOmishimacamphor grove

Ehime · Omishima

34.2386°N, 133.0174°E

Oyamazumi is the head shrine of some ten thousand Mishima and Yamazumi shrines and the deity is the god of mountains, sea and war. For a thousand years warriors going into battle in western Japan dedicated armour here, and the result is the largest collection of surviving Japanese arms and armour anywhere: eight National Treasures and around four hundred and seventy Important Cultural Properties, which is roughly eighty per cent of all the nationally designated armour in Japan.

The pieces are extraordinary — a set attributed to Minamoto no Yoshitsune, another to Yoritomo, the oldest surviving o-yoroi great armour, an enormous tachi. They are in three museum buildings on the grounds. In the courtyard stands a camphor about 2,600 years old, and the shrine's camphor grove is designated a natural monument as the oldest primeval camphor stand in Japan.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Grounds open during daylight hours | Treasure halls keep their own hours

Closed: Grounds open year-round

Entrance Fee

Grounds free | Treasure halls charged — confirm on arrival

Best Season

Year-round

Visit Duration

90 minutes – 2 hours including the treasure halls

Getting There

Access Information

3327 Miyaura, Omishima-cho, Imabari, on Omishima island on the Shimanami Kaido. Car or bus from the Shimanami Kaido; also reachable by ferry. Shrine grounds free to enter. The treasure halls — Shiyoden, Kokuhokan and the Omishima Maritime Museum — are charged; confirm the current admission on arrival.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Go into the treasure halls.** Eight National Treasures and around 470 Important Cultural Properties of arms and armour, roughly eighty per cent of the national total. The shrine grounds alone are not the reason to come. **Look at the oldest o-yoroi.** The earliest surviving great armour in Japan is here, along with pieces attributed to Yoshitsune and Yoritomo. Nowhere else has this concentration. **The camphor grove is a natural monument.** The tree in front of the worship hall is about 2,600 years old and the surrounding stand is designated as the oldest primeval camphor forest in Japan. **It is on the Shimanami Kaido.** Which makes it reachable by bicycle, and a great many cyclists stop here — the shrine sells amulets aimed at them. **Combine with the Toyo Ito museum.** The architecture museum and the Tokoro Museum are on the same island and make Omishima a full day rather than a bridge crossing.

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