Shimogamo Shrine
This shrine was already centuries old when Kyoto was founded.
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Dating to the 6th century — roughly 200 years before Kyoto became Japan's capital in 794 — Shimogamo is the senior of the two Kamo shrines that have ritually guarded the city from malign influences ever since. The author of the classic Hōjōki, Kamo no Chōmei, was the son of a head priest here.
What to look for
- Tadasu no Mori, the grove surrounding the shrine — a surviving fragment of the primeval forest that once blanketed this valley
- The paired inner sanctuaries dedicated to Tamayori-hime and her father Kamo Taketsunomi, the thunder-associated kami the shrine has venerated since the Heian period
- The relationship to Kamigamo Shrine — Shimogamo is believed to be 100 years older than its traditionally linked partner to the north
Shimogamo pairs naturally with a visit to Kamigamo Shrine — the two form the traditionally linked pair of Kamo shrines that have jointly served to protect Kyoto.
Shimogamo Shrine is one of 39 sights worth the detour in Kyoto, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Kyoto pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Kyoto
- Kiyomizu-dera TempleA monk traced a golden stream to its source on Mount Otowa in 778. Pilgrims are still arriving.
- Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)A gold-wrapped pavilion torched by a novice monk in 1950 and rebuilt by 1955 — every gleaming surface you see is modern.
- Fushimi Inari-taishaTen thousand orange gates, every single one paid for by a Japanese business, tunnel up a sacred mountain.
- Heian-kyō (Kyoto)Japan's capital for over a thousand years — and by one legal argument, still.
- Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion)The silver coating was never applied — and that unfinished state became the point.
- Kyoto Imperial PalaceJapan's imperial seat for 538 years — until the emperor moved his residence to Tokyo and the palace lost its central role.