Futarasan shrine
Shinto shrine in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan

Futarasan jinja (二荒山神社) is a Shinto shrine in the city of Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. It is also known as Nikkō Futarasan Shrine, to distinguish it from the Utsunomiya Futarayama Jinja, which shares the same kanji in its name. Both shrines claim the title of ichinomiya of the former Shimotsuke Province. The main festival of the shrine is held annually from April 13 to April 17.
The shrine consists of three geographically separate sections. The main shrine is located between Nikkō Tōshō-gū and the Taiyū-in Mausoleum. Many visitors go to all three, as well as to Rinnō-ji, which are part of the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site. The "middle shrine" is located off the shore of Lake Chuzenji. The "inner shrine" is located at the summit of Mount Nantai, the volcano overlooking the lake.
The shrine possesses two swords that are National treasures of Japan.
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This entry incorporates text from “Futarasan shrine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.