Hiko Jinja Shrine

Hiko Shrine was founded in 1915 by Ninomiya Chuhachi, a Japanese aviation pioneer who built a fixed-wing model aircraft that flew successfully in 1891. After the Wright Brothers completed the first powered human flight in 1903, Chuhachi became a Shinto priest and established this shrine to honor all those lost in aviation accidents, regardless of nationality, under the belief that the world shares the same sky. The central altar enshrines Nigihayahi no Mikoto, a sky deity; a side altar commemorates victims of aviation incidents worldwide. A small museum at the shrine holds sketches, kite models, and photographs documenting Chuhachi's early aeronautical experiments.