Uetsuki Hachiman Shrine | kokosil Castle Town Yamatokoriyama

Said to be the legendary ancient temple Uetsukitera Temple’s shrine for the local deity, the old Uetsuki Hachiman Shrine is located in what used to be the “unlucky” southwest corner of Heijo-kyo (the capital city of Japan during the Nara period). The Honden (main shrine building) is built in the architectural style of “kasuga-zukuri,” and in Tojaiji’s “Jinmyocho” (a register of shrines in Japan), it is listed as “Uetsuki Myojin”. It was widely worshipped by Osaka merchants, samurai, and courtiers until the Meiji period and has appeared in various historical texts such as “Konjaku Monogatari,” “Nihon Ryoiki,” and “Makuranososhi.” There are two auxiliary shrines within its grounds. The Uetsuki Nimasumana Shrine (commonly called the Kingyo Shrine) and the Uetsuki Nimasu Fujiwara Shrine which deifies three generations of the Fujiwara no Fuhito clan. The enshrined deity of the Uetsuki Nimasumana Shrine, Ameno Oshikumoneno Mikoto, is a possessive oracle god which is also called “Mikogami.” It is a water god which is regarded in the same light as the “Kasuga Ryujin (dragon god).” Its incarnate, “Kasuga Akadoji,” has traditionally been believed to be the guardian god of women and children, and from its appearance of all-red, is called the “Kingyo (goldfish) Shrine.”