Kasama Inari Shrine, one of Japan's three major Inari shrines

The deity worshipped at Kasama Inari Shrine is Uka no Mitama no Kami, a deity with the highest rank of Shoichii. According to the shrine's tradition, this shrine, one of the three major Inari shrines in Japan, was founded in 651 during the reign of the 36th Emperor Kokutoku, making it a historic shrine with a history of about 1,360 years. In 713, during the Nara period, the compilation of the Fudoki was ordered by imperial decree of Emperor Genmei. The "Hitachi no Kuni Fudoki," one of the "Fudoki," states that "there is a village of Kasama 50 ri east of the county of Niiharu." It is believed that at that time, faith in Uka no Mitama no Kami, who is described in the "Kojiki" and "Nihon Shoki," was deeply rooted in this area of ​​Kasama. Kasama Inari Okami, revered as the god of food and agriculture, became more widely worshipped as the god of industrial development as commerce and industry flourished. In the early modern period, not only farmers but also merchants, townspeople, samurai, and feudal lords received their spirits and worshipped them as house, household, and local deities. In particular, during the Edo period, the successive lords of Kasama Domain deeply revered the deity. The first lord, Matsudaira Yasushige, welcomed the spirit of Kasama Inari Okami even after moving to Tanba Sasayama, and this is what is now Ojiyama Inari. The third lord, Matsudaira (Toda) Yasunaga, enshrined the spirit of Kasama Inari Okami in his castle when he was transferred to Matsumoto in Shinano Province, and worshipped it for a long time. The fourth lord, Nagai Naokatsu, continued to enshrine the spirit of Kasama Inari even after moving to Koga Domain, and it is said that the divine horse statue that stands at the current tower gate was donated by his subjects. The fifth feudal lord was Lord Asano Nagashige, the great-grandfather of Lord Asano Takumi-no-kami Naganori, famous for Chushingura, and the sixth feudal lord was his grandfather, Lord Asano Naganao. Oishi Kuranosuke also received a branch of the spirit of Kasama Inari Okami from the Kasama domain and enshrined it in his residence, which became Oishi Inari Shrine. Both the Asano and Oishi families continued to worship the shrine devoutly even after moving from Kasama to Ako. The 13th feudal lord, Lord Inoue Masataka, felt even more deeply the power of the god after Kasama Inari Okami appeared to him in a dream, and he designated Kasama Inari Shrine as a place of prayer for successive feudal lords and worked to expand the shrine grounds and buildings. Following the precedent, the 14th feudal lord, Lord Makino Sadamichi, designated Kasama Inari Shrine as a place of prayer for the Makino family and donated the precincts and ritual implements. From then on, the Makino family owned the Kasama domain until the Meiji Restoration, and they worked hard to develop the shrine. The 15th feudal lord, Makino Sadanaga, felt the great power of the god and submitted a petition to Kyoto, which he received imperial permission to bestow upon the god the rank of Shoichii Inari Daimyojin. Most of the successive feudal lords, except for the Makino family, were transferred to other domains, but their reverence for Kasama did not change even after they left, and they enshrined a branch of the god in their new territories. This spread the lords' deep reverence to the people of the domain, and then to the people outside the domain. #KasamaInariShrine #IbarakiPrefecture #KasamaCityIbarakiPrefecture #KasamaInari #LowestAttractivePrefecture #ThreeBigInariInJapan