Yagawa-jinja Shrine (矢川神社)
Yagawa-jinja Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Morishiri, Konan-cho, Koka City.
The enshrined deity
The shusaijin (main enshrined deities) are Okuninushi (chief god of Izumo in southern Honshu Island, Japan, and the central character in the important cycle of myths set in that region) and Yagawaehime no miko. Onamuchi no mikoto is worshipped as the god of encouragement of new business and healthy longevity, and Yagawaehime no mikoto is worshipped as the god of development of performance and wish fulfillment.
Yagawaehime no mikoto is also described as 八河江比売 or 矢河枝比売 in Chinese characters.
The genealogy of Okuninushi in Kojiki (The Records of Ancient Matters) described that 'Okuninushi married Ashinadaga no kami (the God of Ashinadaga), or Yagawaehime no mikoto, and had a child named Hayamikanotakesahayajinumi no kami (the God of Hayamikanotakesahayajinumi).'
Also, in the article concerning Emperor Ojin in Kojiki, the name of Miyanushiyakawaehime was described as one of the princesses of Emperor Ojin.
History
The shrine's biography tells that this shrine was found in the Tenpyo era when the Shigaraki no miya was constructed by Emperor Shomu. Jinmyocho (the list of deities) of Engishiki (codes and procedures on national rites and prayers) describes this shrine as the first on a list of eight shrines in Koga gun (county), Omi Province and lists it as a small shrine. In the Edo period it was considered as a sukei no yashiro (literally means a shrine of reverence) of Minakuchi Domain. In 1842 the 'Koka incident' occurred, in which tens of thousands of farmers got together in front of the main building of this shrine and rose against the land survey conducted by the bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun).