Kurakanoya Shrine Sanjuuden

The shrine's founding is attributed to the reign of Emperor Suinin. It is said to have originated when Toyosukihiruko-no-mikoto, during his campaign to pacify the eastern provinces, was granted a naturally occurring stone shaped like a turtle (Kame-ishi), which was enshrined as the sacred object. In 817 CE (Daido 2), a shrine enshrining Iitama Daijin was established. During the Edo period, it was revered as the chief guardian deity of the Nakasendo highway's Kurakanoya post station. In the Meiji era, after being known as Daikokuten Shrine, it merged with several nearby shrines in 1910 CE (Meiji 43) to become the current Kurakanoya Shrine.