Mikurisu Shrine

This former village shrine is located in the Minami district of Ujitawara Town. Its enshrined deity is Amatsuhikone-no-Mikoto, and it currently serves as the “Ichinomiya”—the guardian deity of the Minami district—and is one of the three shrines that together form the “Tawara Festival (Sansa Festival).” According to the shrine’s tradition, it originated in June of the 6th year of the Kōan era (1283) as a branch shrine of Ōmiya Shrine in Araki; however, there are records of a powerful local clan donating land to the site even earlier than that, so the exact date of its founding remains uncertain. The chestnuts harvested from the surrounding chestnut groves have been renowned since ancient times for their luster and excellent flavor, and are said to be associated with the legend of Emperor Tenmu’s boiled and roasted chestnuts, which appears in the *Uji Shūi Monogatari*. It was customary to present these chestnuts to the Imperial Palace every year on November 15, a practice that continued until Meiji 20. It is said that the shrine’s name, Okurisu, may have taken root as these chestnut groves, from which chestnuts were offered to the imperial court, gradually became a focus of popular devotion; however, these groves have now been replaced by tea fields, and no trace of their former appearance remains. The main shrine building is constructed in the *ikkensha nagare-zukuri* style, and there are three subsidiary shrines dedicated to Amaterasu Omikami, Tenmangu, and Kōmori-sha.