Hachiman-no-Kami

Hachiman-no-Kami is a deity centered on the fifteenth emperor Ojin (Homutawake-no-Mikoto), enshrined with Empress Jingu and Hime-Okami as the consort deity. From the eighth century the cult spread from Usa Hachimangu in Oita to the capital and the eastern provinces, and became the tutelary deity of the Genji line, revered by the warrior houses. Nihon Shoki (720 CE) Ojin chapter records that Homutawake-no-Mikoto was the prince whom Empress Jingu carried in her womb during the campaign across the strait. The Hachiman Usa-gu Gotakusen-shu records that in the thirty-second year of Emperor Kinmei (571 CE) the deity appeared at Usa with the oracle, "I am Homuda-no-Sumera-Mikoto-Hirohata-Hachiman-maro," taken as the manifestation of Hachiman. The Shoku Nihongi notes that the Usa deity travelled to the capital to assist Emperor Shomu's great Buddha at Todai-ji in 749 CE. Usa Jingu in Oita is the head shrine, with Iwashimizu Hachimangu in Kyoto (transferred in 859 CE) and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kamakura (founded 1063 CE, refounded 1185 CE) completing the three great Hachiman shrines.