Kirishima Tenson-korin Legend

The Kirishima Tenson-korin legend identifies the peak of the heavenly descent at Mount Takachiho (1,574 m) in the Kirishima volcanic range of Kagoshima Prefecture. According to the Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE), Ninigi-no-Mikoto, grandson of Amaterasu-Omikami, descended from Takamagahara to the Ashihara-no-Nakatsukuni bearing the three sacred regalia and ears of rice, accompanied by retainer deities. At the summit stands the 'Ama-no-sakahoko', an iron halberd traditionally said to have been planted by Ninigi-no-Mikoto. The Kirishima Jingu shrine at the mountain's foot enshrines him as principal deity. A long-standing debate places the descent site either here or at Takachiho in Miyazaki Prefecture, a divergence already noted in medieval shrine origin texts and the Edo-period gazetteer Sangoku Meishou Zue (1843).