Hakuto Shrine

Hakuto Shrine in Tottori City stands above the dunes of the Hakuto Coast facing the small island of Oki no Shima, the legendary scene of the Inaba no Shirousagi narrative. The main deity is Hakuto no Kami, the white hare recorded in the Okuninushi cycle of Kojiki (712 CE), who, after being deceived by sea creatures and tricked again by the eighty brothers, was healed by Okuninushi (then called Onamuji). Okuninushi and Ukemochi no Kami are enshrined alongside. The grounds preserve the Mitarashi pond where the hare is said to have washed and the Fuzo-fugen pond. Engishiki (927 CE) does not record the shrine, but local devotion continued through the medieval and early modern periods. It was registered as a village shrine in 1885 and the Hakuto Coast was designated a National Historic Site in 1932. The April reisai and October Goshinko festival are the main rites.