Hiro Hachiman Shrine

Hiro Hachiman Shrine, located in Kaminakano, Hirokawa Town, Arida District, Wakayama Prefecture, is a major Hachiman shrine of the former Arida District in Kii Province. The principal deities are Hondawake-no-Mikoto (Ojin Tenno), Okinagatarashihime-no-Mikoto (Empress Jingu), and Tarashinakatsuhiko-no-Mikoto (Chuai Tenno), the three Hachiman deities. The shrine belongs to the Hachiman lineage radiating from Usa Jingu in Buzen. Adjacent stands the Hamaguchi Goryo Memorial Hall and the Inamura-no-Hi Museum, commemorating the local merchant Hamaguchi Goryo, who saved the villagers by setting rice stacks alight during the 1854 Ansei-Nankai earthquake tsunami. According to tradition, the shrine was founded in 759 by a disciple of the monk Gyoki, who invited the deity from Usa Jingu. It was relocated to the present site in 1251, and its honden, the Korasha and Wakamiya subordinate halls, the romon and the haiden were built between the Muromachi and Edo periods; all five buildings are Important Cultural Properties. The October annual festival features lion-dance offerings and mikoshi processions.