Kasama Inari Shrine

Kasama Inari Shrine (笠間稲荷神社) is a Shinto shrine in Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, one of the three great Inari shrines of Japan together with Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto and Yutoku Inari Shrine in Saga. The principal kami is Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami, recorded in the Kojiki (712 CE) as the child of Susanoo-no-Mikoto and Kamuoichi-hime, the grain deity venerated as the head of the nationwide Inari cult through Fushimi Inari. According to shrine tradition, the shrine was founded in 651 CE under Emperor Kotoku. The shrine was patronised by the Makino of Kasama domain in the Edo period, and the main hall, an Ansei-Manen era (1854-1860) rebuild, is an Important Cultural Property. The shrine sees about 3.5 million visitors annually, among the highest in the Kanto region, with the Yabusame at the autumn festival registered as an Intangible Folk Cultural Property.