Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine

Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine, located in Miyashita-cho, Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture, is a branch of the Hikawa Shrine of Musashi Province and the chief tutelary shrine of the Kawagoe castle town. It enshrines five deities: Susanoo-no-Mikoto, Kushinadahime-no-Mikoto, their son Onamuchi-no-Mikoto, and Kushinadahime's parents Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi. This family configuration mirrors the Yamata-no-Orochi episode in the upper book of the Kojiki and is cited as the basis of the shrine's match-making veneration. Shrine tradition dates its founding to 541 (second year of Kinmei Tenno). When Ota Dokan and his father built Kawagoe Castle in 1457, it was designated the castle-town tutelary shrine. The honden, a Saitama prefectural cultural property, was rebuilt in 1850. The Kawagoe Festival held October 14-15 began in 1638 and is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.