Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine

Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine, located in Kamiyoshida, Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi Prefecture, stands at the northern foot of Mt. Fuji at about 850 meters elevation. The principal deity is Konohanasakuya-hime-no-Mikoto, who is recorded in the upper book of the Kojiki in the descent of Ninigi-no-Mikoto as the consort who gave birth to three sons in fire. She is here venerated as Asama-no-Okami, the spirit of Mt. Fuji. The shrine also enshrines her father Oyamatsumi-no-Kami and her husband Ninigi. Tradition dates its founding to 110 CE during Keiko Tenno's reign, when Yamato Takeru gazed at Mt. Fuji from the Otsuka mound. The honden (1615), East and West honden, and other early-modern halls are Important Cultural Properties, and the shrine was registered as a Mt. Fuji World Heritage component in 2013. The Yoshida Fire Festival on August 26-27 is counted among Japan's three unusual festivals.