Kusado Inari Shrine

Kusado Inari Shrine, located in Kusado-cho, Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture, is a major Inari shrine of the Chugoku region sometimes counted among the three great Inari of Japan. It stands on the right bank of the lower Ashida River, adjacent to Myoo-in temple (whose main hall and pagoda are National Treasures) and just east of the medieval port-town ruins of Kusado-Sengen-cho, a National Historic Site. The principal deity is Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami, with attendant Ukemochi-no-Kami and Onamuchi-no-Kami. The configuration follows the model of Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, the head shrine of all Inari devotion; the upper book of the Kojiki records Uka-no-Mitama as the child of Susanoo and Kamuoichi-hime. According to tradition, the shrine was founded in 807 by Kukai as the tutelary of Myoo-in. It was patronized by the Bingo provincial governors and by the Mizuno lords of the Fukuyama domain. The first horse festival in February and the annual rite in November continue the rhythms of Inari devotion.