Mitsumine Shrine

Mitsumine Shrine in Chichibu, Saitama, stands at about 1,100 meters in the Chichibu mountains, at the ridge formed by Myoho-ga-take, Shiraiwa-yama and Kumotori-yama. The main deities are Izanagi no Mikoto and Izanami no Mikoto, recorded in Kojiki (712 CE) as the parental deities who bore the islands and the fire deity Kagutsuchi. Associated deities include the three creation deities (Ame no Minakanushi, Takamimusubi and Kamimusubi), Amaterasu Omikami, Susanoo no Mikoto and Tsukuyomi no Mikoto. The shrine is one of the three Chichibu shrines together with Chichibu Shrine and Hodosan Shrine. Pairs of white wolves serve as its sacred messengers, recalling a tradition associated with Yamato Takeru's eastern campaign in which wolves guided him through the mountains. Tradition places the founding in the reign of Emperor Keiko. In the early modern period the Mitsumine pilgrimage confraternities (Mitsumine-ko) were widely organized among Edo townspeople. The principal annual rite is the April 8 grand festival.