Nikko Futarasan-jinja

Nikko Futarasan-jinja in Nikko, Tochigi, is the ichinomiya of former Shimotsuke Province and a constituent of the UNESCO World Heritage "Shrines and Temples of Nikko." The shrine takes Mount Nantai (2,486 m) and the Nikko range as its sacred mountain; the main shrine at Sannai, the chugushi by Lake Chuzenji and the okumiya on the summit of Nantai together cover one of the largest shrine precincts in Japan. The main deity is Onamuchi no Mikoto, recorded in Kojiki (712 CE) as the chief earthly deity who advanced the formation of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, with his consort Tagori-hime and son Ajisuki Takahikone enshrined alongside. The temple-shrine origin legend in Nikkozan Engi credits the monk Shodo with opening the mountain in 766 CE. Engishiki (927 CE) lists the shrine as a Myojin-Taisha. The April Yayoi festival is the principal annual rite.