Nishinomiya Shrine

Nishinomiya Shrine in Nishinomiya, Hyogo, is the head shrine of the nationwide Ebisu cult, with Hiruko no Okami (Ebisu) as its main deity. Kojiki (712 CE) records Hiruko as the first child of Izanagi and Izanami, sent away in a reed boat. Shrine tradition holds that Hiruko later drifted ashore at the Nishinomiya coast and was enshrined by local fishermen as Ebisu. Associated deities include Amaterasu Omikami, Okuninushi no Okami and Susanoo no Okami. Engishiki (927 CE) does not list the shrine directly, but late-Heian sources such as Nihon Kiryaku and Chuyuki record it as the southern sub-shrine of Hirota. The triple Kasuga-zukuri main hall is an Important Cultural Property. The Toka Ebisu festival of January 9-11 culminates in the famed Fuku-otoko ceremony at dawn on the 10th.