Sasamuta Shrine

Sasamuta Shrine in Oita City stands at the foot of Mount Hongu (Saikanta-yama) along the Nanase River. It is one of the ichinomiya of former Bungo Province and one of five Bungo shrines registered in Engishiki Jinmyocho (927 CE). The main enshrined deity is Amaterasu Omikami, with Tsukuyomi and Ame no Oshihomimi as associated deities; the lineup reflects the Ise pantheon transposed onto a Kyushu provincial setting. Shrine tradition places the founding in the reign of Emperor Ojin, when Takeuchi no Sukune is said to have established a ritual site on Saikanta-yama. Through the medieval period it received the patronage of the Otomo clan, and in the Edo period that of the Oka and Funai domains. The April fuji (wisteria) festival around its prefecturally registered great wisteria tree is the principal annual rite.