Taga-taisha

Taga Taisha (Taga-taisha) stands in Taga, Taga-cho, Inukami District, Shiga Prefecture, at the western foot of the Suzuka mountains. The main enshrined deities are Izanagi-no-Okami and Izanami-no-Okami. According to the Kojiki (712 CE) section on the creation of the islands and the birth of the deities, the two stood on Onogoroshima and produced the land and the gods, and the text further records "Izanagi-no-Kami resides at Taga in Omi," identifying this site as where Izanagi settled after completing his divine work. The two deities are the parents of the three noble offspring Amaterasu-Omikami, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, and Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto. The shrine is recorded in the Engishiki (927 CE) jinmyocho of the Inukami district of Omi Province as "Taga-jinja niza." Toyotomi Hideyoshi donated estates here in 1588 praying for his mother's longevity, and the Taiko Bridge donated at that time is an Important Cultural Property. The shrine was elevated to kanpei taisha rank in 1932.