Tamatsukuri Inari Shrine

Tamatsukuri Inari Shrine (Tamatsukuri Inari-jinja) stands in Tamatsukuri, Chuo Ward, Osaka City, on the Uemachi tableland east of Osaka Castle. The shrine takes its name from the ancient Tamatsukuri clan, hereditary makers of magatama jewels recorded in the Nihon Shoki (720 CE). The main enshrined deities are Uka-no-Mitama-no-Kami and Shitateru-hime-no-Mikoto, with Uka-no-Mitama recorded in the Kojiki (712 CE) as the offspring of Susanoo-no-Mikoto and venerated as the Inari grain deity. According to shrine tradition, the shrine was founded in 12 BCE during the reign of Emperor Suinin, originally as the tutelary of the magatama-producing Tamatsukuri-be. During the medieval period it became the protective Inari of Osaka Castle under Toyotomi support, and Yodo-dono is recorded as a notable donor. Designated a village shrine in the Meiji era, it continues as a Jinja Honcho registered shrine.