Tsumakirishima Shrine

Tsumakirishima Shrine in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki, stands at the eastern foot of the Kirishima volcanic range, at the northern edge of the Miyakonojo basin. It is one of the six Kirishima shrines (Kirishima Rokusho Gongen), alongside Kirishima Jingu, Sano Shrine, Kirishima-Higashi Shrine, Kirishima-Mine Shrine and Hinamori Shrine. The grounds preserve the "deity stone," said to have been cut by Izanagi as he slew a great serpent, and a flight of more than two hundred "ogre rock" steps formed from natural stones. The main deity is Izanagi no Kami, recorded in Kojiki (712 CE) as the father deity who took part in the creation of the islands and the visit to the realm of the dead. In the Kirishima Shugendo system Izanagi occupies the center of the six-shrine pantheon as the grandfather of Ninigi no Mikoto, the principal deity of Kirishima Jingu. Shrine tradition places a Tendai refounding under the monk Shoku in 963 CE. The November reisai is the principal rite.