Tsurumine Hachimangu

Tsurumine Hachimangu (Tsurumine-hachimangu) stands in Chigasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, near the Sagami River, and is regarded as the oldest Hachiman shrine in Sagami Province. The main enshrined deity is Emperor Ojin (Hondawake-no-Mikoto), with Empress Jingu and Himegami as co-enshrined deities, following the standard Hachiman pantheon derived from Usa Jingu in Buzen Province. According to shrine tradition, the shrine was founded in 1030 by Minamoto no Yoriyoshi (988-1075), founder of the Kawachi Genji warrior lineage, by transferring the Iwashimizu Hachimangu deity from Yamashiro Province. The shrine continued as the protective Hachiman of the regional Genji warriors and was supported by successive eastern warrior houses. It functioned as the medieval village tutelary of the Yanagishima settlement and was elevated to gosha rank in the Meiji era. The shrine continues as a Jinja Honcho registered shrine maintained by the local community.