Yuki Shrine

Yuki Shrine (Yuki-jinja) is located in Kurama-Honmachi, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, on the slopes of Mount Kurama along the approach to Kurama-dera. As the tutelary shrine of Kurama-dera, it occupies a position within the syncretic mountain practice of the Kurama region. The principal deities are Onamuchi-no-Mikoto and Sukunabikona-no-Mikoto, recorded in Kojiki (712 CE, upper volume, Okuninushi section) as kunitsukami who together carried out the work of forming the land. The shrine was established in Tengyo 3 (940 CE) when, by imperial decree of Emperor Suzaku, Yuki Daimyojin was transferred from the imperial palace to Kurama. The torchlit procession of that transfer is the traditional origin of the Kurama Fire Festival. The shrine continued under Shinto-Buddhist syncretism until the Meiji separation. The main hall (Important Cultural Property) was rebuilt by Toyotomi Hideyori in Keicho 12 (1607). The Kurama Fire Festival on October 22 is one of the three eccentric festivals of Kyoto and is designated an Intangible Folk Cultural Property by Kyoto City.