Iwashimizu Hachimangu

Otokoyama (Mt. Otokoyama) towers over the Yodo River, where the Katsura, Uji, and Kizu Rivers converge. Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine, once called Otokoyama Hachimangu Shrine, is located at this strategic point on the border between Kyoto and Osaka.

After the construction of the Heian-kyo Capital, in 859, Emperor Seiwa relocated the Hachiman Grand Deity from Usa Hachimangu Shrine in Kyushu to Otokoyama, based on an oracle, and it later became the second largest sobyo (ancestral hall) in Japan after Ise Jingu. Sobyo was a place of worship for the ancestors of the imperial family, and for many years it was revered as a shrine for the protection of the imperial family and the nation.

Since the rise of the Seiwa Genji clan, many warlords have visited the shrine to pray for victory. Among them, a large camphor tree dedicated by Kusunoki Masashige still remains near the shrine, with lush foliage. The main shrine building is a unique Hachiman-zukuri style, and the present one was built by Iemitsu, the third shogun of the Tokugawa family. The Hachiman bamboo that grew around the shrine is known as the filament of the light bulb invented by Edison, and a monument commemorating Edison has been built in the shrine grounds.