Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine

Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine is a venerable shrine in Yawata City, Kyoto Prefecture, enshrining three deities: Hondawake-no-Mikoto, Hime-Okami, and Okinagatarashi-hime-no-Mikoto. Locals affectionately call it "Yawata no Hachiman-san." To access Iwashimizu Hachimangu, get off at Keihan Railway Iwashimizu-Hachimangu Station, take the approach cable car from "Hachimangu-guchi Station" to "Hachimangu-sanjo Station," and then walk about 5 minutes. Mount Otokoyama, where the shrine stands, is considered the ura-kimon (the southwest direction) from the capital. Together with Mount Hiei’s Enryaku-ji Temple, which protects the kimon (northeast direction), it was deeply revered as a guardian of the capital and a shrine for national protection. It is said that imperial visits by emperors and retired emperors totaled more than 240 occasions. The shrine is also famous as the place where Minamoto no Yoshiie came of age and took the name "Hachiman Taro Yoshiie." It has long attracted faith as a deity of certain victory and the god of archery and bows. Iwashimizu Hachimangu consists of the Upper Shrine precinct on the mountaintop, where the main sanctuary stands, and the Lower Shrine precinct at the foot of the mountain, where the temporary shrine (Tonmiya) and Koraso Shrine are located. Ten buildings, including the main sanctuary (inner and outer halls) and the main hall of the subsidiary Takeuchi Shrine, are designated as National Treasures.