Imamiya Shrine

Imamiya Shrine is a shrine in Kita Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, enshrining three deities: Onamuchi-no-Mikoto, Kotoshironushi-no-Mikoto, and Kushinadahime-no-Mikoto. According to shrine tradition, it was founded in Shoryaku 5 (994), when a portable shrine for a plague deity was created and enshrined on Funaokayama to pray for the eradication of epidemics in the capital. Imamiya Shrine is especially known for the Yasurai Festival, held every year on the second Sunday of April. This flower-pacifying ritual has been handed down since the Heian period and is counted as one of Kyoto’s three great unusual festivals. A rare stone called "Ahokashi-san," also known as the "Kami-urai Stone," is said to help speed recovery from illness: those in poor health pray sincerely, stroke the stone, and then touch the part of the body that is unwell. Keishoin, the mother of the fifth Tokugawa shogun Tsunayoshi, is said to have worked to revive Imamiya Shrine, the shrine of her birthplace. Keishoin rose to the highest rank for a woman, and she is known as the figure associated with the origin of the phrase "tama-no-koshi" (marrying into great fortune). Today, Imamiya Shrine draws many visitors seeking blessings for good relationships, good fortune, and the coveted "tama-no-koshi" luck.