Oyamazumi Jinja Shrine

Oyamazumi Jinja Shrine in Toba honors the kami of mountains and seas and has an unusual origin story tied to castle construction. When warlord Kuki Yoshitaka was building Toba Castle on the hill where this shrine originally stood, the stone walls kept collapsing. He relocated the shrine to its current site, and construction proceeded without further trouble. Today, the shrine rotates its care among four neighborhoods in Toba on a yearly cycle. Two spring festivals are particularly lively: one features performers dressed as lions and long-nosed tengu, while the other sees townspeople carry a portable shrine through the streets to traditional music.