Lifestyles and Traditions - Shrines
Together with Yurahime Shrine and Mizuwakasu Shrine, Uzuka-mikoto Shrine was listed as an imperial shrine in 842, as recorded in the Shoku Nihon Koki. Uzuka-mikoto Shrine is one of the earliest shrines in the Oki Islands to appear in historical documents compiled by the central government. According to the Engishiki completed in the Heian period (794–1185), it is listed as one of the Myōjin Taisha shrines together with Mizuwakasu Shrine and Ise-mikoto Shrine on Dōgo Island and Yurahime Shrine on Nishinoshima Island.
It is also an ancient shrine with a long and distinguished history. The deity is listed as a deity of junior first rank in the local list of deities, Oki-koku Jinmyōcho. Uzuka-no-mikoto competed with Ōyamatsumi-no-mikoto of Nishinoshima Island for Hinamaji-hime-no-mikoto, the female deity of Nishinoshima Island. The two male deities competed by throwing rocks from their own island to the other island to show their strength. Uzuka-no-mikoto won, and it is said he married the female deity. Their child, Yanai-hime-no-mikoto, also known as Nagira-bime of the Toyoda area, is enshrined in Nagirahime Shrine.
