Lifestyles and Traditions - Shrines
Details of the origin of the shrine is unknown, but in the “List of Deities of Dōzen Villages”, the enshrined deities are Himemiya-daimyōjin / Yamatohime-no-mikoto. The same information was also recorded in Inshū Fudoki (the gazetteer of Oki Province) of 1833. According to a List of Deities (the copy owned by Saigo Ume-no-sha), the deities are Himemiya-daimyōjin / Yamatohime-no-mikoto (Toyotama-hime, Tamayori-hime, both goddesses in Japanese mythology) of junior fourth rank. According to the shrine's legend, the shrine is renowned for the power to fulfill the wishes of worshippers for mother's milk.
Toyotama-hime and Tamayori-hime are daughters of Watatsumi, the deity of the sea. Tamayori-hime married Hōri-no-Mikoto, also known as Yamasachi-hiko, the offspring between Ninigi-no-mikoto (grandchild of Amaterasu) and Konohanasakuya-hime (offspring of Ōyamatsumi), and gave birth to Ugayafukiaezu-no-mikoto.
There are some Jōmon prehistoric sites and tunnel tombs from Kofun Period near the shrine, which suggests that people have been living here since ancient times, as the area where the shrine is located faces the Dōzen Inland Sea and the other two Dōzen Islands are within easy access of the area. Among the burial accessories unearthed from the corridor-type tumulus, there are Yamato-style pottery, which suggests that the chief held strong power and a wide range of exchanges were carried out.
