Takinoo Shrine

It is believed that Takinoo Shrine was built in 820 by Kukai (774–835), also known as Kobo Daishi, the Buddhist monk who founded the famous monastery on Koyasan in Wakayama Prefecture. The current structure was rebuilt in 1645.

Tagorihime no Mikoto, one of the three principal deities of Nikko Futarasan Shrine, is enshrined here. In the rear of the shrine is an area said to be where the goddess descended to earth. There are three large, sacred Japanese cedars growing there now.

The grounds of Takinoo Shrine contain a luck-testing gate (Undameshi no Torii) and a planter with bamboo leaves said to grant a good match in marriage (Enmusubi no Sasa). There is a spring whose waters are used to produce delicious sake (Sake no Izumi), and a sacred rock that answers prayers for children and a safe birth (Kodaneishi).