matsuhashi jinja

Matsuhase Shrine was said to have been founded in 1049 (Eisho 4) when the imperial regent Fujiwara no Michitaka enshrined the Kumano deities by imperial command. The three enshrined deities are Izanami-no-Mikoto, Kotosakanoo-no-Mikoto, and Hayatamao-no-Mikoto. During the Muromachi period it received patronage from the Kikuchi and Nawa clans. In 1599, Christian daimyo Konishi Yukinaga burned the shrine buildings, forcing the sacred objects to be hidden in the mountains. The shrine was later restored during the Kato Kiyomasa era and continues as the guardian shrine of the community.