Kashimamiko Shrine

Kashima Miko Shrine in Ishinomaki, Miyagi, enshrines the parent-child deities Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto and Kashima Amatari Wake-no-mikoto. Its name first appears in written records in 859 (Gannen of Jogan), and it is listed among the 38 shrines in the Tohoku region dedicated to the descendants of the Kashima deity in the Sandai Jitsuroku. The shrine also appears in the Engishiki as one of the Oshika Juza (ten shrines of Oshika). A legend holds that when the ship carrying Amatari Wake arrived at the coast of present-day Ishinomaki, the anchor rolled up stones, giving rise to the place name Ishinomaki (stone-rolling). Long a place of faith for fishermen and seafarers, the shrine also became widely known after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake when the Hiyoriyama hilltop adjacent to the shrine overlooked the devastated cityscape below.