The forested area around the shrine is a nature reserve and sightseeing spot. Completed
in 1793, the shrine housing the Buddha incarnate is a prefectural cultural asset. The
small Kasuga shrine annexing it, one meter deep and built in the Ikkensyaryu-style, is
believed to date from the Azuchimomoyama period.
It is the oldest shrine in the city and the second oldest in the prefecture after
Inari Shrine, annex to Raiden Shrine in Itakura-cho. In March, 1991, it was designated a
cultural asset by the city. The large painting in the front shrine, 'Saya Market', depicts
the liveliness of the Kiryuu market in late Edo. It is said that Tenman Shrine, the head
shrine in Kiryuu's Shinmachi, moved from Miyauchi Shimohisakatamura to its present spot,
known as Akagi forest, in 1591.
At that time, it was ranked as a 'tutelary deity' in Kiryuu's 54 villages. The shrine
houses the landscape and portrait paintings of the late Edo Shinto priest, writer and
painter, Watase Maehara. Since 1961, there have been no performances of the shrine's
traditional 'mechanical dolls'. |
