Ikasuri Shrine

Ikasuri Shrine, known familiarly as Zama-san, is the tutelary shrine of the Semba district. It is the ichinomiya, or first shrine, of Settsu Province and a former kanpei-chusha. Its deity, Ikasuri no Okami, is said to have first been enshrined in the imperial palace in the reign of Emperor Jimmu as a guardian of the palace grounds. The shrine is asked chiefly for protection of the home, safety in travel and safe childbirth. As a god of travel it is attested by a poem composed here before a journey that survives in the Man'yoshu (no. 4350); as a god of childbirth it is deeply revered because Empress Jingu prayed here at the safe birth of Emperor Ojin, and prayers were offered here again at the birth of Emperor Meiji. Its founding is ancient: on her return from Silla, Empress Jingu enshrined Ikasuri no Okami at Oe-no-kishi and Tamino-shima on the south bank of the Yodo River, the land later called Watanabe, near present-day Ishimachi west of Tenmabashi. The Engishiki of the Heian period records it as the only taisha in Nishinari district of Settsu. When Osaka Castle was built in Tensho 10 (1582) the shrine was ordered to move to other land, and in the Kan'ei era it was relocated to its present site. The place name Watanabe here came with it, and the site is known as the origin of the Watanabe surname. The shrine buildings burned in the war in Showa 20 (1945). The present buildings are reinforced concrete, restored in their prewar form.

Translated and shortened from the Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City tourist listings (観光施設一覧, CC BY 4.0).