Namba-yasaka Shrine

Known in ancient times as Naniwa Shimo no Miya, the shrine was worshipped as the tutelary deity of the whole Naniwa area and once prospered with a full temple complex of seven halls and twelve sub-temples, but it declined after being burned in war. After the Meiji Restoration the temple was abolished under the separation of Buddhism and Shinto, and the shrine buildings burned in an air raid in 1945. The present buildings were rebuilt after the war. The ema hall, shaped as a giant lion's head 12 m high, 11 m wide and 10 m deep, is especially striking. The tug-of-war rite held on the third Sunday of January each year began from the story that the enshrined deity Susanoo no Mikoto slew the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi and freed the people from their suffering. In 2001 it was designated the first intangible folk cultural property in the City of Osaka.

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

Osaka Prefecture's list of designated cultural properties names this place as the owner of 1. Objects are not necessarily on view.

大阪府 文化財一覧 (CC BY 4.0), current at 2024-05-01. Joined by owner name; long names are shortened to the buildings or the object.