Kumano Shrine (Kawagoe)

Kawagoe Kumano Shrine carries the lineage of the great Kumano shrines of Kii (present-day Wakayama) – and with it, a reputation as a place of good fortune, matchmaking, and protection from misfortune. According to the shrine's own records, it was founded in 1590 by the second head priest of the nearby temple Renkeiji, who enshrined the deities of Kumano here. It soon became the guardian shrine of the local Matsugo district. In 1713, the shrine hall was rebuilt and its torii – the traditional gateway marking the entrance to a Shinto shrine – reconstructed in stone, and that same stone gate still stands today as the shrine's second torii.

The Deities

The shrine enshrines four Kumano deities: Izanagi, Izanami, Kotosaka no O no Mikoto, and Hayatama no O no Mikoto.

Izanagi and Izanami are Japanese mythology's first married couple, said to have established marriage itself and given birth to Japan's islands and its kami. This creation story is why the shrine is revered for en-musubi (matchmaking) and good fortune. Izanagi holds further stature as the father of Amaterasu and Susanoo, and the purification ritual of misogi is traced back to his own act of cleansing in the Kojiki, Japan's oldest chronicle.

Kotosaka no O no Mikoto and Hayatama no O no Mikoto are said to have appeared when Izanagi left the underworld, Yomi. Both are tied to the cleansing of impurity, and are worshipped here as gods of yakuyoke – warding off misfortune.

The shrine's crest bears the Yatagarasu, the three-legged crow of Kumano legend – a bird tied to dawn and the sun, believed to lead people out of darkness toward hope. According to legend, it guided Emperor Jinmu through the mountains of Kumano to Yamato, cementing its role as a symbol of guidance. Its three legs are said to represent heaven, earth, and humanity. Today, this same crow appears as the emblem of the Japan Football Association.