Database: Nishinomiya Shrine

The Nishinomiya Shrine (Nishinomiya Jinja) located north of Osaka Bay is dedicated to Ebisu, the first child of founding deities Izanami and Izanagi. In the medieval period, a merchant town and a way station developed around this Shinto shrine, located in the current Shake [sic] district in the city of Nishinomiya. The shrine also protected groups of puppeteers whose leader lived within the monastery grounds. These troupes taught the virtue of the deity Ebisu throughout the country.

Originally, Ebisu was a protective deity of sailors and fishermen, especially those who hunted large marine mammals. With the development of commercial activities in the Middle Ages, Ebisu came to be venerated not only as the god of the sea and fishing, but also as the god of commerce. In villages, Ebisu additionally came to be venerated, after rice transplanting, as the deity of good harvests and prosperity.

The Nishinomiya Shrine was rebuilt and embellished at the beginning of the 17th century by the Toyotomi family.