Ushikubi-tsumugi is a silk fabric made in the Ushikubi area of Shiramine in Hakusan city, Ishikawa prefecture. Ushikubi-tsumugi uses only pure river-bed water from the Tetori River and rare silkworm cocoons called “Tama-Mayu” in its process. The silkworm cocoons are first boiled down, spun by hand, and then elaborately weaved. All aspects of the process are done by hand and the fabric is famous for its strength among other silks. The origins of Ushikubi-tsumugidate back to the Heian period when the technique was first introduced to the locals by the wife of a Minamoto clan warrior named Oobatake. Oobatake became a fugitive after the Minamoto clan were defeated during Heiji no ran, or the Heiji Rebellion. Ushikubi-tsumugi was highly regarded for its durability and much sought after during the Edo period. From the middle of the Meiji period to the beginning of the Showa period, silk production steadily increased, however with Japan facing economic depression and eventually war, production soon rapidly declined and the authentic silk industry disappeared all together for a time. After the war, silkworm breeding was resumed and the craft of Ushikubi-tsumugi was successfully revived. Today, Ushikubi-tsumugi is appreciated as one of the highest quality silk fabrics in the world.

Shitodo Cave located in Yugawara-machi, Kanagawa pref. is an old cave hollowed behind a waterfall. The frontage is very wide but its depth is no more than 10 m. There are about twenty stone markers and statues of Kannon (the goddess of mercy) inside the cave. Minamoto no Yoritomo, who had been defeated in Heiji Rebellion and sent into exile in Izu province, decided to rebel against the Taira, but was defeated again in the battle of Ishibashiyama in 1180. Yoritomo and his seven warriors made an escape in the mountains and concealed themselves in caves and hollows in trees. They finally found this cave and survived to fight another day. “Shitodo” means a little bird in ancient Japanese, and it is said that the name of the cave comes from a story that a bird had flown away when Yoritomo stepped into this cave. It was this Shitodo Cave that changed the tide of history.

Fushimi Inari Taisha is the headquarters of all the Inari shrines dedicated to the Inari deity. It is located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto.

In 711, the Tai clan, a powerful family living in Fushimi, made a dedication to the Inari deity on an area of flat ground on Mitsuga Peak in Mt Inari; this is the origin of the Fushimi Inari shrine.

In the middle of the Heian period, when people visited it regularly, they were given the 'deity's cedar'. There remains a document saying that Taira Kiyomori came out into the field of the Hogen and Heiji Disturbance with a stick of cedar in the sleeve of his armor.

The Fushimi Inari shrine was almost destroyed in the Onin war in 1468. Although Japan was in social chaos for many years after the war, reconstruction of the shrine began in 1492, and a totally new shrine had been completed by 1499.