The origin of Oiso Shrine in Azuchi Town, Shiga Prefecture, is unknown, but it is presumed to have been the oratory for the mountain god residing at the top of Mt. Kinugasa. The enshrined deity is Amatsukoyane no Mikoto, an ancestor of the Fujiwara clan.

According to a legend, when Ototachibanahime no Mikoto threw herself into the sea to appease the rage of the sea god and saved Yamato Takeru, who was on his way to the eastern land, she was pregnant and said “I will stay in Oiso Woods and become a guardian goddess for safe childbirth.” From this episode, the shrine is visited by a lot of women who offer a prayer for safe delivery.

Guarded by Oiso Woods, Honden (the main hall) stands at the end of the front approach. It is a 3-bay flowing style building. Tosatsu (the wooden plate staked to a building7s ridgepole stating details of the construction) shows that it was constructed in 1581. The stone monument inscribed with a poem written by Motoori Norinaga, a Japanese scholar of Kokugaku during the Edo period, stands in a corner of the precinct.

Genbikei Gorge is located in Genbi-cho, Ichinoseki City, Iwate Pref. It is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty, a Natural Monument, and one of Japan’s 100 Scenic Places. The gorge has a lot of pit holes, waterfalls and abysses created by the erosion of the Iwai River, which flows out of Mt. Kurikoma. The towering cliffs composed of dasite tuff, which was blown out at the early eruption of Mt. Sugawa, is constantly eroded by the torrent that rushes down with a roaring sound in a quiet mountain area.
At a hut over the gorge, you can taste “Kakko-dango (rice dumpling),” which is “delivered” from the opposite bank in a basket hung on the cables.
It is said that Date Masamune, the lord of Sendai domain, was very proud of this gorge, saying, “Matsushima and Genbikei are the two proud places in my territory,” and he often visited this place. Genbikei Gorge is the work of art that nature has created for a long time.