The origins of Mononobe Jinja are unknown. According to the shrine's legend, Umashimaji, the son of Nigihayahi, helped
Emperor Jimmu's conquest of Yamato, and then led his clan to settle in
Mino and
Koshi Province, eventually dying in
Iwami. He was buried in a
kofun on Mount Yaoyama, behind the current shrine, and in 514,
Emperor Keitai ordered that a shrine be built at the southern foot of the mountain. It first appears in the historical record in 869 AD, and the
Engishiki records from the early
Heian period list it as only a small shrine. However, it was regarded as the
ichinomiya of the province from this time. The hereditary
kannushi of this shrine, the Kaneko family, were one of only 14 priestly families to hold a
noble title and held the rank of
danshaku (baron) under the
kazoku peerage. During the
Meiji period era of
State Shinto, the shrine was rated as a under the
Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines. The shrine is located ten-minutes by car from
Ōdashi Station on the
JR West Sanin Main Line ==Cultural Properties==