Per the
Kogo Shūi records dated 807 AD, early during the reign of the legendary
Emperor Jimmu, Ame-no-Tomi, landed on the
Bōsō Peninsula in what is now the province of Awa in search of fertile land, and established a settlement together with the Inbe clan. He brought with him a mirror which had been owned by his grandmother, Ama no Hirinome, which he enshrined on Mount Mitarai, and this was the start of the Susaki Shrine. According to the shrine's legend, during the
Asuka period, the shrine was visited by
En no Gyōja after a landslide had buried the "mirror pond" in the precincts, thus releasing a great snake which had to be vanquished. In addition, En no Gyōja placed one sacred stone on the coast in front of a
torii gate which faced the coast, and another at the Awakuchi Shrine in
Yokosuka on the opposite side of
Tokyo Bay for maritime safety. These legends illustrate the close connection the shrine had with
Shinbutsu-shūgō and
Shugendō. Since ancient times, the shrine had the right to collect toll taxes from passing ships. The shrine is mentioned in the
Shoku Nihon Kōki,
Nihon Montoku Tennō Jitsuroku and
Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku as well as the
Engishiki, and although a relatively small shrine, had attained the highest rank by 1081. This was partly due to the patronage of
Minamoto no Yoritomo, who landed on the coast close to this shrine after his defeat at the
Battle of Ishibashiyama. Per the
Azuma Kagami, he credited the shrine with his safe passage, and for helping rally the local samurai bands of the Bōsō Peninsula to his banner to overthrow the
Heike clan. In the late
Edo Period, while surveying the coastline of
Edo Bay with the purpose of establishing coastal defenses, the
rōjū Matsudaira Sadanobu wrote an account in which he referred to the shine as the "Awa Ichinomiya Susaki Daimyōjin". This is the first mention of the shrine as the "Ichinomiya" of the province. After the
Meiji Restoration, the Susaki Jinja was designated the rank of prefectural shrine under the
Modern system of ranked Shinto Shrines under
State Shinto. ==Gallery==