| Sasuke Inari Shrine | |
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Sasuke Inari Shrine |
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| Basic information | |
| Affiliation | Shinto (Japanese) |
| Prefecture | Kanagawa |
| Municipality | Kamakura |
Sasuke Inari Shrine (佐助稲荷神社 Sasuke Inari Jinja) is a Shinto shrine in Kamakura and the site of the Hidden Village of Kamakura.
Tradition holds that Sasuke Inari Shrine was created by Minamoto Yoritomo. While in exile in Izu, Yoritomo was visited in a dream by an old man from the Hidden Village of Kamakura who instructed Yoritomo of the timing to begin battling his enemies. When Yoritomo succeed and became Shogun, he created this shrine in gratitude.[1] An alternative to this story has an Inari Fox messenger appearing in Yoritomo's dream.[2]
According to Kamakura Historian Shimizu Ginzo, the hidden village that was adjacent to the shrine was the dwelling of a band of people that were the antecedents to the Ninja. The remoteness and easy defensibility provided the necessary seclusion to conduct their activities which included elimination of enemies of the Kamakura Shogunate.[3]
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