【Equipment Outline】

　The main “Kanayago Shrine”, which numbers 1,200 shrines.
　Built in 1881（Meiji 14）, the magnificent 9-meter-high granite torii is said to be the best stone torii in Japan.
　It held the faith of the various people who worked with iron, including tatara workers who stubbornly observed the traditions of the past, and even now, many people involved in iron making and metalluray are still visiting the shrine.
　The enshrined gods are Kanayamahiko-no-mikoto and Kanayamahime-no-mikoto.

When Harima Province was suffering from a drought, Kanayago Kami brought the rain and saved many people from starvation. Saying “Now, I must go west and teach people how to make iron,” he mounted a white heron and soared away. He alighted on a Japanese Judas and then led the other gods in teaching the art of iron making.
It is said that many gods participated in tatara iron making, including 75 gods who helped established “eitai tatara”, gods who protect the “takadono” (high-roofed houses that contain the furnace and other parts of the iron making process) from fire, gods who blow air into the furnace, and gods who guard the directions. The Kanayago faith began with tatara masters,  who believed that they would produce high quality iron if the gods were with them. Kanayago is worshipped in tatara factories, and Japanese Judas trees are planted nearly.

　As tatara spread throughout Japan, Kanayago Shrine became the head of 1,200 shrines. During the large festivals in spring and fall, people with connections to the iron making industry and many others from in and outside the prefecture come to worship.