Tainohata Yakuyoke Hachimangu is colloquially known as "Yakujin-san"by Tainohata locals, and is said to be the oldest sacred place in Japan for warding off bad luck. When a plague struck in June of 770, the god of pestilence was enshrined in ten places at the borders of five regions (Yamato, Yamachiro, Kawachi, Settsu, Izumi) to end this epidemic. Tainohata Yakuyoke Hachimangu was located in the border of Settsu and Harima, and therefore the god of pestilence was enshrined here as well. This shrine is believed to be the one at which Ariwara no Yukihira prayed when he was exiled to Suma in present-day Kobe City, and also the site at which Minamoto no Yoshitsune prayed during the battle of Ichinotani.
