Katsuragi Mitoshi-jinja Shrine (葛木御歳神社)

Katsuragi Mitoshi-jinja Shrine is located in Ose City, Nara Prefecture. It is shikinaisha (myojin-taisha).
御歳 is also called 'Mitose.'

The main enshrined deity is Toshi no kami, and Otoshi no kami and Takateruhime no mikoto are also enshrined together. It is the head shrine of Mitoshi-jinja Shrines and Otoshi-jinja Shrines across Japan. It was enshrined by the Katsuragi clan and the Kamo clan.
With Takakamo-jinja Shrine (Takakamo-sha) and Kamotsuba-jinja Shrine (Shimokamo-sha), it is called 'Nakakamo-sha.'

The origin of the shrine is unknown. It is said that Mt. Mitoshi lying behind the shrine was considered a sacred mountain and a god of rice fields was enshrined there.
Its oldest record is seen in chapter 765 of 'Shinshokyakuchokufusho' (the record of legal history), which described 'Otoshi-gami thirteen houses, Yamato three houses, Sanuki ten houses.'
In 852, it received the highest ranking of the god, Shonii and ranked among Myojin-taisha Shrines in Engishiki Jinmyocho (a list of the shrines compiled in 927). After the Heian period, the whole area of the shrine was shoen (manor) of Kasuga-taisha Shrine and Kofuku-ji Temple and it was under the influence of Kasuga-taisha Shrine. The current main shrine is the first main shrine of Kasuga-taisha Shrine which was brought over from Kasugat-taisha Shrine and reassembled there during the Edo period.

According to Nihon sandai jitsuroku (historical material), the shrine rejected to accept a Shinto priest who was appointed by the Imperial Court in 866. After that, a Shinto priest was not appointed until the Taisho period.

[Original Japanese]