Hata no Iroko was a member of the Hata clan, an immigrant family group from the continent. According to shrine tradition, in the 2nd month of 711 (Wadō 4), he enshrined the deity on the three peaks of Mt. Inari, marking the origin of Fushimi Inari Taisha. Based in Fukakusa in Yamashiro Province, the Hata clan was known for bringing technologies of agriculture, sericulture, and sake brewing, and they enshrined Inari as their tutelary kami. Tradition recounts that when Hata no Iroko shot a mochi rice cake with his bow, it transformed into a white bird and flew to Mt. Inari, where rice grew up — the founding legend of the shrine.

In 1589 (Tensho 17), Toyotomi Hideyoshi prayed at Fushimi Inari Taisha for the recovery of his mother Omandokoro from illness. When she recovered, he granted a vermillion-seal document prohibiting hunting at the shrine and undertook repairs of the sanctuary and construction of the romon (tower gate). The extant romon (Important Cultural Property), commissioned by Hideyoshi in Tensho 17, was completed in 1594 (Bunroku 3). With Hideyoshi's construction of Fushimi Castle in 1592, the entire Fushimi area became a political center, and Fushimi Inari attracted the reverence of the supreme ruler.