Imahie Jingu, founded in association with Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, is also known to have secretly enshrined the spirit of Toyotomi Hideyoshi within its precincts as the "Juge-sha." Though never openly venerated, this episode is preserved in the shrine's history, with traces remaining in the current shrine buildings, rebuilt in 1640.

Imahie Jingu was founded in 1160 by Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa (1127–1192), who invited the deity of Hiyoshi Taisha in Omi — guardian of Mount Hiei and Enryakuji — to serve as the tutelary god of his Hojuji-den palace complex. Go-Shirakawa harbored a deep faith in the Hiyoshi deities and saw the establishment of a 'New Hiyoshi' shrine in Kyoto as a means of protecting both his palace and his authority. In parallel, he founded Sanjusangendo (1164) and Kumano Wakamiya Shrine (1160), creating a network of religious institutions that he skillfully linked to his political power. Imahie Jingu, which now enshrines Go-Shirakawa among its principal deities, stands as a monument to his religious policy.