Yoritomo, founder of the Kamakura shogunate, is said to have visited Samukawa Shrine — the ichinomiya of Sagami Province — to pray for victory in battle. For Yoritomo, who established his seat of power in nearby Kamakura, paying homage to this guardian deity of Sagami was a meaningful act of legitimizing his warrior rule, setting a precedent of reverence that many subsequent shogunate warriors continued to uphold.