This is one of Japan's most unusual shrines, associated with the legend of Minamoto no Yoshitsune's "Northern Journey" — the tale that he survived the Battle of Koromogawa in Oshu and crossed to Ezo (Hokkaido). In 1799 (Kansei 11), by order of the shogunate, an official shrine hall was formally constructed at Biratori, a sacred site where the Ainu people had long venerated Yoshitsune as "Hangankam…

According to the legend known as "Yoshitsune Hokko Densetsu," Minamoto no Yoshitsune survived the Battle of Koromogawa (1189) and fled to Ezo (Hokkaido), where the Ainu people came to venerate him as "Hangankamuy" (God of the Magistrate) over many generations. In 1799, during the late Edo period, th…