Kuzu Hachimangu Shrine

The main hall here dates to 1412 and has a carving of two Japanese bush warblers on a frog-leg strut beneath the eaves, detailed and lifelike. The worship hall, built in 1581, features two fish carvings known as 'the carp that call water,' placed there as fire protection. According to local belief, they worked too well and caused the nearby Mashita River to flood, so arrows were carved next to them to limit their power. Every January, high school students in traditional archery dress gather here for the Kawa Shizume no Gi ceremony, shooting arrows at a straw carp to calm the river for the year ahead. The shrine also holds wooden sculptures by the prolific 17th-century monk Enku.