ceremonies, in other words the elements necessary for a shrine were in place.The first historical reference to what may have been a Hieta Jinja is in the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku (Veritable Record of Three Generations of Emperors of Japan), published in 901, where a jinja enshrining Kamata Kami in Musashi Province is listed. In the Engi Shiki, completed in 967, mention is made of two shrines in Ebara-gun, Musashi Province, Hieta Jinja and Iwai Jinja. However, numerous researchers have questioned the use of the “Hieta” name in the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, saying that by the time the work was compiled there was already a place named Kamata and the Hieta name was the result of a copying or transcription error; the real name of the shrine was Kamata, not Hieta, Jinja. As for the use in the Engi Shiki, the contention is that a monk at the shrine’s betto-ji, Eirin-ji (榮林寺, Kamata 3-1-6), assumed from the area’s history that the shrine name was Hieta and successfully registered it with the Department of Divinities. In 1872 it was designated a gōsha: it is currently a kenmusha of Kamata Hachiman Jinja.

Note that the two kami, Takenouchi-no-Sukune and Katsuragi Sotsuhiko are semi-historical persons,  father and son , and Takenouchi is said to have been an advisor to five emperors between 71 and 399. His 73rd generation descendant, Takeuchi Mitshiro (竹内睦泰), is the current custodian of what is a fascinating, if fanciful, family history. Of that, more later.

Description

About 700m from Umeyashiki Station.  The main torii is one of the oldest in Ōta-ku. Erected in 1800 it is made of granite and is 310 cm tall, 314 cm wide. The shrine was basically destroyed in the firebombing of April 15, 1945, and while a temporary main hall was quickly put together it was not until 1954 that it was properly rebuilt. Further work was done in 2000. The koma-inu,  dating to 1959 are relatively recent, .