The shrine is eponymously named after the main deity enshrined here, Rokusonno, 六孫王, supposedly the childhood name of Minamoto Tsunemoto, the grandson of Emperor Seiwa.  “Roku, 六” means six, “son, 孫” grandson, and the name refers to the fact that Tsunemoto’s father  was the sixth son of Emperor Seiwa, and Tsunemoto himself the latter’s grandson.  Legend tells us that the remains of his residence, the Hachijo-tei, 八条亭, are located in the shrine. On his deathbed in 961, his  dying wish was that he be buried here because after his death he would become the Dragon King and live in the lake in the shrine grounds, where he would pray for the prosperity of his descendants.  In September 963 his heir, Mitsunaka, built a graveyard in what is now the site of the shrine, and built a shrine hall in front of it. This is said to be the origins of the shrine. 

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After Tsunemoto’s death the site was promoted as the birthplace of the Seiwa Genji Clan by the Settsugen and Tadagen clans. When Minamoto Norimasa was in power in the first half of the thirteenth century, part of the site was transferred to Taira Kiyomori and for a time was part of his secondary residence, the Nishihachijotei. The part of the site that was not transferred contained Tsunemoto’s tomb and shrine. With the downfall of the Taira Clan in 1185 as a result of the Genpei War, ownership of the site reverted to the Minamotos, this time in the person of Yoritomo, who established the Kamakura Shogunate with himself as the first Shogun. He was married to Hojo Masako and she gave birth to Yomitomo’s second and third sons, Yorie and Sanetomo, respectively the second and third Shoguns. When Sanemoto was assassinated in 1219 his wife, Bomon Nobuko, returned to Kyoto from Kamakura and became a nun. To commemorate Sanemoto, she built a temple in the shrine grounds, although the shrine continued to be regarded as housing the tutelary deity for the area. After this, the shrine was destroyed during warfare but Sanetomo’s tomb apparently survived.

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(Note: numbers in parentheses after kami names refer to position in How Many Kami table)

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Enshrined Kami:  

Main

​六孫王大神     Rokkusono Ōkami  

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From Merged Shrines

​天照皇大御神 Amaterasusume Ōkami  (55)

八幡大神         Hachiman Ōkami 

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In-ground Subordinate Shrines:

Goza Jinja                       五座神社
Tada Jinja                        多田神社
Sadazumi Jinja               貞純神社
Chikubushima Jinja       竹生島神社
TanjosuiBenzaiten-Sha 誕生水弁財天社
Mutsumi Inari Jinja        睦称稲荷神社

 

Outside Subordinate Shrines:
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​Annual Festival:  Second Monday in October​​​

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