Tejikara Shrine, whose deity is Amano-tajikarao-no-mikoto, has long been known as “Yubune-no-Tejikara-san”, the god of hands and strength, and today as the god of higher education, matchmaking, and traffic safety. The area surrounding the shrine is a typical example of the hilly and winding nature of Iga.
The shrine was the object of devotion of the Fujibayashi Nagato no kami, the ancestor of the famous ninja clan Fujibayashi. The ninja of north area, including the Fujibayashi clan, were skilled in the use of gunpowder, and even after the Edo period (1603-1867), many of them were employed by domains as “yabumawari musokunin”, who were trained to use guns for four months out of the year and six days out of the month. In addition, there is a lantern placed in front of a deity by Fujibayashi Masanao.
In this area, ninja honed their skills in fireworks to utilize Noroshi, and it is said that the votive fireworks at Tejikara Shrine were started by Fujibayashi Nagato no Kami, and until the end of the Taisho era (1912-1926), those fireworks were hand-made by the shrine parishioners. Even today, the dedication fireworks are held on October 17, the latest day in Iga City.
The bell cord of the shrine is also famous as “the heaviest bell cord in Japan” because of the custom of tying a cloth on which wishes are written when praying, and the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people to date have taken the form of a two ton weight. On the far side of the bell cord is a plaque indicating that the shrine is a branch of Togakushi Shrine.
