Yataniimasu Kushitamahiko Shrine｜Legend of the Three Divine Arrows

Legend of the “Second Arrow Mound”

Kushitama Nigihayahi no Mikoto, following the command of the supreme deity Amaterasu Omikami, descended from the heavens aboard the Ama no Iwafune, a flying ship.
While soaring through the skies in the Ama no Iwafune, he prayed, “Guide me to the land where I shall establish my shrine,” and shot three arrows. All three arrows fell in this area, approximately 3 km west of Koriyama Castle, and thus this place came to be known as “Yata,” meaning “the rice field where the arrow fell.”
The site where the second arrow landed (on the grounds of Yataniimasu Kushitamahiko Shrine) was chosen as the location for the shrine.

Here is the place where the second arrow fell.

It is believed that Kushitama Nigihayahi no Mikoto descended from the heavens aboard the Ama no Iwafune, a flying ship that soared through the skies, and thus he is revered as the deity of aviation.
At the gate, you are greeted by a wooden airplane propeller used during World War II.

Since the second arrow fell here, it is also known as “Yaochi Shrine” (Shrine of the Fallen Arrow).

The area surrounding the First Arrow Mound is a rice fields.

The First Arrow Mound

This is the Third Arrow Mound.