神社名は、崇神天皇（または応神天皇）の時代、丹生都比売神がこの地に降臨したとき、地主神の竈門明神が酒を造り、初めて神前に供えたことに由来するといわれる。社殿の裏にある鎌八幡宮は明治４２年、兄井から移され、イチイガシの大木をご神木とし、祈願成就のため鎌を打ち込んだことからこの名がある。祈願成就のときは鎌が幹に食い込んでいくが、不成就のときは脱け落ちると伝承されている。

　文化元年（１８０４）世界で初めて乳がんの手術に成功した華岡青洲の石燈籠が境内にある。天保５年（１８３４）７４歳の時に寄進したもので、長年の神仏のご加護に感謝の意を表したのであろう。

■住所：かつらぎ町三谷631

■大イチョウの見頃：11月下旬

Niusakadono Jinja Shrine
This quiet building enshrines Niutsuhime, the guardian goddess of Koyasan. According to legend, the mountain behind the shrine is where the goddess first descended to earth. The shrine is believed to be one of the first in Japan to offer sake to the gods.
The shrine is thought to have originally been built here during the middle of the Heian period (7941185). It was established in its current iteration in 1873, serving and being run by three local communities.
In front of the shrine is a towering gingko tree, said to be over 800 years old, which turns the grounds into a sea of yellow when it drops its leaves during the fall.
Niusakadono Shrine is a 25-minute walk from Myoji Station. It is the starting point of the challenging Mitanizaka Trail that leads to Niutsuhime Shrine, just over a mountain pass.

Kama Hachimangu: The Sickle Shrine
Tucked behind Niusakadono Shrine, Kama Hachimangu is a large, sacred red-bark oak tree in which dozens of crescent-shaped sickles have been thrust, their blades deeply embedded in the trunk. According to the Kiizoku Fudoki chronicle compiled in the late Edo period (16031868), this was how the locals, who depended on agriculture and forestry for their livelihood, made entreaties to the gods.
The long-standing custom appears to still live on, as a few shiny new sickles can be found embedded among the much older rust-covered implements. To maintain the health of the tree, the shrine now requests that worshippers write their wishes on sickle-shaped prayer plaques (ema), which are then hung near the torii gate in front of the sacred tree.