Along Fuefuki River, which flows through the center of Yamanashi City in Yamanashi Prefecture, there is a place where a large single slab of rock juts out like a rocky shore, although it is found inland. Called “Sashide-no-Iso” (literally, “rocky shore that protrudes out”), it is a scenic spot that has been read in numerous Japanese Waka poems since ancient times as a sacred place.
Near this spot stands a shrine of the same name, Sashidenoiso Daitakesan-jinja, with an approach that intersects Chichibu Okan Road. The main deity of the shrine is Oyamatsumi no Kami, the parent god of Konohanasakuyahime no Mikoto, and is also called the “god of sake brewing.” Many people visit the shrine to pray for safe childbirth, health, and particularly cancer control. In 1448 during the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) when a large-scale drought occurred in Kofu Basin, a religious rainmaking ritual brought heavy rain, and people who rejoiced at this donated a tower to the shrine.
The Sashidenoiso Daitakesan Spring Festival that is held every year on April 29 attracts more than 10,000 visitors to the shrine, and is known as the largest festival in the Kyoto area of Yamanashi Prefecture. The grounds of the shrine command a panoramic view of Kofu Basin and Mount Fuji, a view selected among the “Hundred Views of Fuji in Kanto” by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.