Kandaten-jinja Shrine was founded in 842 by Fujiwara Iseo, provincial governor of Kai, and came to be called Kandatenjin in 1004 when it was dedicated to Sugawara Michizane.
The shrine houses the National Treasure “Tatenashi no Yoroi” (literally, “Shieldless Armor”), which has been handed down in the Takeda Clan for generations since Shinra Saburo Yoshimitsu, founder of the Kai Genji Clan, as a family treasure along with the Mihata flag.
The armor displays the classic, noble aura of the Heian Period (794–1185), and was venerated by a retainer of the Takeda Clan during the Warring States Period (1467–1603). It was said to be offered to Kandaten-jinja by Takeda Shingen as a tutelary item against “Kimon,” the inauspicious northeast direction according to traditional Asian geomancy. After the decline of the Takeda Clan, it was buried under the large cedar tree of Kogaku-ji Temple by a retainer, and it ultimately came to be enshrined once again in Kadaten-jinja by Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Note that the armor is not available for public viewing.