Passing through the main gate heading to San-mon Gate, visitors see the red shrine gate of Ishiwari-Inari-sha Shrine on the right side. On the approach to the shrine, there is a section with a giant rock split into two lying on the left and right sides of the approach. The following legend that has been passed down since ancient times:
When Nichiren Shonin visited Mount Minobu, there was a large rock that blocked the mountain trail. As he approached the large rock, it suddenly broke apart and an old man with gray hair appeared. Nichiren Shonin asked him where he had come from. The old man told him that he was born as a child sent by the Inari-Daimyojin Deity, and had been enclosed in the rock. He also told Nichiren Shonin that because he heard Nichiren would visit the area, he broke the rock so he could ask Nichiren to found his sect as soon as possible to help people. Because the power of the Inari-Daimyojin Deity broke the rock and Nichiren Shonin could visit the mountain safely, people in the village built an Inari-jinja Shrine there.