In the era of the battle between the Minamoto and Taira clans, the Taira clan enshrined the branch deity invited from Itsukushina-jinja Shrine (present-day Hiroshima Prefecture), as their guardian deity, in the ship of Emperor Antoku. When the Taira clan was defeated at the Battle of Dannoura, the divine spirit washed up on the shore, so a shrine building was built in 1185. In 1866, Takasugi Shinsaku prayed for victory against the Tokugawa Shogunate before starting battle. Later. he offered to this shrine the big drum he brought back as a sign of victory. This big drum has still been preserved in the precincts.