Sarumaru-jinja, Shinto shrine in Ujitawara, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Sarumaru-jinja is a Shinto shrine in Ujitawara, Kyoto Prefecture, dedicated to the poet Sarumaru Taifu. Its main hall was rebuilt in 1645, and the grounds include a hall where visitors pray for relief from tumors and cancer. The shrine is the setting of Isawa Motohiko's novel Sarumaru Genshikō.

Sarumaru-jinja's founding date is unknown; tradition holds that its shrine building was rebuilt in 1645 (Shōhō 2). It enshrines Sarumaru Taibu, the poet of the famous verse on deer and autumn in the deep mountains, long venerated as a god of poetry. In early modern times the shrine also became known as a deity against tumors and cancer.

The shrine is dedicated to Sarumaru Taibu, the poet credited with the waka "In the deep mountains, treading through fallen leaves, when I hear the deer cry, how sad autumn is." He was long venerated as a god of poetry, and writers and scholars travelled here to honour him. In early modern times he came to be worshipped as a deity against tumours and cancer, drawing pilgrims from across the Kinki region.

Take a Kyoto Keihan bus bound for Ujitawara (for Ichiumae, Ryokuenzaka, Kogyodanchi or Okuyamada Shojuin-guchi) from JR Uji, Keihan Uji or Kintetsu Shintanabe station and get off at Nagayamaguchi, then walk northeast for 37 minutes; from the Ichiumae terminus it is 45 minutes on foot. Taxis often wait at Ichiumae and can be called by phone. On the 13th of each month, when the regular festival is held, extra buses run from Ichiumae once or twice an hour, and the town bus (five round trips daily, free, boarding anywhere) continues to the Zenjoji stop, ten minutes east on foot.

The shrine is the setting of Izawa Motohiko's novel Sarumaru Genshikō, which won the Edogawa Rampo Prize; some visitors come after reading it. The grounds are also known for prayers against tumors and cancer, drawing worshippers from across the Kinki region.