Wakasahiko Shrine, Shinto shrine in Fukui Prefecture, Japan

Wakasahiko Shrine in Obama, Fukui Prefecture, consists of an upper shrine at Ryūmae and a lower shrine, Wakasahime Shrine, at Onyū, about 2 km apart on the slope of Mount Tadagadake. The upper shrine's dark-timber hall, with a steep thatched or shingled roof and a gabled porch, stands on a stone base; both shrines have main halls, tower gates and shrine gates designated Fukui Prefecture cultural properties.

According to shrine tradition, the two deities appeared at Shiraishi in Shimonogori village, Onyū district, and the upper shrine was founded there on the tenth day of the ninth month of 714. It was moved to its present site at Ryūmae the following year, in 715, and the lower shrine, Wakasahime Shrine, was split off from it in 721 at Onyū. In 859 the deities received court ranks recorded in the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, and by the medieval period the upper shrine was named ichinomiya of Wakasa Province while the lower was the ninomiya.

The upper shrine honours Hikohohodemi no Mikoto, called Wakasahiko, and the lower shrine Toyotama-hime, called Wakasahime, credited with easy childbirth and child-rearing. The shrine crest, a jewel on waves, refers to the tide-controlling jewels Hikohohodemi obtained in the dragon palace. The lower shrine holds a yin-yang stone called Koshitane-ishi and a large ginkgo known as the milk deity; most rites now take place there.

The shrine has two parts: the upper shrine (Wakasahiko Shrine) in Ryūmae and the lower shrine (Wakasahime Shrine) in Onyū, about 30 minutes on foot from JR Obama Line Higashi-Obama Station to the upper shrine and about 10 minutes to the lower shrine. Priests reside only at the lower shrine, where most ceremonies are held. Nearby are Wakasa Jingū-ji and the Unose pool.

The Yin-Yang stone, a paired male-female rock called ko-dane-ishi, stands in the grounds of the lower shrine, Wakasahime Shrine in Onyū, not at the upper shrine. It is linked to Toyotama-hime, the deity credited with easy childbirth and child-rearing, and a large ginkgo called Chichi-gami-sama stands nearby.