隠津島神社, Shinto shrine in Japan

Okitsushima Shrine stands on the eighth station of conical Mount Kihata in Nihonmatsu, with its main hall backed by a huge rock. The mountain itself forms the shrine grounds, and a distant worship hall sits at the foot. The main hall, built from 1789 to 1800, is a three-bay nagare-zukuri structure of bare keyaki wood with a copper roof, linked to the worship hall by a railed arched bridge.

According to shrine tradition, the site was founded in 769, when Hasebe no Tsugutari, a kuni no miyatsuko of Ashiwa, installed his third son Tsugunori as its ritual officiant. In the early 9th century it became a Shugendo-Buddhist centre called Hokke-ji, and in 1482 a shrine hall was built under the patronage of a local lord. Date Masamune's 1585 campaign burned the halls; only a Benzaiten statue, a three-tiered pagoda and an imperial plaque survived. The Niwa lords restored it in the Edo period, and it was renamed Okitsushima Shrine in 1902.

The shrine is popularly called "Kohata no Benten." Its name derives from the goddess Okitsushima-hime, one of the three Munakata goddesses; the mountain name Kohata is linked to silkworm rearing, so the shrine is also venerated as a silkworm deity. The December Kohata no Hata Matsuri, a procession with five-coloured banners and conch shells, is a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

The shrine is easy to reach with parking for about 50 vehicles and clear signage throughout the grounds. It is best to check opening hours by phone or online before visiting and wear comfortable shoes, since exploring the forested mountain terrain requires walking on various paths.

The shrine's name was disputed for centuries: in 1800 a shogunal court ruled that the shrine could no longer call itself "Okitsushima Shrine" and had to use "Benzaiten" instead. The name Okitsushima only returned in 1902, when the shrine was renamed to its present form.