Yatsurugi-jinja, Shinto shrine in Japan

Yatsurugi-jinja is a Shinto shrine in Mitani-chō, Gamagori, reached about ten minutes on foot from Mikawa-Mitani Station. Its roughly 1,800-tsubo grounds are enclosed by old pines, and nine subsidiary shrines stand within the precinct, among them Gendayu, Tenman, Suwa, Inari, Mikuwata, Akiba, Shakuchi, Mizu and Konpira shrines.

Tradition dates the shrine's founding to 1089. After it fell into disrepair, Adachi Fujikurō Moronaga, acting on Minamoto no Yoritomo's orders, directed the rebuilding of the shrine buildings in 1190. Tokugawa Ieyasu is said to have worshipped here in 1548 on his way to Suruga and again in 1582 returning to Hamamatsu, praying for military fortune. In 1600 a local lord donated shrine lands, a precedent followed by later lords.

The shrine's festival, the Mitani Matsuri, is held with the neighbouring Wakamiya Shrine over the third and fourth Saturday and Sunday of October. Tradition dates it to 1696, when village headman Sazaemon acted on a dream oracle and had the portable shrine carried through the town. The mikoshi procession with floats and local dances follows old forms.

The shrine is about a ten-minute walk from Mikawa Mitani Station on the JR Tōkaidō Main Line. The grounds cover roughly 1,800 tsubo (about 6,000 square metres), with the worship hall and subsidiary shrines set among old pines. The main festival is held on the third and fourth Saturday and Sunday of October.

The shrine's festival, Mitani Matsuri, began in 1696 when village headman Sazaemon acted on a dream oracle and had the portable shrine carried through the town. The procession of floats once crossed the sea; that rite vanished in 1961 when the shore was reclaimed, then returned in 1995 for the festival's 300th anniversary.