Daikai Jinja
Daikai Jinja pre-dates Sumiyoshi Taisha’s founding in the early third century. It was originally dedicated to Watatsumi, a powerful god of the sea revered by sailors. Most visitors sought his protection during their voyages. Two thousand years ago, Osaka Bay lay just beyond the shrine’s western gate, but silt buildup and land reclamation over centuries have moved the shore further from the shrine.
Daikai Jinja was headed by the Tsumori family, who can trace their ancestry back to the legendary figure, Tamomi no Sukune. According to an ancient chronicle of Japanese history, Tamomi no Sukune was the first head priest of Daikai Jinja and a descendant of the deity Ninigi no Mikoto, mythical ancestor of the emperor of Japan.
In the third century, Empress-regent Jingū is said to have commissioned Tamomi no Sukune to build Sumiyoshi Taisha to enshrine the three maritime gods collectively called the Sumiyoshi Sanjin. Tamomi no Sukune entrusted the construction of the new shrine to his son, who received the name Tsumori (literally, “port-protector”). Branches of the Tsumori family would head both Sumiyoshi Taisha and Daikai Jinja until the religious reforms of the Meiji era (1868–1912).
Today two gods of the sea, Toyotamahiko no Mikoto and Toyotamahime no Mikoto, are worshipped at Daikai Jinja.