Kasuga Taisha

Quick facts

Address

160 Kasuganocho, Nara

About this place

Kasuga Taisha is in Nara. Its main shrine is said to have been founded in 768, in the Nara period, by decree of Empress Shotoku, and sanctuaries were raised for Takemikazuchi, Futsunushi, Ame-no-Koyane and Himegami. It was the clan shrine of the Fujiwara, and many nobles including the regents came to worship. In the Nara period, when the deity came from Hitachi province to Mount Mikasa, he came riding a white deer; from this the Kasuga deer are attendants of the deity, and came to be treated with care as its messengers. Some three thousand lanterns stand in the precinct, a practice of dedication that began in the Heian period.

Origin and history

The main shrine is said to have been founded in 768, in the Nara period, by decree of Empress Shotoku, and sanctuaries were raised for Takemikazuchi, Futsunushi, Ame-no-Koyane and Himegami.

It was the clan shrine of the Fujiwara, and many nobles including the regents came to worship.

In the Nara period, when the deity came from Hitachi province to Mount Mikasa, he came riding a white deer; from this the Kasuga deer are attendants of the deity and came to be treated with care as its messengers. Some three thousand lanterns stand in the precinct, dedicated in a practice begun in the Heian period.

What it is locally associated with

• Origin

  A deity who arrived on a white deer

  When the deity came from Hitachi province to Mount Mikasa he came riding a white deer, and from this the Kasuga deer came to be treated as the deity’s messengers.

  folk tradition

• Origin

  Founded by decree in 768

  The main shrine was founded in 768 by decree of Empress Shotoku, with sanctuaries raised for Takemikazuchi, Futsunushi, Ame-no-Koyane and Himegami.

  documented history

• What people do here

  Some three thousand lanterns

  Around three thousand lanterns stand in the precinct, from a practice of dedication begun in the Heian period.

  documented history

The deer of Nara hold an office. In the Nara period the deity came from Hitachi province to Mount Mikasa riding a white deer, and from that, the shrine records, the Kasuga deer are the deity’s attendants and came to be treated with care as its messengers. Not scenery: retinue.

The founding is 768, by decree of Empress Shotoku, with sanctuaries raised for four deities. It was the clan shrine of the Fujiwara, and many nobles including the regents came — one family’s shrine becoming a national one.

The lanterns are counted. Some three thousand stand in the precinct, from a practice of dedication that began in the Heian period: a number accumulated over a thousand years.

As for what may be asked here, this account does not say, so this page attaches no category of prayer.

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Sources

1. 春日大社について — Kasuga Taisha (accessed 2026-08-15)