EIGHT IMPERIAL TUTELARY DEITIES

The focus of ritual cults of the imperial house which were maintained from the fifteenth century exclusively by theYoshidaandShirakawahouses and after 1868 by the short­lived Department of Divinity (Jingikan). The deities are Ikumusubi no kami, Kamimusubi no kami, Kotoshironushi no kami, Miketsu no kami, Omiya no mekami, Takamimusubi no kami, Tamatsumemusubi no kami and Taramusubi no kami.