Aburahi-daimyojinThe Tutelary Deity of Koka Descending with Fiery Light upon Mount Aburahi

Aburahi-daimyojin is a deity unique to Koka, intertwining nature spirits, Buddhism, and samurai worship. Its origins lie in ancient mountain worship directed at Mount Aburahi, a sacred peak whose summit shrine still venerates the water goddess Mitsuhanome-no-kami, preserving an older layer of belief[1]. Overlaid onto this is the legend of the descent: "A god descended with a light like burning oil," which is told as the origin of the shrine's name[2]. Furthermore, a Muromachi-period history connected the shrine's founding to Prince Shotoku (with Nyoirin Kannon as its original Buddhist manifestation, or *honji-butsu*), and in the Middle Ages, it evolved into the "Sosha of Koka," revered as a war god by the Koka samurai[1]. Its mention in the oaths of the *Watanabe Family Documents* indicates that Aburahi-daimyojin was the deity before whom the shinobi of Koka swore their vows[3]. Its multifaceted nature—encompassing fiery light, a sacred mountain, martial divinity, and the protection of fire and oil—mirrors the spiritual history of Koka, a land where espionage, fire arts, and Shugendo mountain asceticism intersected.