the time known as Kokubu Hachiman shrine) and Usa Hachiman shrine over which was the more legitimate Hachiman shrine. Usa Hachiman shrine secretly sent 15 (or even 14) messengers to burn down Kagoshima Hachiman shrine. As that happened, the character for "Shohachiman (正八幡)" appeared in the black smoke rising from the burning shrine. These messengers were so frightened that they fled to Mizobe, where they were punished by the gods and 13 died one after another. The local people then took pity on those who had died in a different land, and built mounds to comfort their souls at the places where they had fallen. These mounds are located in the northern part of the Kokubu Plain in Kagoshima Prefecture. The Jusanzukabara (Thirteen Mounds) Historic Site Park derives its name from this legend legend is located in the northeastern part of the area, near Kagoshima Airport. There are several other legends concerning the messenger of Usa Hachiman that differ in content from the above. There are several other legends concerning the Usa Hachiman emissary that differ in content from the above. The first mention of the shrine in reliable historical records is in the Engishiki, compiled during the reign of Emperor Daigo, which lists it as an "Osumi Province Kuwabara-gun Kagoshima Shrine," making it the highest-ranking shrine in the called Southern Kyushu region of Hyuga, Osumi, and Satsuma. Because of its high prestige, the shrine produced a number of prominent priests from the Kuwabata and Saisho clans. It is said that the God Hachiman himself was enshrined here during the Heian period (794-1185), when Usa Hachiman shrine invited the Hachiman Betsugu shrine of the Kyushu Gosho to go to Kagoshima Shrine. Since then, the shrine has also been called Sho-Hachimangu, Osumi Sho-Hachimangu, and Kokubu Hachimangu. During the Kenkyu period (1190 - 1199), the shrine's territory was over 2,500 town hectares, and it held 1,000 koku until the end of the Edo period. From the Sengoku Period to the Edo Period, the shrine was patronized by the Shimazu clan. In 1871, the shrine was given a higher ranking under the Meiji government's modern shrine ranking system under the name "Kagoshima Shrine". This happened again in 1874, and once more in 1895 when it was promoted to a Grand Shrine. After the war, the shrine became a part of the Association of Shinto Shrines. On November 19, 2021, the National Council for