The origins of Tamanooya Jinja are unknown. Although there is no documentary evidence, it is believed that it began as the family shrine for a clan of Kofun period craftsmen who made magatama and tubular beads, who regarded Tamanooya-no-Mikoto as their ancestor. In the Nihon Shoki, when the legendary Emperor Keikō led an expedition to conquer the Kumaso, he was created by a clan headed by Princess Kamikashi, who offered him sacred treasures, and he prayed at the Tamanooya Jinja for victory. The shrine is mentioned in the "Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku" and Engishiki records from the early Heian period, and was regarded as the ichinomiya of the province from this time.[2]
During the Kamakura period, the monk Chōgen who visited the Saba River basin to procure materials for the reconstruction of reconstruction of Tōdai-ji and from March 1186 the province donated substantial portion of its revenues to the project. When the reconstruction was completed in 1195, Chōgen rebuilt the Tamanooya Jinja as a gesture of thanksgiving, and the shrine has preserved the List of Treasures of the Suō Province Ichinomiya Reconstruction (周防国一宮造替神殿宝物等目録, Suō koku ichinomiya Zōtai shinden takaramono-tō mokuroku) written by Chōgen listing the work accomplished. This document is noteworthy as the most credible example of Chōgen's handwriting and is a National Important Cultural Property.[3]
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