Shibagakijinja Shrine

Located roughly midway between the Otsu road (Nagao highway) and Tajihi road (Takenouchi highway), this site was once the imperial residence of the Yamato court's 18th ruler, Emperor Hanzei, within the ancient Matsubara estate. He kept his capital here for five years, the last capital of the Kawachi dynasty, and it's recorded as 'Tajihi Shibari Palace' in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. Chronicles say his reign was peaceful and grain harvests plentiful, with a prosperous, thriving populace living in a time of peace. Place names referencing former palace structures remain — Gokutenzan, Daimon, Chumon, Gakudo, Wakamiya, Hanzeiyama, Togu, Dokyo, Nakabashi, Takami — earning Osaka Prefecture historic site designation, with the surrounding area now designated a buried cultural property zone. The Edo-period ukiyo-zoshi writer Ihara Saikaku visited and left behind several playful comic verses about the shrine, commemorated by a poem monument on the grounds.