You’ll find Izumo Well on the right of the worship hall. This water has been used for the “Kayura Shinto Ritual,” a divination ceremony that dates back to the Muromachi Period. Held every January, the Kayura Shinto Ritual predicts the year’s weather and the good or bad harvest of 53 types of crops, including rice, wheat, and soybeans.

During the ritual, red bean porridge is boiled in a large cauldron and 12 pieces of wood are placed in the fire of the hearth. The degree to which the wood is burned predicts the rain and sunlight for each month. Fifty-three bamboo stalks are then bundled together in the porridge, and the amount of porridge in the bamboo tube after cooking is used to forecast the harvest quality of the crops.

Water seems to act as a sensor that can predict the future and warn of natural disasters.

At a temple in Osaka, a well that had been dry for a long time suddenly overflowed with water. The next day, a major earthquake occurred. The amount of well water increased and its color changed.

Hiraoka Shrine, with its abundant water supply, may have served as a suitable location for Kawachi Province to “receive messages from the gods.”