Tsurugane Shrine was established in 1869 to honor successive heads of the Shimazu family and their relatives. It was originally located in the Yamashita area of Kagoshima City, near today’s Terukuni Shrine, and was moved to its present site in 1917 by Shimazu Tadamoto.

The shrine is widely revered, honoring lords remembered for both military valor and good governance, as well as princesses celebrated for their beauty and wisdom.

Its sacred treasures include a long sword signed “Bizen no Kuni Jū Unji,” designated an Important Cultural Property and dedicated on the 700th anniversary of the Shimazu family. Also preserved here is the red-laced great armor worn by Shimazu Tadahisa, the clan’s founder.

In front of the shrine stands a small tower known as the Minamoto no Yoritomo Grave Restoration Memorial. It commemorates the restoration of Minamoto no Yoritomo’s grave in Kamakura by Shimazu Shigehide, and reflects the tradition that Tadahisa was Yoritomo’s son.

From the late Edo Period onward, the Shimazu family managed and restored Yoritomo’s grave. In 1999, marking 800 years since Yoritomo’s death, this memorial was presented by the City of Kamakura in recognition of that long-standing connection.