In the hills of Tanzan, there is a place where a single encounter changed the course of Japan's history.

At a kemari (kickball) gathering held at Asuka-dera, Prince Naka no Oe's shoe slipped off and flew away. Nakatomi no Kamatari quickly picked it up and offered it back to him with both hands. This small encounter grew into a bond between the two men — a bond that would eventually lead them up into these hills.

When the wisteria bloomed, the two met in secret on this mountainside and planned what would later be called the Taika Reforms. The place where they spoke came to be called "Katarai-yama" — the mountain of conversation — and this is the origin of the shrine's name, Tanzan Jinja.