Located to the east of Kishiwada Castle's main tower, Kishijo Shrine is the guardian deity of the castle and the sacred ground for the Kishiwada Danjiri Festival. Originally, local farmers built a Shinmei-sha shrine to pray for a bountiful harvest. Around 650 years ago, Susanoo-no-Mikoto was enshrined at the shrine from Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto. The shrine then became known as Gozu Tenno-sha and prospered as the local guardian deity. Later, during the Keicho era, Hideyoshi's vassal, Koide Hidemasa, enshrined Hachiman-no-Okami at the same shrine when he undertook extensive renovations of Kishiwada Castle. Since then, the shrine has been fervently worshipped by successive castle lords and residents. With the Meiji Restoration, the number of parishioners expanded, and the shrine was renamed "Kishijo Shrine." The current main shrine building was completed in August 2008 thanks to the support of worshippers and parishioners. Since Kishiwada Castle was called Chikirijo, the shrine is visited by many people as a god of marriage. The famous Kishiwada Danjiri Festival is the shrine's annual festival.