Yoshida jinja

   A Kyoto shrine dedicated to the ujigami of the powerful Fujiwara family. It was recognised as one of the elite nijuni-sha in 1081. The Urabe family who started out as court diviners and onmyo specialists rose in importance by becoming priests of the shrine and subsequently took the name Yoshida. The decline of the court's ability to support the shrine led to efforts by Yoshida, Kanetomo to raise the status of the Yoshida jinja and Mt. Yoshida as the centre of Yui-itsu shinto. By the end of the fifteenth century, thanks to the efforts of Kanetomo the Yoshida had acquired the right, which it retained until the time of the Meiji restoration, to award ranks to the deities of local shrines (see Shakaku seido).