It is also called Kumano Shrine because it was visited by people heading to Kishu Kumano via Amano Kaido. Long ago, there was a theory that God and Buddhism were one and the same, and there was a time when gods and bodhisattvas were enshrined in the same place. Santo Shrine has undergone a mysterious history due to its beliefs. Legend has it that it was founded in the 7th century, and was once destroyed by military fire, but was rebuilt within Kinzoji Temple in the 16th century by a monk named Taikan. Later, during the Meiji period when Shinto and Buddhism were separated, this shrine remained and Kinzoji disappeared.