Shirayamahime no Kami

Shirayamahime is the principal deity of the Hakusan faith, centered on Mount Hakusan, one of Japan's Three Holy Mountains alongside Mount Fuji and Mount Tateyama. She is commonly identified with Kukurihime, a goddess who appears briefly in the Nihon Shoki as a mediator between Izanagi and Izanami at the border of the underworld.

The Hakusan faith emerged as a mountain asceticism (shugendo) tradition in the eighth century when the monk Taicho is said to have climbed Mount Hakusan and received a vision of the deity. The tradition synthesized Shinto, Buddhist, and Daoist elements, with Shirayamahime identified with the Eleven-Faced Kannon.

As the source of major rivers flowing through the Hokuriku and Chubu regions, Mount Hakusan has long been venerated as the provider of agricultural water. Hakusan shrines number approximately 2,700 nationwide, and the deity is invoked for safe childbirth, marital harmony, and agricultural prosperity.