Located near Keikyu Horinouchi Station in the Miharu-Cho section of Yokosuka.
Apparently, after World War II, the shrine was removed when the Keihin Kyuko railway line was built through its property.
But what remained was a the Torii Gate (entrance to holy area) and a stairway...
A stairway leading up to ... nothing...
Although the two small caves definitely seem to contain something alive from ancient times .... and then .... there is the tree!
The Japanese would call this old tree 神木 (Shin Boku) .... a God Tree .... From certain angles you can see a face in its trunk. Who knows how long this tree has experienced and absorbed the energy of life!
This is (was) an INARI shrine. I good article explaining INARI is HERE.
Inari 稲荷. The deity of rice and a major Shinto god (KAMI.) Closely associated with various Shinto deities of food, Inari can be depicted in either male or female form. Inari not only protects the rice harvest -- s/he is also the patron of prosperity for farmers and merchants, especially those involved in rice production, foodstuffs and fisheries.
In traditional artwork, a pair of foxes typically flank Inari’s image. But in modern times, images of Inari have all but disappeared, replaced instead by images of Oinari’s messenger, the magical shape-shifting fox (kitsune 狐). Here the symbolism is two-fold. First, rice is sacred in Japan, closely associated with fertility (the pregnant earth) and with sustaining life. Inari and Inari’s foxes must therefore be placated -- otherwise it would be disastrous to the livelihood of the nation’s farmers and people.
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