Legendary bird attracts tourists to Japan shrine

Tanabe, Japan

VISITORS to Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine will spot numerous statues and other depictions of a three-legged crow called Yatagarasu.

According to legend, Yatagarasu serves Susano no mikoto, a Shinto deity enshrined in Kumano Hongu, and guided Emperor Jinmu and his troops through a rocky path in the Kumano region (present-day Wakayama prefecture) to the Yamato region (now Nara prefecture) during the emperor's eastern expedition.