[3] The kami enshrined at Hikawa Jinja are: According to the shrine's tradition, the shrine was established during the reign of the legendary Emperor Kōshō in 473 BC, when the ruling clan of the area, the Musashi kuni no miyatsuko migrated to this region from Izumo, bring with them the worship Susanoo.

The pond within the grounds of the shrine is a remnant of Minuma and considered to have roots in enshrining the water god of Minuma (a vast swamp that existed until the middle of the Edo period), with the shrine built on a hill or promontory which extended into the swamp.

In the Kamakura period, Minamoto no Yoritomo ordered Doi Sanehira to rebuild the shrine in 1180, and made many donations.

Despite the worship of many prominent people, and the fact that it is the only myōjin taishi in Musashi, the Hikawa Shrine was not originally regarded as the ichinomiya of the province.

During the Edo Period, the shrine prospered greatly from its location in Ōmiya-juku, which was a post station on the Nakasendō.