[1] The kami enshrined at Sasamuta Jinja is Sasamuta-Ōkami (西寒多大神), which is an amalgamation of: According to the Ōita Gunshi (大分郡志), Empress Jingu visited Mount Sasamuta on her way back from the conquest of the Korean Peninsula, and planted a white flag at the top of the mountain as proof of her visit.

It reappears in the Engishiki listing of the mid-Heian period, where it has the distinction of being classed as the only "major shrine" in Bungo Province.

During the Edo period, the Makino clan and then the Naitō clan of Nobeoka Domain, frequently sponsored renovation and repairs, and their feudal retainers also donated items such as stone lanterns.

It was designated as a Tangible Cultural Property of Ōita Prefecture on April 8, 1980.

In 1862 at the end of the Edo period, the village headman of Samuta village, which was then part of the Nobeoka Domain, started a stone masonry business in Shibakita village, Ono district (currently Bungo-ono, Ōita), which was part of Oka Domain.