Located on the borderland of Aichi with Shizuoka Prefecture, the summit of Mount Hongū 782 metres (2,566 ft) is a sacred mountain considered to be within the precincts of the shrine, and has a subsidiary chapel.

The shrine claims to have been founded in the Taihō period (701-704 AD) by Emperor Mommu.

It is located in an area of eastern Mikawa with a favorable climate, which has been settled since at least the Jōmon period.

One of the treasures of the shrine is a Yayoi period dōtaku bronze ritual object, possibly recovered from a burial mound in the area.

The shrine first appears in historical documentation in the early Heian period Nihon Montoku Tennō Jitsuroku in an entry dated 850 and subsequently in the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku in an entry dated 864.