Emperor Ojin, who was deified as Hachiman-jin (the tutelary god of warriors), is said to be enshrined in all the sites dedicated to him; and the first and earliest of these was at Usa in the early 8th century.

[7] In the 16th century, the temple was razed to the ground and repeatedly attacked by the Christian-sympathizing lord of Funai Ōtomo Yoshishige.

The wife of Yoshishige, Ōtomo-Nata Jezebel was the High Priestess alongside Nara Clan and resisted against her former husband's attacks.

In 749, the shrine's mikoshi was used to carry the spirit of Hachiman from Kyushu to Nara, where the deity was to guard construction of the great Daibutsu at Tōdai-ji.

Because of its mixed religious ancestry, one of the important festivals at the shrine is the Hōjō-e (放生会), originally a Buddhist ceremony in which captive birds and fish are released.

[14] The ceremony, held every autumn, is accompanied by sacred kagura dances meant to commemorate the souls of fish killed by fishermen during the previous year.

[15] The event begins with the eight kilometer carrying of a mikoshi from Usa Jingū to the banks of the Yorimo River (寄藻川).

Upon arrival, the mikoshi is greeted by Buddhist monks from the Rokugō Manzan temples who chant sutras to "welcome the deity.

Their characteristic configuration, called Hachiman-zukuri, consists of two parallel structures with gabled roofs interconnected on the non-gabled side to form what internally is a single building.

The vermillion-painted Kurehashi Bridge (呉橋) at the shrine's west approach is designated as an Important Tangible Cultural Property by Ōita Prefecture.

This train line was closed in 1965 at which point the station at Usa Jingū was demolished and turned into a parking lot.