This shrine is closely associated with the battle of Dannoura in Tale of the Heike. Dannoura is the ancient battle field where the Heike clan met its fall. Defeated, the Heike people threw themselves into the sea in this area. Akama-jingu Shrine, which faces the Kanmon Strait, is where Emperor Antoku (grandson of Tairanokiyomori), tragically forfeited his life at the age of three at that time, is worshiped. The predecessor of this shrine was said to have been the Amida-ji Temple, which became the stage of the ghost story “Hoichi the Earless.” As you know, the ghosts of the Heike Clan came out at one point. At such as spot, one cannot but help thinking about the world of the Tale of the Heike.
* Tale of the Heike: an epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). Heike refers to the Taira clan. (Wikipedia)
https://ontrip.jal.co.jp/en/deepick/tips/2017_autumn/yamaguchi/
