When Oama-no-Miko departed Otsunomiya for Yoshino before the Jinshin Rebellion, he picked a branch from a willow tree in front of the shrine and prayed for victory; 'May this branch bud if I come to ascend to the imperial throne.'
壬申の乱を前に大海人皇子が大津宮から吉野に向かう際、社頭に柳の枝を挿して「我に天位を践まば、この柳、芽を出すべし」と戦勝を祈願した。