This introduces the legend of Shippeitaro, the figure that inspired Iwata City’s image character "Shippei." Long ago, every year a white-feathered arrow would lodge in the ridge of a house, and the daughter of that house would be offered as a human sacrifice (a living offering to the gods) at the Mitsuke Tenjin festival on August 10. The villagers wept in sorrow at each festival. One year, a traveling monk visiting Mitsuke heard this tale and wondered if the custom could be ended. He discovered that monsters were behind it and overheard them whisper, “Do not tell Shippeitaro of Shinano Province.” The monk set out for Shinano Province (present-day Nagano Prefecture) to find Shippeitaro. There he learned that Shippeitaro was a dog kept at Kozenji Temple in Komagane, Nagano Prefecture, and he borrowed the dog. The following August, on the day of the festival, the monk placed Shippeitaro in a coffin as a stand-in for the human sacrifice and offered it to Mitsuke Tenjin. The moment the monsters opened the coffin, Shippeitaro leapt at them and, after a long struggle, defeated them. The creature proved to be a huge, elderly baboon. After that, the custom of human sacrifice disappeared. Some say Shippeitaro, wounded in the fight, reached Kozenji Temple and died there; others say he died on the journey home. Iwata City and Komagane City became sister cities through this Shippeitaro legend. In Komagane City, Shippeitaro is called Hayataro, and Kozenji Temple has Hayataro’s grave.