'Chief of the matsuri', also Itsuki-no-miya (princess dedicated to the kami). The highest priestly office now found only at the Ise Jingu and since 1945 held by a female member of the imperial family in partial imitation of early practices recorded in the Engishiki where an unmarried princess (saigu) served as mitsue-shiro or medium (for the kami). Throughout most of Japanese history, from the Heian to the Meiji periods the position at Ise was held by a male representative of the Jingikan and from 1868-1945 by a male member of the imperial family.
A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Brian Bocking.