Ise Shrine (off Tokyo): May 5, 2014

Visiting Ise Shrine once had and still has a special meaning for Japanese people. It was believed one of must-do events in your life in the Edo era (just like the hajj for Muslim people). It is still a must-visit place for sightseeing lovers now.

I visited the shrine for the first time in my life today.

Ise Shrine is the complex of total 125 shrines in the area around Ise city. Ise Shrine stands at the top of the country’s about 80 thousands shrines. It is also a shrine of the Emperor family.

The shrine was first built before the 7^th century.

Ise Shrine has two main shrines – inner shrine (naiku) and outer shrine (geku). The inner shrine enshrines Amateras-omikami, the goddess of the sun. The outer shrine enshrines Toyouke-no-omikami, the goddess of agriculture and industry. Many smaller shrines are built in the woods and mountains.

I first visited the Outer Shrine area following to traditional order. People walked through the wood and arrived the main shrine (the top picture).

I moved to the Inner Shrine area passing a bridge over the Isuzu River which flows outside the place.

There were many visitors in the shrine. They purified themselves with water before entering into the shrine area. In the Inner Shrine, some visitors walked down to the Isuzu River, which flows outside the area, and cleaned themselves with the river’s water (3rd picture from the top).

Visiting the main Inner Shrine (2nd picture from the top) was the highlight of the tour.

I felt a special feeling –- mixture of sacredness, importance of history, greatness of the nature etc. –- inside the place.

Old and huge trees were everywhere.

Shrine buildings are rebuilt every 20 years. It is not only a matter of construction, but is a religiously important event. The move means that they change the place to enshrine the god from the old building to the new building.

The latest shift was made last year at both the Inner Shrine and the Outer Shrine. It is now followed by other smaller shrines.

It becomes an open space after the old shrine building is removed. The space will be used again to build a new shrine 20 years later.

The shrine buildings are constructed in the way which the ancestors did more than 1000 years ago. They do not use even a single nail. Japanese cypress is used for the building itself and Japanese silver grass is used for the roof.

Plain woods appealed their freshness in the new-built shrines while mossy roofs appealed the history of 20 years in the old buildings. Old buildings will be dismantled and the wood will be used by other smaller shrines throughout the nation.

There developed commercial streets outside the Inner Shrine. Visitors enjoyed the local foods, sweets and souvenirs. Swallows flied over the street.