Nara’s Kasuga Taisha (Grand Shrine) is widely regarded as one of Japan’s “Three Great Shrines.” As at Ise, the Shrine’s four inner sanctuaries are set within an enclosure, inaccessible to the public. But the Shrine is worth a visit both for the dramatic approach lined with 2,000 stone lanterns don...
Dewa-sanzan, sometimes shortened to Dewasan, is a collective term for three peaks in Yamagata Prefecture that have been regarded as sacred since at least the sixth century.
The three peaks, Haguro-san, Gas-san, and Yudono-san are also famously one of the principal haunts of the Yamabushi (meaning...
Nikko is a fairly small city situated at the edge of Nikko National Park. A pilgrimage site for over a thousand years (there may have been a Shinto shrine in the area as early as the 5th century), Nikko’s fate as one of Japan’s most visited towns was sealed when Tokugawa Ieyasu requested on his deat...
Not far from the Imperial Palace visitors will find one of the most controversial sites in Japan. The Yasukuni Shrine, depending on whom you ask, is either a place to remember and show respect for the sacrifices of the nation’s fallen soldiers, or a last stronghold for the regional arrogance and ag...
Kyoto was home to the Imperial family for over a thousand years. When the family moved its residence to Tokyo during the Meiji era, many of the ancient capital’s citizens naturally felt a bit jilted. In 1895, to celebrate the 1,100th anniversary of the founding of the city, they built a marvelous sh...
By some estimates, more than a third of Shinto shrines are dedicated to Inari, a god of fertility, rice and wealth. The number of such shrines stands somewhere between thirty and forty thousand, rising sharply if one includes smaller field and roadside shrines.
But for visitors to Kyoto, only one...
Miyajima has more than its fair share of wonderful buildings, but surely Senjokaku is one of the most atmospheric. The name, which means "Thousand Mat Hall" refers to the large, open floor space. Construction began in 1587 on the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but was left uncompleted following his...
This is Kamakura's most important shrine, built first in 1180 and, after a disastrous fire, againin 1191 by Minamoto no Yoritomo, founder of the Kamakura Shogunate. The Shrine is designated to Hachiman, a Shintogod of war and also the patron deity to the Minamoto clan. Additionally, the souls of...
Each year six and a half million Japanese travel to the Shima Peninsula east of Osaka to visit what amounts to the Mecca of the native Shinto faith. The Isejingu, or Ise Shrine, is actually an enormous complex, including the Geku, or Outer Shrine, the Naiku, or Inner Shrine, and 123 smaller assoc...
Right next to the Grand Shrine at Izumo, the Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo makes an excellent addition to a visit to the shrine. Using movies, temporary exhibitions, replicas of the Grand Shrine at various periods of its long history and material on daily life in Izumo past and present, the museu...
According to a famous Shimane legend, the god Susanoo-no-Mikoto was once banished from heaven after a struggle with his sister. Descending to earth in the Izumo region, who soon came across an elderly couple weeping over a young woman. When he asked who they were and what had caused their sorrow, ...
