Shinto in Japan | Hey Japan!

Mountain

Mt. Gassan

The highest of the three mountains of Dewa in Yamagata, sacred to the moon god, with a shrine at the summit that opens only in high summer.

Tsuruoka · Yamagata

Mountain

Mt. Haguro

The lowest of the three mountains of Dewa in Yamagata, climbed by a stone stair through old cedars, with a five-storey pagoda that is a National Treasure.

Tsuruoka · Yamagata

Religious Site

Meoto Iwa

Two rocks off the shore at Futami in Mie, joined by a rope of rice straw, standing as a gateway to a sacred rock out in the sea.

Ise · Mie

Shrine

Mountain

Mt. Gassan

The highest of the three mountains of Dewa in Yamagata, sacred to the moon god, with a shrine at the summit that opens only in high summer.

Tsuruoka · Yamagata

Mountain

Mt. Haguro

The lowest of the three mountains of Dewa in Yamagata, climbed by a stone stair through old cedars, with a five-storey pagoda that is a National Treasure.

Tsuruoka · Yamagata

Religious Site

Meoto Iwa

Two rocks off the shore at Futami in Mie, joined by a rope of rice straw, standing as a gateway to a sacred rock out in the sea.

Ise · Mie

Shrine

Shirahige Shrine

A shrine on the western shore of Lake Biwa with a torii standing in the water, dedicated to Sarutahiko and known as a shrine of long life.

Takashima · Shiga

Shrine

Yuge Shrine

A shrine on Yuge Island in the Inland Sea, founded by a branch of the Mononobe clan to their ancestor, with a pine grove and a shallow beach below it.

Kamijima · Ehime

Shrine

Suwa Shrine

The tutelary shrine of Nagasaki, re-established in 1625 after the city had been church land, and home of the Kunchi festival.

Nagasaki

Shrine

Kunikatanushi Shrine

A shrine at the centre of the island of Iki, founded in 811, to the small god Sukunahikona and to Sugawara no Michizane.

Iki · Nagasaki

Shrine

Usa Shrine

The head shrine of the forty thousand Hachiman shrines, founded at Usa in 725, with three halls that are a National Treasure.

Usa · Oita

Shrine

Amano Iwato Shrine

A shrine at Takachiho that worships the cave where the sun goddess is said to have hidden, leaving the world in darkness.

Miyazaki

Area & Points of Interest

Takachihogawara

A sacred highland at 970 meters on Mount Kirishima's slopes, legendary in Japanese mythology as where the heavenly grandchild descended to rule.

Kirishima · Kagoshima

Shrine

Kirishima Shrine

A shrine below the peak of Takachiho in Kagoshima, its vermilion halls of 1715 made a National Treasure in 2022.

Kirishima · Kagoshima

Shrine

Udo Jingu

A shrine on the coast of Miyazaki whose vermilion hall stands inside a sea cave, with a rock said to have nursed the god born there.

Nichinan · Miyazaki

Shrine

Hinomisaki Shrine

Two shrines on one site at the western tip of the Shimane Peninsula, rebuilt in the 1630s and holding a National Treasure suit of armour.

Izumo · Shimane

Shrine

Sada Shrine

Sada Shrine near Matsue: a rare sanctuary of three halls side by side, the gods gathering each November to remember Izanami, and the UNESCO-listed Sada Shinno dance.

Matsue · Shimane

Area & Points of Interest

Inasa-no-Hama

Izumo · Shimane

Shrine

Mankusen Shrine

Mankusen Shrine in Izumo is said to be the last stop for the gods of Japan before they return home.

Izumo · Shimane

Shrine

Kumano Taisha Shrine

One of three major Kumano shrines in Japan, Kumano Taisha was established in 806 and is known as the Ise Shrine of the North for its significance.

Nanyo · Yamagata

Shrine

Uto Shrine

Guardian shrine of Aomori dedicated to the Three Goddesses of Munakata, featuring grounds with a sacred spring and historic remains including haiku stones by Matsuo Basho.

Aomori

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