Ise Jingu

After staying the night in Nara, we proceeded on to Ise. Actually, I wouldn't recommend that path to anyone. Although, on the map, it looks like Nara is halfway to Ise, the reality of the train lines means that it's really not quick or convenient to travel between them.

Ise Jingu, the shrine located at Ise, is considered to be the spiritual heart of Shinto, the native animistic religion of Japan. It was the only major tourist attraction I visited last time I was in Japan, and I remembered loving it, so I wanted to go there again, and take Mum, Dave and Hunter with me. To be honest though, maybe because this time around I've had to opportunity to visit a large number of locations, Ise really didn't live up to my memories. However, it was still pretty cool.

There are two main shrine complexes, the outer and inner shrines. Each complex has a major shrine to the goddess Amaterasu from whom the Emperor's line was (before the war) said to descend. There are also a number of smaller shrines to other deities. On these more minor shrines, I loved the contrast of the gilded beams and the thatched roofs.

Minor shrine at Gekū

Minor shrine at Naikū

 The outer shrine, or Gekū, had a very natural wilderness feel to it, while the inner shrine, or Naikū combined incredibly manicured gardens with wilderness areas. The below photos are all from Naikū.

Unfortunately, the main shrines themselves are closed to the public. You can get a bit of a view of them, but no photographs are allowed. I actually managed to get myself roused on for trying to take a photo at the outer shrine because there wasn't any signage to indicate no photos, it must just have been assumed to be understood, and security was in place to make sure.


After visiting the shrines, we stopped for some lunch in town. Dave was feeling adventurous, and ordered sea snails. Apparently they were quite nice...