We left the waterfall and the river and drove to Ise to see Ise Jingu (Shrine) the most important Shinto Shrine in Japan.
'Ise Jingu, officially 'Jingu', includes 125 jinja(shinto shrine), centered around Kotaijingu(Naiku), dedicated to Amaterasu-Omikami, and Toyo'uke-daijingu(Geku), dedicated to Toyo'uke-no-Omikami. Its area is roughly the same size as Paris. More than 1,500 rituals are conducted here yearly to pray for the prosperity of the Imperial family, the peace of the world, and the huge harvest.
Amaterasu-Omikami was originally worshipped in the Imperial Palace by successive Emperors of Japan. However, during the reign of the 10th Emperor Sujin, the Holy Mirror (the symbol of Amaterasu-Omikami) was moved from the Imperial Palace. Then, during the reign of the 11th Emperor Suinin, the Emperor ordered his princess, Yamatohime-no-mikoto, to seek the most appropriate place to permanently enshrine and worship Amaterasu-Omikami. After searching in many regions, finally the princess received a revelation that Amaterasu-Omikami should be enshrined and worshipped eternally in Ise. It is approximately 2,000 years ago.'
It was another blazing hot day but the trees gave some illusion of coolness. Although having to constantly wipe sweat off my face and neck brought me back to reality...
There are little shrines everywhere dedicated to different gods and Torii gates to go through before entering.
View from the rest area.
This river really reminded me of Florida, muddy and still with dappled shadows.
I wanted to eat Ise ebi which is like a small lobster, unfortunately the season for it is winter. So instead I tried another specialty, Ise Udon, which was good but...not quite like lobster!
Dinner at an izakaya (bar with food).
And breakfast at the hotel in the morning a buffet)
This was interesting. I took this in the morning and it's empty but it's a 'pillow bar' Soft, medium, hard, polyester, barley, memory foam. You can choose. I did but it turned out that I liked the pillow in my room best!
Some pictures in the underground walkway.
The tourist area before the shrine. Nice old buildings that have been re-purposed into shops and eateries.
Notice the bamboo screens on the left. People put these over the window (in houses and apartments as well as shops) to keep out the sun.
These two elephants were the old (like when I was young) symbols for pharmacies.
We arrived before the crowds, although even later it wasn't too bad (the heat again).
Abalone - not as precious or costly here as in the States.
This beautiful display looked so refreshing!
I don't know why this horse was here, maybe to patrol, but his stall was spotless (and odorless) and he was extremely well cared for, his coat glowed.
Some well deserved treats.
So it was a nice weekend. Surrounded by nature and good food!
