Ise Jingu

Ise Jingu is two main shrines about six kilometres apart - Geku, the outer, dedicated to the deity of food and industry, and Naiku, the inner, to Amaterasu the sun deity, where one of the three imperial regalia is said to be kept. The practice that defines it is shikinen sengu: every twenty years the main buildings, the bridge and the ceremonial objects are rebuilt entirely new on an adjacent plot of the same size, the deity is moved across, and the old site is cleared to bare gravel until the next cycle. This has been done sixty-two times since 690, most recently in 2013, using cypress felled and prepared over years and joinery techniques passed on through the rebuilding itself. The buildings are plain unpainted cypress with thatched roofs and cannot be approached - visitors see the outer fence. The approach is through old forest and across the Uji bridge.

History

According to the Nihon Shoki, Princess Yamatohime, daughter of Emperor Suinin, set out from Mount Miwa about 2000 years ago to find a lasting place to worship Amaterasu, and at Uji-tachi she set up fifty bells, which is why the river is called the Isuzu. Besides the traditional date of 4 BC, dates in the 3rd and 5th centuries have been proposed, and the first shrine building at the Naikū was put up by Emperor Tenmu, who reigned from 678 to 686 (Wikipedia, Ise Shrine).

What you'll find

• Twenty-year rebuilding - sixty-two cycles since 690, with the empty plot waiting alongside.
• Plain cypress - unpainted timber and thatch, with no decoration.
• Two shrines - Geku and Naiku, six kilometres apart, visited in that order by custom.
• The Uji bridge - rebuilt with each cycle, crossing into the inner shrine forest.

When to go

All year; early morning at Naiku. A day for both shrines.

Things to know

The main halls cannot be approached or photographed - you see fences and roofs. Both shrines involve long walks through forest. New Year and major festivals bring enormous crowds. There is deliberately little to see in the conventional sense.

Nearby

Okage Yokocho's old street is at the Naiku gate; Meoto Iwa is east on the coast.

Key facts