Kashima Jingu

Kashima Jingu is one of the oldest shrines in eastern Japan, named in eighth-century records and dedicated to Takemikazuchi, a deity of swords and martial arts - which is why the shrine has a long association with the sword schools, and why Kashima and the neighbouring Katori shrine are treated as founding sites of several Japanese martial traditions. The approach runs about seven hundred metres through a forest of tall cedar to the main hall, past a deer enclosure, since deer are the shrine's messengers and the deer of Nara are held to descend from animals brought from here. Near the far end is the kaname-ishi, a small stone with most of its length underground, which folklore says pins the head of the giant catfish whose movements cause earthquakes; a seventeenth-century lord is said to have dug for a week without reaching the bottom of it.

History

Shrine legend dates its founding to 660 BC, the first year of the legendary Emperor Jimmu, and the oldest written record of it is in the Fudoki of Hitachi Province. By the Heian period it held the highest rank in the Shinto hierarchy alongside Ise and Katori, the Engishiki lists it as the ichinomiya of Hitachi, and its precincts became a National Historic Site in 1986 (Wikipedia, Kashima Shrine).

What you'll find

• A cedar approach - about seven hundred metres of tall forest to the main hall.
• The kaname-ishi - a small stone said to pin the earthquake catfish underground.
• Deer - the shrine's messengers, from which the Nara herd is said to descend.
• A sword shrine - a founding site for several Japanese martial traditions.

When to go

All year; early morning in the cedar avenue. Two hours.

Things to know

The kaname-ishi is a small stone barely showing above ground - it is folklore, not spectacle. The compound is spread out and involves a long walk. Access from Tokyo is by bus or a slow line. Signage is mostly in Japanese.

Nearby

Katori Jingu is west across the river; Oarai is north up the coast.

Key facts