Meoto Iwa

The wedded rocks lie just off the Futami shore near Ise: a larger one of about nine metres with a small torii on top and a smaller one of four, joined by a shimenawa, a rope of rice straw that marks a sacred boundary. The rope is around thirty-five metres long, weighs over a tonne in total across its strands, and is replaced three times a year - in May, September and December - in a ceremony where men wade into the sea and haul the new rope across, which is the thing to time a visit for if you can. The rocks are treated as a gate: between May and July the sun rises between them, and on clear days in summer Fuji is visible on the horizon behind. Futami was historically where pilgrims purified themselves in the sea before going on to Ise, and the shrine here keeps frog statues in numbers.

What you actually see

• A straw rope between rocks - about thirty-five metres of shimenawa marking a boundary.
• The rope ceremony - replaced by hand three times a year, men wading out to haul it.
• Sunrise between them - the alignment falling from about May to July.
• The purification tradition - the shore where Ise pilgrims washed before going on.

When to go

May, September or December for the rope ceremony; May to July for sunrise. An hour.

Honest expectations

The rocks are smaller than photographs suggest. At high tide the effect is better; at low tide they sit on exposed rock. Fuji behind them requires exceptional clarity and is rare. Sunrise crowds fill the small shore.

Nearby

Ise Jingu is west; Toba and Mikimoto Pearl Island are east.