Oarai Isosaki Shrine

The shrine itself stands on the hill above the road, but what people come for is on the shore below: Kamiiso no Torii, a vermilion gate set on a low rock platform in the surf, with the Pacific breaking around and often over it. The shrine's founding account places the arrival of its deities at this rock in 856. Because the coast faces east, the sun rises out of the sea directly behind the gate, and around the winter months the alignment brings it up through the frame - the photograph that has made the site well known and the reason a car park fills before dawn on clear winter mornings. The rock is not accessible; the view is from the sea wall above. On rough days spray goes over the torii entirely, which is the other image people wait for.

What you actually see

• A torii in the surf - a vermilion gate on a rock platform with waves breaking round it.
• Sunrise through the frame - the alignment falling right in the winter months.
• The founding rock - where the shrine places the arrival of its deities in 856.
• Spray over the gate - the alternative image, on rough days.

When to go

November to February, before sunrise, for the alignment. An hour.

Honest expectations

The dawn car park fills early and photographers claim the wall positions. Cloud on the eastern horizon ruins the alignment often. The rock cannot be approached. There is little else on the shore.

Nearby

Oarai's aquarium and ferry terminal are south; Mito is west.