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The town of ISE wears its sanctity lightly. Many visitors find it a
disappointingly ordinary place, and even at Ise-jingu , Japan's most
sacred Shinto shrine, it's hard for non-Japanese visitors to appreciate
its deeper spiritual significance. Apart from their historical
significance, there is, nevertheless, an unquestionable sense of awe and
mystery about these simple buildings buried in the cedar forest. After
you've seen the two sanctuaries, however, there's really nothing else to
detain you in Ise.
Ise-jingu is naturally a top choice for the first shrine visit of the
New Year ( hatsu-mode ) on January 1. This is followed by more than 1500
annual ceremonies in honour of Ise's gods. The most important of these
revolve around the agricultural cycle, culminating in offerings of
sacred rice (Oct 15-17). In spring (April 5-6) and during the autumn
equinox (around Sept 22), ancient Shinto dances and a moon-viewing party
take place at the inner shrine.
The Town
Central Ise is bounded to the north by the JR and Kintetsu line train
tracks and by the Seta-gawa river to the east. The southwestern quarter,
however, is taken up by a large expanse of woodland in the midst of
which lies the first of Ise-jingu 's two sanctuaries, the Geku . While
this Outer Shrine is within easy walking distance of both train stations,
to reach the Naiku (Inner Shrine), some 6km to the southeast, you'll
need to take a bus . The two shrines follow roughly the same layout, so
if you're pushed for time, head straight for the more interesting Naiku.
The Grand Shrine of Ise was established sometime in the fourth century
to house a mirror representing the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu . According to
legend, this was the very mirror that Amaterasu gave her grandson
Ninigi-no-Mikoto when she sent him to rule Japan . At first it had been
stored in the imperial palace, along with the sacred sword and beads
(these are now held respectively in Nagoya's Atsuta-jingu and Tokyo's
Imperial Palace), but the goddess gave instructions to move her mirror
to somewhere more remote. Eventually they settled on a wooded spot
beside Ise's Isuzu-gawa, which has been the mirror's home ever since and
the country's most sacred centre. The Outer Shrine was added in the
fifth century to honour the god of food and industry. Not that the
shrines look old: according to custom they are rebuilt every twenty
years in order to re-purify the ground. Each is an exact replica of its
predecessor, following a unique style of architecture that has been
passed down the centuries and is free of any Chinese or Korean
influences. Only plain hinoki (Japanese cypress) and grass thatch are
used, plus a few gold embellishments, but the most distinctive features
are the two crosspieces ( chigi ) standing up at each end of the roof
and the chunky, horizontal bars ( katsuogi ) lined up between them. When
the buildings are dismantled, the old timbers are passed on to other
shrines around the country to be recycled.
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