Ise Grand Shrine

What's a year living in Japan without visiting the most sacred Shinto shrine of them all?!

Worthless, according to my colleagues!

Another road trip with Ema and her friends, and I finally made it to Ise Grand Shrine (aka Jingu) earlier this month.  Jingu was established in 4 B.C. (yup, over 2000 years old!) and consists of 125 sacred sanctuaries.  (Even at 10 yen a pop that's a lot of money in order to pray to the Shinto gods!)  Thankfully, we're only going to pray to the 2 main shrines: Geku and Naiku.

We are starting at the Temizusha, where we must rinse our hands and mouth in ritual purification.  I'm an old pro at this process by now. 

Kerri and Sachiyo ready to walk through the first of three torii gates leading to the shrine.

Here's a pic of the same area from New Year's Day I snagged off the internet.  INSANE!! 

Everyone goes to pray for good health for the new year. 

The final torii gate of Gaku, the Outer Shrine.

Jingu is considered to be the spiritual home of all Japanese people, and most make the pilgrimage to Jingu at least once in their lifetime. 

This year they are on target to break the annual attendance record of 8.5 million visitors. 

One of the "lesser" sacred areas of Jingu. 

(I find these type of shrines completely puzzling.)

Kerri and Sachiyo throw their yen, bow, clap, and say their prayers. 

When asked, I told everyone that I prayed for cooler weather.  They just laughed at me and told me I'm supposed to pray for good health or a husband.

Kerri and Ema at lunch time. 

They took me to a famous sashimi (raw fish) restaurant, but I ordered fried shrimp.

Sashimi lunch for the others.

Walking through the steamy streets of Ise.

There was a taiko drum festival going on!

Puffer fish and dried squid for sale as a snack.

We decided to get soybean curd (tofu) flavored ice cream instead. 

Cool... but not exactly tasty!

Kerri and Ema under the traditional Japanese straw roof, which helps keep out the sun and heat.

Walking to the next shrine Naiku, the Inner Shrine.

The thing I like about Shinto shrines is you must stroll through the forest to get to them. 

(Buddhist temples are often tucked into busy shopping areas in the middle of a city.) 

This is a little more peaceful and serene.

Approach to the Naiku shrine.

Beautiful scenery. 

You don't see enough Japanese flags in Japan, especially compared to the national pride that America has!!

After leaving this "power spot" (I read an article about this on my recent Japan Air Lines flight... silly me for originally thinking they were saying "power sport"), we were fueled with energy granted from the Shinto gods and decided to make one more stop on our road trip...