Ise Jingu, the Residence of the Goddess

Ise jingu2
An aerial view of the Ise compound

Ise is a complex of 125 Shintō shrines covering an area of about 5,500 hectares of Ise City, Mie Prefecture. It is perhaps the most unassuming building amongst all main shrines and temples of Japan. Why is it then so important?Gekū and Naikū Shrines, located in the Ise complex are Shintō’s most sacred shrines.

Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess

Amaterasu Omikami, the Sun Goddess

Naikū enshrines Japan’s most revered deity, Amaterasu Ō-MiKami, the Sun Goddess. Amaterasu is venerated as the ancestor of the Imperial Family and as the tutelary Kami of the Japanese people.  Gekū is dedicated to Toyouke Daijingu, the Shintō Deity of clothing, food and housing (basic necessities of life). Access to Gekū and Naikū is strictly limited, with the common public allowed to see little more than the thatched roofs of the central structures, hidden behind four tall wooden fences.

ise woodblock print

The Transfer Ceremony at Ise Shrine – woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1847 - 1852)

Yet the most impressing feature of Ise is that every 20 years, Naikū and Gekū shrines are completely destroyed and rebuilt. It is a custom that have been practised for almost 2,000 years as part of the Shintō belief of the death and renewal of nature and the ephemerality of all things — wabi-sabi — and as a way of passing building techniques from one generation to the next. The twenty-year renewal process is called the Shikinen Sengū and the last one took place in 2013. 

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako Wedding

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako on traditional enthronement attires. She is wearing a Junihitoe, a 12 layer ceremonial cloth from the Heian period (794 – 1183) As part of the completion of the ceremonies of enthronement of the new Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, the “must” visit to the Ise Jingu was made on November 23, 2019.

ise kagura den
Ise Kagura-den – where theatrical pieces are played in homage to the Gods during a sacred ceremony
Ise Shrine
Ise Shrine, located in Mie Prefecture. Despite being the holiest of the holy shrines, Ise is a very unassuming building, more on semblance to a farm's house.
Ujibashi bridge
The Ujibashi Bridge is a cypress bridge located at the entrance of Ise. It is also reconstructed every 20 years by recycling the wood from the destroyed shrines.
yata no kagami

The mirror 'Yata no Kagami' (the Mirror of Eight ‘Ta’) is one of the Three Sacred Imperial Regalia of Japan. Legendary forged by Deity Ishikoridome, its diameter is approximately 96 centimetres. (One ‘Ta‘, an ancient unit of measure, is equivalent to 12 centimetres. ‘Ya’ means eight). Its virtues are wisdom and honesty. Yata no Kagami is secured in the Grand Shrine of Ise.

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