It was fast approaching dusk by the time I arrived at the entrance to Naiku, the Inner Shrine of the Grand Ise Shrine (aka Ise Jingu). That was good. Although the light was fading, by this time of day there were very few visitors.
You enter through the torii, the large shrine gateway and cross the curving timber bridge, all cut and built by hand…
On the far side of the river, the wide concourse curves away out of sight through the extensive precincts. Past one array of sake barrels, this display donated by Hakutsuru…
And then another, this one from local Mie Pref. breweries.
After a ritual purification, washing your hands and rinsing your mouth out with water, you pass the third torii and enter dense forest. On the right you glimpse the river again.
At this point you can veer off and go down to the riverbank to see its crystal clear water from close-up. During the day there are often giant multi-colored carp visible...
From here, the path leads past more shrine buildings...
…where a display of chrysanthemums had just been installed that very afternoon.
Carrying on, you finally arrive outside the compound of the Inner Shrine, its roof poles gleaming through the surrounding trees in the evening light.
A flight of stone steps leads up.. The walls and torii at the top are so new you can almost smell the fresh timber from the bottom...
I have arrived at the inner sanctum of Naiku: the reason why I and so many others have made this journey to Ise at this particular time. This is where the deity — the Sun Goddess — is enshrined. And the sacred mirror that is one of the three items of imperial regalia supposedly given to the first emperor by the deities.
The shrine buildings have been freshly rebuilt for the 62nd time — as they have been every 20 years since the days when Kyoto was still the capital. The "old" shrine buildings are still visible off to the right on the adjourning compound. They are identical. After only 20 years they still look far from grubby.
I am sternly advised by a uniformed attendant that photographs are not to be taken. But I have already snapped this scene below: a priest in full regalia, sitting in a side chamber, as freshly built as the rest of the compound...
I thought at first he was mending something. But on closer inspection he is busy cleaning his fude calligraphy brush. That's all he does, for the 15-20 minutes I spend there. Probably waiting for a commision, though there's no one left but me…
It's getting pretty dark by now. Time to start heading back.
It's a beautiful site at any time. In the evening, with no one around but the denizons of the shadows, it is very special.
More about Ise Jingu on Wikipedia here…
For more about Shinto, and the way it is being brought back into the political arena, it's well worth reading David McNeill's recent pieces in the Japan Times here… and here… and here…
