Ise Shrine

The Ise Shrine located in the Mie prefecture of Japan is an enchanting Shinto shrine built in the honor of the goddess Amaterasu-omikami. Also called as the Jingu, its complex is composed of two main shrines namely the Naiku and Geku which are surrounded by hundreds of other Shinto temples. Naiku or the Inner Shrine can be found in the south of middle Ise City, in a town called Uji-tachi. Primarily, this is the temple that is dedicated to the worshipping of Amaterasu-omikami because Geku or the Outer Shrine is built in honor of Toyouke no omikami, the goddess of industry and agriculture. There are other 123 shrines in the city with 91 belonging to Naiku and 32 to Geku.

Naiku is a very valuable place not only for the people living in the city of Ise but for all the citizens of Japan because of a national treasure it holds upon its shrine walls. The Naiku is the home of the Sacred Mirror making the shrine as one of the most important and sacred sites in the whole of Japan. The official guardian of the Ise shrine is also very important because the post of the High Priest or Priestess can only be filled by someone coming from the Imperial Family. The first Priestess said to have watched over the temple was princess Okunihime-miko, during the Asuka period of ancient Japan.

The architectural style used in the Ise shrine, Shinmeizukuri, is unique and is not allowed to be mimicked by any other temple in any part of Japan. The shrines are rebuilt every 20 years as a ritual to make them constantly ancient yet new at the same time. The current shrines are last built on 1993 and are the 61st iteration at present. The next schedule of the rebuilding will be on 2013.

Ise Shrine