| Himuro Shrine | 氷室神社 |
| Nara (奈良) | August 9, 2018 |
About Himuro Shrine
Himuro Shrine was originally founded as an ice house for Emperor Nintoku in 710. The gods enshrined here are Tsugenoinagi Oyamanushi no Mikoto, Emperor Nintoku, and Nukata no Onakatsuhiko no Mikoto. It still has a strong association with ice today and has ice blocks on the temple grounds.
My Visit
Honestly, my friend and I here on a whim. We were mostly done with our Nara trip and noticed this quiet shrine and decided to check it out. It was very quiet and calm compared to popular locations like Todai-ji and Kasuga Shrine.
The moment you walk in, the atmosphere is very different. There was a sign near the entrance saying to be quite, it’s a place of worship. Most shrines don’t mind noise as long as you’re not being rowdy during ceremonies and local ones even have playgrounds for children, so this was different. The priest here was very serious and we waited quietly for our goshuin and got our omikuji (fortune slips). They look like plain paper at first, but the writing appears when you set them on the large ice block they have. It’s pretty nifty.
You can see more goshuin from Nara here.
Links
Homepage (JP)
Omairi (JP)
