Home Archive by category "Goshuin"

Category: Goshuin

Kumano Kotai Shrine (Pop-up Yatagarasu Goshuin) (Nagano Side)

– Kumano Kotai Shrine – 熊野皇大神社- Karuizawa (軽井沢) – July 22, 2022 Kumano Kotai Shrine is one of the many shrines located along the Nakasendo Highway connecting Kyoto and Tokyo. Built right on the border between modern day Nagano Prefecture and Gunma Prefecture, you can straddle the border and literally be in both prefectures at once. There’s even a plate set into the ground marking the line. We had a good time hopping back and forth across the line. This is by far the coolest goshuin that I own. It’s a pop-up goshuin! How nifty is that? You can find…

Continue reading

Kumano Kotai Shrine (Famous Regional Features) (Nagano Side)

– Kumano Kotai Shrine – 熊野皇大神社- Karuizawa (軽井沢) – July 22, 2022 Kumano Kotai Shrine is one of the many shrines located along the Nakasendo Highway connecting Kyoto and Tokyo. Built right on the border between modern day Nagano Prefecture and Gunma Prefecture, you can straddle the border and literally be in both prefectures at once. There’s even a plate set into the ground marking the line. We had a good time hopping back and forth across the line. There are several goshuin available at this shrine. This is one of the special ones available on the Nagano Prefecture side…

Continue reading

Fushimi Inari Taisha: Inari Yama

– Fushimi Inari Shrine (Oku) – 伏見稲荷大社奥社 –Kyoto（京都） – November 23, 2018 Fushimi Inari Shrine is a large shrine in the Fushimi ward of southern Kyoto that’s famous for it’s long, red torii gate lined paths up Mt Inari. It is the head shrine of all the inari shrines across Japan dedicated to Inari, the shinto god of rice. There are over 30,000 in Japan, making it the most numerous of all the kinds of shrines. In addition to its famous red torii, you can also find statues of foxes throughout the premises. Foxes are believed to be the messengers…

Continue reading

Onsen-ji

– Onsen-ji – 温泉寺 – Gero（下呂） – September 1, 2018   One of the top three onsen towns in Japan is Gero Onsen in Gifu Prefecture. It’s a lovely river-side city with many onsen to visit. If you venture little ways up the mountain away from the river, you can visit the onsen temple, Onsen-ji. One story form Gero Onsen’s history of over 1000 years is this. In 1265, the onsen’s hot water stopped. The following year, the villagers noticed a the flashing white wings of a white heron dancing on the riverbed of the Hida River every day. When…

Continue reading

Kogane Shrine

Goshuin for Kogane Shrine

– Kogane Shrine – 金神社 – Gifu – 岐阜 – August 31, 2018 Kogane Shrine is written with the kanji for gold/money, but even without knowing any kanji it’s pretty obvious what people come here for: Luck with money. Why? When you walk up to the shrine, you’re welcomed by a giant gold torii. It is a shrine near the middle of Gifu and is closely connected to two other shrines in the area: Inaba Shrine and Kashimori Shrine. The god enshrined here is Nunoshihime-no-mikoto, wife of Inishiki-Irihiko-no-mikoto who is enshrined at Inaba Shrine and the mother of Ichihaya-no-mikoto at…

Continue reading

Todai-ji (Nara)

– Todai-ji – 東大寺 – Nara (奈良) – August 9, 2018 One could say that no trip to Japan is complete without a trip to Todai-ji, one of Japan’s most famous Buddhist temples. Home to arguably the most famous Great Buddha statue, or Daibutsu, in Japan, it is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and a National Treasure. The giant statue is a stunning 15 meters tall, a number that’s pretty hard to fully comprehend until you’re standing next to it. I’ve had the opportunity to visit it 3 times and its size still puts me in awe. And if that…

Continue reading

Kasuga Shrine (Nara)

– Kasuga Taisha – 春日大社 – Nara（奈良） – August 9, 2018 I think many people come to Nara for Todai-ji and stay for the deer. Because of this, the deer are often associated with the famous temple, but the actual reason they’re considered sacred is because the deer are believed to be the messengers of the gods enshrined at Kasuga Shrine and that inhabit the area. The shrine is on the east side of the park. A long, upward sloping path leads up to the shrine from the park. Once there, you can enjoy the striking, red architecture and the…

Continue reading