Home Archive by category "Kansai Region" (Page 4)

Category: Kansai Region

Fushimi Inari Shrine (Oku)

– Fushimi Inari Shrine (Oku) – 伏見稲荷大社奥社 – Kyoto（京都） – August 7, 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…

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Fushimi Inari Taisha

– Fushimi Inari Shrine – 伏見稲荷大社 –Kyoto（京都） – August 7, 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 for…

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Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine

Goshuin from Kitano Tenman-gu

– Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine – 北野天満宮 – Kyoto（京都） – May 4, 2018   Kitano Tenman-gu is a large, beautiful shrine that was built over 1000 years ago. It was built in honor of Sugawara Michizane, a scholar from the Heian period. It’s extremely popular among students who are studying for entrance exams. As you walk up, there are many statues of cows along the walkway. People touch them for good luck. There is also a large grove of plum trees growing here that is beautiful in the spring. If you visit in March, you should check them out. Location:

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Osaka Tenman-gu Shrine

– Osaka Tenman-gu Shrine – 大阪天満宮 – Osaka（大阪） – March 25, 2018 Osaka Tenman-gu Shrine is one of the many important shrines in Japan. It enshrines the god of scholarship, Sugawara no Michizane, so it’s very popular with students. It was built in 949 AD by the emperor Murakami, but it was burnt down and rebuilt a number of times throughout history. The building we see today was built in 1845. Tenjin Matsuri, a boat festival, is hosted here. We stopped by here real quick. I was impressed by the details around the roof. Location:    

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Hozenji

Hozenji Goshuin

– Hozenji – 法善寺 – Osaka（大阪） – February 3, 2018 Dude had to go to Kansai for a wedding, so I decided to tag along to do some of my own sightseeing. It’s not very often I get to freely explore the city. Naturally, I searched for a few shrines and temples to visit in the Nanba area, and Hozenji is a small temple right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Nanba. If you notice the date, I visited on February 3, 2018. It might not look special, but it was Setsubun, a special holiday where you…

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Namba Yasaka Shrine

Nanba Yasaka Shrine Goshuin

– Namba Yasaka Shrine – 難波八坂神社 – Osaka（大阪） – February 3, 2018 I decided to tag along with Dude to Kansai and was going to have a lot of time to myself to explore Namba, so naturally I started looking into the shrines and temples in the Namba area. I had a few misadventures because it was my first time navigating Osaka alone, but I managed to visit Namba Yasaka Shrine and Hozenji. The moment I saw photos of this shrine online I knew I wanted to go see it for myself. The lion-head stage is massive and very striking.…

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Miagatahikosha

Miagatahikosha Yatagarasu goshuin

– Miagatahikosha – 御県彦社 – Nachi （那智） – July 20, 2017 In addition to the Kumano Nachi Grand Shrine goshuin, you can also get the Miagatahikosha goshuin. It features Yatagarasu. There is is lot of Yatagarasu imagery all over the Katsuura and Nachi area. According to legend, Yatagarasu guided Emperor Jimmu from Kumano to Yamato Province. You can also buy an omamori with Yatagarasu on it for victory. Because the same person wrote them, this goshuin and the Kumano Nachi Grand Shrine one look very similar. Kumano Nachi Taisha was the last location we visited before returning to Katsuura. It…

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Kumano Nachi Grand Shrine

Kumano Nachi Taisha's goshuin

– Kumano Nachi Taisha – 熊野那智大社 – Nachi （那智） – July 20, 2017 Kumano Nachi Grand Shrine is one of the three main shrines of the Kumano Kodo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It and the neighboring Seiganto-ji are one of the few remaining jingu-ji. This was the last location we visited before returning to Katsuura. It was very hot and humid that day, especially after the rain. Taking a bath in the onsen at Nakanoshima Hotel was a wonderful end to the day. This goshuin is in my Nachi Falls goshuincho. Location

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Seiganto-ji

Seiganto-ji goshuin

– Seiganto-ji– 青岸渡寺 – Nachi （那智） – July 20, 2017   Seiganto-ji is a Tendai Buddhist temple up on the mountain near Nachi Falls. It and the area around Nachi Falls is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located next to Nachi Grand Shrine, it is one of the few remaining jingu-ji. We visited on a Thursday during summer vacation. Since it was a weekday, it wasn’t very busy. We did have to wait for some sudden rain to stop before we walked up the mountain. The lady at the gift shop was nice enough to lend us some abandoned umbrellas.…

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