The Ise Jingu pilgrimage!!

I went to Ise Shrine last week to say thank you for gods!

Among the thousands of Shinto shrines in Japan,

Ise Shrine is treated as one of the most sacred.
Actually Ise Shrine refer to a group of 125 different shrines in Ise city.

The official name of"Ise Shrine" is simply "Shrine"  (Jingu) only.
Ise Shrine is dedicated to the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu-omikami.

She is the major deity of the Shinto religion.
I visited "Meotoiwa (Wedded Rocks) " first to purify my soul.

If you touch your body with the circle is made of straw,
your body and soul will be clean!!!

Then, I went to "Geku (Outer Shrine)"and "Naiku (Inner Shrine)"

I could see beautiful sun shine everywhere!!

2014 was special year for Ise shrine, because it has held "Sengu" this year.

It is held to keep the holy environment pure and clean,

representing the everlasting power of the god.

People renovate the old shrine or build a new one to preserve

the god’s power. Ise Shrine has "Sengu" every 20 years.