Shingu Kumano Shrine — Attraction in Kitakata

I went here without expecting or knowing much about it, but this was one of the most memorable places I've been in Japan. The shrine is a semi-ruin so that the architecture is exposed, like a Japanese Parthenon standing in a forest glen near a farming village. There's also a small museum with impressive Buddhist statues, probably from when there was a temple associated with the shrine. The site was devoid of tourists when I was there, and it was a...

This is a pretty unique (ticketed too) shrine that is famous for it's Gingko old growth tree and the open air prayer hall which has 40+ large trunks and has been standing for hundreds of years. I am most amazed by the wood craftsmanship of how the trunks pillars are moulded to fits perfectly with the...

An old shrine believed to have been commissioned by Minamoto no Yoriyoshi in 1055. The worship hall ``Nagatoko'' is a building that descends from the Shinden-zukuri style of the Heian period, and has 44 circular columns, 1 shaku and 5 sun in diameter, lined up in 5 rows at equal intervals, all of which have an open ceiling. The Kumano Shrine Treasure Hall, which is attached to the shrine, houses many nationally and prefecture-designated cultural properties, including copper bowls, and can be viewed. (Note) The Treasure Hall "Wooden Statue of Manjusri Bodhisattva on Horseback and Lion" will not be available for viewing from July 2020 to April 2020 due to restoration...