Motoise Kono Jinja

Strange nighttime art exhibit at Japan's second most important shrine

You couldn't pick a better spot for a shrine. Motoise Kono shrine is located on the Kasamatsu side of the Amanohashidate land bridge (not the train station side). If you walk across the 3.6km land bridge you'll be right at it. The name "Moto Ise" means "former Ise." The most famous shrine in Japan is the Ise Jingu Grand Shrine in Mie. And this one came before it, hence the "moto." In fact this area has two "moto Ise" shrines because Amaterasu (the Sun Goddess in Shintoism) started out in Amanohashidate, and worked her way south through Kyoto prefecture before eventually settling in the warmer climate of Mie (or so the story goes). This shrine is beautifully maintained and you can see the special 5-colors balls on the bannister around the shrine (distinct two only two shrines in Japan, this one and, yep you guessed it, Ise Jingu). While the shrine grounds aren't actually that big, it is in a convenient location and you can continue through to the quaint street behind it that leads to the cable car and chair lift for Kasamatsu Park. For people here without a car, all of this is really easily doable from Amanohashidate station. To get to Moto Ise Kono Shrine from Amanohashidate station you can walk the 50minutes across the land bridge, rent a bike (for only a few hundred yen) and get across quicker, or take a sightseeing boat (or 60-minute jet boat if you are in a hurry to get your shrine fix). The area is really fun. And if you plan on eating in the area, I highly recommend the restaurants on the Kasamatsu (Moto Ise Kono Shrine) side over the Amanohashidate Station side. I went at night during a special event that ran through the fall, where sound and visual artists layered some beautiful visuals over the Shrine and grounds and played ambient sounds. It made the whole place feel like it was underwater. Really cool. They tend to have night exhibitions in the summer and fall. If you go during that time, check out to see what's going on at night.

The reason I gave this 4-stars instead of 5 is because, though the shrine is beautiful and the grounds are quite nice, it's not that expansive. I think if I was really into Shintoism, this would have been a deeper experience, but I still think it's worth 4-stars because there are lots of other things to do in the area as well, this is just one of the nice places to stop for a while.