Yamanaka Suwa Shrine — Attraction in Yamanakako

The Yamanaka Sengen Shrine and Suwa Shrines are two intertwined shrines - one first established in 104, the other first built in 931.

The Suwa Shrine was built to honour the god of agriculture - and to quiet a spreading epidemic.

When bits were added in the 1500s and 1600s, the goddess of mothers and children was said to help make childbirth easier and safer if sacred waters were used

The nearby Sengen Shrine was built to honour three gods in 931 - and was updated in the Edo era but destroyed by fire just after World War 1, so it was rebuilt in the 1920s and refurbished 50 years ago.

To be honest, I have no idea of the difference between Suwa and Sengen ... and the brochures I picked up don't seem to help.

Perhaps it's two variants of Shinto like Sunni/Shia, or Catholic/Protestants, or Pureland/Zen.

Or perhaps I am completely wrong!

The monk who was operating the info stand / Gift shop was friendly and seemed to want to be informative - but I had no Japanese, and his English was quite basic.

It didn't matter - the shrines were peaceful and calming, and the architecture and statuary was quite charming.

Certainly well worth an...

Beautiful, peaceful, and easily accessible. What a wonderful place to go sit down and breathe in nature. A quick walk from lake Yamanaka and a must see. There are also little paths through the forests around the shrines if you'd like to have a little forest wander. Remember to respect Japanese customs and clean up after yourself....

It's a beautiful shrine surrounded by plenty of trees and its two sections are connected over a bridge spanning the main road. Someone collected the fallen leaves into a heart and there's a post on to put your phone on top to take a good picture of yourself infront of the main building. You can really feel the care that is put into...