I took some time for myself over obon and headed to Mie prefecture all by my lonesome to Ise-Shima National Park to see the Ise Grand Shrine, the most sacred Shinto Temple in Japan. However the Grand Shrine isn’t just one shrine, it is divided into two complexes the Outer Shrine and the Inner Shrine. The main Inner shrine is dedicated to Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and is the temple everyone really thinks of when they think of Ise. The main outer shrine is dedicated to Toyouke Oomikami, goddess of lives’ basic needs (i.e. food, clothing, shelter). It’s a bit confusing how they refer to all as if it were one shrine when there are really two separate complexes. Fun Fact: Somewhere in one of the many buildings in the two complexes the Yata no Kagami
... read more