Tokyo Shrines

By prefecture, Niigata Prefecture has the most shrines, with 4,727.

The entire 233-meter-high Mount Inari is the object of worship at Fushimi Inari Taisha, and Sei Shonagon wrote about his pilgrimage to the mountain in his "Pillow Book.

Komainu are the guardian animals of shrines. They are placed in pairs on the left and right, with the mouths of each pair representing the "A" and "Un" forms.

There are 22,000 priests in Japan, of which approximately 3,000 are women.

The deity of Izumo-taisha Shrine is Okuninushi no Mikoto, the hero of the myth "Inaba no Shirohare (White Rabbit of Inaba). He is also known as Daikoku-sama, one of the seven gods of good fortune.

The Ise Jingu Shrine is basically self-sufficient in the production of food: rice is grown in the Jingu Jinden, vegetables and fruits are grown in the Jingu Gyoen, and salt is produced in the Yakisho.

The forests maintained in and around the grounds of shrines are called "chinju no mori (woods).

There are various theories as to the origin of the torii, such as that the perch of a bird was placed in front of the shrine in reference to the "everlasting long-nesting bird" that appeared in the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters) to lure Amaterasu out of Ama-no-Omikami (Amaterasu) from the Ama-no-Iwato.

Ise Jingu is the collective name for 125 shrines, centering on the Inner and Outer Shrines, and consisting of 14 annexes of the two shrines, as well as regent shrines, subordinate shrines, and shrines under jurisdiction.

The torii is the boundary between the secular world of human habitation and the Shinto realm, and serves as a gateway to the Shinto realm.

Of all the Shinto shrines in Japan, about 20,000 are manned, and one priest often serves several shrines at the same time.

The southernmost shrine in Japan is Miyako Shrine on Miyako Island, Okinawa Prefecture.

Since Shinto originally originated from nature worship, the objects of worship are so numerous that they are said to be "eight million gods.

Okinawa Prefecture also has the fewest number of shrines per 100,000 people, with 0.9 shrines per 100,000 people; Osaka (8.22) and Tokyo (10.68) are in second and third place, respectively.

Visitors are required to stop in front of the torii gate and bow before passing through.

About 90% of the site area of Ise Jingu Shrine is forest, which accounts for about one-sixth of the total area of Ise City.

Since the center of the torii gate and the approach to the shrine is considered to be the path of the gods, it is customary to pass by either side of the gate.

The Outer Shrine, officially named Toyoke Grand Shrine, enshrines the deity Toyoke, the patron god of agriculture, industry, food, clothing, and shelter.

The shrine with the largest site area in Japan is Meiji Jingu Shrine. It has a total area of 700,000 m2.

There are approximately 81,000 shrines throughout Japan (Agency for Cultural Affairs, 2016).

The ranking of shrines in terms of the number of Hatsumode worshippers is Fushimi Inari Taisha in second place, Sumiyoshi Taisha in third place, Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in fourth place, and Atsuta Jingu in fifth place.