BOOK
THE TOUR
NOW
The Interpretive Tour of Ise aims to convey the appeal of the Ise-Shima area and Ise Grand Shrine, located in the city of Ise, Mie Prefecture, to visitors from overseas. Ise Grand Shrine is noted for the shikinen sengu ritual, in which the shrine’s key structures are rebuilt every 20 years. This rite has been practiced at the shrine for more than 1,300 years and represents the wisdom underlying the shrine’s harmonious coexistence with nature since ancient times. The roots of Japan’s world-renowned food culture can also be found at Ise Grand Shrine.
In pursuit
of
eternity
How Japan’s cyclical traditions
can bring about a more sustainable world
SURROUNDED BY NATURE AND WATER
LOCAL SALT PRODUCER
GUIDED TOUR AROUND THE SHRINE
OUTER SHRINE
WINE & DINE
TASTE THE OCEAN
PRIVATE TRADITIONAL JAPANESE BATH
REST AND RELAXATION WITH ELEGANCE
KIMONO EXPERIENCE
ISE JINGU GRAND ShIRE
Views of Ise
This tour offers participants the opportunity to explore these traditions first hand by way of visits to key parts of Ise Grand Shrine and through unique experiences that provide insight into Japanese spirituality. The itinerary also includes visits with local food producers and exclusive culinary experiences courtesy of some of the area’s best chefs. Participants will be accompanied by expert interpreters who will help broaden and deepen understanding of Ise Grand Shrine and the Ise-Shima area, resulting in a rewarding and enjoyable experience.
Mirepoix
1-1-4 Iwabuchi, Ise, Mie
“My restaurant, Mirepoix, is named after an aromatic French dish made with fresh diced vegetables. My hope is to make the restaurant a catalyst for highlighting produce and producers from Ise, just like mirepoix brings out the best in its constituent ingredients. In addition, I place great emphasis on circulation; we turn our kitchen waste into fertilizer, and sell dressing made with vegetables unfit for sale due to size or other cosmetic reasons. Because of climate change, catches of iconic Ise seafood such as abalone and spiny lobster have been decreasing. I hope to do even more to protect the local environment, so that we can pass down Ise’s culinary culture and traditions to future generations.”
chef
Shintaro Okada
Katsuo no Tenpaku
2545-15 Daiocho Nakiri, Shima, Mie
“ When making my product (dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna), I evaluate each fish individually, and smoke them 15 to 20 times in succession while adjusting the heat by hand. It’s a primitive and inefficient method, but it’s the way katsuobushi has been made here since ancient times. The firewood I use comes from trees thinned out in the nearby hills as part of local efforts to protect both the forests and sea here. My place is on a steep cliff facing the Pacific and things can get life-threatening during typhoon season, but this is the land our ancestors have been living on for thousands of years by respecting natural cycles. I have a little shrine to the deity of wind in my smoking hut, and live my life giving thanks to nature and to those who came before me.”
katsuobushi artisan
Yukiaki Tenpaku
Iwato no Shiokobo
1366-9 Futamicho Matsushita, Ise, Mie
“Like air and water, salt is one of the essentials of life. Because of that, I feel like I shouldn’t tamper with the balance created by nature. I always draw the seawater I use [to extract salt] from the rising tide, the giver of new life. The movement of the tides, caused by the moon, affects plankton, fish, everything living in the sea, and by extension the taste of salt, which is just crystallized sea water. Since I deal with nature, things don’t always go as expected. But since I believe I can’t produce anything better than nature can on its own, I can only be thankful for its gifts.”
salt farmer
Ryota Momoki
Living of
the land
An enduring cycle of food, connected to the beliefs associated with the Amaterasu and Toyouke deities, has been upheld in Ise for centuries. As part of this order, farmers and fishermen provide the ingredients, priests prepare meals, and the deities enjoy them.
Though only a select few local producers are directly involved with delivering food to Ise Grand Shrine, most of Ise’s farmers and other food professionals share a commitment to living in harmony with the surrounding environment and upholding—sometimes reviving— traditional techniques and crops with a connection to this sacred place. These are some of their stories.
2 hours
Kintetsu Limited Express train
Kyoto
Station
Iseshi
Station
Kansai International Airport
Limousine Bus
55 minutes
1 hour 45 minutes
Kintetsu Limited Express train
Kansai
International
Airport
Osaka-Uehonmachi
Station
Iseshi
Station
Nankai or
JR Limited Express train
40 minutes
1 hour 45 minutes
Kintetsu Limited Express train
Kansai
International
Airport
Osaka-Namba
Station
Iseshi
Station
From Osaka or Kyoto
From Nagoya
From Tokyo
30 minutes
1 hour 20 minutes
Kintetsu Limited Express
or JR Rapid Mie train
Meitetsu Airport Limited Express train
Chubu
International
Airport
Nagoya
Station
Iseshi
Station
From Osaka or Kyoto
From Nagoya
From Tokyo
Keikyu Airport Line
Limited Express train
20 minutes
1 hour 30 minutes
1 hour 20 minutes
Shinkansen
Kintetsu Limited Express
or JR Rapid Mie train
Haneda
Airport
Shinagawa
Station
Nagoya
Station
Iseshi
Station
TYO-NRT
expressway bus
65 minutes
1 hour 40 minutes
1 hour 20 minutes
Shinkansen
Kintetsu Limited Express
or JR Rapid Mie train
Narita
International
Airport
Tokyo
Station
Nagoya
Station
Iseshi
Station
JR Narita Express train
50 minutes
1 hour 40 minutes
1 hour 20 minutes
Shinkansen
Kintetsu Limited Express
or JR Rapid Mie train
Narita
International
Airport
Tokyo
Station
Nagoya
Station
Iseshi
Station
From Osaka or Kyoto
From Nagoya
From Tokyo
How to
get to Ise...
Read More
This booklet introduces the reader to the beliefs and heritage of Ise, a region where ancient traditions remain an integral part of daily life. Explanatory texts touch on topics such as Shinto philosophy, symbolism in the culinary culture of Ise, and the 1,300-year-old ritual as part of which Ise Grand Shrine’s structures are dismantled and rebuilt every two decades. Quick tips for visiting the shrine are also provided.
Read more about Ise...
The Japanese language has a wide variety of names for Shinto shrines, of which there are around 80,000 around the country. For example, Ise Grand Shrine, the largest and most authoritative of them all, is called Ise Jingu, whereas Izumo Grand Shrine is referred to as Izumo Taisha. These monikers vary due to historical quirks and the type of deity enshrined.
Jingu shrines, of which there are 24 including Meiji Shrine in Tokyo and Heian Shrine in Kyoto, enshrine deities with a significant connection to the emperor, the imperial family and its ancestors, or the imperial regalia. Ise Grand Shrine is the most prominent of these shrines and is indeed officially known only as Jingu.
Other shrines with the suffix -gu in their name, such as Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kamakura, honor deities associated with imperial princes (shinno) or other important figures from ancient Japanese history. Taisha used to be reserved exclusively for Izumo Grand Shrine, but the proliferation of shrines from the late nineteenth century onward led to the moniker being adopted by sanctuaries with particular historical pedigree, especially to distinguish them from other shrines with the same name.
6. What do shrine names mean?
The little bells attached to omamori charms sold at shrines are believed to scare away malicious spirits with their chiming. That’s why some of the treasures presented to the deities at Ise Grand Shrine on the occasion of every shikinen sengu ritual are also adorned with bells.
5. Why do charms have bells?
In Shinto, deities are thought to be present throughout nature, and shrine buildings are far from the only places where they can be communed with. At Ise Grand Shrine, the Miya no Meguri no Kami, a guardian deity of the shrine grounds, is enshrined at both the Outer and Inner shrines in a pile of stones through which the spirit is believed to protect more than 120 places along the shrine’s borders. People pray at these sites in the same way as at a formal shrine.
4. Can a rock be a shrine?
When the shrine gets crowded it’s often safest to follow other visitors, but officially you are supposed to walk on the left at the Outer Shrine and on the right at the Inner Shrine. This is due to the location of the temizusha, which differs at the two sanctuaries; tradition dictates that visitors should tread on the side closest to the purification basin.
3. Which side should
you walk on?
The torii gate marks the entrance to a shrine, separating sacred ground from profane. Passing under a torii, of which there are often several along an approach to a shrine, means that you’re getting closer to the main sanctuary. As each gate also has a different meaning, devotees often bow to greet the deities every time they walk through one. Also, the middle part of the road leading up to a shrine is said to be the path of the gods, so it’s considered polite to walk on the side.
2. Why the bows before
the torii gate?
When entering a Shinto shrine, visitors purify themselves ritually at the entrance by washing their hands and mouth. This is done to cleanse oneself of both physical and spiritual impurities before approaching the deities—a simplified version of the full-body purification traditionally conducted in the sea. At Ise Grand Shrine there are several purification sites, in the form of basins known as temizusha, and it’s also possible to conduct the ritual by the Isuzugawa River at the Inner Shrine.
1. Why wash your hands before
entering the shrine?
Six things to know before
visiting Ise Grand Shrine
While every effort has been made by the author(s) and the publisher to ensure that the information contained in this guide is accurate and up to date as at the date of publication, they accept no responsibility or liability in contact, tort negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise for inconvenience, loss, damage, costs or expenses of any nature whatsoever incurred or suffered by anyone as a result of any advice or information contained in this guide (except to the extent that such liability may not be excluded or limited as a matter of law). Before traveling, it is advisable to check all information locally, including without limitation, information on transport, accommodation, shopping, and eating out. Anyone using this guide is entirely responsible for their own health, well-being, and belonging, and care should always be exercised while traveling.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from the copyright owners.
Born in Tamaki, Mie in 1957, Takeshi Mori earned a BA in photography from the Osaka University of Arts in 1980 and has been a freelancer since 1994. He has dedicated himself to documenting the Kumano Kodo and Ise Grand Shrine, publishing photo books and DVDs on the theme, including “Jingu no Mori” in 2013. He was selected to contribute to the 2014 Canon Calendar.
photographer
Takeshi Mori
BOOK
THE TOUR
NOW
scroll
In pursuit
of
eternity
How Japan’s cyclical traditions
can bring about a more sustainable world
The Interpretive Tour of Ise aims to convey the appeal of the Ise-Shima area and Ise Grand Shrine, located in the city of Ise, Mie Prefecture, to visitors from overseas. Ise Grand Shrine is noted for the shikinen sengu ritual, in which the shrine’s key structures are rebuilt every 20 years. This rite has been practiced at the shrine for more than 1,300 years and represents the wisdom underlying the shrine’s harmonious coexistence with nature since ancient times. The roots of Japan’s world-renowned food culture can also be found at Ise Grand Shrine.
SURROUNDED BY NATURE AND WATER
LOCAL SALT PRODUCER
GUIDED TOUR AROUND THE SHRINE
OUTER SHRINE
WINE & DINE
TASTE THE OCEAN
PRIVATE TRADITIONAL JAPANESE BATH
REST AND RELAXATION WITH ELEGANCE
KIMONO EXPERIENCE
ISE JINGU GRAND ShIRE
Views of Ise...
This tour offers participants the opportunity to explore these traditions first hand by way of visits to key parts of Ise Grand Shrine and through unique experiences that provide insight into Japanese spirituality. The itinerary also includes visits with local food producers and exclusive culinary experiences courtesy of some of the area’s best chefs. Participants will be accompanied by expert interpreters who will help broaden and deepen understanding of Ise Grand Shrine and the Ise-Shima area, resulting in a rewarding and enjoyable experience.
“My restaurant, Mirepoix, is named after an aromatic French dish made with fresh diced vegetables. My hope is to make the restaurant a catalyst for highlighting produce and producers from Ise, just like mirepoix brings out the best in its constituent ingredients. In addition, I place great emphasis on circulation; we turn our kitchen waste into fertilizer, and sell dressing made with vegetables unfit for sale due to size or other cosmetic reasons. Because of climate change, catches of iconic Ise seafood such as abalone and spiny lobster have been decreasing. I hope to do even more to protect the local environment, so that we can pass down Ise’s culinary culture and traditions to future generations.”
chef
Mirepoix
1-1-4 Iwabuchi, Ise, Mie
Shintaro Okada
“ When making my product (dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna), I evaluate each fish individually, and smoke them 15 to 20 times in succession while adjusting the heat by hand. It’s a primitive and inefficient method, but it’s the way katsuobushi has been made here since ancient times. The firewood I use comes from trees thinned out in the nearby hills as part of local efforts to protect both the forests and sea here. My place is on a steep cliff facing the Pacific and things can get life-threatening during typhoon season, but this is the land our ancestors have been living on for thousands of years by respecting natural cycles. I have a little shrine to the deity of wind in my smoking hut, and live my life giving thanks to nature and to those who came before me.”
Yukiaki Tenpaku
katsuobushi artisan
Katsuo no Tenpaku
2545-15 Daiocho Nakiri, Shima, Mie
“Like air and water, salt is one of the essentials of life. Because of that, I feel like I shouldn’t tamper with the balance created by nature. I always draw the seawater I use [to extract salt] from the rising tide, the giver of new life. The movement of the tides, caused by the moon, affects plankton, fish, everything living in the sea, and by extension the taste of salt, which is just crystallized sea water. Since I deal with nature, things don’t always go as expected. But since I believe I can’t produce anything better than nature can on its own, I can only be thankful for its gifts.”
Ryota Momoki
salt farmer
Iwato no Shiokobo
1366-9 Futamicho Matsushita, Ise, Mie
An enduring cycle of food, connected to the beliefs associated with the Amaterasu and Toyouke deities, has been upheld in Ise for centuries. As part of this order, farmers and fishermen provide the ingredients, priests prepare meals, and the deities enjoy them.
Though only a select few local producers are directly involved with delivering food to Ise Grand Shrine, most of Ise’s farmers and other food professionals share a commitment to living in harmony with the surrounding environment and upholding—sometimes reviving— traditional techniques and crops with a connection to this sacred place. These are some of their stories.
Living of
the land
Kintetsu Limited Express train
2 hours
Kyoto
Station
Iseshi
Station
Route 3
Kansai International Airport
Limousine Bus
55 minutes
1 hour 45 minutes
Kintetsu Limited Express train
Kansai
International
Airport
Osaka-Uehonmachi
Station
Osaka-Uehonmachi
Station
Iseshi
Station
Route 2
Nankai or
JR Limited Express train
40 minutes
1 hour 45 minutes
Kintetsu Limited Express train
Kansai
International
Airport
Osaka-Namba
Station
Osaka-Namba
Station
Iseshi
Station
Route 1
From
Osaka
or
Kyoto
From Nagoya
From
Tokyo
Read more about Ise
30 minutes
1 hour 20 minutes
Chubu
International
Airport
Meitetsu Airport Limited Express train
Nagoya
Station
Nagoya
Station
Iseshi
Station
Route 1
Kintetsu Limited Express
or JR Rapid Mie train
From
Osaka
or
Kyoto
From Nagoya
From
Tokyo
Read more about Ise
Keikyu Airport Line Limited Express train
20 minutes
1 hour 30 minutes
1 hour 20 minutes
Shinkansen
Kintetsu Limited Express
or JR Rapid Mie train
Haneda
Airport
Nagoya
Station
Shinagawa
Station
Shinagawa
Station
Nagoya
Station
Iseshi
Station
Route 3
TYO-NRT
expressway bus
65 minutes
1 hour 40 minutes
1 hour 20 minutes
Shinkansen
Kintetsu Limited Express
or JR Rapid Mie train
Narita
International
Airport
Nagoya
Station
Tokyo
Station
Tokyo
Station
Nagoya
Station
Iseshi
Station
Route 2
JR Narita Express train
50 minutes
1 hour 40 minutes
1 hour 20 minutes
Shinkansen
Kintetsu Limited Express
or JR Rapid Mie train
Narita
International
Airport
Nagoya
Station
Tokyo
Station
Tokyo
Station
Nagoya
Station
Iseshi
Station
Route 1
From
Osaka
or
Kyoto
From Nagoya
From
Tokyo
How to
get to Ise...
This booklet introduces the reader to the beliefs and heritage of Ise, a region where ancient traditions remain an integral part of daily life. Explanatory texts touch on topics such as Shinto philosophy, symbolism in the culinary culture of Ise, and the 1,300-year-old ritual as part of which Ise Grand Shrine’s structures are dismantled and rebuilt every two decades. Quick tips for visiting the shrine are also provided.
Read More
Read more
about Ise...
The Japanese language has a wide variety of names for Shinto shrines, of which there are around 80,000 around the country. For example, Ise Grand Shrine, the largest and most authoritative of them all, is called Ise Jingu, whereas Izumo Grand Shrine is referred to as Izumo Taisha. These monikers vary due to historical quirks and the type of deity enshrined.
Jingu shrines, of which there are 24 including Meiji Shrine in Tokyo and Heian Shrine in Kyoto, enshrine deities with a significant connection to the emperor, the imperial family and its ancestors, or the imperial regalia. Ise Grand Shrine is the most prominent of these shrines and is indeed officially known only as Jingu.
Other shrines with the suffix -gu in their name, such as Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kamakura, honor deities associated with imperial princes (shinno) or other important figures from ancient Japanese history. Taisha used to be reserved exclusively for Izumo Grand Shrine, but the proliferation of shrines from the late nineteenth century onward led to the moniker being adopted by sanctuaries with particular historical pedigree, especially to distinguish them from other shrines with the same name.
6. What do shrine names mean?
The little bells attached to omamori charms sold at shrines are believed to scare away malicious spirits with their chiming. That’s why some of the treasures presented to the deities at Ise Grand Shrine on the occasion of every shikinen sengu ritual are also adorned with bells.
5. Why do charms have bells?
In Shinto, deities are thought to be present throughout nature, and shrine buildings are far from the only places where they can be communed with. At Ise Grand Shrine, the Miya no Meguri no Kami, a guardian deity of the shrine grounds, is enshrined at both the Outer and Inner shrines in a pile of stones through which the spirit is believed to protect more than 120 places along the shrine’s borders. People pray at these sites in the same way as at a formal shrine.
4. Can a rock be a shrine?
When the shrine gets crowded it’s often safest to follow other visitors, but officially you are supposed to walk on the left at the Outer Shrine and on the right at the Inner Shrine. This is due to the location of the temizusha, which differs at the two sanctuaries; tradition dictates that visitors should tread on the side closest to the purification basin.
3. Which side should
you walk on?
The torii gate marks the entrance to a shrine, separating sacred ground from profane. Passing under a torii, of which there are often several along an approach to a shrine, means that you’re getting closer to the main sanctuary. As each gate also has a different meaning, devotees often bow to greet the deities every time they walk through one. Also, the middle part of the road leading up to a shrine is said to be the path of the gods, so it’s considered polite to walk on the side.
2. Why the bows before
the torii gate?
When entering a Shinto shrine, visitors purify themselves ritually at the entrance by washing their hands and mouth. This is done to cleanse oneself of both physical and spiritual impurities before approaching the deities—a simplified version of the full-body purification traditionally conducted in the sea. At Ise Grand Shrine there are several purification sites, in the form of basins known as temizusha, and it’s also possible to conduct the ritual by the Isuzugawa River at the Inner Shrine.
1. Why wash your hands before
entering the shrine?
Six things to know before
visiting Ise Grand Shrine
While every effort has been made by the author(s) and the publisher to ensure that the information contained in this guide is accurate and up to date as at the date of publication, they accept no responsibility or liability in contact, tort negligence, breach of statutory duty or otherwise for inconvenience, loss, damage, costs or expenses of any nature whatsoever incurred or suffered by anyone as a result of any advice or information contained in this guide (except to the extent that such liability may not be excluded or limited as a matter of law). Before traveling, it is advisable to check all information locally, including without limitation, information on transport, accommodation, shopping, and eating out. Anyone using this guide is entirely responsible for their own health, well-being, and belonging, and care should always be exercised while traveling.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from the copyright owners.
Born in Tamaki, Mie in 1957, Takeshi Mori earned a BA in photography from the Osaka University of Arts in 1980 and has been a freelancer since 1994. He has dedicated himself to documenting the Kumano Kodo and Ise Grand Shrine, publishing photo books and DVDs on the theme, including “Jingu no Mori” in 2013. He was selected to contribute to the 2014 Canon Calendar.
photographer
Takeshi Mori
BOOK
THE TOUR
NOW
BOOK
THE TOUR
NOW
BOOK
THE TOUR
NOW
BOOK
THE TOUR
NOW