Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine 住吉大社

Description

Sumiyoshi Taisha, located in Osaka, is the head shrine of a group of over 2,000 shrines nationwide. A very popular shrine, it’s swamped with more than 2 million people paying respects over the New Year’s holidays every year. It’s said to have been founded around 1,800 years ago by the Empress Jingu. The enshrined deities are the sea gods, collectively known as the Sumiyoshi no Okami, venerated since ancient times as patron deities of seafarers. In the Nara period (710 - 794), diplomats and envoys to Tang-dynasty China would invariably come to Sumiyoshi Taisha to pray for a safe voyage, before taking ship to China. Today, the tradition of praying for safety at sea is carried on by sailors and fishermen. The spacious grounds contain the four inner sanctuaries (each is known as a hongu, and they are designated National Treasures), a stone stage (ishibutai) for performances of ritual music, two areas for the musicians (gakusho) aligned on an East-West axis, and two treasure houses (takakura) on a North-South axis. All of these buildings are Important Cultural Properties of Japan. The ishibutai stage is over 400 years old, and along with the stages at Itsukushima Shrine (Hiroshima Prefecture) and Shitennoji Temple (Osaka Prefecture), it is considered one of the three finest stages in Japan.