About 20,000 donated dolls fill the shrine: every 3 March some of them go out to sea.
The shrine, dedicated to Sukunahikona-no-Mikoto and Ōkuninushi-no-Mikoto and devoted to women's health and fertility, keeps about 20,000 donated dolls (traditional Japanese dolls, ichimatsu dolls, tanuki figurines and maneki-neko), left here by people who could not bring themselves to throw them away. Every 3 March, the day of the girls' festival (Hinamatsuri), the hina-nagashi ceremony is held: the dolls are entrusted to the sea on small boats, in a purification rite.
Shrine in Kada, a coastal area of Wakayama and the departure point for ferries to Tomogashima. According to tradition, its founding goes back to a move from the nearby island in the time of Emperor Nintoku. It holds weapons and armour from the Kamakura period as Important Cultural Properties.
ℹ️ Free access to the shrine. In Kada, near the ferry pier for Tomogashima.
🚉 Kada · 19 min walk
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