The largest shimenawa in Japan: 13.5 m and 5 t, remade every year by 1,500 people.
When you reach the entrance you see the largest shimenawa (注連縄, a sacred rope of braided straw) in Japan hanging there: 2.5 m in diameter, 13.5 in length, 5 tonnes, remade every year by about 1,500 people. Twice a year, in late February and late October, the setting sun lines up with the flight of steps all the way to the sea: this is the ‘road of light’ (光の道).
The shrine stands on a hill overlooking the sea, in Fukutsu. Next to it is a kofun (an ancient burial mound) with the second-longest stone chamber in Japan, 23 metres, a sign of an important settlement even before the shrine was built. It receives more than 2.2 million visitors a year.
🚉 Fukuma · 27 min walk
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