29.8.2018 - Day 14

For today I planned my long awaited trip to Ise. Zelma was tired from previous days and not interested in shrines, so she decided to take a rest day in Kyoto.

First thing in the morning I went to Nagoya and visited the castle there. The castle keep was closed for reconstruction, but my main goal was, recently finished, Honmaru Palace. Rebuild according to the original plans, excavation works and other records it is a faithful reconstruction using the original methods. If I was to describe it, it would be a palace similar to Nijo castle in Kyoto, but all sparkling, since the wood is only few years old, and with the option to take pictures.

As the head was picking up I grabbed more water and a snack and went on an express train that would take me to Ise. Since part of the track isn’t owned by JR Central additional fare needs to be payed during the way. Or one could go with Kinketsu rails which crisscross that region (fun fact they seem to use standard gauge) and from the looks of it, their expresses for Ise and other areas are more comfortable than what JR offers (and they are also more expensive unless you get their rail pass). The trip to Ise from Nagoya takes about hour and half, so I have arrived in the early afternoon.

If I was to describe Ise, I would say that it is equivalent to Vatican City for Christianity. Ise is a major center in Shintoism and the only remaining shrine complex owned by the Japanese federal government. It is split into the Outer Sanctuary and Inner Sanctuary. In each you will find shrines for major deities. Ise is most famous for reconstructing the shrines and relevant buildings every 40 years and moving the deities between them. This is in order to keep the deities feeling young. The two major ones switch between east and west locations. Depending on which location is the current shrine located in it predicts either good harvest, but bad economy or bad harvest, but good economy. So there is a hope that when the shrines are rebuild in the future it will signal the end of Japanese recession. Finally the pieces from the old shrine get recycled in other shrines through Japana and artifacts go on display.

Final stop in Ise was Sarutahiko shrine. It was a bit of a letdown given that they had brochures at the train station, but after seeing the Ise shrines I think everything would be a letdown. There were two interesting things about this shrine though. First was the Chinese directional stone before the shrine and second that it is run by direct descendants of the person the shrine is dedicated to who seemed to be some sort of an exorcist.

Making my way back to the station I boarded an express back to Nagoya where I switched to Shinkansen and soon was back in Kyoto. I met with Zelma and we went to eat at the station. On the 9th floor of the station shopping center there were only Ramen restaurants. Zelma dubbed it the Ramen heaven.