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Togakushi Shrine

Take a Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagano, and rent a car to drive to Togakushi Shrine which is about 45 minutes by car from Nagano Station.

 If you want to drive from Tokyo, it takes about 2 to 3 hours additional. 

 It's not much distance if I use Shinkansen and Nagano is country so it would be easy drive, I thought,
but I broke into into a cold sweat because there were many hairpin curves.  
It was all right after all.
I thought I should more drive often. There are so many nice places in the suburbs, and my driving skill never gets better if I don't use it.
Well, it is all experience.

Gate of Hou-Kou-Sha


The entire mountain is filled with powerful energy.
It is a place of mythology of opening the rock(Amano-Iwato-legend) in the ancient Japan.
When Amaterasu, the sun goddess, hided in the rock cave upsetting with her brother Susanoo's bad behaviors, some gods and goddesses worked together to open the rock.
Hou-Kou-Sha

 Togakushi, means 'hiding inside the door`, this shrine worships those gods.

 There are five shrines in the mountain, and each shrine has different energy,
you can visit all of them on foot, it takes three hours in total though,
waking in the minus ion cleanses your body and energy and you get those powerful energy. It is like washing and nourishing yourself.

 Houkou-sha is for Ameno Uwaharu no Mikoto,
Hinomiko-sha is for Ameno Uzume no Mikoto,
Chu-o-sha is Ameno Yagokoro Omoi Kanenomi,
Oku-sha is Ameno Tazikara Onomikoto,
Kuzuryu-sha is Doragon who's there before the gods.

There is a sequence when visiting, just like above order,
Sacred tree

start with Houkou-sha, Hinomiko-sha, Chu-o-sha, Oku-sha then Kuzuryu-sha.

Hinomiko-Sha

 These gods represent a breakthrough energy, free-self and activate talents that have been sleeping inside you. When you want to achieve something, improve or change the life, this place is recommended.

 I came here 8 years ago, it was end of November and because of snow,
there was almost no one around, I felt sacred feeling.
Waking through 400 years old cedar trees to go Oku-Sha

 This mountain shuts down for 4 months during the winter,
which period cleanses the energy not accepting human enters.

 Look forward to coming back here next spring!
  Sake tasting set @ Nagano station






















Comments

~Chow Wo Man~ said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
11 September 2016 at 09:41
~Chow Wo Man~ said…
I love your posts! How else would us common folk get to know about the real Japan? thanks again. If I ever can visit your beautiful country now I know where to go.
11 September 2016 at 09:42
momo said…
Thank you Mark for your comment.
It motivates me to write.
11 September 2016 at 18:55
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