Yahiko Shrine

In honor of Rosalind's birthday, a group of us headed out to Yahiko today for a hike up the mountain and a closer look at the Yahiko Shrine. Unfortunately, I didn't make it very far up the mountain - but on the upside, that left me with a lot of quality time with the shrine itself. One website describes it as follows:

"The supreme shrine in the Echigo region (now Niigata prefecture), Yahiko Jinja is cited in the Manyoshu (the oldest anthology of Japanese poetry). The shrine is located on Mount Yahiko (alt. 638 m), whose summit commands a panoramic view of the Sea of Japan. Revered as a sacred mountain with the divine power to protect people from evil, Yahiko-san is forested with cedar, cypress, and oak. It is now a popular site for open-air bathing among locals. A sacred chinquapin tree is enshrined in the holy precinct."

And of course, I took pictures:







Click here to see all of the photos from the Yahiko Shrine