Branch or twig with leaves, attached to the leg of a torii (gate to a Japanese Shinto shrine). Ise, Japan.

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Sasaki (Cleyera japonica) branch attached to the leg of a torii at Ise Grand Shrine, the holiest Shinto shrine in Japan. The paper folded into a zigzag is known as a shide; both sasaki and shide are holy symbols in the Shinto religion. The Grand Shrine at Ise is the most important shrine of the native Japanese religion, Shinto. The head priest is drawn from the imperial household, and it is a major pilgrimage destination. There are two parts - the inner shrine (Naiku) and the outer shrine (Geku), separated by about six kilometres; both of these are rebuilt every twenty years. Here, we see the inner shrine, in which the most important god (kami) of Shinto, Amaterasu Omikami, the goddess of sun, is enshrined and resides.

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Size: 3075px × 4608px
Location: Daiichi Torii (1st Sacred Gate), Naiku (Inner Shrine), Ise Jingu Grand Shrine, Mie Prefecture, Japan
Photo credit: © CulturalEyes-DH / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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