Tado Shrine [Mie]

2023年7月16日2024年12月18日

【Tado Shrine Summary】

Tadotaisha is said to have been founded in the late 5th century and is the fourth most visited shrine in Mie Prefecture after Ise Jingu Shrine, Futami Okitama Shrine, and Tsubakidai Shrine, with 1,407,000 people visiting the shrine in 2013. The deity, Amatsuhikone-no-Mikoto, is the son of Amaterasu Omikami, the deity of Ise Jingu Shrine. For this reason, the relationship with the Ise Jingu Shrine is deep, and a poem has long been written, “If you go to Ise, you must also go to Otadokakeyo, and if you do not go to Otadokakeyo, you must also go to Kata-mairi. Because of this relationship, it is also called Kita Ise Grand Shrine, and it seems that when people visited Ise, they also visited “Tado Taisha”.

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Jingu (Inner Shrine of Ise Jingu) [Mie]

Tsubaki Grand Shrine [Mie]

Tado Taisha is a locally famous shrine where the “Ukema Ritual” is held. In this ritual, a rider straddles a horse and rides it up an extremely steep hill, and the order and number of horses that make it to the top is used to predict the type of rice to be grown and the harvest. The Tado Festival attracts a large number of visitors.

【Tado Shrine premises】

Upon entering the shrine grounds, visitors will find a jinmesha (shrine stable) with a white horse. It is unusual for a shrine to suddenly have a horse, but since ancient times, horses have been believed to be messengers of the gods. The white horse here is bowing like a deer in Nara. Let’s pay 100 yen for a carrot as a snack. Small children will be delighted.

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Walking up the slope, listening to the pleasant sound of flowing water in the deep shade of fresh green trees, you will arrive at the main shrine. The grounds of the shrine are not that large, but the deeper you go, the more sacred the atmosphere becomes.

After advancing, you will come to the gate (Tado Ryogu). The Tado Grand Shrine has two shrines, Tado Shrine and Ichimuren Shrine, and the sign “Tado Ryogu” means both shrines. The main shrine is just beyond the gate, which adds to the sacred atmosphere of the shrine.

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By crossing the bridge over the clear stream, one can purge oneself of impurities, and the area is clearly divided into human and divine realms. The murmuring of the river, the singing of birds, and the sounds of the forest emanating from the trees created a sacred atmosphere.

On the left is the main shrine, Tado Shrine, and on the right is another shrine, Ichimokuren Shrine. Ichimokuren Shrine is dedicated to Ameme-no-Ichimochi-no-Mikoto, the god of smithing. He is the god of smithing and is said to be the same deity as Amemmatomara, who is seen smithing in the Iwato no kagakure stage of the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters). Amatsuhikone-no-Mikoto, the son of Amaterasu, is enshrined as the deity of Tado-taisha Shrine on the left.

Although the shrine has been manicured, it is surrounded by nature and has a different atmosphere from the Ise Jingu Shrine.

【Tado Shrine GOSHUIN】

【Access】

Manager’s comment.

I thought that the shrine has long been loved by the local people as a place of worship for Mt. On the other hand, there are pros and cons to the practice of beating the horses to excite them during the raising of the horse ritual, which is considered animal abuse, and I felt that it is a question of how far to continue the ritual in terms of historical and cultural value, which has continued for more than 700 years.

scenery

(3)

ambience

(3.5)

access

(2.5)

my opinion

(3)