Ikuta Shrine

This shrine was right down the alley from the BIC camera in KOBE, so we took a wrong turn and headed down the street. It was simple, with a surprisingly, a parking lot for cars at this shrine. It was really simple with just one side of the shrine. You could see the whole thing from standing outside.
Though it wasn’t much, I have high respects for all of the shrines that we have visited during our trip in Japan. We just took a look around and left. No fees to come by, just remember to pay your respects.

A very large shrine. It has a long standing history and appears in Nihon Shoki, the oldest chronicle of Japan. The chronicle shows that this shrine was established more than 1800 years. Great! Of course the outside appearance of the shrine at that time is different from the one of present days. It faced many hardships such as natural disasters or battleships and was reconstructed many times.
I came here for the first visit on the New Year’s days with friends of mine. The compounds were overcrowded with a lot of prayers. The scarlet pillars and green roof were awesome! However I was not able to afford to thoroughly enjoy the beauty, because I only saw the heads of a herd.
Anyway I consulted the divine oracle here. I opened the paper of the oracle with much expectation. The result was great blessing! I was beside myself with joy! However results of friends of mine were also same. Rumor has it that this shine has only oracles of great blessing or middle blessing.
This shrine is located near the popular and bustling area of Kobe. It is also famous for many celebrities holding their wedding ceremonies here. Among them some are divorced. You know which couple did, don’t you?