Matsunootaisha Grand Shrine

Matsunoo Taisha dates to 701 and is best known as the shrine of sake. Step through the gate and you're met by a wall of sake barrels stacked like a hillside — offerings from brewers all over Japan. Spring water from the shrine's Kame-no-i well is said to keep sake from spoiling when blended into the brew. In late April, some 3,000 yamabuki shrubs flood the stream banks between the tower gate and the main hall in yellow. The Shofuen gardens use over 200 blue-green stones, every one carried in from the Yoshino River in Tokushima.