Motoiseamanoiwatojinja Shrine

Moto-Ise Amanoiwato Shrine sits in a secluded gorge of strange rock, clear water and dense old timber, where an enormous seat-stone is said to be where the gods came down and rested. The mountainside around it is sacred ground no one may enter, protected as the Iwatoyama historic natural environment conservation area. Across the river, the pyramid-shaped peak known as Iwatoyama — or Himurogatake — is a sacred mountain believed to be where the deity descended, and it is still an object of worship. Partway along the approach from the Moto-Ise inner shrine there is a distant-worship point, where a wish made is said to be granted. On the summer solstice the sun sets directly onto the summit of Himurogatake.