Name: Togakushi | Stories on the road | japan-guide.com
Uploaded: 2021-03-04T20:20:04.000Z
Duration: 6 min 52 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Yeah, mhm as a travel writer and photographer.

Spend about half of my time traveling for work.

And when I'm not working, I'm constantly looking for places where I can disconnect.

Being a city girl, the countryside offers a welcome break and a breath of fresh air.

I first heard about this place from a friend who couldn't stop talking about it.

From the minute we met up, I was curious to see and wanted to experience the same thing that captivated my friend in the mountainous region of Togashi in northern Nagano Prefecture.

One of the most important stories in Japanese mythology has it that Amaterasu, the sun goddess hidden in a cave in Kyushu in southern Japan, as she was furious with her brother's pranks and thereby plunging the world into darkness, a number of gods gathered before the cave and came up with a plan to lure.

The sun got us out by dancing in front of the cave door.

When a motorist took a peek out of the cave door to see what was going on, one of the gods who was waiting grabbed the stone door and flung it away, and this was how light was restored to the world.

Now the stone door, which was flung into space, landed somewhere in the middle of Japan, and Mount Togashi is said to be that door.

Takashi Shrine is made up of three shrines.

Okay, OSHA, the EPA shrine to Russia, the middle shrine in Hong Scotia.

The two kilometers cedar tree lined approach leads the way to the upper shrine, the most impressive of the three, and it took about 30 minutes to make my way through the approach.

Slowly, the upper shrine is devoted to the deity who grabbed him, threw the stone door, and many come here to pray for good fortune and the fulfillment of prayers.

Yeah, the style of offering prayers at the shrine and many other shrines in Japan is typically two bows, two clocks and one bow over the middle shrine.

One typically walks past a couple of centuries old trees before reaching the main hall.

One tree said to be over 800 years old and the other over 700.

It felt so amazing to see such old trees that have lived for centuries, and I briefly wondered what stories they could tell us if trees could talk.

This middle shrine is devoted to the deity who came up with the dance plan to lure The sun got us out because of the deities brilliance.

Many believe that prayers for educational and business successes are especially effective here.

Almost 300 stone steps lead up to the lower shrine.

The flight of stairs are flanked by trees and provides the perfect lead up to the main hall, which is decorated with intricate wooden carvings.

This main hall is also the oldest of the three main shrines of Togashi.

As I walked up in the mist and rain, I felt like I was transported into another world, one that was at the same time familiar yet mysterious.

The lowest shrine is devoted to the child of the deity, worshipped at the middle shrine and as such, prayers for smooth pregnancies and protection for women and Children.

In common year mhm, two other shrines between the main ones round up Togashi Shrine.

You shrine beside the upper shrine, which is dedicated to the god of water, and her many pray to for rain.

And you know, Miko shrine near the lower shrine, which is devoted to four deities, including the one who's Dance Peak.

Yeah, walking trails through the forest, connect all five shrines, and those who take them will get to see the local flora and some coins residences along the way.

The approach to the upper shrine, for me is the most beautiful and calming approaches I've seen tall, centuries old cedar trees line the path, and if I close my eyes, I can almost feel myself being enveloped in the natural energy radiating from them.

Kind of like a form of spiritual grounding.

Coming here was as incredible as my friend had said it would be.

I got to see the shrines at my own pace, spent sometimes surrounded by nature, lost in my thoughts and saw a little bit of countryside.

Interestingly, the remote and mountainous Togashi area is also known for his toga schools of ninja skills.

But that's another story for another day.

For now, I'm refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to take on the world again.

There are a couple of ways to access to Galaxy, the closest major station is Nagano Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen, and from there you can get to Togashi by rental car or local bus.

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