05/01/2013

Shrine of the Third Generation King

Shinto shrine in a pristine, natural setting

Por Todd Wojnowski

Community writer

The feeling of being separated from the world

Simplicity. Beautiful simplicity. While the bigger, more notable shrines of Japan deserve their fame and waves of visitors, there is nothing quite like the intimacy of a small, local shrine that appears to not have been changed in its 800 years of existence. The Shrine of the Third Generation King consists of an entire forested hilltop, with statues and monuments tucked within tree roots, into the sides of the hill, and around every wooded path. The buildings are spread throughout an area that takes time to explore, with every idea to check out some little clearing in the trees yielding breathtaking results. Above the bustle of the town below, time here seems isolated and hidden from the rest of the world. Built between the years 1171-1175 by the third son of Tsunetane Chiba, leader of the Chiba Clan, it gives visitors a sense of the ancient, unmodernized Japan that is becoming harder to find.