Kashima Shrine is a Shinto shrine located in Kashima, Ibaraki in the northern Kantō region of Japan. It is dedicated to Takemikazuchi-no-Ōkami (武甕槌大神), one of the patron deities of martial arts. Various dōjō of kenjutsu and kendō often display a hanging scroll emblazoned with the name "Takemikazuchi-no-Ōkami". Prior to World War II, the shrine was ranked as one of the three most important imperial shrines Jingū (神宮) in the Shinto hierarchy, along with Ise Grand Shrine and Katori Shrine. During the New Year period, from the first to the third of January, Kashima Shrine is visited by over 600,000 people from all over Japan. It is the second most visited shrine in Ibaraki prefecture for new year pilgrims.
Main rebuilt torii gate, 2015
Romon gate and stone lanterns, 2015
Main Shrine
Rōmon
A Shinto shrine is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, the deities of the Shinto religion.
Two women praying in front of a shrine
Mount Nantai, worshiped at Futarasan Shrine, has the shape of the phallic stone rods found in pre-agricultural Jōmon sites.
An example of jingū-ji: Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū-ji in an old drawing. In the foreground the shrine-temple's Buddhist structures (not extant), among them a pagoda, a belltower and a niōmon. The shrine (extant) is above.
Mount Fuji is Japan's most famous shintai.