Ise Grand Shrine

The Two Shrines: Kōtai Jingū (Inner Shrine) and Tōyūke Daijingū (Outer Shrine)
The two shrines are by no means of equal rank; Kōtai Jingū is the most revered shrine and the center of the Jingu shrine complex.

▶ Kōtai Jingū (Inner Shrine)
Kōtai Jingū, located at the foot of Mount Gekū and Mount Shimaji beside the Isuzu River, enshrines Amaterasu Ōmikami, the ancestral deity of the Imperial House and the great ancestral deity of the Japanese people.
About 2,000 years ago, the Ise faith—revering Amaterasu Ōmikami as the guardian deity of the nation, with the Yata no Kagami, one of the Three Sacred Treasures inherited as symbols of the Imperial Throne, enshrined as the divine object of worship—spread throughout the country from the end of the Heian period. Even today, it draws special reverence as the head shrine of shrines across Japan.

▸ The Origin and History of Kōtai Jingū
According to the Nihon Shoki, Japan’s earliest official history, when Amaterasu Ōmikami was born, she was praised with the words, “Her light and radiance shone throughout the six directions,” and is said to be an extraordinarily brilliant presence, as well as the sun deity who rules the world of the gods.
When the great deity in Takamagahara sent the imperial descendant Ninigi-no-Mikoto down to this land, she bestowed the following blessing:

“This fertile land of reed plains and a thousand autumns of rice is the land where my descendants shall rule. Do you, my imperial descendant, proceed and govern it. Go forth. May the prosperity of the imperial line endure as long as heaven and earth have no end.”

She also bestowed the sacred mirror and commanded, “Revere this mirror as if you were seeing me,” and further granted the rice ears cultivated in Takamagahara, teaching that a life based on rice cultivation would bring prosperity and peace to this country. These words of blessing are known as the Divine Command of Eternal Heaven and Earth.
The sacred mirror bestowed upon Ninigi-no-Mikoto is called the Yata no Kagami, and it is the sacred object used by the Emperor to worship Amaterasu Ōmikami. The Yata no Kagami had long been enshrined by the Emperor himself in the Imperial Palace, but during the reign of Emperor Sujin, it was deemed too awe-inspiring to keep beside him. It was therefore removed from the palace and enshrined at Kasanui Village in Yamato, where a himorogi, or sacred enclosure, was set up.
There, in the Emperor’s place, Toyosukiirihime-no-Mikoto worshipped the great deity. Later, during the reign of Emperor Suinin, Yamato-hime-no-Mikoto was tasked with finding a new place worthy of enshrining the great deity. After traveling through Yamato, and the provinces of Iga, Ōmi, and Mino, she arrived at Uji in Watarai, Ise Province, at the upper reaches of the Isuzu River, where, in accordance with the great deity’s instructions, a shrine was erected and the deity was enshrined there. This was approximately 2,000 years ago.
The word shiro, written also as sha, means the place of a house or a building, and refers to a structure newly erected each time for a ritual. It is believed that structures temporarily erected like a himorogi or a shiro became large enough to be called a divine palace, or Jingū, during the reigns from Emperor Tenmu to Empress Jitō. The Grand Festival held once every 20 years, the Jingu Shikinen Sengū, also began in that era.

▶ Tōyūke Daijingū (Outer Shrine)
Tōyūke Daijingū, which stands in the center of Ise City with Mount Takakura behind it, enshrines Tōyūke Ōmikami. Tōyūke Ōmikami is the deity of food, who serves Amaterasu Ōmikami in the Inner Shrine, and is also revered as the guardian deity of clothing, food, shelter, and industry.
Passing through the torii gate and walking along the gravel approach lined with greenery fills one with a refreshing feeling.
About 1,500 years ago, Tōyūke Ōmikami was invited from Tanba Province to the present location as the deity in charge of Amaterasu Ōmikami’s meals, about 500 years after the Inner Shrine was first enshrined. Since then, at the Misonoden, located northeast within the sacred precincts of the Outer Shrine, the Daily Morning and Evening Grand Food Offering Ceremony has continued, with meals offered twice a day, morning and evening, to Amaterasu Ōmikami, the deities enshrined alongside her, and the deities of the auxiliary shrines.

▸ The Origin and History of Tōyūke Daijingū
According to the Toyuke Jingū Gishikichō and the Toyuke Kōtaijingū Gochinza Honki, the enshrinement of Tōyūke Daijingū originated when, during the reign of Emperor Yūryaku, Amaterasu Ōmikami appeared in the emperor’s dream and gave him an oracle. The oracle stated that it was “painful to remain in only one place,” and that because “the great offerings are not being received with ease,” the emperor should bring to him Tōyūke Ōkami, the deity of food who resided at Hinomanai in Tanba Province.
Upon awakening, the emperor summoned Tōyūke Ōkami from Tanba Province, built a splendid palace at Yamadahara in Watarai, and began rites of worship. This marks the origin of the shrine’s enshrinement, including the creation of the Misonoden and the beginning of the Daily Morning and Evening Grand Food Offering Ceremony.
What meaning did it have that Tōyūke Daijingū was enshrined by the will of Amaterasu Ōmikami? It is thought that the great deity herself taught that without relying on the divine will of Tōyūke Ōmikami, it would be impossible to carry out the proper and prosperous activities of daily life, represented by food. Considering that this was an era in which exchanges with the continent became increasingly active, industry developed remarkably, and the nation’s wealth grew ever greater, one can sense the depth of this divine concern.
Together with Kōtai Jingū, Tōyūke Daijingū was once called the Two Shrines of the Great Deities. Based on its immense divine virtue and the venerable history of its enshrinement, most of its buildings and rituals are the same as those of Kōtai Jingū, and it also receives the same imperial reverence. However, the two shrines are by no means of equal rank; Kōtai Jingū is the highest and most sacred shrine and the center of Jingu.
Jingu rituals follow the custom known as “Gekū Saisen,” meaning that ceremonies are held first at the Outer Shrine. Since Tōyūke Ōmikami is the deity of food serving Amaterasu Ōmikami, offerings are made to the food deity before the rites of the Inner Shrine. Following the order of the ceremonies, worshippers customarily visit the Outer Shrine first and then the Inner Shrine.