Research Paper On Ise

The Grand Shrine of Ise is the probably most sacred or holy Shinto site in Japan. The shrine has been rebuilt in the same place every 20 years since the third or fourth century. Shinto, Japan's unofficial national religion, is devoted to spiritual beings called “kami.” Shinto shrines were traditionally simple wooden structures built to house the kami and as a place to hold rituals and celebrations. Shinto’s holy places typically include natural formations, such as rocks, waterfalls, caves, forests and mountains. The Ise Shrine in Ise City is associated with the Yamato clan, who are descended from the sun kami, Amaterasu-O-mikami, according to mythology. The inner building is dedicated to her. The outer shrine is dedicated to the grain kami,
These kami spirits were believed to exercise a powerful influence on human affairs, while human beings, through the agency of prayer and ritual, were likewise able to influence the kami spirits. The kami spirits were especially concentrated in mountain areas and we may discern two major categories of sanctified mountains in early Shinto.One category concerns mountains revered for their role in supporting the existence of people; examples being mountains associated with hunting, agriculture and fishing. The second category of sacred mountain in early Shinto were those mountains associated with the spirits of the dead. From early stone age times mountains were known as the realm of death. Corpses were abandoned or buried at the foot of mountains that could be seen from the place where the deceased had lived, and the spirits of the dead were believed to gather on the summits of such