Ise Shrine

After the night in the ryokan (see prior post), we headed out to Ise Shrine. This is supposed to be the 'parent' shrine to all the others in the country. It is important enough that whenever a new prime minister is elected in Japan, he comes here to pray right after taking office. The property the shrine is on is huge, but I was surprised that the actually shrine was rather small. And for some reason, they don't allow photos to be taken there, so no pictures to show of it. I joined the throngs of Japanese there and threw a few coins in, clapped twice, and bowed my head in prayer.

Found out that a prior emperor (Emperor Tenmu) declared that the shrine would be moved on the property every 20 years. I was told he did this to force the Japanese craftsmen to stay skilled in the craft. They have started building the next one already (foundation and all), but it won't open for 8 more years. I didn't know if I also wasn't supposed to take photos of this, but there wasn't anyone around to stop me, so the attached photo shows the current construction.

It rained on us as we were walking around the property. The business manager said something like "kokorogake ga warui ame ga fu-tara", which means "when it rains on you when you are doing something you want to enjoy outdoors, it means you did something bad in the past". I wonder what I did (or maybe more appropriately, which bad thing I did) that caused the rain to hit us.

After this, a quick udon lunch (the local style - no broth, but a sauce instead). Walked around Ise a little bit while the business manager reminisced, as this was the town he was born in. Interesting to hear him tell how the town had changed over 50 years.

日本語：
旅館の後、伊勢神宮へ行った。 伊勢神宮の不動産は大きいが、神社はちょっと小さいだろう。 多くの人々と神社でおさい銭を上げて、参詣した。

20年に一度神社を動かす。掲示を読んで。だから８年後、新しい神社がある。どうして天武天皇は命令した？　社長にやると天武天皇は職人技術をを保持したかったそうです。

歩きとき、雨が降った。社長は「こころがけが悪い、雨が降ったら」と言った。英語で”when it rains on you when you are doing something you want to enjoy outdoors, it means you did something bad in the past”だ。　どれ悪い方だろう？

その後、伊勢の有名なうどんを食べた。社長は伊勢で生まれたので、懐かしかった。もう昔とは違っていると言った。