So I am an ambassador for National Parks in Japan and with that fancy title I get the opportunity to go on a lot of trips that help spread the word about the national parks in Japan.
Lately our trips have been getting cancelled because of flooding and typhoon season but finally some good weather car around and we were able to go to Hinomisaki in Izumo Japan.
Our trip involved going to the Lighthouse, the Shrine and participating in the Sun Set ritual. Hinomisaki lighthouse is absolutely beautiful.
This lighthouse is 6 stories tall standing at 144 feet. It was built in 1903 and is the latest lighthouse in Japan. Climbing up the lighthouse was exhausting but the view from the top was worth it. The Sea of Japan is absolutely beautiful.
So then after climbing down we started walking towards the shrine. No one knows really when this shrine was built or finished but many legends believe that it was completed in 600 BC. This shrine has two parts one was built for Amaterasu, the sun goddess and the other is for her brother Susano, the god of storms and the sea. Hisizumi no miya, Amaterasu’s shrine, used to be on Fumishima Island over 2,000 years ago but was moved to the main part of the island.
The shrine was built to face the west in the direction of the setting sun, so its believed that Hinomisaki is thought to protect over the night in Japan. And that is where the Sun Set Ritual happens!
This ritual celebrates where Amaterasu’s Shrine used to be. It happens annually on August 7th. So many people come and stand around the temple to be purified and lister to the prayers that start off the ceremony. After this happens people line up to grab spears and other items to walk in the festival. When we grabbed our spear we were also given a small folded piece of paper. 
After you walk a little ways you get to a ledge where the men carrying a small shrine stop and say Shinto prayers.
While this is happening on two priest climb up Fumishima Island to the small shrine and pray as well. In the second picture you can see the silhouettes of the two priest going up to the shrine.
After we returned our spears at the shrine we got to open the papers we received when we got them. They were for a drawing! I actually won a bottle of Sake from the shrine. This was an exciting and wonderful trip.
Ja ne ~
Worldly Adventures 