is a Shinto shrine located in

Takachiho is a town in Nishiusuki District, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. As of October 1, 2019, the town has an estimated population of 11,959 and a density of 50.3 persons per km². The total area is 237.54 km². Geography Takachiho is in the north ...

Miyazaki Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Miyazaki Prefecture has a population of 1,073,054 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 7,735 km2 (2,986 sq mi). Miyazaki Prefecture borders Ōita Prefecture to the north, Kuma ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is dedicated to the sun goddess

Amaterasu Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the ''Kojik ...

and sits above the gorge containing

Ama-no-Iwato is a cave in Japanese mythology. According to the ''Kojiki'' (''Records of Ancient Matters'') and the '' Nihon Shoki'', the bad behavior of Susano'o, the Japanese god of storms, drove his sister Amaterasu into the Ama-no-Iwato cave. The land w ...

, the cave where, according to Japanese legend, the goddess hid after battle with her brother, plunging the world into darkness until lured out by the

spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

of merriment

Ame-no-Uzume is the goddess of dawn, mirth, meditation, revelry and the arts in the Shinto religion of Japan, and the wife of fellow-god Sarutahiko Ōkami. She famously relates to the tale of the missing sun deity, Amaterasu Omikami. Her name can also be p ...

. The

Amano-Iwato is a cave in Japanese mythology. According to the ''Kojiki'' (''Records of Ancient Matters'') and the '' Nihon Shoki'', the bad behavior of Susano'o, the Japanese god of storms, drove his sister Amaterasu into the Ama-no-Iwato cave. The land w ...

cave is an object of worship in festivals and is a rock cave on the other side of the Iwato River from nishihongū. You can see the cave from nishihongū after participating in a Shinto ritual for purification.

Gallery

File:Amanoiwato-west-shrine (28795304727).jpg, Amanoiwato-jinja nishihongū File:Amanoiwato-east-shurine.jpg, Amanoiwato-jinja higashihongū File:Gyoubogaiwaya-cave-outside.jpg, The Takamagahara pantheon is thought to have gathered and discussed how to get Amaterasu out of the Heavenly Rock Cave,

, at this riverside cave

References

External links

Ama-no-Iwato Jinja
Official website * {{Sun temples Beppyo shrines Shinto shrines in Miyazaki Prefecture Sun temples