The Sacred Shirataki Meditation and Temple in the Sky

Within the mountains of Toba lies a sacred waterfall where people have come to meditate for the past 1000 years.

The mountain range expands out from the Ise Grand shrine and in this area, nature itself was once worshiped as a god. Many resolved ascetics would journey through treacherous routes to reach this waterfall and seek enlightenment.

While times and beliefs have changed over the years, many people continue to visit the waterfall, not only to seek enlightenment, but also to escape from the busy modern society that most of us currently live in.

Today, I took a trip to the sacred Shirataki waterfall to undergo the tradition of waterfall meditation.

Upon walking past the entrance, there were rows of tall wooden poles lined up along the path. As we got closer, I noticed that there’s writing on them. At first, I assumed they were tombstones with names of the deceased, but I realized that they were actually names of companies and other establishments.

Just like the 1,000 torii gates of the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, each and every one of these wooden pillars represent the company or establishment’s offering to the temple. The bigger the Stupa the bigger the offering and there were hundreds, if not thousands of pillars lined up along this path.

Along with these pillars, there was a light fog that gave this path a mysterious mood.

In the latter half of the path, there were smaller wooden planks lined up and behind them were rows of actual tombstones. They had severe moss growth and spots of discoloration on them. You could tell that the tombstones were just as old as the temple itself, existing for hundreds of years.

I’m not a spiritual person, but there was definitely a strong spiritual energy that this pathway had.
This place is ”ASAMADAKE KONGOSHOJI”,a famous temple that protects the demongate of Ise Jingu.
The path also made for a great photo opportunity.

Conclusion

From meditating at a waterfall to visiting an unworldly temple located on top of a 555m tall mountain, today I got to see and experience some incredible parts of Japanese history.

Whether you’re interested in undergoing the waterfall meditation, visiting the temple in the sky, or just want to see a different side of Japan, Mie is definitely a great place to travel off the beaten path!

〇Shirataki Daimyojin／DonguriHut

https://shiratakisan.jp/

〇Shirataki Mori no Chaya

https://shiratakisan.jp/top/morinochaya/

〇Ise-Shima Skyline

https://www.iseshimaskyline.com/

〇Asamadake Kongoshoji

https://www.iseshimaskyline.com/kongoushouji/