Chusha Shrine

Chusha Shrine honors Ame no Yagokoro Omoikane, the Shinto deity of wisdom who, according to legend, devised the kagura dance that coaxed the sun goddess Amaterasu out of her cave. That same dance is reenacted once a month on a stage inside the main building, above which a dragon ceiling painted by Kawanabe Kyosai, Japan's first political caricaturist, looks down on visitors. The Treasure Hall holds Important Cultural Properties from the Nara and Heian periods. Outside, a perfect triangle of three cedar trees over 800 years old frames the wooden torii gate at the center, and 300 cedars line the approach to the adjacent Okusha Shrine.