Futami Okitama Shrine

Futami Okitama Shrine in Futami, Ise, Mie, stands on the Futami-no-Ura coast about six kilometers east of the Inner Shrine of Ise. The shrine has been venerated since antiquity as a place of purification (hama-mode) before pilgrimage to Ise Jingu. Its iconic feature is the Meoto Iwa, two rocks linked by a shimenawa rope, between which the sun rises around the summer solstice and the moon around the winter solstice. The main deities are Sarutahiko no Okami and Ukanomitama no Okami, the latter identified locally with Toyouke of the Outer Shrine of Ise. Sarutahiko is recorded in Kojiki (712 CE) as the earthly deity who guided Ninigi at Tensonkorin, said to dwell in the upper Isuzu River. The Meoto Iwa are understood as a torii framing the offshore Okitama-shinseki, a stone believed to lie underwater 700 meters out. The shrine became its current form in 1910 through the merger of nearby shrines. The triannual rope-renewal rite is the principal annual observance.