Kimpo Shrine's Annual Ritual Ceremony

 

Kimpo Shrine's main building structure is open to the public on few occasions.

Kimpo Shrine has served as an important center for worshippers of both Shintoism and Buddhism, particularly as a sacred site for the farmers who valued livestock raisings as a crucial industry.

It is why you could find many paintings of horses in the the haiden oratory inside the main shrine. Each painting is painted on a solid piece of Sugi, or Japanese Cedars.

Inside of the main shrine building

 A view of the main shrine from the oratory through the walkway.

A wooden sign with a Japanese calligraphy of Kimpo Shrine.

Wooden statues of horses are found.

Many paintings of horses are on display-- can be traced back to the Meiji era (circa. 1900)!

All these are horses.. yes, more than hundreds of them!

The main shrine is in public view only on a few occasions occasions such as Reitaisai, or the annual public ritual. Kimpo Shrine held its Reitaisai last week, in which we had a precious opportunity to catch a glimpse of some important articles.


At the ritual, attendee gathered to pay a visit to the honden, or the main shrine, where the most important articles are enshrined. The oratory and the main shrine are connected with a long walkway, which is accessible only to the Shinto priests.

A purification ceremony before the main ritual begins in the building.

Now following the priests into the shrine..

The ceremony begins.