North Miyazaki · TakachihoNo.506★★★Open in map →
Amanoiwato Shrine
— The cave where the sun goddess hid, in Takachiho
A shrine in the Takachiho hills built to face a cave across a river gorge. The cave is the sacred object, so the West Shrine has no inner sanctuary, and a priest walks visitors out to the platform that looks at it. A second cave lies ten minutes upstream.
- FromNobeoka Station
- Half a dayMiyazaki Kotsu bus, two legs
- Get off atTakachiho Bus Center (Miyazaki Kotsu)
- From there
- Amanoiwato Shrine
Where it is
18 more notes in Miyazaki · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- West Shrine hallthe main hall, built with no inner sanctuary because the cave opposite serves as one
- Amanoiwato viewing platformthe terrace behind the hall that faces the cave, reached only on a priest's round
- Amanoyasugawaraa wide river cave upstream, where the myth places the council of the gods
- East Shrinethe hall on the far bank, marking where the goddess settled after coming out
- Shichihonsugithe sacred cedars of the East Shrine, known as the seven cedars
How to actually get there
- Nobeoka Station → Takachiho Bus Center (Miyazaki Kotsu bus); from Kumamoto, the Takachiho limited-express coach to the same terminal.
- Takachiho Bus Center → Amanoiwato Shrine (Miyazaki Kotsu, Iwato line).
- West Shrine hall → rest area → the priest's round out to the Amanoiwato viewing platform.
- West Shrine → upstream along the Iwato River to Amanoyasugawara, then back and across to the East Shrine.
- Miyazaki Kotsu bus from Nobeoka Station
- Takachiho has no railway. From Nobeoka Station on the JR Nippo Line, Miyazaki Kotsu runs a bus up to Takachiho Bus Center; from Kumamoto the same company runs its Takachiho limited-express coach to the same terminal. At the bus center you change to the Iwato local bus, which runs out to the shrine.
- Everything returns via the bus center
- The last Iwato-line bus of the day decides how long you can stay, so check it at the shrine office before you walk upstream. Coaches back to Nobeoka and to Kumamoto also finish early by city standards. Nothing about this journey works after dark, and there is no rail fallback.
About the place
Amanoiwato Shrine stands above the Iwato River in northern Miyazaki, and it is built around an absence. In the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, the sun goddess Amaterasu shuts herself into a rock cave and the world goes dark. This shrine identifies the cave in the opposite cliff as that place and enshrines the cave directly, which is why the West Shrine has no inner sanctuary of its own. You cannot walk to the cave. A priest takes visitors from the rest area behind the hall out to a viewing platform that faces it, and that short walk is the reason to come. The East Shrine, on the far bank, marks the ground where the goddess is said to have settled after she came out.
How to enjoy it
The shrine office and amulet counter run from 8:30 to 17:00, and the priest's rounds out to the viewing platform go at set times inside that window. Gather at the rest area behind the West Shrine hall a little early rather than on the hour, and if a round has already started you can join it. Leave another half hour for the walk upstream to Amanoyasugawara and back.
Background & history
The shrine's own account places its origin in the age of the myths rather than at a founding date, and its two halls grew up on opposite banks of the Iwato River. The West Shrine has never held an inner sanctuary, because the cave in the cliff opposite serves as one — an arrangement rare enough that it explains the whole layout of the grounds. The East Shrine keeps the ground where the goddess is said to have first dwelt after leaving the cave. Kagura, the night dances that retell the episode, is still bound to the shrine's calendar.
Before you go
- Cash
- The priest's round to the viewing platform is not charged for; the shrine asks only that you leave something in the box if you wish to. There is no admission to the grounds. Of the shrine's car parks, the one at the West Shrine entrance is the paid one. Carry cash — Takachiho is a small town.
- Before you go
- The path to Amanoyasugawara has steps and cannot be taken with a wheelchair or a pushchair, though the viewing platform can. The shrine suspends riverside visits when heavy rain is forecast, and it has closed the Amanoyasugawara approach for rock-face surveys, so read its notices before you travel. There are no rubbish bins on the grounds; carry your litter out.
- Another way
- By car, the shrine is reached from the Kyushu Chuo Expressway, and its own directions give exits on both the Kumamoto and the Nobeoka side. Aso Kumamoto Airport is the usual western gateway, Miyazaki Airport the eastern one. Several car parks serve the grounds, the nearest at the West Shrine entrance.
- After you get off
- Takachiho Bus Center is the transfer point, not the destination — the shrine is out in the Iwato district, several kilometres east of the town. From the bus center take the Iwato-line local bus, which sets down at the shrine. If you drive instead, the car park at the West Shrine entrance puts you a level walk from the hall.