The biggest shimenawa in Japan, and therefore the world, is located up in Izumo at the great shrine of Izumo Taisha.
It adorns the Kagura den, located next door to the shrine proper.
It's more than 13 meters in length and weighs somewhere between 5 and 8 tons.
A new one is constructed every 3 years.
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Long time I didn' enjoy a post from you.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of it, and that really is impressive !
I was there in 2008, and had a strange incident .A lady next to me threw a coin into it/at it which rebounded and hit me on top of the head.She was extremely apologetic,I wasn't hurt (just my pride).Later a friend told me that this was an old tradition,that if the coin stuck then you would have good luck.
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures of the shimenawa.
ReplyDeleteBoth making it then raising it to its present position are amazing feats.
You say they renew the shimenawa each 3 years. I wonder how old the present one is.
I've heard about the tradition llewellyn above mentioned of throwing money. Certainly would stay clear if a lot of women pulled out their purses:)
TK
Izumo Shrine is beautiful. I actually got one of the coins to stick!
ReplyDeleteWow, awesome!
ReplyDeleteThe rope to hold up the rope is a bit funny.
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