Atsuta Shrine in the heart of Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, is arguably one of just a handful of city center shrines or temples in Japan that can, as soon as you enter the immense grounds, transport visitors to an historical oasis, as detached from modernity today as in the era it was founded; in this case the 1st - 2nd centuries.
Well worth going out of your way to see, the shrine and its grounds – themselves home to a number of smaller shrines and related sites as well as a small treasure museum – can be visited year round, and with the shrine said to be the second most important shrine in Japan after Ise Jingu, due to it being home to one of the three sacred symbols of the nation; the Kusanagi sacred sword, blend culture with history, nature with tranquillity.
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