Sumiyoshi Taisha

The spiritual and traditional Sumiyoshi Taisha

When you hear about Japanese shrines, Kyoto is most often the city that comes to mind, however, there are also many famous shrines in Osaka. Osaka’s most famous shrine is known as “The Power-Spot Shrine.”

The ancient shrine which represents the Japanese shrine culture

Sumiyoshi Taisha is the grand shrine of the 2,300 Sumiyoshi shrines located all around the nation. The shrine is believed to be the “God of Ocean.”
Despite being located in an urban area, the shrine’s is significantly large and has many spiritual locations existing within the area.

The rainbow-like shaped “Soribashi (arched bridge)”

The famous “Taiko-bashi” bridge has the tilt angle of maximum 48 degrees.
The bridge is believed to draw away bad fortune if one walk over the bridge.

The unique main shrine registered as National Treasure

At Sumiyoshi Taisha, there are four main shrines. The shrines are made in a style called “Sumiyoshi-zukuri”, which is one of the oldest styles of shrine architecture. The arrangement of the four shrines is also very unique.

“Godairiki” famous for making your wish come true

At an area called “Goshogozen,” it is said that you can make your dream come true if you find three pebbles with the letters “五 (five)”, “大 (big)”, and “力 (power)” from the sandbox and keep it with you as a lucky charm.
After your dream come true, you are supposed to write the three letters on a new set of pebbles and put them into the sandbox along with returning the original pebbles.

The shrine full of interesting places

In addition, there are many other things to see at Sumiyoshi Taisha, like the “chozusha (building for cleaning hands and rinsing mouth)” with a statue of a rabbit and the 600 stone lanterns in the area.
If you take a walk around the shrine, you will be able to find many rare items.