Eda Shrine — 江田神社 (宮崎市)

Eda Shrine stands at the edge of Miyazaki’s coastal plain, less than two kilometres from Misogi Pond — the site where, according to the Kojiki, Izanagi no Mikoto performed the ritual purification that gave birth to Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and Tsukuyomi, the moon deity. This shrine does not merely commemorate that mythological event; it claims to occupy the exact ground where Izanagi rested after emerging from the pond, making it one of the few shrines in Japan that marks a specific moment in creation mythology with geographic precision. The shrine’s grounds are quiet, almost austere, as if the weight of what happened here demands restraint.

Eda Shrine’s founding date is unrecorded, which is itself significant — the shrine appears to predate the need for institutional record-keeping. Local tradition holds that a sacred tree marked this site since the Yayoi period, and that worship here preceded the formal establishment of shrine architecture. The current buildings date to the Edo period, but excavations in the surrounding area have uncovered ritual objects from the Kofun era, suggesting continuous veneration for at least 1,500 years. The shrine was formally recognized during the early Heian period and has maintained its connection to the imperial mythology of Japan’s origins. Unlike many ancient shrines that were relocated or rebuilt at distant sites, Eda Shrine has never moved — the theology requires it to remain exactly where Izanagi stood.

Izanagi no Mikoto (伊邪那岐命) is the primordial male deity who, with his consort Izanami, created the islands of Japan and gave birth to the kami of natural forces. After Izanami died giving birth to the fire god and descended to Yomi, the land of the dead, Izanagi followed her in a failed attempt at rescue. Polluted by his contact with death, he performed misogi (ritual purification) at what is now Misogi Pond in Miyazaki. As he washed his left eye, Amaterasu was born; from his right eye came Tsukuyomi; from his nose, Susanoo. Izanagi represents creation, purification, and the generative power that precedes order. His messenger is the sakaki tree, the sacred evergreen used in Shinto ritual.

The defining legend is told in the Kojiki: after fleeing Yomi-no-kuni and sealing its entrance with a massive boulder, Izanagi reached the plain near present-day Miyazaki and found a clear pond. He removed his clothing and possessions — his staff, his belt, his robe — and each item he discarded became a kami. Then he submerged himself in the water. From the filth of Yomi that washed away, more kami were born. Finally, as he cleansed his face, the three most important deities of the Shinto pantheon emerged. According to Eda Shrine’s tradition, after this purification Izanagi walked to the nearby rise of land where the shrine now stands, and there he planted a sakaki branch to mark the completion of the ritual. That tree’s descendants still grow in the shrine precincts. The shrine’s very existence is a geographical footnote to cosmogony — the place where a god caught his breath after giving birth to the sun.

The shrine follows the Shinmei-zukuri style, characterized by simple, unadorned timber construction that echoes the architectural forms of Ise Jingu. The main hall sits on raised pillars with a thatched cypress bark roof, and the approach is deliberately modest — a gravel path through a grove of camphor and sakaki trees. The most striking feature is the shrine’s proximity to Misogi Pond (御池), which lies just beyond the grounds and is considered the actual birthplace of Amaterasu. A stone path connects the two sites. In the inner precincts stands an ancient tree identified as a direct descendant of Izanagi’s sakaki, its trunk wrapped in sacred rope. The shrine maintains no grand gates or elaborate carvings; the design philosophy seems to be that ornament would compete with the mythological gravity of the location.

• Misogi Purification Ritual (August 7) — Priests and participants perform ritual bathing at Misogi Pond in re-enactment of Izanagi’s purification, followed by procession to the shrine.
• Reitaisai Grand Festival (October 15) — Annual festival featuring kagura performances that depict the Izanagi and Izanami creation myth and the descent to Yomi.
• Hatsumode (January 1-3) — New Year visitors come to pray at the source of Japan’s creation mythology, seeking purification and new beginnings.
• Monthly Misogi Gathering — Regular purification ceremonies are held at the pond on designated days for practitioners of Shinto ritual.

Early morning in August, when mist rises from Misogi Pond and the air is thick with the scent of camphor trees. The shrine is quietest on weekday mornings outside of festival periods. October offers clear skies and the annual festival, though this brings moderate crowds. Avoid Golden Week and Obon unless attending the Misogi ritual. The site’s power is in its stillness — the sense that you are standing in a landscape that has been mythologically fixed for millennia. That feeling is strongest when you are nearly alone.