) is a Shinto shrine situated on the southern edge of Osaka. It was founded way back in AD 211, centuries before Buddhism was introduced in Japan from India and China, and the Chinese architectural customs that came along with it. Thus, it maintains features found on precious few religious structures in Japan, and is all the more unique for it.
, I took the subway down to the central Namba station complex, and transferred to the Nankai line, which stops right in front of the shrine grounds. No, this wasn't the train I took there; it was another one that was standing on the platform as I left. This is one of Nankai's "Rapi:t" express services to Kansai International Airport.
On the way, I hit up a vending machine and bought a bottle of "Oronamin C" (オロナミンC), a vitamin drink. I couldn't quite pin down the taste, but it was a little sweet and syrupy. I quite liked it, in fact, and sought it out every day for the rest of my trip.
The Nankai railway also appears to have sponsored Sumiyoshi Shrine as well. In the rear grounds of the shrine, I walked about this forest of banners, some showing a cross-promotion for Nankai and
Hello Kitty (ハローキティ,
Harō Kiti). Doubtless you've come across Hello Kitty at some point in your life, but what's her story; where did she come from? Hello Kitty was created in 1974 by the Sanrio company, who licences the character for use in many products and media. She has had many, many friends introduced over the years, like My Melody the rabbit, Keroppi the frog, Pochacco the dog, Badtz-Maru the penguin... I could go on.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. As you enter the shrine, you will pass over a canal on one of three bridges. The two raised ones on the sides, such as this one, are particularly photogenic, especially when you can get a reflection in the water.
The walkways surrounding the shrine are lined by mossy stone lanterns. The green of this scene ought to serve as the right antidote for those overwhelmed of all the vermilion colours within the shrine itself. I also chanced upon what looked like a wedding or funeral procession while walking about, but thought better of taking a picture.
The four main halls of this shrine have features found in very few other shrines across Japan. The roofs of these buldings are not curved, as is so common in east Asia, but are slanted straightly to either side, and hang over all sides of the building they rest upon. There is also a rail at the top which is crossed by short horizontal bars called
katsuogi (堅魚木, lit. 'hard fish wood'), and bookended at both sides by vertical cross-bars called
chigi (千木, lit. one-thousand wood'). Furthermore, each of the four halls face to the west; most shrines face south in accordance with feng-shui, another influence derived from China. Together, this architecture style is known as
Sumiyoshi-zukuri (住吉造), named after this very shrine.
Despite the uniqueness of this "Sumiyoshi-zukuri" architecture, which is named after the shrine, prayer halls have been added in front of each of the four main halls. These black-tinted buildings follow a more common, Chinese-based style. Now, the reason there are four main halls is because four deities are enshrined here: the
Sumiyoshi Sanjin (住吉三神), three gods related to seafaring, plus the
Empress Jingu (神功天皇, Jingū-tennō), who ruled from AD 201 to 269. Indeed, three of the halls are lined up together from west to east, with the fourth standing beside one of the others.
For Osaka's citizens, Sumiyoshi Taisha is a prime choice for
Hatsumode (初詣,
Hatsumōde), the first shrine visit on New Year's Day. In 2010, for example, 2.6 million people attended this shrine, not all that far from the 3.2 million drawn in by
Meiji Shrine in Tokyo. Meanwhile, the festivities of Shichi-Go-San,
which I had experienced in Kamakura earlier that week, were still going strong through the weekend. I had my picture taken next to a portable shrine parked beside one of the buildings.
These two children, who (or their mother) let me take their picture, were also dressed up for the rituals of Shichi-Go-San, most likely.
Finally, I found this poster adorning the shrine's inner walls. It is an advert for a bicycle museum, displaying some examples of their collection. Some of their more clever examples are a bike with side-by-side seats, and a bike with a car-like body surrounding the driver.
I passed by the Tennoji station area on my way up to my next destination. Since I didn't stay, I thought I'd at least introduce you to the Abeno Harukas (あべのハルカス,
Abeno Harukasu) building. Officially titled the Abenobashi Terminal Building, Abeno Harukas opened in 2014 and stands 300 meters (984 feet) tall, making it the tallest inhabitable building in Japan. (Compare that to the Tokyo Skytree, which is over twice as tall but does not support long-term living quarters.) The top three floors are occupied by an observation deck offering 360-degree views of the city. The rest of the building is used as a hotel, office space, a department store, and in the basement, Kintetsu's Osaka-Abenobashi station, the terminal for their Minami-Osaka line.
Today's sign-off selfie was taken back at the shrine and features, again, Hello Kitty. Next time on Sekai Ichi, we'll visit the Osaka Museum of History. Until then, nyan~!
Hours: Open 24 hours. No regular closing days.
Costs: Free.
Address: 2-9-89 Sumiyoshi, Sumiyoshi-ku, Ōsaka-shi, Ōsaka-fu 〒612-0822
Access: The entrance to Sumiyoshi Taisha is directly in front of the Sumiyoshi Torii-mae tram stop (Hankai (HN) and Uemachi (HN) lines), and across the street from Sumiyoshi Taisha Station (Nankai Main (NK) line).
From Namba Station, take the Nankai Main Line to Sumiyoshi Taisha (NK08, 10 minutes, ¥210). Signs pointing to the shrine are posted above the station exits. Note that only local trains stop at Sumiyoshi Taisha.
From Osaka/Umeda Stations, take the Osaka Metro Midosuji (M) line to Namba (M20, 10 minutes, ¥230), then transfer to the Nankai line as described above.
