Visiting to Mekari Shrine

After leaving Mekari Park, we visited to Mekari Shrine (和布刈神社), a Shinto Shrine located in Moji-ku. In the shrine’s Shinto ritual called Mekari Shinji, wakame seaweed is cut from the ocean at low tide and offered to an altar in a ceremony conducted in the early morning hours of the first day of the New Year according to the old lunar calendar.

The Honden, or the main shrine.

 The Kanmonkyo Bridge across in the precinct of the shrine.

A stone lantern standing on the sea. This is a place that holds the Mekari Shinji Shinto ceremony. It can be accessed by stone stairs.

A view of Kanmon Strait from the shrine with Mount Hinoyama Park (火の山公園) in background.

Then we went to Kokura, an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu. Before that, we took a small break at Norfork Hiroba Park (ノーフォーク広場), a waterfront promenade. Here, you can see a great view of the Kanmon Straits, Kanmonkyo Bridge and Shimonoseki city.