Visiting to Orihata-jinja (織幡神社), Munakata, Fukuoka

We went to the Orihata-jinja (織幡神社) Shinto shrine (aka. Orihata-gu 織幡宮) near the Kanezaki fishing port. The shrine, also known as the birthplace of women shell divers which means ama (海女) in Japanese, is located at the foot of small mountain.

About 200m further down the road from the fishing port, you can find a stone torii with small ropes on the pilgrimage route.

Walking towards the main shrine at the top of the hill, you'll see two monuments that are related with the history of the shrine. On the left side, there is the monument of giant stone which the local residents were discovered instead of the sinking temple bell from Korea and China a long time ago. And a statue of women shell divers that symbolizes the birthplace of women divers in Western Japan on the opposite side. They were working away from home and a big success as a diver.

Steep stairs continue for a while.

When going up the last stairs, we arrived at the main shrine.

Haiden or the hall of worship. We prey for the family of health and welfare.

We stopped at the best place for viewing the fishing port.