Shiogama Jinja

Shiogama Jinja.

In Miyagi, on a hill above the harbor of Shiogama, this shrine has watched over the salt makers of northeastern Japan for over a thousand years.

The town below is named after this shrine. The word "Shiogama" simply means "salt cauldron" — the iron pot in which seawater was once boiled down for centuries to make salt for the entire region.

Salt was, before refrigeration, what kept fish and meat edible. Whole communities depended on it. The technique of boiling sea water into salt is said to have been first taught to the people of this coast at this exact spot — by an old wanderer who never gave his name, only the method.

Two hundred and two stone steps lead up to the shrine. The climb is steep. From the top, the view opens — Shiogama port below, Matsushima Bay's hundreds of green islands beyond, and the Pacific Ocean farther still.

The architecture here is unusual. Three separate halls stand in a row, painted bright vermillion. They were built by the lord of the Date clan over nine years in the early 1700s. The wood is now over three hundred years old.

In the grounds grows a rare cherry tree, its blossoms heavy with forty petals each, blooming late, in April's last days.

Stand at the top of the steps. Smell the salt air. The bay below has fed people, with what the old wanderer taught, for over a thousand years.

Some places teach by simply not forgetting.