Sunosaki Jinja

Sunosaki Jinja.

At the very western tip of the Boso Peninsula, on a high cliff overlooking the entrance to Tokyo Bay, sits a shrine that has watched ships pass for almost two thousand years.

Behind the shrine, the cliff drops abruptly into the Pacific Ocean. In front of it, when the air is clear, you can see Mount Fuji standing across the sea, ninety kilometers away on the other side of the bay.

The view is one of the most striking in eastern Japan. It is also why the place exists.

In ancient times, every ship sailing toward what would become Tokyo passed beneath this cliff. Sailors would look up, see the small shrine on the headland, and know they had reached safe waters. They would say a quick prayer of thanks, and continue toward the harbor.

In the year 1180, a young exile named Minamoto no Yoritomo, defeated in battle, fled across this same bay by boat and landed near here. He climbed to the shrine, prayed for the restoration of his family, and continued north. Years later, he founded the samurai government that would rule Japan for centuries.

His prayer at this windy headland, the local people quietly remember, was the first step.

Today, you can climb a long set of stone steps to reach the shrine. The sea wind, when it arrives, is sharp and cold even in summer. The view across the bay never fails.

Some places are sacred because of what they remember. Some places are sacred because of where they look.