Japan Guide
Kansai
Sumiyoshi Taisha
Ōsaka's grandest shrine, home of the Shinto gods of the sea, was built in 211 AD, after the grateful Empress Jingō (so the legend goes) returned from a voyage to Korea, its buildings, with logs jutting out at angles from the thatched roofs, exemplify sumiyoshi zukuri, one of Japan's oldest styles of shrine architecture. Unlike similar complexes at Ise and Izumo Taisha, Sumiyoshi Taisha is painted bright red, in sharp contrast with its wooded surrounding. The approach to the complex takes you over the elegant humpbacked Sori-hashi bridge, donated to the shrine by Yodogimi, the warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi's lover.