Listen closely to the crunching sound as you walk over the gravel. What does it make you think of?
They say that every person has a soul and when they come into contact with another soul, their minds become sharpened and purified. Perhaps this is the reason behind the crunching sound of gravel.
By the way, did you know there’s a sacred treasure enshrined at Atsuta Jingu? It’s a sword called “Kusanagi no Mitsurugi.” Let’s retell the story from the beginning.
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Once upon a time, the unruly god Susanoo was banished from the heavenly world after causing trouble to his sister Amaterasu.
When he arrived in the mortal world, he noticed an old couple crying by the river. He asked them, “Why are you crying?”
“We had eight daughters, but every year a monster called Yamata-no-Orochi descends from the mountain and devours them one by one. We only have one more daughter left and the monster is coming again this year. All we can think about is how our girl will be gone soon, just like the rest of them.”
When Susanoo asked the couple about the monster, they said:
Yamata-no-Orochi is a gigantic serpent with eight heads with red eyes, and eight tails, so long that it spans eight valleys and eight hills.”
After giving it some thought, Susanoo replied to the old couple. He said, “I’ll take care of the monster, but I need you to make eight kinds of sake exactly as I tell you.”
Then one night, the earth trembled as Yamata-no-Orochi descended from the mountain. Susanoo watched from a distance while the monster drank the prepared sake and it suddenly fell fast asleep.
That’s when Susanoo sprang into action -- he cut off Yamata-no-Orochi’s heads and chopped the body into pieces. However, as he tried to cut the tail, he noticed something hard inside. He cut it open and found a magnificent sword.
Susanoo presented this sword to his sister Amaterasu as a peace offering.
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The sword in the story is enshrined at Atsuta Jingu. Please listen to the next guide after visiting the main shrine to hear more about how it came to reside there.
