Ikisu Shrine

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Ikisu ShrineOshioisacred springToogoku SanjaKamisu

Photo: Σ64 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0) · original

Ask where to send a first-time visitor for a temple or shrine in Ibaraki, and Ikisu Shrine comes up more than once.

Ikisu is the third and least visited of the Toogoku Sanja, the three shrines of the east that Kashima and Katori complete. It sits beside the Tone River in Kamisu, small and unornamented, and the reason to come is not the buildings but two wells.

Beside the first torii, out toward the water, stand a pair of stone-rimmed wells. In each, visible under clear water, is a ceramic vessel — one called the male jar and one the female jar — and fresh water has been rising through them for a thousand years or more, in ground that is otherwise brackish river delta. The pair is collectively the Oshioi and is counted among Japan's three sacred springs. Tradition holds that seeing your own jar clearly is auspicious. It takes twenty minutes to visit and is free, and almost everyone doing the three-shrine circuit skips it.

Visiting essentials

Best time to visit

Year-round

Hours

Grounds open during daylight hours

Closed: Open year-round

Admission

Free | Free parking

Time to allow

20–40 minutes

Finding your way there

Getting there in detail

Ikisu, Kamisu. By taxi from JR Kashima-Jingu or Itako Station, or a short walk from the Kashima Central Hotel bus stop served by the Kashima expressway bus from Tokyo Station. Free to visit, with two free car parks holding around 120 cars and 4 coaches.

What locals know

**The wells are down by the water, not in the compound.** They sit beside the first torii toward the river, several minutes from the main hall. Visiting the shrine and leaving without walking down is the standard mistake. **Look into both.** One vessel is the male jar and one the female; the water is clear enough to see them. Whether the tradition about which one you see clearly means anything is up to you, but people take it seriously. **Do it as part of the three-shrine day.** Kashima Jingu, Katori Jingu across the river in Chiba, and Ikisu are the Toogoku Sanja. Ikisu is by far the smallest and quickest, so slot it between the other two. **Awkward without a car, and worth the taxi.** There is no station near it. From Kashima-Jingu Station a taxi is twenty minutes; the walk from the expressway bus stop is thirty.

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