Saga's Okuninushi Shrine Night Trail

Saga's Okuninushi Shrine Night Trail sits in Saga the way most sacred sites in Japan do: unhurried, and easy to rush past if you don't know to slow down.

The path connecting Saga City's five historic shrines along the old merchant route has been maintained as a walking trail since the Edo period, passing through cedar and bamboo stands, over stone bridges of varying ages, and through two neighborhoods of intact machiya townhouses. At night, stone lanterns illuminate the path at 50m intervals — a remnant of the pre-electric religious lighting tradition still maintained by neighborhood associations.