Kompira-san

The next morning we got up early to visit the famous shrine called Kompirasan. It is officially a Shinto shrine but it’s also a Buddhist temple – things just kind of blend together here. Now, get this..it’s a shrine for seafarers, a place for them to go to pray to the sea god. Now I would expect to find a shrine to the sea god at sea level, however, it’s not true in Japan. The shrine can be found at the top of the hill, a very TALL hill. It is 785 steps to the first shrine, another 583 to the very top.
Fortunately the steps vary a lot – there are paved sections, short bits of steps, long passages, rest stops and, of course, stores. We decided to stop at the 785 steps but before you go down, you must apologize to the gods for not continuing on to the top. The gate behind Ebi-san and Hanaka-chan is where you must make amends to the gods - or else worry about your next journey on the ocean.