| Hananoiwaya Shrine (Japanese: 花窟神社) is a Shinto shrine in the Arima neighborhood of the city of Kumano, Mie, Japan.[1] It is a site of worship for the kami Izanami and Kagu-tsuchi. The shrine is the site of a cave, the Flower Cavern (花の窟), that is said to be the grave of Izanami.[2] The cave is believed to mark the entrance to the underworld where Izanagi attempted to find Izanami after she died giving birth to Kagu-tsuchi. According to the Nihon Shoki, after Izanagi saw Izanami's rotting corpse, he sealed the entrance from the world of the living with a large boulder.[3] In 2004, the shrine was registered as part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range by UNESCO.[4] |
