Meoto Iwa (Wedded Rocks), Ise, Mie Prefecture, Honshu, Japan

© Marco Gaiotti/plainpictur

Info. Wedded Rocks, Japan

Just off the shore of the city of Ise, in the southern-central region of Japan’s main island, Honshu, two rocks represent a sacred union between a divine couple. Known collectively as Meoto Iwa (Wedded Rocks), these sea stacks represent Izanagi and Izanami, the married brother-and-sister deities who created the islands of Japan and its gods in Japanese mythology. The large rock on the left is said to be the husband, Izanagi – at its peak is a small torii, a symbolic gateway marking the entrance to a Shinto shrine. The smaller rock represents his wife, Izanami.