Akasaki Jinja

The only one of the 125 shrines in the city of Toba, known locally as Akasaki-san. Pass the torii on the highway and climb the steps to the sanctuary, set halfway up a cliff. The goddess guards the gathering of seafood offered from Toba Bay to Geku. The Akasaki festival on 22 June marks the start of summer here; visitors buy a cedar sprig cut in the shrine's woods and hang it at their door.