生田神社 Ikuta Jinja #3

The name of the city in which I reside, Kobe, also owes its name to the shrine. Originally pronounced “Kambe” the name derives from the families who performed services for the upkeep of the shrine and who planted rice for the saké to be offered to the Kami. Kambe-mura (Kambe village) eventually had its pronunciation changed to Kobe-mura and then finally just Kobe. The collage contains images common to all shinto shrine and illustrate some of their most important features including: paper lanterns with the mon or crest of the shrine (tōrō or decorative stone lanterns are also important), various torii throughout the shrine grounds, dedicated saké barrels that serve as offerings to the Kami, a sessha or massha (smaller auxiliary shrines) complete with komainu or 'lion dogs' that act as guardians of the shrine.