Keta Grand Shrine

Keta Taisha is a Shinto shrine in Hakui City, Ishikawa Prefecture (formerly called “Keta Daijingu”). Five shrine buildings including the main hall are designated Important Cultural Properties. The shrine is especially known for its sacred forest, the Natural Monument “Ir-azu no Mori” (the ‘no-entry forest’), where broadleaf trees aged roughly 300–500 years grow naturally. The forest has long been treated as a sacred area where residents were forbidden to enter. Today, only during limited periods each year, you can enter the forest by reservation and receive prayers for health and happiness at the worship place, and you can receive the “ki” (spiritual energy) of the two deities Susanoo-no-Mikoto and his wife Kushinadahime-no-Mikoto. If you plan to enter Ir-azu no Mori, note that both men and women are required to wear formal attire. The prayer fee is 3,000 yen. In recent years, it’s also popular as a matchmaking power spot. Weddings can be held here as well, so it’s also an option for those who want to pledge eternal love at Keta Taisha, said to have been loved by Toshiie and Matsu. Access: from JR Hakui Station, take a bus about 10 minutes, get off at Ichinomiya stop, then walk about 3 minutes.