During the Edo Period (1600-1868), it became popular for people to partake in “okage mairi” processions, during which large groups of people flocked to worship together at Ise Jingu Shrine. During this time, a folk song called the “Ise Ondo” spread nationwide with the lyrics, “I want to visit Ise. I want to see the Ise Road, at least once before I die,” stirring a great longing among the people for Ise. That admiration and reverence have not abated over time. Even today, many people from all over Japan and the world visit Ise, and the Inner and Outer Shrines together receive approximately 8 million visitors a year.

Kotaijingu [Naiku] is the most venerable sanctuary in Japan. Being a jinja [Shinto shrine] dedicated to Amaterasu-Omikami, the ancestral kami [Shinto deity] of the Imperial family. She was enshrined in Naiku about 2,000 years ago and has been revered as a guardian of Japan.
Toyo'ukedaijingu [Geku] is dedicated to Toyo'uke-no-Omikami. Some 1,500 years ago, this kami was summoned and enshrined here, in accordance with a revelation from Amaterasu-Omikami.
Toyo'uke-no-Omikami joins Amaterasu-Omikami in Jingu, as provider of companionship and sacred foods. She blesses us with abundant harvests, and being the guardian of well-being, provides us three essentials of human life: cloth, food and shelter.

When visiting a Shinto Shrine, there are some proper manners and etiquette that should be observed to pay respect to the deities.
To begin with, it is customary to cleanse the hands and mouth in a ritual called "te-mizu" or "cho-zu", which literally means "hand water". Wash your hands and rinse your mouth with water in a simple act of purification before approaching the main sanctuary, to purify both mind and body to feel clear and refreshed when visiting the shrine.
There are two places within the Kotaijingu [Naiku] to perform the cleansing ritual, one called "Temizusha" [ablution font], and a little further in at "Mitarashi" to cleanse with the water from the Isuzu River using two hands.
To purify your hands and mouth at “Temizusha”, take the dipper with your right hand and fill it with water and pour some water over your left hand to rinse it, shift the dipper to your left hand and rinse your right hand, then, take the dipper with your right hand again, and pour water into your left cupped hand and rinse your mouth [*Please refrain from touching the dipper directly with your mouth], finally, rinse your left hand once more and tilt the dipper so that the remaining water trickles down the handle to cleanse it.
*To purify at the “Mitarashi”, use your hands instead of the dipper.
When reaching a Jinja in Jingu, please pray to the enshrined kami in the following manners: take a deep bow twice, then, clap your hands twice, and bow once more deeply.