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Shinto shrine in Kyoto, Japan
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Matsunoo Taisha (松尾大社; Matsunoo Taisha/ Matsuo Taisha), formerly Matsunoo Jinja (松尾神社), is a Shinto shrine located at the far western end of Shijō Street, approximately 1.3 kilometers south of the Arashiyama district of Kyoto. It is home to a spring at the base of the mountain, Arashiyama, that is believed to be blessed.
It is said that during the move of the capital from Nara to Kyoto, a noble saw a turtle bathing under the spring's waterfall and created a shrine there. It is one of the oldest shrines in the Kyoto area, with its origins dating back to 700. The restorative properties of the spring draw many local sake and miso companies to the shrine to pray that their products will be blessed.
The shrine also serves gold leaf sake (金箔神酒, kinpaku miki) on New Year's Day for hatsumōde.
The shrine became the object of Imperial patronage during the early Heian period. In 965, Emperor Murakami ordered that Imperial messengers were sent to report important events to the guardian kami of Japan. These heihaku were initially presented to 16 shrines including the Matsunoo Shrine.
From 1871 through 1946, Matsunoo-taisha was officially designated one of the Kanpei-taisha (官幣大社), meaning that it stood in the first rank of government supported shrines.
After a new set of buildings was finished in 1973, modernist garden designer Mirei Shigemori was brought in to design new garden areas at Matsuo Taisha. Shigemori designed three new garden areas, which were completed in 1975:
The gardens at Matsuo Taisha were Shigemori's last project; his son, Kanto, supervised the final work after Shigemori's death on March 12, 1975.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Matsunoo Taisha”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.