Hananoiwaya Shrine

Hananoiwaya Shrine (Japanese: 花窟神社) is a Shinto shrine in the Arima neighborhood of the city of Kumano, Mie, Japan. It is a site of worship for the kami Izanami and Kagu-tsuchi. The shrine is the site of a cave, the Flower Cavern (花の窟), that is said to be the grave of Izanami. The cave is believed to mark the entrance to the underworld where Izanagi attempted to find Izanami after she died giving birth to Kagu-tsuchi. According to the Nihon Shoki, after Izanagi saw Izanami's rotting corpse, he sealed the entrance from the world of the living with a large boulder. In 2004, the shrine was registered as part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range by UNESCO.