At the end of a wide swathe of earth and gravel crossing quite a dense forest, you come to a huge torii (at 12m, the largest in Japan) carved from a 1 500-year-old cypress tree. The shrine was built thanks to public funding in memory of the Emperor. More than 100 000 pine trees, ready to be patiently replanted, were donated by all the provinces. The shrine was destroyed during the Second World War, but rebuilt in 1958 according to the original plans.