The Forgotten Shrine in Matsushiro

Peace, tranquility and alone time. These are the things I want right now. As much as I’d love to get up and fly to a remote island, I just can’t do that right now. Okay, so if a colleague of mine’s can go to England, I suppose I can go somewhere, but would I? I wouldn’t. For as long as the coronavirus exists, I will not have the nerve to risk myself and others to the coronavirus for the sake of having a so-called good time. I think it’s selfish, yet at the same time, I understand why people have this desire to get away. It’s a coping mechanism from the craziness that revolves around covid. Either that or they’re just in denial that covid exists and feel entitled to enjoying life as they please.

Don’t get me wrong. I want to travel, too. If conditions of the world were ideal, I’d hunt for flight deals daily. But conditions aren’t ideal. So, the most I can do is make a list of all the places I want to go to or reminisce. And today, I’m going to do just that.

Once upon a time, in a place called Matsushiro (Nagano), I happened upon a shrine that seemed to be forgotten. It was secluded yet not so secluded as residences bordered the shrine. No one was present and I used this opportunity to explore the shrine.

Things seemed fine at first. But as I got closer and closer to the shrine, I felt slightly creeped out. While there wasn’t anything particularly scary about the shrine, the environment just seemed so quiet. Eerily quiet.

I enjoy peace and quiet but this was a different level of peace and quiet. (You had to be there with me to understand this eeriness.)

From what I understand, the torii (red gate) at shrines is something that acts as a separator from the human world and the world of the Gods and spiritual beings.

If there was ever a time that I felt as though something other worldy existed at a shrine, it would have to hands down be at this shrine. I kept getting this weird feeling that “something” was watching me but there wasn’t anything that I could see with my naked eye. No animal. No human. (The only other human with me was my travel companion, so…)

I think it didn’t help either that the shrine didn’t seem to be in the greatest of condition. But that’s probably because it was a small shrine, where no priest/shrine maiden lives out of to care of it on a daily basis.

Although it wasn’t in tip top shape, it was clear that someone comes by to sweep the shrine’s grounds from time to time. Other than that, the shrine seems to be left alone for the most part.

I couldn’t get inside the shrine building. In fact , I don’t even know how someone is supposed to even get in there in the first place. But I do know there’s something inside the shrine. I just couldn’t see what it was because it was so dark in there. My travel companion had peered in and like me, couldn’t really make out anything. I think it was at this moment where a borderline creepy scenario came across our minds. For instance, what if a random person was inside that building? Maybe there was someone in there but he/she was just laying low and being quiet. It sounds a bit crazy but someone in need of shelter could make use of a “forgotten” shrine as shelter. If there was actually someone in there, it would make a lot of sense as to why I felt as though someone was looking at me/us. (cringe)

But whatever it was (human or not), I feel that they didn’t mean anything malicious or at least, they decided not to be malicious. I like to think that me and my companion were for the most part respectful even though a bit curious/nosy of the grounds. But that’s to be expected from a traveler, right? I mean, we didn’t hoot, holler or anything, like that.

In the end, we came to the conclusion that this shrine was probably visited by locals on special days only. (New Year’s and the like.)

Although this shrine wasn’t a tourist spot, it was definitely a memorable visit.