NHK Documentaries

The Gods Move House: Mysteries of Ise and Izumo (2014x15)

Air date: Apr 05, 2014

Sengu is the ceremonial transfer of a god to its new home. The god moves house. By coincidence, Sengu was performed at Japan's 2 most important shrines in 2013, at both the Ise Jingu and the Izumo Taisha. Why have these unique house moving rites been observed for more than a thousand years? We delve deeply into the ancient mysteries and interconnectedness of the 2 Sengu rites to discover what they can tell us about the origins of the nation we now call Japan.