Photo/Illutration Okama Shrine, a subordinate to Shiogama Shrine, enshrines Shiotsuchi-no-Oji-no-Kami, the god who taught humans how to make salt. A sacred salt-making ritual is held here on July 6 every year. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)

I eavesdropped on a tour guide with salt-and-pepper hair explaining that more than 2,000 years ago, Amaterasu-Omikami, the Sun Goddess, explicitly gave orders to two deities, Takemikazuchi-no-Kami and Futsunushi-no-Kami, both gods having to do with swords, to see to it that the Tohoku area got firmly established.

A third deity, Shiotsuchi-no-Oji-no-Kami, saw to it that the district in which Shiogama Shrine stands is safe and at peace. The guide said with grave authority that this shrine is extraordinary as it is of ancient origin. The tour group was “shiorashiku” (they say it etymologically derived from “I can sense that you want salt”) listening to the guide.

Well, I get that the shrine has been around for a long time, but a goddess and deities governing land? I’ll take this story with a grain of salt.

I confess I decided to visit Shiogama in Miyagi Prefecture because I liked its name: salt cauldron.

From time immemorial around the world, people figured out that salt can be harvested by boiling seawater. In the humble “okagesama” thank-you spirit of the Japanese, at Shiogama, a sacred ritual to thank Shiotsuchi-no-Oji-no-Kami for bestowing salt-making know-how is held every year.

Okama Shrine, a small, unassuming subordinate shrine 202 steps below Shiogama Shrine, houses four large cauldrons used to extract seaweed salt. Every July, a ritual called Moshio-yaki Shinji is held in which “hondawara” seaweed is harvested from a special place on the ocean, taken to Okama Shrine by men clad in all white and placed on bamboo. It is then doused with fresh seawater to make highly concentrated salt water, which is boiled to create sacred salt. The town name, Shiogama, comes precisely from this spot and can be seen depicted in early 17th century paintings.

The divine salt is taken to the Shiogama Shrine for the “reisai,” a once-a-year special festival where offerings to the gods are made on a grand scale, and people pray and express gratitude.

By being the salt of the Earth and by living virtuous lives, those who make a living from the blessings of the ocean will be protected and guided by the guardian of Shiogama Shrine. The shrine will also bestow good luck in competition and safe childbirth.

On March 11, 2011, when the tsunami generated by a massive earthquake in the ocean struck, the advancing water stopped right before reaching Shiogama Shrine. While Shiogama Shrine overlooks the city from the hilltop, Okama Shrine looks as though it was protecting the upper shrine. Gazing up at it from below, it’s a beacon of hope.

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This article by Lisa Vogt, a Washington-born and Tokyo-based photographer, originally appeared in the Nov. 6 issue of Asahi Weekly. It is part of the series "Lisa’s Wanderings Around Japan," which depicts various places across the country through the perspective of the author, a professor at Meiji University.

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