Suwa Shrine near grandma's house

Went to the shrine very close to Grandma's house to drop off some old temple stuff so they can burn it by the priest.

This shrine is guarded by foxes. Jared asked me why each fox holds a different item, but neither grandma nor I know.

There are 4 different shrines on the premises. We visited each one.

There's a box in front of the door, you throw a coin in there, and shake the rope to ring the bell before praying.

On to the next one.

The same ritual.

We did this for next 2 shrines. 

On the premises, there's a board for "Ema", which means painted horse. Visitors write their wishes and hang on the board. Most people use Ema for education, especially passing important tests. Grandma checked out what kind of wishes were there.

There were 2 "Shishi" (Chinese guardian lion) too.

The last shrine was the largest.

"Tourou"

At the end of the isle there were some memorial stones, but both I nor grandma could figure out what these were about.

On the premises, there was an old holy tree.

When I was young and foolish, I never realize how pretty this place was, and never appreciated Japanese culture. 

Tree hugging.