Defining images of Japan, Iwakura rock formations

Visiting Japan, in many Shinto shrines you will notice rock formations marked with shimenawa, a unique Japanese custom. Called iwakura, these are pure, sacred places where kami, the Shinto gods, are invited to descend.

The most famous iwakura are the two Meoto Iwa "wedded" rocks in Ise, representing Izanagi and Izanami, the central deities in the Shinto creation myth.