Namba Yasaka Jinja

This guide to Namba Yasaka Jinja in Osaka centers on the giant lion head towering over its courtyard, its mouth built wide enough to devour evil spirits before they reach the shrine. You'll hear the myth behind it, of the god Susanoo tricking the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi with barrels of rice wine, and how the shrine, on record since 1069, lost its original buildings to American air raids in 1945. The guide follows how the lion head came to be rebuilt at the scale it stands today, and the ritual still tied to the old myth each January.