Japan's Stonehenge: "Power Spots" Boom in Japan

They call them "Power Spots." They are places where nature has created something that seems unworldly. You might have seen or felt something like this before in other parts of the world; giant redwood trees that have been standing for thousands of years; blow holes near the ocean that seem to vibrate with power; other nature areas that seem to call attention to god.




Now, the Mainichi News reports on a new popular Power Spot, the Jizo Rocks, in Mie Prefecture:


"Wow, that's weird." That's how two women in their 30s described the three stones in front of them -- two of them upright like transplants from Stonehenge with a third, cube-shaped rock on top, reminding one of a die held up between two fingers. The women heard of these remarkable stones in mid-October, and set out from Nagoya to see them. After looking at them for a while, they said, "They're like sacred objects. It's like there's a divine power at work here," and joined hands instinctively. 

Books from over 150 years ago talk about these rocks so you

know they weren't put there by tractor of helicopter

The rock formation is also a topic of discussion amongst visitors as is Stongehenge in the UK. People wonder, of course, how and why it was built - if it was built and not a natural occurence. 


"Who put it up there?" one person wonders while looking at the Jizo Rocks' top stone, which measures about 1.5 meters on a side. Among people who see the stones, there are some who suspect the formation isn't natural at all, but rather something built. This is certainly understandable. If one peruses travel logs from the Edo period, one can see phrases like, "It's so clever I have to think it was built." It seems that surprise at what beauty can be wrought by nature is common to both the past and the present.


Mie Prefecture is about 2.5 hours from Tokyo, just past Kyoto. 




Click here for original article in Mainichi News
Thanks to News on Japan