Toba City has a beautiful view of the sea, and many people stay here for their visit to Ise Jingu (or Ise Grand Shrine) in neighboring Ise city. Amaterasu Omikami, enshrined in Ise Jingu, is the supreme deity in Shinto likened to the sun and is the head goddess of Japan.
At New Year’s and essential milestones in life, many Japanese visit Ise Jingu and stay at a hotel in Toba to enjoy the seafood and scenery. Toba and Ise are closely related, and the people of Toba have long dedicated marine products to the Jingu. It is proof that seafood has been abundant since ancient times.
In particular, the Ama in Kuzaki-cho of Toba City has been donating abalone to Ise Jingu for more than 2000 years. This tradition is immortalized in a popular folk tale of the region.
Ama Oben’s Folk Tale
Once upon a time, Princess Yamato, the daughter of Emperor Suinin, disembarked from a boat onto the shore of Kuzaki and was offered abalone from an Ama named Oben. The princess was so pleased with this that she ordered it to be ritually offered as a meal to the enshrined spirits of Ise. Henceforth, for the next two millennia, the people of Kuzaki have offered abalone to the Ise Jingu.
Abalone Offerings Today
A kitchen specializing in abalone for the Ise Jingu (Jingu Goryo Awabi Choseisho), located at the entrance of Yoroizaki Cape, prepares thinly sliced, dried “Noshi Abalone” for use in ceremonial origami used for gift giving. The aforementioned Oben is enshrined at the nearby Amakazukime Shrine and is still worshiped locally.