Journey with the Gods: The Rebuilding of Ise Jingu Shrine

Overview

Documentary that reconfigures a TV program for theatrical release. Veteran actress Kiki Kirin, who won the Best Actress Award at the 30th Nantes Festival of the Three Continents for Still Walking, embarks on her first pilgrimage to the Ise Grand Shrine. Kiki makes her first visit to the Ise Grand Shrine, which is embarking on the ceremonial rebuilding that happens once every twenty years. She contemplates God and life as she joins in the shrine rituals, walks through the shrine grounds, and climbs the mountain in the vast sacred forest. She meets the poet Okano Hirohiko, who has written poetry about the shrine, and continues her journey to areas afflicted by disaster.