Hexagram lanterns and a jealous goddess.

Along pilgrim roads in Ise City stand rows of stone lanterns carved with a hexagram (the kagome pattern). Some call it the Star of David and cite it as evidence for the theory that ancient Israelites and Japanese share common ancestors. In fact these lanterns were donated by a private supporters' association in the 1950s–60s and are not Jingu facilities. The hexagram is said to be that association's emblem, not something handed down from antiquity. The lanterns are real; the "trace of ancient Israel" interpretation has no basis.

Jingu's crest is the hanabishi, a four-petalled flower lozenge, seen on its lanterns and elsewhere — not a hexagram. A story also circulates that Izawa-no-miya's old crest was a hexagram, but no reliable source has been found.

Books on the common-ancestry theory repeat a tale that a Meiji-era official saw the sacred mirror and found the words "I am that I am" in Hebrew on its back. But the sacred object is something even emperors do not look upon directly, and there is no record of anyone examining it. The story's origin is unclear — a textbook urban legend.

The reason given is that "Amaterasu is a goddess and gets jealous of happy couples". But nothing of the kind appears in the myths or in Jingu's teaching. On the contrary, couples of three generations lead the first crossing of the new Uji Bridge, and Futami has its Wedded Rocks. Ise is a place that has cherished the bonds of couples and families. If anyone does break up, it may be because they quarrelled on the long approach.

In ancient times, anyone other than the emperor was forbidden to make personal offerings at Jingu (shihei kindan). Hence the saying "give thanks at the main sanctuary; take personal wishes to Aramatsuri-no-miya". The history of shihei kindan is real, but Jingu today welcomes individual worshippers and performs private prayers at the Kaguraden. There is no rule against making a wish.

When the white curtain (mitobari) at the sanctuary gate billows up in the breeze while you pray, people say "the gods are welcoming you". A heart-warming tale, but not a tradition with any particular basis. Still, if you get to feel that moment, it makes a good memory.

Locals say this too. Rain is purification from heaven, cleansing you before worship. It isn't based on any specific source, but it chimes with Shinto ideas of purifying with water — and the shrine forest in the rain has a beauty of its own.

Uji Bridge has 16 giboshi finials on its railings. Inside the second from the north on the west (town) end is a talisman (mandoma) of Aedo-hashihime Jinja, the shrine that guards the bridge. That's why you'll see visitors touching this particular finial.

You may see chickens strolling in the grounds of Naikū and Gekū. Called shinkei, sacred chickens, they recall the "long-crowing birds of the eternal land" that were made to crow to lure Amaterasu out of the Rock Cave. They were donated by worshippers and are treasured as messengers of the gods.

Sites claiming to be Ama-no-Iwato, where Amaterasu hid, exist all over Japan — and several in Ise-Shima. The stone chamber of the mound on Mt. Takakura behind Gekū drew pilgrims as the "Iwato" in the Edo period. The Erihara Water Cave in Shima is also called Ama-no-Iwato, and its spring is one of Japan's 100 best waters. None can be proven as the mythical site, but the history of belief is genuine.

The Nihon Shoki describes Sarutahiko with a nose seven hands long, a height of over seven feet and eyes shining like mirrors. That "long nose" linked him with the image of the long-nosed tengu, and in festivals across Japan a Sarutahiko in a tengu mask often leads the portable shrine. There's no proof they are the same being, but the theory is persistent.